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Sunday,
April 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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UP BJP leaders lobby for posts at Centre Six militants, havala men charged under POTA India, Russia to develop Sukhois Ramanna has doubts over N-deterrent policy
Basu ‘not’ in race for presidency |
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Subba
Rao re-elected BCI Chairman Gangster
killed No evaluators for computer science Over 2 lakh to appear for AIEEE
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UP BJP leaders lobby for posts at Centre Lucknow, April 20 Notable among them are the former Chief Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, and the state President of the party, Mr Kalraj Mishra. Mr Rajnath Singh, who is camping in Delhi for past few days, reportedly met senior party leaders and showed his willingness to return to the Centre. He was the Union Surface Transport Minister before he was sent to Uttar Pradesh as the Chief Minister in October 2000. Mr Mishra, on the other hand, told The Tribune that he was willing to go to the Centre, though he had not so far started lobbying for a seat in the Union Cabinet. It was up to the Prime Minister to take a decision in this regard, he said. For all practical purposes it would be easy for Mr Mishra to enter the Union Cabinet by virtue of his being a Rajya Sabha member. Interestingly, both Mr Rajnath Singh and Mr Mishra had been opposing any alliance with the BSP. Both of them had gone on record in saying that it would be a requiem for the BJP if it joined hands with Ms Mayawati. Both of them had even conveyed their feelings to the national leadership of the party. Political grapevine is abuzz that both leaders would feel like ‘extras’ in the new dispensation. Indications to this regard are already palpable. A senior BJP leader, Mr Om Prakash Singh, a strong advocate of the BJP-BSP alliance, has questioned Mr Rajnath Singh being elected leader of the BJP legislature party. Despite being a legislator he had boycotted the meet saying “why the people who are responsible for the BJP’s poll debacle have again been given a chance to lead the party.” Besides these two senior leaders, there is another former Chief Minister — Mr Ram Prakash Gupta — who is trying to get a Gubernatorial post of any state. Though he is not in the limelight and is also not active in the BJP activities in the state, but being a close friend of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, he make it a point to escort the PM whenever he comes to Lucknow. A close aide of Mr Gupta told The Tribune today that he had been assured a posting soon. And this assurance had come from none other than the PM himself, he said adding that everything would be finalised
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Six militants, havala men charged under POTA New Delhi, April 20 However, Special Judge S.N. Dhingra discharged one havala operator Mehboob Karim Merchant for want of evidence against him. Framing charges against LeT terrorists — Bilal Ahmed Mir, Mohd Afzal Kumhar, Adil Nazir Keen and Ansar Ahmed — and two hawala operators, Dilip Tribhuvandas Bahrot and Rajesh Khoda Bhai Prajapati, chargesheeted for attempting to disrupt internal security of the country, the court said prosecution had succeeded in collecting sufficient evidence against them. “From the evidence collected by the prosecution and the confessional statements made by the four militants of LeT, an organisation banned under POTA, it is clear that the four accused had conspired and made preparation for terrorist act,” the court said. It said raids at the office of M. Ramesh Kumar and Co at Mumbai was carried out and the registers showed the indulgence of hawala operators Prajapati and Bharot in supplying money to the terrorists. Framing charges against the six of the seven chargesheeted accused, the court observed “after the attack on Indian Parliament on December 13, the terrorist organisation did not rest there and had planned to commit terrorist activities to derail the Republic Day celebration. With this purpose some
terrorists were sent to Delhi with explosive substances”. Discharging Meboob Karim Merchant, the court said “only evidence against him is either his own confessional statement made under police custody or the confessional statement of other havala operator Prajapti. On the basis of these two statements he cannot be put to trial”. The court said Merchant was arrested on the statement of the havala operators, but the LeT militants in their confessional statement had not mentioned his involvement in the conspiracy. The court further said that no incriminating documents were seized from him, nor was there any independent witness to prove that he had instructed other two havala operators to supply money to militants. The charge sheet filed last month said the four militants, hailing from Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, were asked by LeT’s self-styled district commander Abu Amar, a Pakistani national, to set-off blasts on the Republic Day parade route during rehearsals. Amar, his associate Nissar and a havala operator Ramesh Kumar, who are yet to be arrested, have been named in column two of the charge sheet. The charge sheet had said that ISI and LeT had hatched the conspiracy under the code name “Nazir”. The terrorists were arrested from a private hostel in a south Delhi locality on January 14 after the information received by Central Intelligence Agency in last week of December last confirmed that trained LeT activists were hiding in the capital to carry out disruptive activities. The police had seized eight kg of RDX, some detonators and around Rs 35 lakhs supplied to them through havala operators.
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India, Russia to develop Sukhois New Delhi, April 20 According to reports Russia’s Irkut Corporation, which has signed an MoU with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for licensed manufacturing of 140 SU-30 MKI aircraft in India, has sought India’s help in not only developing the variant of the SU-30 MK-I aircraft with the IAF but also for cornering international market for this aircraft. The company, which is already in talks with the Malaysian air force on the issue, has suggested that a “regional centre for integrated logistical support” for SU-30 MKI fighter jets be set up in India. Alexey Fedorov, President of the Corporation, who will arrive in India early next week to participate in a seminar on Indo-Russian military industrial cooperation, recently said in Moscow that there is no doubt that in future the HAL will actively cooperate with the Royal Malaysian Air Force to provide their fleet of Sukhoi aircraft with spares and technical
service. Stating that SU-30 MKM offered to Malaysia was “basically a derivative” of SU-30 MKI. Mr Fedorov said “The positive mood of Malaysia with regard to SU-30 MKM aircraft in many respects stems from the successful implementation of the MKI project and the practical result achieved by the Russian and Indian participants in the
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Ramanna has doubts over N-deterrent policy New Delhi, April 20 “I have doubts when it comes to applying the policy of deterrence... Deterrence is a problem and we have to face it,” he said while delivering the sixth Anuvrat Trust Endowment Lecture on “Future of Nuclear Power”. The lecture has been instituted by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). “I am entirely with the Jain philosophy that we should not throw weapons of mass destruction as we will also be destroyed by it... People will have to say how far we should go and who is our enemy,” he said. “But, what kind of effect this deterrence would have on Generals... Whether that is the way... I have doubts though earlier I believed in deterrence,” he said. |
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Basu ‘not’ in race for presidency New Delhi, April 20 Laying media speculations about the likely possibility of the People’s Front (PF) fielding Mr Basu for the President’s post to rest, CPM General-Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet said there was no question of Mr Basu contesting the Presidential election. As the term of President K.R. Narayanan ends on July 24, speculations are rife over the probable candidates. Mr Basu was being projected as a Presidential candidate as the Left Parties were trying to do good of their “historical blunder” when they had not agreed to accept the United Front’s offer for the Prime Minister’s post in 1996, the media reports commented. On Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s challenge to the Opposition for a no-confidence motion against his government on the Gujarat issue, Mr Surjeet said the government was shying away from facing the House on the issue under Rule 184 which entails voting. Referring to the continued violence and “intimidation” of the
minorities in different parts of the state, the CPM noted that the way the Secondary examinations had been conducted without taking into consideration the safety of the Muslims showed the callousness of the state administration. The Left party alleged that not even a single person had been arrested in connection with mass killings in Kidyal village of Sabarkantha district on March 2. Criticising the Vajpayee government’s “continued silence” on atrocities against Palestinians, the party reiterated its demand that the Indian ambassador from Tel Aviv be recalled without further delay and the Israeli Ambassador in Delhi asked to return to that country. It also charged the US Government with adopting “dubious” stand by fully backing the Israeli
aggression and at the same time claiming to be striving for a settlement. |
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Sena to oppose Farooq's candidature Mumbai, April 20 “If Farooq is to be made the next President then what is wrong with Gen. Pervez Musharraf,” Sena supremo Bal Thackeray asked sarcastically. Though the Sena chief’s candid statement issued here has opposed Dr Abdullah’s bid for Presidency it did not reveal the party’s strategy for elections, slated to be held in July, to elect the successor to Mr K.R. Narayanan.
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Subba Rao re-elected BCI Chairman New Delhi, April 20 Mr Rao, who is from Vishakhapatnam, defeated Mr R.C. Jha (Bihar) by three votes. Mr Rao has been member of the council thrice and a former Mayor of Vishakhapatnam. Mr Adish C. Aggarwala , member of the Council, was today elected Vice-Chairman of the council. Mr Aggarwala, Delhi, defeated Mr Jai Singh (Madhya Pradesh) by three votes. Mr Aggarwala is a senior Central Government counsel in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court and has the unique distinction of having worked under seven successive governments at the Centre. He is also a prolific author. |
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Gangster
killed
Chennai, April 20 The encounter took place when the police jeep carrying the gangster to the police station following his arrest from a house in the city, overturned after hitting a road median. Taking advantage of the situation, Sanjay snatched the pistol of an Inspector and fled. When the police party chased him he opened fire, injuring five of them, the police said, adding that Sanjay was killed on the spot in the exchange of fire.
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No evaluators for computer science Sriganganagar, April 20 While the response from students — who opted for computers — has been overwhelming, the board is at its wits end on how to get the answersheets marked in the absence of experienced teachers and declare the results in time. Efforts were made to requisition the services of those studying advance computer levels in various private institutions in the state. This drew a flak from parents and students alike. Sources revealed that as per estimates, the board needs at least 600 evaluators to check the answersheets. The dismal computer education scenario in the state can be gauged from the fact that even if the board were to requisition the services of all instructors from the state, it would still leave a huge gap. The board authorities were forced to issue directions to its district-level officers to get in touch with Centre-run National Informatics Centre officials to do the needful. They were asked to prepare a list of candidates best qualified to evaluate the answersheets. Preference was to be given to those who had cleared or were about to clear their Postgraduation Diploma in Computer Application (PGDCA). But this exercise, too, did not come to the rescue of the authorities since the number of candidates so listed did not fulfil the requirements of the board. All this came to light on the first day of evaluation of answersheets on April 12 at Ajmer. At this centre alone, nearly 17, 000 copies were to be marked and the number of evaluators required was about 70. Only a fraction of the evaluators turned up at the venue. A majority among these were students as various computer institutions of the district. With the result, the targets could not be achieved. This in turn will reportedly have a fallout on the declaration of the results, the sources pointed out. The answersheets to be marked at Jaipur were 27, 000 and the checkers needed 110. Kota and Jodhpur needed 64 teachers each to mark 30, 000 answersheets. Bikaner needed 34 teachers to mark 8,500 copies. Faced with such a grim situation, the board authorities asked the NIC officials to take emergency measures to get the answersheets marked in time. This exercise was carried out by three
officials and the students of private institutions were roped in. Sources remarked that the reported beneficiaries in this whole episode will be those students who answered a fraction of the questionnaire. “The brief to the private evaluators was concise: all students were to be given passing marks irrespective of their attempt,” the sources alleged. |
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Over 2 lakh to appear for AIEEE New Delhi, April 20 Billed as the Indian version of the Scholastic Aptitude Test in the USA, the AIEEE would cater to the three courses offered in deemed universities, central institutions other than those covered by joint entrance examinations (JEE) and institutions in the states and union territories, Mr Rao told reporters here. The exam, to be held on May 19 at 396 centres spread across 65 cities for admission to 110 colleges in 14 states in almost 40 disciplines, would help fill 9,000 “Central quota” seats, Mr Rao added. The result of the AIEEE would be declared on June 25, Mr Rao said.
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