S P O T L I G H T

No surcharge
New Delhi, August 24
The government today said that there was no proposal to impose surcharge on excise and customs to meet additional expenditure in the wake of drought, which was unlikely to affect indirect tax collections targeted at Rs 1,36,334 crore this fiscal. “There is no such proposal on indirect taxes,” Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) chairman M.K. Zutshi told reporters when asked whether government was considering a surcharge on excise and custom duties. PTI 

Naroda Patia case
Ahmedabad, August 24
The city crime branch has filed charge sheets in the Naroda Patia and Naroda Gam cases wherein around 86 persons and eight persons were killed, respectively, in the violence following the Godhra carnage on February 27. In the supplementary charge sheet filed before a local court yesterday, the branch has named 14 more accused in Naroda Patia case, accusing them of rape, arson and massacre, the police said today. PTI

Pilot grilled
Bhopal, August 24
Central intelligence agencies and senior officers of the city police this morning interrogated a German citizen, Smith, who reached here this morning from Mumbai on a helicopter. Inclement weather forced Dr Smith to land his copter at Khedi Khanpura village in Khargone district yesterday. He was the sole occupant of the aircraft. Sometime after leaving Mumbai, the helicopter was reported to be missing. UNI

Mayawati meets PM
New Delhi, August 24
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and discussed the drought as well as political situation in the state. She demanded Rs 7,500 crore as drought relief for the state to which she got a positive response from the Prime Minister. Talking to newspersons after the meeting, Ms Mayawati said all districts of the state were reeling under severe drought. UNI

Islamic militant
Dushanbe, August 24
An Islamic militant from the banned Hizbi Tahrir party has been arrested in northern Tajikistan, the former Soviet republic’s Interior Ministry said on Saturday. The police in Khudzhand in Sogd region, said Tolib Ochilov, 44, had been detained for possessing 300 fundamentalist tracts and leaflets. AFP

Terror suspect
Riyadh, August 24
A Saudi national suspected of terror links by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has surrendered to Saudi security forces in Riyadh, his father said in press notes published today. Abdul Aziz al-Rasheed, father of Saud al-Rasheed, told Al-Riyadh newspaper that his 21-year-old son returned from vacation in Egypt on Thursday and immediately went to the security authorities. AFP