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Saturday,
August 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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SPECIAL STORY
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Copters,
sensors to rescue Nagappa: Advani
Gupta
murder case: Khurana blames Sajjan Red Fort
shoot-out accused seeks bail Jaya unstable, say Cong CMs
NCM invites Christian, Sikh leaders for talks Special
cell to deal with poachers Kalam
meets students from Tamil Nadu Once water-logged, now cultivable
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SPECIAL STORY New Delhi, August 30 Intelligence reports forwarded to the Centre by the Army point to the ISI operators having infiltrated the Rongmia community in a major way. Their movement back to Myanmar from Bangladesh, where the community had migrated some years ago, is expected to give a spurt to the smuggling activities further complicating the matters for the security forces fighting the militant groups in the North-East. The members of the Rongmia community, who follow Islam, are being exploited by the ISI operators and their handlers to ensure the movement of arms, ammunition and narcotics to the separatist organisations in the North-East through the porus Tamu-Morah border in Manipur which runs along Myanmar also. The Centre has been informed that Manipur has emerged as the most strategic location for the ISI to redirect its activities in India. With Jammu and Kashmir under focus of the international community, the ISI is now directing its operators to revive terrorism in the North-East. The Army says the Rongmia community youth and ISI operators, who have infiltrated the community, are proving to be ready recruits to channel arms from the South Asian arms bazar into Myanmar and onwards into Manipur. The members of the community still in Bangladesh are being used to forward “goods” to those in Myanmar for onward movement into Manipur. There is a fear that the dormant militancy in the North-East could assume alarming proportions as a result of smuggling of arms, ammunition and narcotics through the strategically located Tamu and Morah. It is felt that not only will the narcotics be used to provide money to the separatist organisations but the local population could also get addicted to it. Reports forwarded to the Centre say that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur has been trying to create political space through one of its wings, the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), which has developed strong ties with the People’s United Liberation Front (PULF). The cause of the minority community is strongly
propagated by the PULF in the Imphal valley. A disturbing trend which is becoming evident is that the local youth who belong to these organisations are increasingly being projected to meet the requirements of the ISI handlers. The local youth under pressure from the ISI operators have got involved not only in the arms and ammunition smuggling but also in espionage activities, which are far removed from the original charter of the separatist groups. The Army suspects that a large number of youth have been reporting to the ISI operators especially in regard to the current Indo-Pak stand-off on the borders. |
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Red Fort shoot-out accused seeks bail New Delhi, August 30 In his interim bail plea before Additional Sessions Judge MS Sabbarwal, Alam, a resident of Okhla here, said he wanted to visit his wife who was admitted to G B Pant Hospital following cardiac problems. The court will take up the matter on September 4. The court had on August 26 granted one-month interim bail to another accused Shanshah Alam of Meerut on a similar ground. Three other accused - Rajiv Kumar Malhotra, Mool Chand Sharma and Devender Kumar - are already on bail. Earlier, the court had on August 14 rejected the bail plea of Alam and two other accused - Nazir Ahmad Quasid and his son Farooq Ahmad Quasid (both from Srinagar) on the ground that the allegations against them were of a serious nature. In all 11 persons, including the seven mentioned above and Pakistani national Ashfaq, are facing trial in the case in which a two-member Lashkar-e-Toiba squad had stormed the 17th century historic monument here.
PTI |
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Jaya unstable, say Cong CMs New Delhi, August 30 In a statement 14 Congress Chief Ministers said Ms Jayalalithaa’s “cheap jibe” emanated from the insecurity of her position, as her name was yet to be cleared of serious corruption charges, which had compelled her to step down as Chief Minister not too long ago. In a separate statement senior party leaders, including Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Arjun Singh, Ms Ambika Soni, Mr Gulam Nabi Azad, Mr Kamal Nath, Mr Motilal Vora, Ms Mohsina Kidwai, Mr Mukul Wasnik, Mr Oscar Fernandes, Mr Pranab Mukerjee, Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha, Mr R.K. Dhawan, Mr Shivraj Patil and Mr Vyalar Ravi, said Mrs Sonia Gandhi was the undisputed leader of the Congress and the party would get a decisive mandate from the people to form government at the Centre in the next General Election. “In her anxiety to curry favour with the ruling BJP-led-government at the Centre to extricate herself from various criminal cases, she has made these observations,” the leaders said in a statement. They said Ms Jayalalithaa had forgotten that she had already extended support to the Congress led by Mrs Sonia Gandhi in 1999 and so her assertion that she never supported Mrs Gandhi for prime ministership was totally baseless. The Congress also released a letter written by the AIADMK leader on April 21, 1999, to the then President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, extending her party’s support to “a government to be formed by the Congress led by Mrs Sonia Gandhi” as clinching proof to expose her “falsehood” on the issue. Releasing copies of the letter and a resolution passed by the AIADMK and signed by the then parliamentary Party Leader S.R. Muthaiah in response to Ms Jayalalithaa’s claim that she had never supported Mrs Gandhi as Prime Minister, Congress chief spokesman Jaipal Reddy said, “she is trying to mislead the nation. She is trying to deny history by making a somersault.” She thought she would get away with it so we have come forward with the evidence to prove her falsehood.’’ Terming Ms Jayalalithaa as a “novice in national politics and an Alice in Wonderland of New Delhi,” Mr Reddy said that her one-point programme was to get the support of the Central Government to extricate herself from the criminal cases pending against her. |
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Sonia: SCs getting raw deal New Delhi, August 30 “Ever since non-Congress governments came to power at the Centre and in states, atrocities are rising against SCs STs and other weaker sections of society. The mindset of the people against weaker sections must be removed for their all round development,” Ms Gandhi told a national seminar on SCs and STs at the AICC headquarters here. The seminar, which was supposed to be held on January 30 but was put off due to Gujarat violence, was organised by the AICC’s SC/ST department to discuss problems faced by the community. Senior party leaders, including Manmohan Singh, Arjun Singh, Ambika Soni, Mohsina Kidwai, Pranab Mukherjee, Kamal Nath and Chief Ministers Ajit Jogi, Digvijay Singh and Ashok Gehlot attended the seminar, besides SC/ST office-bearers of the party from all over the country. Ms Gandhi said successive Congress governments under Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had taken several measures for the uplift of SCs, STs and other weaker sections and she herself had directed 14 Congress-ruled states to implement all programmes related to them effectively.
PTI |
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Copters, sensors to rescue Nagappa: Advani New Delhi, August 30 The assurance was given to a
JD (U) delegation, led by Union Minister Sharad Yadav, which met Mr Advani here to seek his intervention for the release of their leader and for proper security to other party leaders. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Mr Yadav said Mr Advani promised to provide all necessary assistance to the states in tracking down the sandalwood smuggler and rescuing Mr Nagappa. “Mr Advani told us that the Centre will provide helicopters, surveillance equipment, sensors and commando forces,” senior
JD (U) Vice-President and Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka Vijay
Mallya, who was also a part of the delegation, said. TNS |
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Gupta murder case: Khurana blames Sajjan New Delhi, August 30 Mr Khurana said as per his information, which he had passed on to Delhi Police Commissioner R.S. Gupta this morning, Mr Atma Ram Gupta had allegedly accepted a Rs 5-crore pay-off from transporters to end toll tax in Delhi. This amount was allegedly kept with Mrs Sharda Jain, with whom Mr Gupta allegedly had an intimate relationship. With the Supreme Court recently ordering that trucks not destined for Delhi should not enter the Capital, the transporters were pestering Mr Gupta to return the money. The police should investigate this angle also and not just go by Sharda’s confessional statement that she got Mr Gupta killed out of jealousy following his growing relationship with fellow corporator Memwati Barwal, Mr Khurana said while addressing a day-long dharna of the all-India BJP Mahila Morcha here. Alleging that several other Congress leaders were also involved with Sharda Jain, Mr Khurana said the name of senior party leader Sajjan Kumar had been taken by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit herself. Defending the allocation of the party ticket to Sharda to fight the Municipal Corporation of Delhi poll this year, Ms Dikshit had reportedly said her name was recommended by Mr Sajjan Kumar. “My information is that Mr Sajjan Kumar also had links with Sharda Jain. The names of three or four other Congress corporators would also come out in the next few days. The police should look into all these angles also,’’ said Mr Khurana, who is the Delhi Pradesh BJP president and former Chief Minister. Mr Khurana said the police should also look into the reported statement made by Mr Gupta’s son that a Congress leader prevented him and the police from going to a particular spot while searching for the corporator, who was missing for four days before Sharda allegedly confessed to having him killed.
UNI |
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NCM invites
Christian, Sikh leaders for talks New Delhi, August 30 NCM Vice-Chairperson Tarlochan Singh told TNS here today that he had written a letter to the Vice-President of the Archbishop Council of India, Vincent M.
Concessao, the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in India, Rev Dr Ipe Joseph, inviting them for a meeting with the SGPC. Acting on news reports and petitions, Mr Tarlochan Singh had earlier written to the aforesaid councils to “desist from conversion to avoid tension
between two minority communities.” |
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Special
cell to deal with poachers Hardwar, August 30 It is to be mentioned that forest personnel had nabbed two smugglers, having links with Sansar Chand, a notorious international smuggler, here on August 25. On a tip-off, when the forest officials, led by the Forest Minister, raided the showroom of a local businessman, an unruly crowd of the businessmen assaulted the raid party, injuring some forest personnel land mediapersons. The incident sent alarm bells ringing in the Forest Department. The Forest Minister said the special cell would comprise the forest personnel and the civil police. |
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Kalam meets
students from Tamil Nadu New Delhi, August 30 According to a press note issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan, Dr Kalam told the students that the nation needs to focus on five fundamental needs in order to attain the status of a developed nation. These include education and healthcare, agriculture and food processing, communication and Information Technology, infrastructure like roads, power and drinking water and critical technologies. He asked the students to work hard in order to progress. Speaking about faster economic progress, the President said that there was need for a national vision. Citing examples of tele-medicine, tele-education and E-commerce, Dr Kalam said IT ought to be applied to various fields to make it effective and useful to people. |
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Once water-logged, now cultivable Hanumangarh, August 30 About 20 years ago due to seepage in the area, the problem of water-logging had arisen, but the untiring efforts of the cultivators of the area now are proving fruitful. In the beginning on an experiment basis such vegetation was produced which could grow in the affected land and bring back the fertility. Sources in the irrigation office in the subdivision revealed that the impurities from the water had been removed to a great extent. Earlier the impurity level was 26 decca electrical conducting per one lakh unit, which had now come down to 9.6 decca per one lakh unit. About 2,150 hectares has been saved from water logging. The sources said now the cotton, mustard, wheat crops could be grown over the land. A bridge is to be constructed over the outlet, which hopefully would be completed by the end of the current financial year. After this the project would be handed over to the Water Logging Provision Committee. |
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