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Thursday,
October 10, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Trains
cancelled in Tamil Nadu Maya to
induct 50 new faces India to
make formal request for extradition Poll fair but ‘fear haunted voters’ Focus on Gujarat poll, Cong tells CMs |
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LeT’s
threat to disturb Durga Puja Indo-Libyan
joint session begins MPs
express concern over MiG crashes India, Oman for better defence ties Naval
team scales Mt Suitilla
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Trains cancelled in Tamil Nadu Chennai, October 9 The strike, drawing support from all political parties, including the DMK, was peaceful with no untoward incident reported. Train services were cancelled, and public transport, including buses, taxis and autorickshaws, were off the roads. Business establishments and educational institutions also remained closed. Attendance at the government and other offices was reported to be thin. The Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, in a statement, expressed her gratitude to the people of the state for the peaceful participation in the general strike. The Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, was in no mood to oblige the neighbouring state, reiterating his stand that the Supreme Court directive was “unimplementable”, but the rain god seemed to smile on Tamil Nadu, as a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal brought heavy rains in many parts of the state, including the parched Cauvery delta region. The meteorological department has announced there will be more rains in the next two or three days, and if the forecast turns out to be true, nature will have solved, at least for the current season, the Cauvery water problem that has defied any solution so far. Meanwhile, Tamil superstar Rajnikant, back from Rishikesh, has announced that he will not be joining the rally organised by the film industry in Neyveli on October 12, but will observe a fast in Chennai on that day in support of the cause. He had earned the displeasure of his peers with his refusal to join the Neyveli rally and with a suggestion for moving the venue to
Chennai. |
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SC ‘not empowered’ to decide Cauvery issue New Delhi, October 9 “The Supreme Court did not have the powers to adjudicate the river dispute under Section 11 of the Inter-State Rivers Act 1956,” Mr Jalappa told newspersons here. Mr
Jalappa, who mooted en masse resignation from the Lok Sabha if Karnataka did not get a fair deal on the Cauvery issue based on the reports of the Monitoring Committee, said: “We are guided by our Chief Minister on this issue. He has told us not to take a decision in a hurry and we abide by his advice.” He claimed that the Monitoring Committee of the CRA had conceded that the water available in Karnataka reservoirs was not enough to meet the irrigation and drinking needs. The state MPs had sought an appointment with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to convince him of the need to hold a meeting of the CRA which was the forum empowered to take an appropriate decision after considering the report of the CRA Monitoring Committee. |
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Maya to induct 50 new faces Lucknow, October 9 The indications emanating from the Chief Minister’s office is that Ms Mayawati does not want any independent legislator in her ministry. If these indications are found to be true, it could be curtains for Raghu Raj Pratap Singh and Harishankar Tiwari — both of whom have criminal records and are considered to be the confidantes of former Chief Minister Rajnath Singh. Both of them were Cabinet rank ministers in the Rajnath Singh government. Rumblings have started in the BJP and its allies’ camp as the D-day is approaching fast. BJP state President Vinay Katiyar and in charge of UP Affairs Kalraj
Mishra, who were in New Delhi finalising the list of probable candidates, have gone underground. Party spokesman Hridaya Narain
Dixit, who is also the BJP Vice-President, told The Tribune here today that the list had been finalised. He refused to elaborate, but said this time there would be new faces in the ministry. “There is no thumb rule that those who had served people as ministers in the last government would automatically find place in this expansion. New leaders will also find place this time,” he said. Mr Dixit was not sure whether or not the list of BJP candidates had already been given to the Chief Minister. “There is no problem on this count. The list can be given to her on the morning of October 11,” he
said. |
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India to make formal request for extradition New Delhi, October 9 The CBI, however, emphasised that the process of their extradition would take time as certain legal procedures would have to be adhered to. “An extradition request will go through our diplomatic channel very shortly. We are taking legal advice and discussions are being held at the highest level,” CBI Director P C Sharma told a press conference here. He said the Indian government had requested for the deportation of Salem, one of the prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blast case, but the Portuguese authorities, citing their laws, had asked for an extradition request “which will be made”. “We have no problem whether they are deported or extradited,” Mr Sharma said. Stressing that the Portuguese authorities were convinced that Salem was an Indian national, Mr Sharma said he was hopeful of his extradition considering the cooperation extended by that country.” “This is an exceptional instance of cooperation between the two countries. The Portuguese authorities at no stage have indicated wavering or any lack of effort to get at Salem,” he said. Dismissing media reports that the three-member CBI team had achieved nothing during its week-long visit to Lisbon last week, the CBI Director said “It would be unrealistic to expect that Salem would be brought back to India along with them. “Certain mandatory legal procedures have to be followed as cases have been registered against Salem and Monica in Portugal and are being tried there,” he said, adding “this will take some time.” He termed news reports as “untrue” that the USA was trying to block Salem’s extradition to India. “As far as US authorities are concerned, whenever we needed their cooperation in terms of exchange of information they have been more than willing. There cannot be better instance of cooperation than in this (Abu Salem) case,” he said. Commending the three-member CBI team led by Additional Director Vijay Shankar, which visited Lisbon, for its “achievements”, Mr Sharma said the team had a “complete understanding” of the Portuguese legal system and was examining the “areas of compatability” to get Salem. The CBI Director has termed as “significant” the reference of Abu Salem as an Indian National by the Lisbon authorities while informing India about his detention. |
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Poll fair but ‘fear haunted voters’ New Delhi, October 9 ISS Director George Matthew who has returned to the Capital after a study tour of Jammu and Kashmir told mediapersons here today that they cannot say that it was a free election simply because voters were not free to vote at many places because of fear and 12 years of militancy. According to the findings, fear was all-pervasive. “Nobody knew what would happen the next moment.” The team found that although electronic voting machines added novelty to the elections, voters had not received advance training on how to cast their votes on the EVMs. The team comprising social scientists, journalists, civil rights activists and ISS faculty-members and researchers covered all districts and visited 56 of the 87 constituencies. He drew attention to voters’ allegations about coercion by the security forces. “At several places, people complained that they were forced to vote by the security forces. We have reports that the BSF announced at 3 pm on September 16 on the public address system that only hour was left and people should vote. It was reported to the team that when people did not vote, the security forces went door to door asking them to come out. Some women showed the visiting team members scratches on the shoulder and men showed wounds and bleeding from the teeth. This was reported to them but nobody saw the security forces beat them up. At Kulangam in Kupwara district, we were told that the Army had announced that everyone would have to vote or face the consequences. These were isolated incidents and cannot be generalised,’’ he said. |
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Focus on Gujarat poll, Cong tells CMs New Delhi, October 9 Almost 60 of the 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat touch the border of these three states. With recent predictions giving an edge to the BJP in the forthcoming poll likely to be held by December, the Congress has decided to work harder and make its efforts better focused. The party has begun the process of identifying candidates. Sources said the party had already received about 1,800 applications for the poll and the Gujarat PCC would soon shortlist the candidates. The lists will be sent to the high command for final selection. Senior Gujarat Congress leaders, including PCC chief Shankersinh Vaghela, Ms Urmila Behn, Mr Amarsinh Chaudhary, Mr Narhari Amin and Mr Madhavinh Solanki, have held a series of meetings in Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Baroda in the past few days to finetune the party’s strategy. The high command has received detailed inputs from the observers it had sent to Gujarat for the assessment of the poll situation. These observers, who include ministers in the governments in the neighbouring states, were asked about details regarding the prospective candidates, local caste factors, population of weaker sections and the results of the past elections. In formulating its strategy for the elections, the Congress has taken stock of the large turnout in the gaurav yatra of Gujarat Chief Minster Narendra Modi and the situation in the state after the terrorist attack on the Akshardham temple. |
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LeT’s threat to disturb Durga Puja Kolkata October 9 The threat was conveyed over phone to Ananda Bazar Patrika, a Bengali daily published from Kolkata, yesterday by Abu Bakar who had introduced himself as a member of the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s action squad. Abu Bakar spoke in Urdu in a harsh voice and warned that if Abu Fuji and three other men, now under arrest in Kolkata, were not immediately released, they would launch “ merciless attacks” on the lives and properties of people in Bengal. Immediately after receiving the phone call, the Ananda Bazar Patrika authorities informed the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, and the Kolkata police chief, Mr Sujoy Chakraborty, about the matter. The CID and the central intelligence officials stationed here, soon contacted the Patrika office and enquired further details like the voice of the caller and such other particulars for investigation purposes. Incidentally, on January 22 last, a similar phone call was made to Ananda Bazar Patrika by a member of the Asif Reza Khan Commando force before the terrorist attack was made on the Kolkata American centre in which five policemen on duty had been gunned down. The Chief Minister said he had informed the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K.Advani, about the terrorist phone call to the Patrika office and sought the Centre’s help and assistance to properly deal with the terrorists, who were now much active in West Bengal and other areas in the north-eastern region. Mr Bhattacharjee said they were not taking lightly the threat received over phone and accordingly, the police and intelligence officials had been alerted. |
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Indo-Libyan joint session begins New Delhi, October 9 Mr Saad Mustafa Mujber, Minister of State for International Cooperation in the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is leading the 18-member Libyan delegation, is likely to have meetings with a number of Indian dignitaries. Yesterday the Libyan dignitary had a courtesy meeting with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Mr Ram Naik. |
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MPs express concern
over MiG crashes New Delhi, October 9 The MPs, expressing concern over the number of crashes which have occurred over the years, pointed out that even the first aircraft of the newly-raised upgraded MiG-21 Bison variant had crashed last month. Over the past four years 88 MiGs have crashed. The country has lost 26 pilots and over Rs 1,100 crore in loss of property. Raising the issue at the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Armed Forces’ quality assurances, the body which screens armament systems for safety and operationability, agitated members questioned the role of the Directorate General of Aeronautical assurances specially on the crashes of the upgraded versions. India has recently undertaken the upgradation of the MiG-21 BIS variant with Russian, Israel and indigenous effort and 125 fighters are being upgraded at a cost of more than Rs 500 crore. Members belonging to the Congress and other Opposition parties continued their boycott of the minister by staying away from the meeting. Only 13 out of the total of 32 members attended the consultative committee meeting which dwelt at length on steps to make sure that the country was receiving quality weapon systems and spares from abroad. |
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India, Oman for better defence ties New Delhi, October 9 An official announced here today that a decision had also been taken to create a formal structure so that all issues relating to defence cooperation between the two countries could be finalised. |
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Naval team scales
Mt Suitilla New Delhi, October 9 Lt Amit Pandey, Divesh Muni and Sherpa Nine Jorje climbed the peak located in the Ralan valley in Uttaranchal and a second summit attempt is planned in the next couple of days. The team, flagged off by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Madhvendra Singh, is expected back in the Capital on October 23. |
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