N A T I O N

ISI has shifted base to
Bangladesh: DGP
Lucknow, December 3
The arrest of two ISI agents, one of them a Bangladeshi national, from the city has confirmed that the Pakistan is now using Bangladesh to “smuggle” terror in India, said the Director-General of Uttar Pradesh, Mr R.M. Shukla.

Shah Rukh turns hostile in Bharat Shah case
Mumbai, December 3
Film actor Shah Rukh Khan was today declared “hostile” in a case of alleged Bollywood nexus with the underworld as he denied that Abu Salem had called him on his cell phone to act in his movie.

Activists of Greenpeace keep put up a midnight candle vigil in memory of the dead of the 1984 gas disaster at the memorial outside the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on Monday night. — PTI In video (28k, 56k)

An NSG commando team, which flew in from New Delhi, inspects an explosive device surrounded by sandbags before defusing it. The explosive was recovered from a state bus terminal in Mumbai on Monday night. — PTI

A doctor attends to an injured bus passenger at a hospital in Mumbai on Tuesday. At least three persons were killed and 27 seriously injured when a bomb exploded in a bus in Mumbai on Monday, officials said. — Reuters

Mobile service in J&K to begin soon
New Delhi, December 3
The Centre has agreed to start mobile phone service in Jammu and Kashmir in the next few months and give Rs 130-crore financial assistance to enable the state government to overcome the acute power crisis during winter.

Lankan delegation meets Sinha
New Delhi, December 3
A high-level delegation of Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Mr Anura Bandarnaike, parliamentarian and senior adviser to President Chandrika Kumaratunga on national integration, has apprised External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha of the current political situation in the island country.

NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT
PU pension scheme proposal rejected
New Delhi, December 3
The proposal of a pension scheme forwarded by Panjab University for its employees has not been accepted by the Ministry of Finance (Department of Expenditure), Ms Rita Verma, Minister of State for Human Resource Development informed the Lok Sabha today.

Khushwant releases book on Khalsa Sikhs
New Delhi, December 3
The Oxford University Press (OUP), India, yesterday contributed to the treasure of knowledge on Sikh history with the release of “Sikhs of the Khalsa”. Authored by Prof Hew McLeod of the University of Otago, New Zealand, the book was released by noted author, columnist and veteran journalist Khushwant Singh at a function at India International Centre here last evening. The book is priced at Rs 695.

Govt refutes US report on AIDS
New Delhi, December 3
The government yesterday refuted the reports of US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates who had recently claimed that by 2010 the number of HIV cases in India would be about 25 million.

Indo-US steering group meeting today
New Delhi, December 3
The seventh meeting of the Indo-US Executive Steering Group (ESG) to strengthen military-to-military cooperation between the two countries will be held at Honolulu from tomorrow.

Video

Aparna Sen's "Mr & Mrs. Iyer," about a Hindu-Muslim love affair set in the backdrop of religious riots following the demolition of Babri Mosque, gets ready for release. (28k, 56k)

ISI has shifted base to Bangladesh: DGP
Our Correspondent

Lucknow, December 3
The arrest of two ISI agents, one of them a Bangladeshi national, from the city has confirmed that the Pakistan is now using Bangladesh to “smuggle” terror in India, said the Director-General of Uttar Pradesh, Mr R.M. Shukla.

Senior police officials, however, confirmed that the way Bangladesh corridor was being used by the ISI to push its agents into India, was a clear signal that Pakistan had opened a new front against India.

The special task force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh police arrested two ISI agents — Momur Rashid, a Bangladeshi national, and his Indian accomplice Jafar Nayeem — yesterday. At least 11 fake Indian passports, brown sugar and maps of ISI training camps, situated in Chittagong in Bangladesh, were recovered from them.

The DGP claimed that the agents were in touch with a Pakistani national, Faiyaaz, who was posted in Pakistani Embassy in Bangladesh. Both of them had said that “they were working for Faiyaaz”, said the DGP.

Highly placed sources said the police had got information that the Pakistan was using Bangladesh to transport terror in India via Uttar Pradesh. “This fact came to light following the arrest of two ISI agents in Kanpur recently who had claimed that they were in touch with their operator through the Guwahati route,” said the police officer.

Earlier, the ISI used to operate through the porous Indo-Nepal border. But after the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu it started its operation through Bangladesh, said the sources.

The state government had ordered checking of Bangladeshi nationals who had overstayed in India. the DGP added.

Shah Rukh turns hostile in Bharat Shah case

Mumbai, December 3
Film actor Shah Rukh Khan was today declared “hostile” in a case of alleged Bollywood nexus with the underworld as he denied that Abu Salem had called him on his cell phone to act in his movie. “I have heard of Abu Salem. He is an underworld don but I had not received any calls from him to act in his movie,” he told the court of designated judge A.P. Bhangale.

He had told the police earlier that Salem had called him on his cell phone asking him to act in his film. The actor denied that film financier Bharat Shah had gifted him a posh bungalow at Bandra in suburban Mumbai. PTI

Mobile service in J&K to begin soon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 3
The Centre has agreed to start mobile phone service in Jammu and Kashmir in the next few months and give Rs 130-crore financial assistance to enable the state government to overcome the acute power crisis during winter.

Sources said this was decided at a series of meetings state Chief Minister Mufti Mohamed Sayeed held in Delhi with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other Central ministers. The Centre had also agreed to give Rs 25 crore for the rehabilitation of migrants.

The Rs 130-crore assistance will help the state to meet the expenses for running gas turbines to streamline power supply in the state, sources said.

At his meeting with Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan today, the Chief Minister demanded special package of Rs 65 crore for development of information technology in the state.

Lankan delegation meets Sinha
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 3
A high-level delegation of Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Mr Anura Bandarnaike, parliamentarian and senior adviser to President Chandrika Kumaratunga on national integration, has apprised External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha of the current political situation in the island country. The Sri Lankan delegation also shared with Mr Sinha its perception of the SLFP on the ongoing peace process, according to Foreign Office spokesman Navtej Sarna. Mr Sinha assured the Sri Lankan MPs of India’s commitment to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

The other members of the delegation were Dr Sarath Amunugama, MP and Special Advisor to President on Rural affairs and water management, and Mr Mangala Samarweera, MP, treasurer of SLFP and chief Opposition whip.

NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT
PU pension scheme proposal rejected
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 3
The proposal of a pension scheme forwarded by Panjab University for its employees has not been accepted by the Ministry of Finance (Department of Expenditure), Ms Rita Verma, Minister of State for Human Resource Development informed the Lok Sabha today.

The Central assistance under an education scheme given to Punjab during the Ninth Plan was Rs 129.21 lakh, Rs 74.10 lakh to Haryana, Rs 280.55 lakh to Himachal Pradesh and Rs 79.86 lakh to Chandigarh. During the current financial year (up to November 26), the grant released to Chandigarh was Rs 91.40 lakh, she told the House.

Madarsas: Regarding the amount disbursed as grant for madarsas Ms Verma told the House that Rs 36,000 were given to Chandigarh during 2001-02.

UGC grants: On a query about UGC grants paid to various colleges , she informed that 10 colleges in Delhi, five each in Punjab and Haryana and three colleges in Himachal Pradesh were paid grants by the UGC during 2001-02 under plan and non plan schemes. The universities covered in Punjab were Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Rs 1,212.64 lakh), Panjab University, Chandigarh, (Rs 1,397 lakh), PAU, Ludhiana, (Rs 1.66 lakh), Punjabi University, Patiala, (Rs 311.42 lakh) and Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, (Rs 256.37 lakh).

Rural Development: Minister of State for Rural Development Subhash Maharia told the House that project proposals of Rs 7,553.27 crore have so far been cleared under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY).

Rural water supply: Regarding the status of coverage of habitations under the rural water supply scheme, the Minister of State for Rural Development, Mr Annasaheb M.K. Patil, told the House that till November 12, the number of habitations not covered was 1,433 in Punjab, 1,709 in J&K and 921 in HP. As many as 9,867 habitations in Punjab, 6,697 in Haryana, 34,833 in HP and 5,899 in J&K were covered.

Central paramilitary forces costs: Minister of State for Home Affairs Vidyasagar Rao told the House that the outstanding Central Paramilitary Forces deployment costs were Rs 29,93,238,847 for Punjab and Rs 43,84,15101 for Haryana.

Science and Technology: Providing details about the funds given by the Science and Society Division as grants to voluntary organisations, Mr Bachi Singh Rawat, Minister of State for Science and Technology told the House under this Haryana got Rs 14.62 lakh, Himachal got Rs 20.35 lakh and Jammu and Kashmir got Rs 8 lakh in 2001-02.

Khushwant releases book on Khalsa Sikhs
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 3
The Oxford University Press (OUP), India, yesterday contributed to the treasure of knowledge on Sikh history with the release of “Sikhs of the Khalsa”. Authored by Prof Hew McLeod of the University of Otago, New Zealand, the book was released by noted author, columnist and veteran journalist Khushwant Singh at a function at India International Centre here last evening. The book is priced at Rs 695.

Speaking on the occasion, Khushwant Singh described Professor McLeod as one of the most prolific and scholarly authority on Sikh history. He said while Professor McLeod’s views could be commented upon or questioned, anybody who differed with the author’s views would have to do an equal amount of scholarship. He termed the “Sikhs of the Khalsa” as a very definitive view on the subject. The Director of the National Institute of Punjabi Studies, Mr Mohinder Singh, said he was very happy to organise Professor McLeod’s lecture on Sikhs in New Zealand.

Govt refutes US report on AIDS
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 3
The government yesterday refuted the reports of US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates who had recently claimed that by 2010 the number of HIV cases in India would be about 25 million.

“The threat of AIDS is not only serious but deadly. However, we do not accept the figures as quoted by Mr Blackwill,” Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha said in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha and added that the estimated figures were exaggerated.

The World Bank report had estimated that the number of HIV cases in India would be 10.9 million by 2024 if the present preventive measures of the government continued, he said.

Indo-US steering group meeting today
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 3
The seventh meeting of the Indo-US Executive Steering Group (ESG) to strengthen military-to-military cooperation between the two countries will be held at Honolulu from tomorrow.

A delegation, led by Lt Gen S.S. Chahal, Director-General Military Operations (DGMO), who is the co-chairman of the ESG, left for Hawai today to participate in the three-day meeting.

NATIONAL BRIEFS

11 INSURGENTS SURRENDER
MOKOKCHUNG (NAGALAND): Altogether 11 hardcore underground cadres belonging to different factions surrendered before Brig N N Madappa, Deputy Inspector General, Nagaland range (North), on Tuesday. Four NSCN (IM), five NSCN (K) and two Naga National Council (NNC) members deposited one M-22 rifle, three US made carbines, one AK-56, one AK-47, one US made machine gun, two 9 mm automatic rifles and two .303 rifles, besides large quantity of ammunition. Brigadier Madappa also distributed Rs 1,04,481 to the cadres on behalf the Union and state governments. UNI

5 WOMEN AGENTS ARRESTED
BARASAT (WB): Five agents of a city-based investment company have been arrested by the police here for duping investors to the tune of several crores. The owner of the company, a resident of Madhyamgram Sreenagar in North 24 Parganas district, has been absconding after closing down the company’s registered office in Kolkata, the police said on Monday night. UNI

WOMAN KILLED BY TUSKERS
DEHRA DUN: A woman was killed and another injured when they were attacked by elephants in Shyampur range of Rajaji Park here, forest officials said on Tuesday. Neelo Devi was cutting grass in the area when she was attacked by elephants on Monday, officials said, adding she later succumbed to her injuries. Another woman was also injured in the attack. PTI

ASIANET REPORTER DIES IN ROAD MISHAP
KOZHIKODE: A reporter of private Malayalam TV channel Asianet was killed and three others injured when the car in which they were travelling collided with a truck at the NH near Neeleswaram, early Tuesday. P. Surendran (48), better known as Surendran Neeleswaram, was with Asianet in Kasaragod. He is survived by his wife and two children. UNI

ULTRAS’ PLAN FOILED
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu police on Tuesday claimed to have aborted plans of a newly formed fundamentalist group, the Muslim Defence Force, to assassinate some important Tamil Nadu leaders and also plant bombs in some temples in the state, following arrests of nine militants. The group was funded by an Islamic fundamentalist outfit based in a Gulf country. PTI

BABRI ISSUE: OPPN TO PROTEST ON DEC 15
NEW DELHI: The Congress said on Tuesday that it would continue to agitate on the issue of Babri Masjid demolition at Ayodhya to remind the people about the “crime committed by the BJP” on that day. MPs of major Opposition parties, including the Congress, would hold a sit-in in the Parliament House complex on Thursday to protest against the demolition of Babri Masjid. TNS

KETAN PAREKH GETS BAIL
MUMBAI: Tainted stockbroker Ketan Parekh, held for his alleged involvement in last year’s Rs 120 crore scam at the Calcutta Stock Exchange, was on Tuesday released on bail by a local court against the sum of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of the like amount. In a related development, Parekh was admitted to a Mumbai hospital as he fainted at the domestic airport when he was being taken by the police to Kolkata. PTI