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Friday,
December 6, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Security
tightened for Dec 6 EC orders high alert in Gujarat Delhi SAD seeks aid for Punjab farmers |
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Brar seeks more funds
for farm research PDS failure: PM for all-party meeting NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT LS, RS adjourned for lack of quorum Cong MPs meet Mohsina Hoax bomb calls keep Mumbai cops on toes
Blackwill snubs separatists Putin
leaves for Kyrgyzstan
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Security
tightened for Dec 6 Lucknow, December 5 ADG (Law and Order) Vikram Singh told newspersons here yesterday that the administration was ready to meet any eventuality. Additional forces of paramilitary forces, RAF and PAC had been deployed at all sensitive districts, he said. Mr Vikram Singh, however, refused to identify as to how many districts had been declared sensitive in the state, but he said whereever the Muslims were in a sizeable number had been declared a sensitive district. This
year December 6 could be a trying time for the state administration
for two reasons — one, the day falls on Friday and, secondly, Id is
likely to fall on this day. Mr Vikram Singh said Muslims and Hindus
had already given a call for their programmes for December 6. Muslims
had decided to observe the day as ‘a day of mourning’ while the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had decided to celebrate this day as ‘shaurya
diwas’. SSPs of all sensitive districts had been asked to ensure maintenance of law and order on December 6, he said. As a precautionary measure, the entry of outsiders had been prevented Ayodhya with vehicular traffic being diverted via the national highway since morning. No outsider would be allowed to enter the twin city on December 6 and this restriction would continue till the next day, said a police officer. “This
step has been necessitated following the intelligence report of
terrorist attack in the Ram Janmabhoomi complex,” said a senior
police officer. There were reports that ISI had deputed a Fidayeen
team to target religious places in Ayodhya and Faizabad. PATNA
(PTI): A general alert has been sounded across Bihar in view of
the 10th anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition on Friday which is
likely to coincide with the Id festival, Director-General of Police
R.R. Prasad said on Thursday. The Deputy Inspectors-General of
Police (DIGs) and SPs were told to keep a strict vigil so that no
untoward incident occurred anywhere in the state, Mr Prasad said here. |
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MPs stage dharna on Babri issue New Delhi, December 5 While major opposition parties staged a sit-in dharna inside the Parliament House complex to observe the 10th year of Babri masjid demolition as communal harmony day and seek the “ouster” of those responsible for it from the government, the BJP lashed out at its political rivals for raking up the Ayodhya issue every year to inflame communal tension in the country. MPs belonging to the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the RJD and four Left parties staged an hour-long dharna near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi inside the complex and raised slogans denouncing the BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits for creating communal tension across the country. Observing the day as that of “national solidarity” and pledging to maintain and strengthen amity and harmony among the people, they resolved to fight “deliberate attempts” by these forces to divide the country along communal lines and sought ouster of the BJP from government. Among those present were former Prime Minister
H.D. Deve Gowda (JD-S), Congress leaders Shivraj Patil and P.R.
Dasmunshi, CPM MPs Somnath Chatterjee, Basudeb Acharia and Hannan
Mollah, Samajwadi Party MPs Ramjilal Suman, Lok Janashakti leader Ramvilas
Paswan, RJD MPs Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and RSP’s Abani Roy. Recalling Babri masjid’s demolition at Ayodhya on December 6,1992, agitated Samajwadi Party members stormed the well in the Lok Sabha disrupting question hour for nearly 15 minutes. In the Rajya Sabha, opposition members drew the attention of the chair to the dharna staged at the main gate of Parliament. A day ahead of the 10th anniversary of the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya, Babri Masjid Reconstruction Front
(BMRF) sought President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s intervention for the “rebuilding” of the mosque at the original site. |
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EC orders high alert in Gujarat New Delhi, December 5 The directive came after the commission reviewed the situation in the run-up to the poll in Gujarat. “As you are, no doubt, aware that the tenor and character of the election process that is unfolding in the state is such that it makes December 6 a very important day from the point of the state administration maintaining law and order effectively throughout the state and ensure that no untoward incidents occur,” Chief Election Commissioner
J.M. Lyngdoh told mediapersons. Deputy Election Commissioner A.N.
Jha, in his letter to the Chief Secretary of the Gujarat Government, has said the commission “desires that all organs in charge of maintenance of law and order in the state be placed on high alert and senior officials personally supervise all arrangements that require to be put in place to achieve this end.” Elaborating on the deployment of paramilitary forces for the conduct of elections, Mr Jha said 200 companies of Central paramilitary forces had been put in place since November 22. Another 158 companies would be reaching the state tomorrow. This, he said, was in addition to the 76 companies of the state paramilitary forces. |
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Delhi SAD seeks aid for Punjab farmers New Delhi, December 5 In a letter to the Chief Minister, Jathedar Talwandi questioned the decision of the previous Badal government in waiving electricity and water charges which not only left the coffers of the state empty but also sent a negative message abroad, particularly to the World Bank. This had hurt the pride of the farmer of Punjab who is reputed internationally as hard working and honest. “It is still a mystery whether the so-called relief measure by the former government had benefited anybody”, the Jathedar said in the letter. “The innocent farmer of the most prosperous state was forced to be identified as a beggar”, the letter said. Jathedar Talwandi said in the letter that by providing an additional Rs 10 per quintal incentive to farmers it would not only help restore their hurt pride but also help stiffle the criticism by opposition parties. The farmers, who are the backbone of the state’s economy would be grateful to him if he does this. The president of the Delhi Shiromani Akali Dal appealed to the Chief Minister to take decision in this regard at the earliest so that the farmers could celebrate Baisakhi with traditional
fervour. |
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Brar seeks more funds
for farm research New Delhi, December 5 Participating in the discussion on the plight of farmers in the Lok Sabha yesterday, Mr Brar, who was the first speaker from the Congress on the issue, spoke in Punjabi for about 40 minutes. He said it was for the first time that a speech in Punjabi in the House was being fully translated as a translator had been provided due to efforts of former Speaker GMC Balayogi. Raising the problems of farmers in Punjab and other parts of the country, Mr Brar said the cost of agriculture production was rising
continuously. Extensively quoting statistics and reports, he said the cost of paddy production had gone up from Rs 375 per quintal some years back to Rs 735 per quintal now. Seeking reimbursement of Rs 3,200 crore spent by the Punjab Government in ensuring good crops despite drought, he said the Centre should help the state’s efforts at diversification by giving it financial help. He urged the Centre to take up on priority the project for linking of rivers and address the concerns of farmers regarding WTO. Accusing the NDA government of lacking a clear policy on agriculture, he said rural unemployment was increasing. The debt on farmers had gone up to Rs 6,000 crore. One of the disturbing trend, he said, was the unemployed youth taking to drugs, specially in the rural areas. He disagreed with the Kelkar Committee’s suggestion that the 8per cent excise duty should be imposed on diary products. |
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PDS failure: PM for all-party meeting New Delhi, December 5 Announcing this in the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister, however, asserted that all deaths in many parts of the country were not due to hunger. Intervening during Question Hour, the Prime Minister said the reports that all deaths under such circumstances were caused by hunger, were not true. “The issue has been raised in both Houses that when we have enough foodgrains, why are people still dying. I am ready to call an all-party meeting on this issue and would like the members’ cooperation,” he added. |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, December 5 A total of 7,363 projects (provisional figure) in Punjab were financed under the Rural Employment Generation Scheme as on March 31, 2002 to set up rural industries, informed Mr Kariya Munda, Minister for Agro and Rural Industries. The minister told the Rajya Sabha that 3,509 projects in Haryana, 1,068 projects in Himachal Pradesh, 5,754 projects in Jammu and Kashmir and 139 projects in Chandigarh were financed. Regarding the consequent employment generated, he told the House that it was 0.72 lakh in Punjab, 0.54 lakh in Haryana, 0.19 lakh in Himachal Pradesh and 0.41 lakh in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr B.C. Khanduri, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, told the House that the funds allocated for maintenance and repair of national highways during 2002 was Rs 1,958.87 lakh to Punjab, Rs 74 lakh to Chandigarh, Rs 1,379.87 lakh to Haryana, Rs 1,514 lakh to Himachal Pradesh and Rs 172.44 lakh to Jammu and Kashmir. Providing details about the allocation of foodgrains under the Midday Meal Scheme for poor children and Annapoorna Yojana for senior citizens from economically weaker sections, the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Mr U.V. Krishnam Raju, informed the Rajya Sabha that in Punjab, the offtake of wheat was 900 tonnes against the allotment of 52.990 tonnes (April, 1999, to March, 2000) under the Middy Meal Scheme, in Haryana while the rice offtake was 12.920 tonnes, the wheat offtake was 21.32 lakh tonnes and in Himachal Pradesh the offtake was 14.020 tonnes for wheat . Providing the current daily status of unemployment rates (per cent of labour force), the minister informed the House that it was 3.7 (rural) and 4.9 (urban) in Punjab, 4.7 (urban) and 4.5 (urban) in Haryana and 2.4 (rural) and 7.8 (urban) in Himachal Pradesh. Providing details of the train inquiry system in various states, Mr Bandaru Dattatraya , Minister of State for Railways, told the House that there were six stations in Punjab, three in Haryana and one in Jammu and Kashmir which had the system. |
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LS, RS adjourned for lack of quorum New Delhi, December 5 The issue of quorum came into question in the Lok Sabha in the afternoon during a division on a private members’ Bill. Deputy Speaker P. M. Sayeed observed that since the MP, Adityanath was not present to withdraw his amendment Bill as was being requested by Law Minister Jana Krishnamurthy, a division was necessary as mandated by the rules. Before voting could take place, Mr Sayeed observed that since there was no quorum, the division would have to wait until private members’ business was again taken up by the House. He adjourned the House till Monday. Earlier, business in Rajya Sabha collapsed in the post-lunch session for want of quorum. |
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Cong MPs meet Mohsina New Delhi, December 5 All eight Congress MPs told Mrs Kidwai that the PPCC should be shaped keeping in view the Lok Sabha elections. Sources said some of the MPs complained that they were “let down” in the formation of the PPCC and names given by them were not included. Mrs Kidwai said their concerns would be addressed. |
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Hoax bomb calls keep Mumbai cops on toes Mumbai, December 5 The police said the MSEB evacuated its headquarters building ‘Prakashgad’ after it received a call around 11 am, warning of an explosive being placed on the premises. However, extensive search of the building with the help of sniffer dogs revealed that the call was a hoax. The neighbouring Metropolitan Magistrates’ court also had to suspend its activities for a brief period following a call that bomb was planted in the vicinity, which subsequently turned out to be a hoax again. “We cordoned off the entire area, which is located near the crowded Bandra station. Sniffer dogs were also used to ensure that no explosives could go unnoticed. The search was called off after four hours,” the police said. Students of St Lawrence School in suburban Borivali were also asked to evacuate the premises this morning after the school authorities received an anonymous call, warning of a bomb planted in the school building. The call, however, turned out to be a false one. Two more hoax calls were also received by the police about a bomb being planted in a bus on the Dadar-Wadala route and the National Stock Exchange at the Bandra-Kurla complex in central Mumbai, the police added. PTI |
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Blackwill snubs separatists New Delhi, December 5 Adding insult to injury to pro-Pakistan elements, Mr Blackwill unequivocally condemned terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir and said the international campaign against terrorism was incomplete unless the issue was addressed in the state. Mr Blackwill did not bother about becoming probably the first US diplomat visiting Jammu and Kashmir to have cold-shouldered the separatists. Further, rubbing salt into the wounds of pro-Pakistan elements, Mr Blackwill chose to get a briefing on militants’ activities from the Army corps. He also visited several forward posts in the volatile northern Kashmir region. |
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Putin leaves for Kyrgyzstan New Delhi, December 5 During the visit, Mr Putin supported India’s stand that Pakistan should end infiltration and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure. |
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Kalam greets people on Id New Delhi, December 5 |
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