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Monday,
December 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Train mishap: sabotage or fault?
CPM workers gherao Nitish’s car VHP groping for emotive issue: Babri panel |
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Editors Guild seeks B’desh scribe’s release BJP national executive meeting today
Cops high on militants’ list Security along border
beefed up 18 die of cold in Bihar Indian extradited to Canada to stand trial Govt allays fears on oil shortage Naga leaders get Indian passports Kolkata fire a case of ‘sabotage’ Cop in CBI net for forging Advani’s letters |
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Train mishap: sabotage or fault? Ramlingayapalli (AP), December 22 “It is a planned act of a Naxalite group”. The track was cut using hacksaw blades and the damaged portion was covered with a piece of cloth,” South Central Railway General Manager S.M. Singla said. Four or five hacksaw blades were found near the track, he said, adding that the iron filings found under the tracks of the accident site were smooth. Had it been a normal break, its texture would have been granule, he added. Police sources said a fault in the newly laid track could have led to the mishap. They said no group had claimed responsibility for it. Official sources said the police intelligence had said it could be an act of a Naxalite group. The track repair was suspended following the controversy and a forensic experts’ team collected fresh samples of metallic powder of the tracks and the damaged rails this morning. An official of the forensic team from Secunderabad said a chemical analysis and simulation test of the powder could throw light on the cause of the mishap. HASANABAD (BENGAL): Railway Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday refuted the reports of sabotage in the train accident. “One cannot say within minutes that sabotage is the cause of the accident. It may be a suspected sabotage,” he told reporters here, adding, “Accidents can be classified in several ways.” “The accident occurred following derailment, the causes of which are under investigation,” he clarified, denying that his deputy Bangaru Dattatreya had cited sabotage as the cause behind the mishap. “The matter is under investigation with the Railway Safety Commissioner and forensic experts are engaged in their jobs,” he said.
PTI, UNI |
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CPM workers gherao Nitish’s car Kolkata, December 22 The Congress also held demonstrations separately against the minister. The Trinamool Congress which fought tooth and nail against the bifurcation did not organise any demonstration against the minister. Mr Nitish Kumar was at Belur Math in the morning to lay the foundation stone of a station and inaugurated a station building. The station will have a direct link of about 2.46 km from Howrah via Liluah. A sum of Rs 99.76 lakh will be spent on the laying of the line. When the minister’s convoy drove through the narrow and congested station road some local youths, carrying CPM flags and festoons, gheraoed the minister’s car and raised slogans. The minister tried to placate the mob, but failed. He was soon rescued by the RPF and the police, escorting him. At a function at Hasnabad, about 100 km from Howrah, the minister flagged off the first EMU train on the Barasat-Hasnabad section. A sum of Rs 3.71 crore had been spent on the electrification of the line. TMC MP Ranjit Panja, the state CPM minister, Mr Gautam Dev and the CPM MP, Mr Ajoy Chakaraborty, were also present. Addressing the gathering at Belur Math, the Railway Minister said in the coming Budget special provisions would be made to set up a third terminal near Kolkata either at Shalimar or some other suitable place. He also announced additional funds for the completion of the Digha-Tamluk and Eklashi-Balurghat lines within the next financial year. |
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VHP groping for emotive issue: Babri panel New Delhi, December 22 The AIBMCC convener, Syed Shahbuddin, said the VHP’s “renewed belligerence” was an attempt to replicate its success in Gujarat at the national level. He termed the BJP’s victory in Gujarat as the “defeat of moderate Hindus at the hands of the extremist Hindutva.” “Realising that Delhi is going to the polls next year, the VHP is groping for an emotive issue to mobilise Hindu votes for the BJP on the lines of Gujarat and what it tried in Qutab Minar is a pointer to that,” Mr Shahabuddin said here. Urging the state government to be “alert against more such attempts,’’ he said, “the Qutab issue is a settled one and will not catch fire”. Activists of the VHP, Sant Mahamandal and Hindu Sena had made an attempt to perform puja on the Qutab Minar premises yesterday, but were prevented by the police. Referring to VHP’s attempts to perform the puja, Mr Praveen Togadia’s prediction of a “Hindu rashtra” in another two years and the announcement of intensifying the temple movement, Mr Shahabuddin said, “These forces have blown the bugle and are planning to pursue their agenda more aggressively”. “The renewed belligerence of the Hindutva forces after the Gujarat elections is indeed worrying,’’ he said. He said one reason for the BJP’s huge victory in Gujarat was the inability of the “secular parties” to put up a joint front. Mr Shahabuddin said the NCP and the Samajwadi Party had cut into the secular votes in many constituencies and, as a result, the Congress candidates lost nearly 30-40 seats by a margin of less than a thousand votes. |
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Editors Guild seeks B’desh scribe’s release New Delhi, December 22 In a statement issued here, Mr Hari Jaisingh, President of the Editors Guild of India and Editor of The Tribune, said that Mr Kabir, who was arrested and harassed immediately after the return of Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party to power in October, 2001, was rearrested in Dhaka on the night of December 7 for what the police chose to describe as "suspicious activities". "In view of his earlier arrest and the utterly vague nature of the grounds cited for his rearrest, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that he is being deliberately victimised for his determined opposition to Islamic fundamentalism and campaign to strengthen the secular foundations of Bangladesh's society and polity," Mr Jaisingh said. Noting that Mr Kabir reportedly had a heart attack since then following inhuman torture in custody, the Guild President called upon Bangladesh to order his immediate release. He also sought to remind that Bangladesh's standing as a democratic country committed to the freedom of speech and expression would suffer irreparable damage if Mr Kabir comes to harm.
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BJP national executive meeting today New Delhi, December 22 The national executive, which will be attended by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Central ministers, will adopt a political resolution which is likely to target Opposition parties, especially the Congress, for the “negative attitude” adopted by them during the Gujarat campaign, sources said. The forthcoming Assembly poll in Himachal Pradesh will top the agenda of the BJP leadership. While discussing the strategy for electrons in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi due in November next, the BJP will also keep an eye on the Lok Sabha poll in 2004. Mr Vajpayee had said immediately after the Gujarat Assembly poll that the victory was the “beginning of the victory march of the party for not only the Assembly elections next year but also the Lok Sabha poll slated for 2004.” The tone for the meeting will be set by the presidential address by M Venkaiah Naidu which is likely to focus on the stand of Opposition parties on various issues, including the attack on Yashwant Sinha as Finance Minister at the time of the stock scam after the presentation of the JPC report in Parliament. The meeting will discuss suggestions made by the former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar on tax reforms on the basis of a report prepared by party general secretary Rajnath Singh. It will also review the zonal meetings held by the party in Jaipur, Kolkata, Bangalore, Bhopal and Guwahati. The meeting will also review the ‘gaon chalo abhiyan’ and the mobilisation of support in the rural areas. BJP Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Goa will also attend the meeting. |
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President renews bond with Rajasthan Jaipur, December 22 "I love the desert, I had a very close association with Rajasthan," Dr Kalam said. The President said he had spent 30-40 days in a year in Rajasthan in the past. As head of India's nuclear programme, Dr Kalam had made several visits to the desert state. "I have come to share the pain of drought-hit people in the state and also to visit the cancer hospital," he added. "I saw beautiful hearts everywhere...God bless all of you.'' Dr Kalam's made the comments while inaugurating a seminar on 'National Comprehensive Cancer Network' at Bhagavan Mahavir Cancer Hospital and Research Centre here. The President was scheduled to visit drought-affected areas and oversee relief operation in tribal dominated Udaipur district and two border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer.
UNI |
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Cops high on militants’ list Patna, December 22 The police officials here in Bihar, from which the new state of Jharkhand was created on November 15, 2000, have alerted their own forces but said that the Jharkhand police had been in the firing line of the Left-wing extremists. The ultra groups, the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the People’s War Group (PWG), have killed a total of 145 state cops and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) cops since its creation, according to official figures. Ever since the creation of Jharkhand, the Bihar police has heaved a sigh of relief as most parts of the extremist-infested areas considered as the “influence zone” of the MCC-PWG ultras now fall in Jharkhand. As per official figures, MCC-PWG ultras killed 63 cops in 2001 and this year a total of 82 cops have been killed so far. The figures show a rise in the number of killings as the new state of Jharkhand has launched a campaign against the MCC-PWG extremists. Most killings of the cops have been retaliatory attacks, admitted the Home Secretary of Jharkhand, Ms Shushma Singh. The ultras have had a notorious record of mass killing of cops. The maximum was 37 cops, including senior police officials, during the 1999 Parliamentary elections when the state was part of Bihar. The most interesting fact is the involvement of the women brigade of the MCC-PWG in these killings. In the Saranda forest attack on Friday too, two women were leading the attacks and were seen directing the MCC cadre, injured cops said. Earlier, an all-women MCC cadre had killed 13 Jharkhand cops in broad daylight. The women cadre raided the police station and killed the cops who were having lunch. The MCC-PWG has enlisted the support of the local population whom they provide all facilities that the administrative machinery has failed to. The worst part of the ultra attacks is the growing use of landmine against the cops. In the past, most of the cops have been killed in the landmine blasts. The women’s wing of the MCC-PWG is reported to have specialised in planting landmines and organising ambush on the cops. The coal and stone quarrying factories in Jharkhand have proved to be easy supplylines of explosives to the ultras. The Directorate General of Mines Safety has reported about the growing theft of explosives from the mines. Large parts of Jharkhand have parallel governments of MCC-PWG who have recently enlisted the support of not only the eastern guerilla wings of Nagaland and Tripura but have also been involved with the ISI supplyline of arms. |
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Security along border
beefed up Patna, December 22 Police officials said in the light of the death sentence awarded to three accused in the Parliament attack case there is growing threat of cross-border militants attempting to create trouble or to free them. “The Indian Government has sounded an alert to keep a close vigil on Tibetan refugees entering India from Nepal and living here to ascertain that Chinese spies and extremists do not sneak into India using their guise”, Motihari District Magistrate S. Shivkumar said. |
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18 die of cold in Bihar Patna, December 22 The state has been witnessing a cold wave for the last three days. The minimum temperature in rural stretches has been below 6°. Five persons died of cold in the past two days in Saran, four in Saharsa and two in Patna districts, according to reports reaching here. Seven persons died of cold in Muzaffarpur district. Five persons of Khemkaran village in Saran district succumbed to the cold, four of which were women in the age group of 60 to 65 years. The village mukhiya, Mr Sanjay Singh, said six persons had died of cold in Katahiya village. He said the district administration had been informed of the deaths. The victims included a four-year-old, Khushbu Kumari, and an 80-year-old Dadul Devi. The Subdivisional Officer, Mr Jitendra Shrivastava, said that a team of officials had been sent to the village to probe the deaths, but so far, no incident of deaths due to cold had been reported. One more death due to the cold took place in Maniyari block of the same district. Relief Department officials denied any deaths in the state due to cold. |
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Indian extradited to Canada to stand trial New Delhi, December 22 Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate V. K. Maheshwari asked the Ministry of External Affairs to make arrangements for the extradition of Saudagar Singh
Gill to the Canadian city of Scarborough. Mr Maheshwari, whose court heard the extradition proceedings, said he was satisfied with the evidence submitted by the Canadian authorities. Gill is accused of stabbing to death a 26-year-old Indian woman in Scarborough on August 23, 1986, after she refused to have sex with him and used abusive language. He allegedly killed her and then packed the body in a box and left in his car. According to the Canadian authorities, Gill fled Canada after killing the woman. He was arrested by the Punjab police on April 22 this year after it received a request from the Canadian authorities through Interpol for his extradition. The court relied on the statement given by Gill’s friend in an affidavit and the original affidavit of the Toronto police on the murder.
UNI |
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Govt allays fears on oil shortage New Delhi, December 22 Petroleum Secretary B.K. Chaturvedi said at a seminar organised by TERI here that the country imported only 1.4 million tonnes of crude oil from Iraq. The remaining imports of 72 million tonnes were sourced from other countries, he said. India imports 7.55 million tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia, 7.13 million tonnes from Kuwait, 5.96 million tonnes from the UAE and 4.7 million tonnes from Iran. Other sources include Nigeria, Libya, Malaysia and Egypt. He dismissed fears of hike in crude oil prices to over 50 a barrel from the present 25 per barrel, saying that in 1991 conflict in the Gulf, crude prices rose to $ 33 a barrel but declined soon. |
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Naga leaders get Indian passports New Delhi, December 22 Official sources said while the NSCN (IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muiyah, who already possesses an Indian passport, will arrive from Hague, the outfit’s chairman Isak Chishi Swe and three others have been issued passports by the Indian mission in Oslo. |
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Kolkata fire a case of ‘sabotage’ Kolkata, December 22 |
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Cop in CBI net for forging Advani’s letters New Delhi, December 22 The case was registered last month on a complaint lodged by the DIGP (Personnel), CRPF, after Mr Advani's PS confirmed that no such letters were written by the minister. |
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