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Tuesday,
December 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Army planned offensive across LoC in January India’s reply to Pak on definition of terror
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Maya’s meetings rattle IAS men DMK
threatens to quit NDA
India signs UNTOC Protocols Pracheen Kala Kendra honours personalities Tributes paid to Charan Singh Cop sent to jail for contempt
of court Mahesh Bhatt’s son arrested Underworld no longer financing films: director
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Army planned offensive across LoC in January New Delhi, December 23 “We had chosen a big objective and a major operation was planned” the Army Chief designate, Lt-Gen N.C. Vij, said in his address at the paratroopers golden jubilee celebrations which concluded in Bangalore today. Merely saying that the “objective” was across the Line of Control, he said men from the special forces, specialised units of Army and the Air Force were to be involved in the attack, which was called off at the last moment. Emphasising that special operations jointly to be undertaken by the Army and IAF would assume significance in the context of continued tensions with Pakistan, he said with this in mind, extensive training in such operations were being undertaken by the armed forces. Though the Army Chief designate did not reveal the target to be hit in PoK, highly placed Army sources said the plan was to push in a brigade of Army commandos to capture terrorist ingress routes like the Haji Pir Pass, areas opposite Keran and Titwal sectors and areas in PoK across Dras and Kargil sectors. The Army para commandos units drawn from the 9th, 10th, 1st and 21st battalions of the special forces were armed with US-acquired advanced weapons like MP-4 and MP-5 assault rifles, infrared night devices, Kevlar bullet-proof jackets and hi-tech frequency hopping communication sets. The sources said a squadron of the Mirage 2000, which was to help in the mission by large-scale interdiction, had been moved to forward bases in Punjab for joint training with the ground forces. However, the sources declined to give the reasons for calling off the operation, which would have been the largest ever undertaken by the Army’s special forces. The Army Chief designate said this was not the first time that such a massive scale special operation had been planned. He disclosed that towards the end of Operation Vijay in 1999, the Para Brigade was given the special task of capturing the Pakistani major base of Gultari to destroy the Pakistani administrative base for terrorists as well as its regular troops. He said for this reason, eight out of 10 para battalions had been massed in Jammu and Kashmir. “Time ran out for the operations as Pakistanis raised their hands and announced cessastion of hostilities”, the General said. The Army Chief designate said special forces had recently been armed with highly specialised weaponry for carrying out such operations as well as for anti-insurgency strikes. He said the Army headquarters had taken a decision to deploy para battalions on a rotation basis in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and in the North-East with only one battalion to be deployed in Kashmir for a one-year tenure. Officers and men from some of the units which were to take part in the special operations were present at the golden jubilee celebrations.
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India’s reply to Pak on definition of terror New Delhi, December 23 General Musharraf has reportedly said in an interview to an Iranian television network that he was ready to accept the Security Council’s definition of terrorism. Foreign Office spokesman Navtej Sarna, in response to a question, quoted two Security Council resolutions as follows: Resolution 1269: “Unequivocally condemns all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivations in all their forms and manifestations, wherever and by whosoever committed, in particular those which could threaten international peace and security.” Resolution 1377: “Reaffirms its unequivocal condemnation of all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable...” |
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Maya’s meetings rattle IAS men Lucknow, December 23 After the meeting, the association members decided to meet the Chief Minister to apprise her of the brewing resentment among the IAS officers over the manner they were being treated by her. The association asked Mr Bagga to take up cudgels on behalf of the IAS officers. In her recent review meetings, carried out divisionwise, Ms Mayawati had suspended around 12 IAS officers allegedly for laxity in carrying out development projects in their regions. The officials suspended included Divisional Commissioners and District Magistrates. Around six IPS officers had also been suspended for their failure to maintain law and order in the respective regions. Besides suspension, over 24 officers had been asked to improve their working style or to “get ready to face the music”. A senior bureaucrat said the anger of the association was not directed against Ms Mayawati, but they were protesting against the shabby treatment which had been meted out to the officers. “An officer of the Central services cannot be suspended the way the Chief Minister has been suspending them. A few complaints here and there do not tantamount to suspension of any officer,” said a senior bureaucrat. He added that by this suo motu action, the Chief Minister had been denying the right to natural justice to the officers. Ms Mayawati is known to suspend officials at the drop of a hat. During her last tenure as Chief Minister, she had carried out similar review meetings and had suspended 127 officers. However, Ms Mayawati’s action has gone well with the masses. “At least, now the bureaucracy is getting the taste of its own medicine,” said Mr Hukum Singh, who had rushed a congratulatory letter to the Chief Minister over her successful review meetings. |
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Venkaiah’s remarks damaging: Cong New Delhi, December 23 Party spokesman Anand Sharma said the BJP President had made the remarks in the presence of the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other senior leaders of the BJP. “This is significant in the backdrop of what has happened in Gujarat in the past few months. The statement calls for soul-searching and explanation from the non-BJP members of the NDA,” Mr Sharma said. He said the NDA allies had demonstrated by their conduct that they were in alliance for power. “For political expediency and opportunism, they have forsaken even the pretence of ideological principles. The BJP’s statement has made it clear to the NDA allies that they are mere servile subordinates,” Mr Sharma maintained. |
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DMK threatens to quit NDA
Chennai, December 23 When his attention was drawn to the reported statement of Janata Dal (U) President and Union Minister Sharad Yadav that a situation might arise for his party to quit the NDA if the BJP followed a hardline Hindutva stand, Mr Karunanidhi, at a press conference here, said there was not much difference between the stand of his party and the JD (U). He said his party had not accepted the Hindutva ideology and had made this clear at the time of the formation of the NDA itself. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had declared during the Gujarat election campaign that the BJP was not espousing the Hindutva ideology, he claimed.
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India signs UNTOC Protocols New Delhi, December 23 With this, the Vajpayee government has made clear its commitment to the object and purpose of the Convention and Protocols and signalled its interest to become parties to this comprehensive global instrument which covers a range of illegal activities and advocates international and national action in this regard. Mr Navtej Sarna, Foreign Office spokesman, told reporters today that India signed the UNTOC on December 12. UNTOC’s three protocols are as follows: (i) To prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children; (ii) Against the smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air; (iii) Against the illicit manufacturing and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition. |
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Pracheen Kala Kendra honours personalities Kolkata, December 23 Those who were
honoured included Odissi dancer Kelucharan Mohapatra, classical vocalists Girija Devi and Ustad Rashid Khan, danseuse Sonal Mansingh, writer and journalist Shankarlal Bhattacharyya and photographer Ashok Majumdar. They were awarded Rs 5001, a citation and a shawl each. The Governor, Mr Viren J. Shah and Justice Pinaki Ghosh of the Kolkata High Court graced the function as special guests. The function was part of the 30th annual convocation of the kendra. Successful students of music and art for the 2001-02 session were awarded diplomas and certificates. Shankarlal Bhattacharyya delivered the key-note address. Mr M.L. Koser, secretary-cum-registrar of the kendra welcomed the guests. In the evening, Rashid Khan and Sonal Mansingh enchanted the audience with their performances that lasted till the late night. |
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Tributes paid to Charan Singh New Delhi, December 23 Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and a large number of other dignitaries paid homage at the leader’s cenotaph at Kisan Ghat this morning. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani paid floral tributes at the portrait of Charan Singh in the Central Hall of Parliament. An inter-faith prayer meeting was also held at Kisan Ghat and devotional songs were sung. A resolution was also passed unanimously at the meeting, urging the Union Government to confer Bharat Ratna on Charan Singh.
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Cop sent to jail for contempt
of court New Delhi, December 23 Upholding a High Court order, a Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan sent police officer Bijay Kumar Mahanty to jail for seven days while rejecting his apology and plea for substituting his sentence with a fine.
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Mahesh Bhatt’s son arrested Mumbai, December 23 A complaint was lodged by Ranvir that he was assaulted by Rahul on the premises of the Kylemore building, where Pooja resides with her mother and brother. UNI |
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Underworld no longer financing films: director Kanpur, December 23 Shaad Ali who arrived here in connection with the release of his Hindi film “Saathiya” told reporters that the underworld was not financing Bollywood film industry any more and the cases of demanding money from the industry had also declined. Shaad Ali is the grandson of INA veteran Laxmi Sehgal.
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