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Sunday,
March 30, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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US advice
on talk gratuitous: Sinha Vohra
meets Advani 234 crore
to modernise forces along Nepal border Sikhs join
hands on Bhullar’s clemency SYL: Chautala seeks PM’s help |
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Clarify
stand on Iraq: CPM BJP’s
dilemma over Iraq 6-day
CBI remand for Sharan
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US advice on talk gratuitous: Sinha New Delhi, March 29 In an interview to BBC World, Mr Sinha also said no international war on terror could succeed unless the western alliance helped put an end to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir. He said “advice to India about resuming dialogue with Pakistan in the aftermath of the killings of Hindus in Kashmir this week was just as gratuitous and misplaced as we asking them to open a dialogue with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein”. He, however, welcomed the joint statement issued by the US Secretary of State Colin Powell and the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Thursday asking Pakistan to take steps to effectively check cross-border infiltration. “This statement is more reflective of the situation on the ground and takes into account India’s long-standing concerns,” he said. The minister also defended the government’s stand on Iraq saying India was unequivocally opposed to the war.
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Pak calls for probe into massacre New Delhi, March 29 “The Pakistan Government deplores the irresponsible statement of the Indian External Affairs Ministry Spokesman, accusing Pakistan of involvement in the massacre of 24 Kashmir Pandits at Nadimarg on March 23,” a Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs press note received here said. “Clearly the Indian motivation behind such accusation against Pakistan is to increase repression in Kashmir. The only civilised way to address the Kashmir dispute and other outstanding issues between neighbours is dialogue,” it said. While reiterating its demand to allow neutral and impartial investigation into all such incidents of terrorism in Kashmir, Pakistan would also urge the international community to take cognisance of the suffering of the people of the Valley and other minorities in India, the press note said.
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Vohra meets Advani New Delhi, March 29 Mr Vohra described the 40-minute meeting with Mr Advani as a “routine meeting”. The meeting comes close on the heels of reports that Mr Vohra would soon be leaving for the Kashmir valley to hold talks with some of the political organisations in the state. To a question whether he would be holding any talks with separatists, Mr Vohra said “I cannot say anything about it but I will be surely meeting some Kashmiri Pandit groups soon.” Mr Vohra ducked all questions about whether the recent killing of 24 Kashmiri pandits had put his mission on the backburner. The sources in the Home Ministry said that Mr Vohra would be leaving for Kashmir next month and would be doing some “spade work” before the visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee scheduled for April 18. The sources said the meeting also comes in the wake of reports that the Centre plans to play a more “greater role” in the security of Jammu and Kashmir. The sources said the two are understood to have discussed the “impact” of “strong policy” in tackling militancy on the Centre’s initiative to rope in separatists. |
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234 crore
to modernise forces along Nepal border New Delhi, March 29 “The Pakistani ISI is colluding with the Maoists of late and the threat perception has increased requiring upgradation of our force,” Mr Malik told newspersons on the eve of SSB raising day celebrations. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani would be addressing SSB personnel on the raising day function on March 31. He said the Home Ministry had sanctioned Rs 234 crore for the purchase of modern X-ray machines, arms and ammunition and surveillance equipment for preventing infiltration. Rs 51.5 lakh was also sanctioned for starting welfare schemes for cadres. Mr Malik said the SSB, which till now limited itself to civic action and confidence building measures, was “bracing up for new responsibilities” and some more battalions would be raised in the near future. The present strength of the force is 12 battalions. Set up under the Cabinet Secretariat in 1963 in the wake of India-China war, the SSB was brought under the Home Ministry in 2002, after which it was entrusted with the task of guarding the India-Nepal border. Mr Malik said its charter of duties included promoting sense of security among people in the border areas, preventing smuggling and infiltration. |
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Nepal King offers prayers at Jagannath Temple Puri, March 29 Accompanied by his Queen Komal Rajlaxmi and Puri Raja Dibyasingha Dev, the Nepal King arrived at the ‘’garbagriha’’ of the temple and stepped before the bejewelled throne of the three presiding deities to perform the ‘’alati’’. The King enjoys special rights like the Puri Raja to offer prayers to the Lord, as per the temple record of rights. While the King was conducting the ‘’alati’’, the Queen was witnessing the puja inside the ‘’grabagriha’’. The royal couple, who arrived in Bhubaneswar yesterday, took the journey to the holy town by road amid tight security arrangements. The 60 km-long road between Bhubaneswar and Puri was sealed for security reason. The Nepal King, temple sources said, offered gold rings and eyes for all the three presiding deities — Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. Besides, King Gyanendra also offered a lotus made of gold, a Laxminarayan statue and other gold ornaments. The King also presented a silver peacock feather, a silver ‘’chammar’’, a pair of silver footwear, two silver dips and a ‘’tulsi’’ ornament also made of silver to Lord Jagannath. The entire temple premises was washed for ‘’soudha’’ before the arrival of the royal couple and entry of all devotees was prohibited by the temple management. Only a handful of temple servitors were present inside the temple. Except the southern gate of the temple all other gates were closed and the royal couple was received by the Puri King Gajapati Dibyasingh Dev. The King and the Queen were escorted to the sanctum sanctorum by their family priest popularly known as ‘’Lalmoharia Panda’’. The Nepal King spent nearly 20 minutes on the Ratnavedi to worship the presiding deities. The royal couple then went round the other shrines inside the temple premises. They had the “darshan” of Goddess Mahalaxmi, Goddess Vimala and Goddess Bhubaneswari inside the temple and made a
"parikrama" of the temple. The temple management had conducted all the morning rituals in advance to facilitate the King and the Queen to have “darshan” of the deities. Hundreds of people were seen lined up on both the sides of the GT road known as ‘’Bada Danda’’ to have a glimpse of King Gyanendra and Queen Komal.
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Sikhs join hands on Bhullar’s clemency New Delhi, March 29 The Prof Devinderpal Singh Bhullar Defence Committee, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and Amritsar’s Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) will jointly march and submit a petition to the President for commuting the sentence to life imprisonment, the general secretary of the SHSAD, Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, said here today. Parliamentarians from Canada, Germany and Britain have also appealed to the President for commuting the sentence, the committee said. “Now that the six-member Bench of the Supreme Court has dismissed the curative petition of Bhullar in the IYC bomb blast case, the President, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, should reject the clemency petition, who has been convicted by the highest court in the country,” the President of the All-India Anti Terrorist Front, Mr M.S. Bitta, said. The former IYC President was injured in the blast. The committee said there was a great resentment in the Sikh community that not a single perpetrator of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots had been punished and even the sentence of Kishori, convicted for the riots in three cases, was commuted to life by the apex court. |
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SYL: Chautala
seeks PM’s help New Delhi, March 29 Speaking at a rally organised by the National Democratic Alliance to mark the completion of its five years in office, Mr Chautala urged the Prime Minister to increase the minimum support price of foodgrains. He said that the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Devi Lal had introduced the old-age pension scheme under which Rs 100 per month was being given to the senior citizens in Haryana. The present state government had doubled this amount to Rs 200 as a mark of respect to the senior citizens. Mr Chautala reminded that the Supreme Court had already delivered its verdict in favour of Haryana in the case of the SYL canal. He said that the speedy completion of the SYL canal would also help in early implementation of the decision of the central government regarding diversification of crops. He assured that with the availability of Haryana’s due share of water through the SYL canal, not only the production of fruits, vegetables and flowers would increase, but the sector of dairy farming would also get a boost. He pointed out that as the economy of the nation was based on agriculture, it faced a constant threat from the natural calamities. The farmers had to face not only the onslaught of drought but also had to bear the increase in the prices of diesel and fertiliser. He said that it was necessary to increase in the minimum support price of foodgrains. He appreciated the decision of the Central Government to constitute a task force led by former Union Power Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu to connect rivers. Mr Chautala said that the nationalisation of rivers would not only settle the inter-state water issues but also check the problem of floods. |
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Clarify
stand on Iraq:
CPM Kolkata, March 29 He alleged that a resolution condemning the aggressive role of the USA on Iraq could not be passed at the all-party meeting held last week in New Delhi because of the resistance of the
NDA. He demanded that the Centre should spell out explicitly on its policy on the Iraq issue and join hands with China, Russia, France and Germany in publicly criticising the barbarous attack on Iraq. The veteran CPM leader was addressing a massive rally near Malda town on the eve of panchayat elections. Mr Basu warned the people against the NDA government which, he alleged, had been still pampering the USA and the capitalist lobby at the cost of the country’s unity and sovereignty. Mr Basu warned that country was heading towards the worst period in the hands of communal and reactionary forces under Mr Vajpayee’s leadership . He felt it was a right moment that secular parties, irrespective of their differences, should stand united and fight against the BJP and other communal forces and the save country. Mr Basu criticised the Trinamool Congress for inviting the BJP and other communal forces in the state allegedly only to gain some vested interests and that was why the TMC was fighting the panchayat poll jointly with the BJP. |
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BJP’s dilemma over Iraq New Delhi, March 29 A meeting of the party General Secretaries at BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu’s residence Friday evening, which was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, grappled with the problem but no final conclusion could be arrived at, sources said. The ideal situation would have been when the stand of the Vajpayee government and the party would have been identical but the BJP would not afford to adopt the same position as it would result in alienation of the party, Mr Naidu is understood to have told his colleagues. The exercise on Iraq yesterday was necessitated as the party high command has been getting the feedback that people at large are not only opposed to the US action but are annoyed over the Government of India’s stand on the issue. Iraq has never been perceived here as a rogue nation and that is why
people are sore over the government’s cautious approach. That is why it was felt that a message carrying BJP’s stand must go
across to people at large and that is why BJP’s general secretary-cum-spokesman Pramod Mahajan was asked to convey to the media that the party’s two-day national executive meeting early next month at Indore would take a strong stand on the issue. While it is true that there is a view within the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other allied organisations that the US action against a Islamic country was good in the long-term national interest, but this stand cannot be adopted as in that case the BJP would lose considerable political ground. The party leader also felt that the Congress has stolen a march over the BJP on the issue as despite its cautious stand it has been able to make the necessary noises which have gone well with the people. The BJP, that is why, is preparing a media strategy to project the party’s strong view on the issue in coming days and particularly at the Indore meeting, the sources said. |
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Sonia for party award after Indira New Delhi, March 29 In her concluding remarks at the two-day convention of block Congress chiefs, Mrs Sonia Gandhi echoed some of the concerns of the block chiefs and gave them a plan of action as part of the party’s preparations for the Assembly elections in four states later this year and Lok Sabha elections in 2004. Mrs Gandhi told the assembled Congress leaders, who included some party Chief Ministers CWC members, apart from PCC chiefs and DCC chiefs, that the party should institute an award at the state and district level for women who make significant contribution in any field of life. Suggesting that the award could be named “Priyadarshani Award,” the Congress President said there could be no better symbol of woman’s inherent capacity and competence than Indira Gandhi. |
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Horticulture
mission sought for HP New Delhi, March 29 The Chief Minister, who met the Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh here, said Himachal Pradesh had been traditionally been dependent on horticulture. The hops growers of Lahaul Spiti and Pangi had been adversely affected by bringing hops crop under open general licence, he said and urged the Union Minister to enhance import duty on hops so as to protect the interest of farmers of tribal areas. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the state government had accorded top priority to the development of horticulture in the state. He said around 4.64 lakh farmers were involved in fruit-production programme and industry generated 900 lakh man days of employment per year to the population. The Chief Minister said besides fruits, the horticulture industry of the state produced 3,227 metric tonnes of mushroom valued at about Rs 11.29 crore, 655 metric tonnes of honey, floriculture products worth about Rs 8.30 crore and 39 metric tonnes of hops. |
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6-day CBI remand for Sharan New Delhi, March 29 Special Judge V.K. Jain remanded Sharan, from whom the CBI had allegedly recovered Rs 36 lakh of unaccounted money on Thursday after raiding his house, to the custody of the agency which had requested 10 days custody of the accused to unravel the bribery racket. Sharan, a 1990 batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, was arrested last night after the agency registered a case against him for allegedly receiving bribe from a noted builder in return of favours. After hearing the prosecution, the judge, in his remand order, said “keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, including the involvement of accused persons in the conspiracy, the accused (Sharan) is remanded to CBI custody.” The CBI has alleged the DDA Vice-Chairman, Sharan, the Commissioner (Planning) and Director (Lands) entered into a criminal conspiracy with DLF Universal Limited and allegedly demanded bribe of Rs 1.10 crore.
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Salem’s extradition recommended New Delhi, March 29 The office of the Prosecutor General informed the Justice Ministry of its decision and that it was upto it or not to send Salem to India whether. The office also recommended his girlfriend Monica Bedi’s extradition. Portuguese news agency Lusa has reported.
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