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Wednesday,
September 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Search for crashed AN-12, bodies
off Man behind twin blasts held in Dubai SC verdict in Advani’s favour Tourism package for J&K Govt launches drinking water scheme BJP rejects VHP demand for House session
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India to hold meeting with GCC
nations
Zaheera’s sister gets security NCM team to
visit
Safidon Labour ministers’ conference begins today Sino-Indian border talks next month Railways to set up new terminal in Kolkata
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Search for crashed AN-12, bodies
off New Delhi, September 16 Extensive snowfall and prevailing inclement weather conditions at the site of the operation had made further operations extremely hazardous forcing the Army and the IAF teams to call off the search for the remaining 97 bodies of the armed forces personnel. An Army spokesperson said here today that prevailing inclement weather and fresh snowfall had led to the decision to call off the search. He said that attempts to unearth further wreckage would jeopardise the safety of the searchers. After the search operations were launched last month the Army and the IAF search teams had managed to recover just one body that of Beli Ram, which had been initially spotted. Beli Ram was cremated with full military honours at his native place in Palanwala in August 14 last. Operation Punar Uthan was launched after some trekkers had noticed one of the bodies at the spot where the AN-12 plane was suspected to have gone down in 1968. There were 98 armed forces personnel on board the aircraft when it crashed. The aircraft was on a routine peacetime mission from Chandigarh to Leh. Due to inclement weather at Leh it was returning to Chandigarh when it lost radio contact over Lahaul-Spiti. There was no trace of the aircraft despite intensive search operations having been launched at that time. During the present operation, searches were carried out at an altitude of over 16,000 feet from Batal, the administrative base, which is located approximately 68 km north-east of Manali. However, the search teams were unable to recover the mortal remains of any of the other armed forces personnel on board An-12. Meanwhile, the IAF had also ordered a fresh court of inquiry to reconstruct the sequence of events. Based on the evidence recovered it came to a conclusion that the ill-fated AN-12 had flown head-on into the steep face of the mountain under inclement weather conditions and severe turbulence, completely disintegrating on impact. The wreckage fell into the glacial bowl at the base of the mountain and was promptly buried due to multiple avalanches set off by the impact. Possibility of any survivors was ruled out by the court of inquiry. Due to glacial movement, a few aircraft parts and body of Beli Ram had surfaced at the melting zone. The other parts of the wreckage and the 97 other bodies were still said to be buried under the tonnes of ice and snow and were inaccessible. |
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Man behind twin blasts held in Dubai Mumbai, September 16 Patni was detained after the CBI made a formal request to the authorities in Dubai, according to the sources. “Efforts are on to extradite Patni from Dubai,” a senior Home Department official of the Maharashtra Government said. Patni was among those who provided funds to the “Gujarat Revenge Group” set up by extremist elements in the Muslim community to avenge the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat two years ago. Patni is said to have provided money to Naseer, an alleged recruiter belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, who, in turn, recruited the four accused who allegedly planted the bombs at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar on August 25. The blasts claimed the lives of 52 persons and injured nearly 200 others. The police says that Patni had developed links with some hawala operators in the UAE who sent money to the accused in the bomb blasts. Patni’s role in the bomb blasts was provided by those arrested for planting the bombs, the police says. In the past few months six alleged criminals have been deported from the UAE. Four persons, including three members of a single family, have so far been charged with setting off the two car bombs in the city. According to the police, Syed Mohammad Hanif Abdul Rahim (45), Fehmida Syed (37), their daughter Farheen Syed (18) and a fourth person, Arshad Shafi Ahmed Ansari (26), manufactured the bombs. According to the chargesheet against him, Hanif was indoctrinated by Nasir in Dubai. Naseer, whose real name is Abdul Rehman Sayeed Ali Aydeed, was killed by the police in an encounter in suburban Mumbai on Friday last. |
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SC verdict in Advani’s favour New Delhi, September 16 A Bench comprising Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar and Mr Justice Arun Kumar said there was nothing wrong in the the High Court deleting those remarks from the report of the three-member commission, which had inquired into the 1989 Bhagalpur riots. Though the details of the judgement were not know as its copies were not available today, the Bench, while reserving its order on the Bihar Government’s appeal on August 26, had spoken out its mind saying that the inquiry commissions should not go ‘haywire in condemning’ a person on the ideological grounds. Mr Advani’s counsel had defended the High Court’s 1996 order on his petition. Mr Advani’s counsel had contended that the BJP leader’s fundamental rights were breached when the commission, without giving him an opportunity to defend himself, had criticised him ‘recklessly’ for spreading communalism when he was the Information and Broadcasting Minister in Janata Party government in 1977-79 and by writing an articles in the RSS magazine ‘Panchjanya’ four years after the riots. |
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Tourism package for J&K New Delhi, September 16 Following Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s assurance to create one lakh jobs in Jammu and Kashmir, the minister announced this package. Under the package announced yesterday, loans varying between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh with subsidised interest rate of 4 per cent would be provided to houseboat owners to renovate their boats and make them functional. Further, Rs 50,000 per room for renovation, depending upon the categories of hotels — except five-stars, would also be provided for up to 50 per cent of the capacity of the hotels and guest houses. A statement issued by the office of Tourism Minister said while a capital grant of Rs 20,000 would be provided for repair and upgradation of “Shikaras”, one-time capital subsidy of up to Rs 10,000 and soft loans up to Rs 30,000 per annum would be provided to buy new ponies. The ministry has also sanctioned Rs 7.35 crore to the state government for the integrated development of various historical shrines and other tourist spots. The houseboat owners would be provided loans by banks at their lending rates and the ministry would provide a subsidy so that the owner gets the loan at 4 per cent interest. The ministry would pay the difference between the prime lending rates and 4 per cent, the statement said. The ministry has set up a coordination committee headed by the state Tourism Secretary to look into functional and operational aspects of the package. The ministry has also recommended “subsidised” air fare to Jammu and Kashmir on the pattern of concession given to air-travellers to Andaman-Nicobar. As part of the initiative, the Centre has also decided to revive Hotel Training Institute at Gulmarg with a financial assistance of Rs 2-3 crore. The ministry has also decided to embark on another ambitious project to create another India Gate vista-style model in Delhi, whereby the restoration and conservation of 42 monumental structures would be undertaken in an integrated manner at the tombs of Humayun and Nizamuddin. The ministry is all set to open to public the “Shivaji Kothri” situated in Agra Fort. The ministry has sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the restoration of the fort. |
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Govt launches drinking water scheme New Delhi, September 16 Announcing the launch of Pradhan Mantri Grameen Jal Samvardhan Yojna (PMGJSY) in the Capital today, Mr Rana said the scheme would be implemented in 17 states in all blocks covered under the DDP and the DPAP in two phases. Mr Rana said the scheme would be implemented through gram panchayats as several state governments in several other schemes had violated the guidelines. Pointing out under-utilisation of funds and misrepresentation of the schemes by Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the Union Minister said the Centre planned to take strict action, including non-release of funds and penal action. The review of projects and projection of non-implementation of schemes, especially by Congress-ruled states which would go to the polls, followed the statement by Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani to highlight the implantation of the Centrally-sponsored schemes in the country. The thrust of PMGJSY scheme would be on water conservation through water harvesting measures in critically drought-affected areas, specially those regions where drinking water was a scarcity. In the first phase of PMGJSY, all 235 blocks covered under the DDP and 335 in the DPAP would be covered and the remaining 647 DPAP blocks would be taken up during the second phase. He said the Planning Commission had allocated Rs 1000 crore for a new initiative during the 10th Plan. The funding would be 75:25 between Centre and state governments. On the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), the minister pointed out several violations by different state governments, especially Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. He said though the state governments were utilising Central fund for road development, they were projecting it as if these were their own projects. The PMGSY was a Rs 60,000 crore project of which Rs 20,000 crore was the Budgetary allocation and another Rs 20,000 was loan granted by World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Mr Rana said the Life Insurance Corporation had agreed to provide a soft loan of Rs 10,000 crore for the project. The PMGSY aimed to connect all villages by road whose population was more than 1000 and over 1.60 lakh habitants would be covered by the 2007. |
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BJP rejects VHP demand for House session New Delhi, September 16 “There is no possibility of calling a special session of Parliament to take up a legislation on Ayodhya as there is not enough support and consensus on the issue in Parliament or among the NDA partners,” BJP President Venkaiah Naidu said here before leaving for Mumbai. Mr Naidu said although the BJP was certainly in favour of the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, it did not wish the legislation to be defeated. As such an eventuality would not be in the interest of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. Informing that the BJP is leading a coalition and the stated position of different political parties on the matter is widely known, Mr Naidu said, “We cannot force our allies on the issue.” The VHP yesterday served an ultimatum on the Centre that it would launch a countrywide agitation if the government failed to convene a special session of parliament before October 15 and bring a legislation for the construction of Ram temple. |
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India to hold meeting with GCC
nations New Delhi, September 16 While the trilateral meeting involving India, Russia and China is at the Foreign Ministers’ level, sources said efforts were on to make the India-Brazil-South Africa
meeting happen at the highest level. Besides, there will be a novelty during Mr Vajpayee’s foreign tour. For the first time, India will be holding a meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries at the margins of the UNGA. |
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Zaheera’s sister gets security Vadodara, September 16 Even as the family refused security, six armed commandos set up a camp before the one-room Ekta Nagar slum residence of Sahera by an order of city Police Commissioner S.K. Sinha yesterday to provide round-the-clock security to the poor couple. The police action followed media reports which quoted Sahera as saying she did not feel safe staying in Vadodara any longer after hearing the local people’s reaction over the recent Supreme Court observations against the Gujarat Government in the case and wanted to shift to Mumbai with her husband. —
UNI |
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NCM team to
visit
Safidon New Delhi, September 16 According to news reports, Kulwinder Singh, Daler Singh, Shisha Singh and Asa Singh of Danauli village in Asandh subdivision of Karnal were carrying cows in a tractor-trailer to a cow shed when they were stopped by the police and subjected to torture. The NCM Chairman, Mr Tarlochan Singh, told mediapersons here today that a team headed by an NCM member, Lieut-Gen A.M Sethna and the Secretary, Ms Sarita Das, would visit the police station on Thursday. The commission had asked the state government through its Chief Secretary, Mr
A.N. Mathur, to send a report on the incident by return fax. It had directed the state government to ensure the presence of all officers of the district, including the Deputy Commissioner and the Senior Superintendent of Police, Jind. ‘‘Sikhs are a minority community in Haryana. The way they have been treated is very perturbing to us,’’ NCM Chairman, Mr Tarlochan Singh told TNS here. A large number of Sikhs had gathered in front of the office of the
Sub Divsional Magistrate in Safidon yesterday in protest against the unprovoked attack on the four members of their community by the police. The president of the state unit of the Congress and former Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, chairman of the minority cell of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Jagdip Singh Cheema were among the political leaders who had expressed concern over the incident. They also demanded immediate arrest of the accused. |
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Labour ministers’ conference begins today New Delhi, September 16 The conference would also try to evolve a consensus on increasing the national floor level minimum wage from the present level of Rs 50 to Rs 66 per day, besides problems in the implementation of the R.K. Manisana Singh Wage Board for journalists and non-journalists across the country. Stating this, Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma said the state labour ministers would also discuss problems relating to Employees State Insurance (ESI) scheme and those in Special Economic Zones. |
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Sino-Indian border talks next month New Delhi, September 16 During the meeting between Brajesh Mishra, Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary and National Security Advisor, and senior Vice-Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo, New Delhi is likely to seek clarification from the Chinese side on statements referring to Arunachal Pradesh as a separate country. The dates for the meeting are being worked out by the two foreign offices, sources said today. |
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Railways to set up new terminal in Kolkata New Delhi, September 16 The project has been included in the Railway Budget of 2002-03. It will be set up at a cost of Rs 78 crore. Chitpur was found suitable place because of availability of space for a new passenger terminal in the Kolkata metropolitan area. The plan has also been accepted by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. Since the existing coal yard has to be closed down, an alternative arrangement for coal traffic has been proposed. |
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