N A T I O N

Sack Jaitley, 5 other ministers,
says Cong
New Delhi, November 21
The Congress today set the cat among the pigeons when it demanded the resignation of six ministers, including Arun Jaitely, Ram Naik and Karia Munde, who, they charged, figured in the negative references made by the Central Vigilance Commissioner to the Prime Minister in a recent confidential meeting.

• Jaitley denies Cong charges

SC reserves judgement on plea for CBI probe
Haryana teachers’ appointment case
New Delhi, November 21
The Supreme Court today reserved its judgement for November 25 on a petition by a suspended Haryana Director of Primary Education seeking CBI probe into the alleged attempt by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to replace a fake list with a genuine one for the appointment of school teachers in 2000.

High courts headed for crisis, warns SC
New Delhi, November 21
The Supreme Court has sounded a caution that if the needs of the High Courts were not met by the state governments, a severe crisis would result in their administration as these courts perform a special nature of work.

Ramoowalia gives list of detainees in Pak
New Delhi, November 21
The President of the Lok Bhalai Party and a former Union Minister, Mr B.S. Ramoowalia, yesterday called on Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan and gave him a list of 41 Indians detained in various jails in Pakistan.

Kalam’s agenda for ISRO
Veli (Kerala), November 21
Setting the agenda for the Indian space programme over the next 50 years, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam today exhorted the Indian Space Research Organisation scientists to aim at inhabiting mars and procuring materials from moon.

BRIEFLY

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor during the shooting of her forthcoming film Bewafa in New Delhi on Friday. — PTI

	SC gives land rights of ex-ruler to HP November 21, 2003
	Kalam presents Indira peace prize to Ramphal November 20, 2003
	Corruption becomes election issue November 19, 2003
	Going gets tough for SAD November 18, 2003
	Madhumani’s arrest imminent November 17, 2003
	Telgi’s parole plea order reserved November 16, 2003
	Dikshit, Pilot’s widow enter poll fray November 15, 2003
	CBI chargesheets Mehta brothers November 14, 2003
	Hindu withdraws request for Central security November 13, 2003

Eminent playback singer Asha Bhonsle receives the "Chitrapati" award from noted classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj, in Mumbai on Thursday night. — PTI

India using pressure tactics for peace: Sibal
New Delhi, November 21
India today pleaded guilty to the Pakistani charge of using “pressure tactics”, but said it was doing so for peace. Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal’s response to a question during an exclusive interview with The Tribune in his South Block office today was: “I will argue that we are using pressure tactics in favour of peace. What is wrong in it?”

Clinton for timely action to contain AIDS
Gurgaon, November 21
Former US President Bill Clinton today called for the governments of the world to “put resources as quickly as possible to turn the global HIV/AIDS epidemic around’’ and hoped that India and China would also take timely steps in this direction.

India, Mauritius sign extradition treaty New Delhi, November 21 Boosting their strategic ties, India and Mauritius today signed an extradition treaty and three other agreements as the two sides decided to set up a joint working group on terrorism at an early date.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (L), Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani (R) and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha discuss before the ceremonial reception of Mauritius Prime Minister Paul Raymond Berenger at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday. — PTI photo

• Rohini 200 rocket launched
• Paswan’s men disrupt rail traffic

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Sack Jaitley, 5 other ministers, says Cong
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 21
The Congress today set the cat among the pigeons when it demanded the resignation of six ministers, including Arun Jaitely, Ram Naik and Karia Munde, who, they charged, figured in the negative references made by the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) to the Prime Minister in a recent confidential meeting.

The other three Union ministers who, according to the Congress, have also been charged with either being mixed up with the chairmen of their PSUs or exerting undue pressure on them, include Anant Geethe and Subodh Mohite of the Shiv Sena and Brij Kishore Tripathi of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

“In view of the complaints against these ministers, the Congress demands that they resign from the Council of Ministers,” party spokesperson S.Jaipal Reddy declared here today. These ministers cannot remain in the Cabinet while being under the cloud of adverse references of the CVC, he emphasised.

Mr Reddy said these names were mentioned by an Andhra Pradesh daily but the party’s independent enquiries had further corroborated that these Ministers had sought undue favours from the PSU chiefs. He said the CVC had not contradicted these reports when the names were presented to the CVC. Mr Reddy said their enquiries had further revealed that the PSUs from whose chairmen favours were sought include MMTC, Indian Oil, ONGC, GAIL, Coal India and NHPC.

Earlier, a delegation of senior Congress leaders met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to draw his attention to the cavalier manner in which the Union government was treating reports about the CVC’s meeting with the PM in which he pointed to how ministers were seeking favours from PSUs for their personal and party purposes.

Mr Reddy explained that the Congress had not disclosed the names of the ministers concerned in its memorandum to the President as the party had received this additional information after their meeting with Mr Kalam.

The Congress delegation sought the President’s intervention and asked him to prevail upon the Union Government to agree to a Parliamentary probe.

The memorandum also sought the immediate disclosure of the names of the Ministers who had fallen under CVC’s cloud of suspicion, stating that it was the duty of the PM to ascertain the ministers with a view to dropping them.

Jaitley denies Cong charges

New Delhi, November 21
Slapping a legal notice against a Hyderabad based Telugu newspaper, Union Commerce, Industry and Law Minister Arun Jaitley today denied he had taken any favour from any PSU as alleged by the Congress which had taken a delegation of senior leaders to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, demanding a Parliamentary inquiry in the matter.

“My client intends to initiate legal proceedings for libel and criminal prosecution for this offence,” Mr Jaitley’s lawyer Maninder Singh said in a legal notice served on the Editor, Reporter and Chairman of the newspaper, which had published the names of the six ministers, allegedly named by the Chief Vigilance Commissioner for alleged pressurising of the PSUs chiefs for money.

The legal notice by Mr Jaitley’s lawyer asked the newspaper to tender an unconditional apology within an hour of the receipt of the notice and publish it prominently.

Earlier, rubbishing the charges, Mr Jaitley said the Congress, instead of depending on the facts, was relying on a newspaper since the party had no other issue to talk about. “The Prime Minister has given his statement and the Cabinet Secretary has given a clarification,” he said. — UNI

SC reserves judgement on plea for CBI probe
Haryana teachers’ appointment case
Our Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, November 21
The Supreme Court today reserved its judgement for November 25 on a petition by a suspended Haryana Director of Primary Education seeking CBI probe into the alleged attempt by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to replace a fake list with a genuine one for the appointment of school teachers in 2000.

A Bench comprising Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Ashok Bhan, reserved the verdict after former Education Director Sanjiv Kumar said a CBI probe would be the most appropriate remedy as the judicial commission proposed by the state government would not have the services of a probe agency to look into the matter.

When Haryana Government Counsel Neeraj Jain pointed out that under the Commission of Inquiries Act, a commission could obtain the services of any central and state agency, the court specifically asked him “why the state government has objection to the CBI inquiry?”

Mr Jain said hundreds of people, including the candidates given appointment and those who alleged that they were not appointed despite their names being in the list, would have to be questioned and their deposition before the panel would be much easier.

Mr Sanjiv Kumar, arguing his case himself, said. “When we have an established agency like the CBI why should we go for creating a new body to probe the case?” He added “if the investigation was entrusted to any state government agency it is but natural that no officer would dare to go against his own Chief Minister.”

The former Director said “why should the Chief Minister be hesitant to face the CBI inquiry as I am seeking the probe by the agency against myself also as cases have been slapped on me by the state government and for the past three years no progress has been made in investigation in this regard.”

When Additional Solicitor General R.N. Trivedi pointed out that CBI would not be able to complete the probe in time as it was over-burdened with cases, Mr Sanjiv Kumar said if there was clear direction from the court, it would do its job as had been done in the Taj Heritage Corridor case recently.

According to Mr Sanjiv Kumar’s petition, Mr Chautala had allegedly pressurised him to withhold the genuine selection list for appointment of 3,206 primary school teachers in 2000, which he said, he had turned down.

Getting infuriated over the defiance of his directive, the Chief Minister had got two “false cases” of corruption registered against him and placed him under suspension, Mr Sanjiv Kumar had alleged.

However, Mr Chautala and the state government had denied the allegation and the existence of any fake list.

High courts headed for crisis, warns SC

New Delhi, November 21
The Supreme Court has sounded a caution that if the needs of the High Courts were not met by the state governments, a severe crisis would result in their administration as these courts perform a special nature of work.

The observation came from a Bench comprising Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu, Mr Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur while directing constitution of a special pay commission for fixation of pay scales for employees of the Calcutta High Court.

“The government will have to bear in mind the special nature of work done in the High Court of which the Chief Justice and his colleagues alone could really appreciate,” the Bench said.

“If the government does not desire to meet the needs of the High Court, the administration of the High Court will face severe crisis,” it added.

The Bench noted the same while disposing of a petition filed by the High Court Employees Welfare Association, Calcutta, challenging refusal of the Governor of West Bengal to grant approval to the draft Calcutta High Court Service Rules, 1998, exercising his powers under Article 229(2) of the Constitution.

The West Bengal Government had appointed a pay commission, the terms of reference of which included the employees of the Calcutta High Court.

However, on representation of the employees, the Chief Justice of the High Court undertook the exercise of appointing committees of Judges which framed draft service rules. These rules were approved by the Chief Justice and forwarded to the Governor for his approval.

The state government refused to recommend the draft rules for the approval of the Governor saying creation of new posts was not envisaged under Article 229(2), that the HC employees were already included in the fourth pay commission, that it would create inequality among employees and put unnecessary financial burden on the state.

The HC employees filed a writ petition in the High Court but the matter remained unresolved despite a series of discussions between the Chief Justice and the government.

After stating that the employees were part of the special work done by the High Court, the apex court Bench directed, “a special pay commission consisting of judges and administrators shall be constituted.” — PTI

Ramoowalia gives list of detainees in Pak
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 21
The President of the Lok Bhalai Party and a former Union Minister, Mr B.S. Ramoowalia, yesterday called on Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan and gave him a list of 41 Indians detained in various jails in Pakistan.

Mr Ramoowalia had a 20-minute-long meeting with the High Commissioner.

Of the 41 Indian detainees in Pakistan, 35 are from Punjab and six from Haryana. The following is the list of Indians detained in Quetta, Lahore and Faislabad jails, as given by Mr Ramoowalia:

Ajmer Singh (Model Town, Ludhiana), lodged in Faislabad Jail; Gurpreet Singh (Raunta, Teh Shahkot, Jalandhar) in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore; Kuldip Singh (Bhatnoora village, Jalandhar); Maninderpal Singh; Shiv Kumar (Karour village, Nawanshahr); Harminder Singh (Goraya village, Hoshiarpur); Kehar Singh (Begowal village, Hoshiarpur); Harish Kumar (Amritsar) in Quetta Jail; Kanwaljit Singh (Qadian, Gurdaspur); Nishan Singh (Bhatt Majra, Kurukshetra); Gurmail Singh (Pipli Plot, Kurukshetra); Hardeep Singh (Bakhli, Kurukshetra); Suraj Bhan (Rajouli, Ambala); Surjit Singh (Lachhowal, Hoshiarpur); Bhajan Singh (Kaloya Hoshiarpur); Surinder Pal (Kalewal Bhagtasn, Hoshiarpur); Amarjeet Singh (Bariyar, Kapurthala); Kulwinder Singh (Landhras, Jalandhar); Jatinder Kumar (Landhra, Jalandhar) Charanjit Singh (Lamma Pind, Jalandhar); Bharat Bhushan (Aman Nagar, Ludhiana); Lakhwinder Singh (Ajrour, Patiala); Jarnail Singh (Bhushan Hoshiarpur); Jaswant Singh (Qadian, Gurdaspur); Davinder Singh (Aurangabad, Yamunanagar), Ram Phal (Kakrala Anrit, Kaithal); Kulbir Singh (Sahora, Nawanshahr); Lal Chand (Alwaha, Nawanshahr); Kuldip Singh (Sangowal, Jalandhar); Makhan Singh (Kingracho Wala); Suresh Kumar (Nakodar, Jalandhar); Manjeet Singh (Uggi, Jalandhar); Tajinder Singh (Safipur, Jalandhar); Lakhwinder Singh (Kala, Kapurthala); Manjinder Singh (Mana Talwandi Kapurthala); Jagir Singh (Maini Bakarpur, Kapurthala); Baljit Singh (Ghonewal, Amritsar); Tarsem Singh (Mander Gate, Dhilwan, Amritsar); Gurpreet Singh (Bhungrani, Hoshiarpur); Sukhvir Singh (Chawa, Gurdaspur); Sukhwinder Singh (Balla, Hoshiarpur).

Kalam’s agenda for ISRO

Veli (Kerala), November 21
Setting the agenda for the Indian space programme over the next 50 years, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam today exhorted the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists to aim at inhabiting mars and procuring materials from moon.

In a tele-conference address to a function at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here to mark the 40th anniversary of India’s first rocket launch on November 21, 1963, Dr Kalam said from New Delhi that there were many challenges ahead for the country’s space programme.

“While India can now launch any type of satellite from any type of vehicle, several other challenges are there. The three challenges that I set for you are to use your knowledge to remove poverty and efficiently map the country’s resources. Habitation on mars and procuring materials from moon should also be attempted. This is the work that I am setting for you for the next 50 years,’’ Dr Kalam added.

Observing that 260 million people in India were still living below the poverty line, Dr Kalam emphasised that the country’s space programme had to be oriented to remove their want and needs.

The President, who was part of the team which launched a two-stage NIKE-APACHE rocket, borrowed from the US space agency NASA, into space from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) here on November 21, 1963, described it as a “beautiful experience.’’

Recalling that the Indian scientists collaborated with those from the USA, the Soviet Union and France to make India’s pioneering launch effort possible, Dr Kalam said it was wonderful working with such an international team.

“It was wonderful that Indian scientists could collaborate with scientists from other countries,’’ he added in nearly 10-minute address, relayed live to a packed auditorium at the VSSC.

Earlier, in his inaugural address, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said social applications, including tele-education and tele-medicine, were among the thrust areas for the country’s space programme. — UNI

India using pressure tactics for peace: Sibal
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 21
India today pleaded guilty to the Pakistani charge of using “pressure tactics”, but said it was doing so for peace.

Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal’s response to a question during an exclusive interview with The Tribune in his South Block office today was: “I will argue that we are using pressure tactics in favour of peace. What is wrong in it?”

Mr Sibal was asked to comment on a recent statement from the Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman wherein the spokesman had accused India of using pressure tactics and delaying the confirmation of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s participation in SAARC summit to force a decision on civil aviation flights between the two countries.

The Foreign Secretary, who is superannuating this month end after a long and distinguished career, said the banning of some more terrorist outfits by the Pakistan Government in the past couple of days was a step in the right direction.

In response to a question on what would happen to Mr Vajpayee’s plans of participating in the SAARC summit if a high-profile terrorist attack were to take place in the coming days, Mr Sibal said: “This is very speculative. As of now we are not seeing any signs. If Pakistan shows sincerity and commitment then the conditions will be created for the resumption of dialogue. We look upon these (banning terrorist outfits) as steps in the right direction but certainly quite insufficient in relation to the specific problems.”

On the specific question whether India had acquired its first foreign base in Tajikistan as certain media reports had suggested, Mr Sibal said all that India had been doing in Tajikistan was assisting them in certain ways. “I don’t think that we should unnecessarily exaggerate the impact of these. Unnecessarily a lot of meaning can be attached to these. Tajikistan does not necessarily entail the establishment of a foreign base. It is part of an overall policy to broaden our relationship with Central Asia.”

Clinton for timely action to contain AIDS

Gurgaon, November 21
Former US President Bill Clinton today called for the governments of the world to “put resources as quickly as possible to turn the global HIV/AIDS epidemic around’’ and hoped that India and China would also take timely steps in this direction.

Mr Clinton, who is on a two-day private visit to India to promote his Foundation’s Initiative on HIV/AIDS to provide Anti-Retro Viral drugs required for the treatment of the dreaded disease to 2 million poor people in developing countries at affordable price, was interacting with reporters here after inspecting the state-of-the-art facilities at Ranbaxy Research Laboratories.

The Indian Government has shown high level of interest and proactive approach towards this, Mr Clinton said and added he would be discussing the issue with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Health Minister Sushma Swaraj over lunch.

“However, the results would be known only by the end of 72 hours,” he quipped when asked whether he found the Indian pharma industry or the government more responsive to his HIV/AIDS initiative. — UNI

India, Mauritius sign extradition treaty

New Delhi, November 21
Boosting their strategic ties, India and Mauritius today signed an extradition treaty and three other agreements as the two sides decided to set up a joint working group on terrorism at an early date.

During talks between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Mauritian counterpart Paul R Berenger here, the Indian side accepted a Mauritian proposal to constitute a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

New Delhi agreed to put it on the fast track and set up a joint study group for the purpose, an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said.

Berenger agreed to look into difficulties faced by Indian businessmen in obtaining visas.

The Mauritian leader reiterated his country’s support to India’s membership in an enlarged UN Security Council and strongly condemned cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. — PTI

Search at Mumbai cop’s house draws a blank

Mumbai, November 21
The police today informed a special court that no incriminating article was found from the residence of “encounter specialist” inspector Daya Nayak last night during a search by Crime Branch officials.

The court had yesterday ordered ACP Shankar Kamble to search the premises of Nayak, Mrinalini Patil, director of Hindi film “Kaagar” and builder R.C. Agarwal on a complaint filed by city journalist Ketan Tirodkar, alleging their nexus with Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel.

In a related development the head of the search party, ACP Kamble, today informed designated Judge A.P. Bhangale that he was being unnecessarily doubted by his colleagues in this regard.

The raid was conducted soon after the Judge ordered ACP Kamble to conduct an inquiry into the allegations made by the journalist. — PTI

Nitish offers better job facilities to Assamese
Subhrangshu Gupta

Kolkata, November 21
Railway Minister Nitish Kumar made it clear yesterday the Railways could not provide job preference to the son’s of the soil as demanded by the Assam people as it would deprive job opportunities to the unemployed youth of other states in railway recruitment.

He, however, said the Railways could offer better recruitment facilities to the local people by allowing them to write in their respective regional languages in the railway board’s examinations.

So long, the candidates are allowed to write only in Hindi and English while sitting for the railway board’s examinations.

Mr Nitish Kumar declared the Group D staff recruitment process in Guwahati, which was already postponed would not be held till normalcy was restored in Assam. He said he had taken the decision after talking to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

The Railway Minister condemned the attack on Bihari students in Assam who had been to Guhawati to sit for the railway board’s examinations. He equally condemned the attack on Assamese students in Patna while passing through Bihar on way to New Delhi.

Mr Nitish Kumar today attended three different official functions in West Bengal.

At Contai in South Bengal he laid the foundation stone of the electrification programme of the Tamluk-Digha line while at Coochbehar in North Bengal he inaugurated the commencement of the yard modelling work.

Earlier in the morning, the Railway Minister flagged off at Alipurduar station the broad-guage train line on the New Jalpaiguri-Siliguri section.

Normalcy returns to Assam

Guwahati, November 21
The Army was on a standby in the districts as normalcy returned to Assam today after attacks on Biharis claimed 34 lives during the past three days.

With no major incident being reported from anywhere since last night the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters here that the night curfew was likely to be withdrawn from worst-affected Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Nalbari districts.

He put the death toll in the present spell of violence in the state at 26.

Rupees 1 lakh would be paid by district administrations as compensation to the next of kin of those killed and Rs 25,000 to each of the seriously injured.

In New Delhi, official sources said Minister of State for Home Swami Chinmayanand and Minister for North-East Development C.P. Thakur have been asked to rush to Assam tomorrow to take stock of the situation and make efforts to resolve the crisis.

The Central ministers will visit Dibrugarh and Bongaigaon in Assam and return to New Delhi in the evening, Home Ministry sources said. — UNI

Nepal PM arriving tomorrow
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 21
Mr Jia Qinglin, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, will come here on November 23 on a five-day official visit.

During the visit he will hold talks Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other senior Indian leaders, including Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, External Affairs Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi on a host of bilateral and international issues.

On the last two days of his visit he will visit Agra and Hyderabad.

Nepal Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa is also scheduled to arrive here on Sunday on a three-day visit in his capacity as chairman of the seven-nation regional grouping.

Mr Thapa will be accompanied by senior officials and have talks with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday. He will also have meetings with Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Defence Minister George Fernandes the same day.

Two Russian missiles test-fired

Balasore (Orissa), November 21
In the ongoing air defence exercises, two Russian surface-to-air missiles, OSA-AK and Quadard, were test- fired today from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-Sea along with indigenously built Laskhya pilot-less target aircraft.

The missiles were test-fired while the PTA was test flown during the week-long defence air exercise which commenced on November 14. — UNI

Naval lab test-fires 3 torpedoes

Hyderabad, November 21
In the first such test of its kind, the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) has successfully test-fired three torpedoes in the Bay of Bengal.

The indigenously-developed torpedoes (one heavyweight and two lightweight) involve complex technologies, possessed by very few countries, a release from the Defence Research and Development Organisation release said today.

The trials were carried out yesterday, off the Visakhapatnam coast. — UNI

Rohini 200 rocket launched

Thumba (Kerala), November 21
Rohini 200, a two-stage sounding rocket to study the middle atmosphere, lifted off with textbook precision here today, marking the 40th anniversary of India’s space programme.

The Rohini launch, witnessed by Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, a team of Russian scientists and several former and serving ISRO stalwarts, was a re-enactment of India’s maiden rocket launch on November 21, 1963. — UNI

Paswan’s men disrupt rail traffic

Darbhanga, November 21
Activists of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today squatted on rail tracks here, disrupting the movement of local trains on the Samstipur-Darbhanga section of the East-Central Railway in protest against the targeting of Biharis in Assam. Official sources said LJP workers stopped the 533 down passenger train here for over an hour. They even tried to burn the effigy of Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

The Government Railway Police arrested about 50 LJP activists in this regard. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (L) and Bollywood actor Rahul Bose strike a pose during a seminar in Mumbai on Friday. The two-day seminar, attended by Indian businessmen and Bollywood bigwigs, was held to discuss Bollywood-related issues, such as marketing strategy, sales and acquisitions, film festivals and markets. — Reuters

Tremor felt in Bhuj
AHMEDABAD: A tremor measuring approximately 3.5 on the Richter scale was felt in Bhuj town of Kutch district in Gujarat on Friday morning. “The tremor was around 10.30 am but no report of any damage has come in as yet,” Kutch District Collector Pradeep Sharma said. — PTI

PWG militants kill 2 tribesmen
GUNTUR (AP): Suspecting them to be police spies, a group of outlawed PWG (CPI-ML) militants shot dead two Sugali tribesmen in Hanumapuram Sugali colony of the district on Friday morning, the police said. The PWG squad, led by Sadhana, took the victims from their houses to nearby woods and shot them. — PTI

Father throws girl from building
NANDED (Maharashtra): Angered by his wife lodging a police complaint that led to his arrest, a man killed his 10-year-old daughter by throwing her from the third floor of her school building here on Thursday, the police said on Friday. Basant Singh Khalsa, an alcoholic and a drug addict, fled from the scene at Gujrathi School after the crime. — UNI

Another trader shot in Bihar
GAYA: In the fourth such incident in less than a week, a prominent businessman was on Friday gunned down by assailants. Amrish Lohani, a prominent city businessman, was shot dead at Ramna Mohalla under the Civil Lines police station, the police said. — PTI

Gandhi’s associate Dukhail dead
NEW DELHI: Dada Dukhail, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave, passed away early on Friday morning in Gujarat, family sources said. Dukhail, 96, a noted social worker, died at his residence at Adipur in Gandhi Dham. — PTI