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Priority is to
defeat BJP, says CPI Brahmaputra Mail
derails
Vajpayee cheers
for ‘LOC-Kargil’ with moist eyes Naqvi for quota
on economic criterion |
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SC ruling on
weapon use in dacoity cases No more deaths at
Siachen due to cold Cold claims five
more lives Second Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas from January 9 International
heritage festival from Jan 7 Mumbai youth
does a ‘Wright’ Security
arrangements for Ardh Kumbh Thakur’s faux
pas
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Priority is to defeat BJP, says CPI New Delhi, December 27 “The objective at present is to ensure that the BJP and other communal forces are defeated”, the CPI General Secretary, Mr A.B. Bardhan, told The Tribune here. Asked to react to the Congress’ willingness to forge electoral alliances with secular parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Mr Bardhan said: “Expressing willingness is one thing but to translate it into reality is another. One has to realise that no single party can defeat the communal forces and all secular-minded parties have to come together in the spirit of give and take, making seat adjustments and electoral understanding. This objective should be clear not only to leaders of these parties but it must percolate down to the ground level.” “Everyone has to concede some ground to make the joint fight against the communal forces feasible”, he asserted. The Congress yesterday singled out states like Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra where it required allies. Mr Bardhan said the present talk of unity of secular forces arose in the context of the BJP being in power and the need to ensure that it did not come to power at the Centre again. “However, the third front concept is quite a different concept. It is a political alternative to both the BJP and the Congress,” the CPI leader said, adding that “we have always been opposed to two-party system”. Replying to a query on whether the Congress was serious about forging alliances with the secular parties, Mr Bardhan said the Congress had realised that it alone cannot bounce back to power. Asked about the possibility of the revival of the third front, the CPI leader said: “At this point of time it is not possible...However, it will come into existence at a proper time.” However, it would be incorrect for both the Congress and other secular parties to impose pre-conditions. “Because our common goal at present is to defeat the BJP by all means as it has put at stake the nation’s unity, ruined the economy and endangered our social fabric”, he claimed. Asked if the Congress had formally consulted the Left parties on forming the secular front, Mr Bardhan said no serious talk had yet commenced but added that “it will have to be done soon because there is no time to lose”. On the BJP President claiming to win at least 300 Lok Sabha seats on its own, Mr Bardhan said the BJP leader’s assertion “has no basis in reality”. The claim had arisen from the recent victory of the BJP in the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, he said, adding that: “The victory in the three states because of the misrule of the earlier governments would not lead to the BJP’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections, because then its performance at the Centre would be open to criticism and attack.” On the possibility of
preponing the Lok Sabha elections, he said: “It is so obvious, they (BJP) want to encash on the victory in the Assembly elections.” |
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Brahmaputra Mail derails Kolkata, December 27 Fortunately, there was no casualty. But over 50 passengers, including women and children, sustained injuries, some severely. They were admitted to Malda railway hospital The condition of at least nine was stated to be critical. The accident occurred due to removal of fishplates at five different points of the track suspectedly by the militants, who might have sneaked into North Bengal following flush-out operation in Bhutan, railway officials said. An inquiry has been ordered. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said there were reasons to believe that the today’s train accident near old Malda had been a militants’ act of sabotage. He feared the militants might resort to similar actions and the police had been alerted accordingly. A large number of KLO militants had already surrendered to the Bengal police with their arms during the past two days. The Bhutan army had also handed over 50 ULFA and NDFB militants so far to the Assam police after their arrest during
the flush-out operation in Bhutan. Last night two KLO militants were killed near Kumargram border, near the New
Jalpaiguri-Bhutan border after a gunbattle between the Indian army and the militants, while several others escaped into adjoining Bangladesh following the attack According to the Army headquarterss(eastsern region) at Fort William, Kolkata, most of
the militants’ hide-outs in Bhutan were dismantled by the Royal Bhutan
Army during the last 10 days of the flush-out operations. over 150 militants had been killed and some 50 others either surrendered or arrested. But over hundred militants were had absconded either in Bhutan or in the adjoining NE region. Many of them, however, had escaped into Bangladesh. The
GOC-in-C, Lt-gen J.S.Varma again stressed the need for a flusg-out operation against the militants in Bangladesh. He reiterated that a large number of Indian militants had been hiding in Bangladesh along the Indo-Bhutan border and they had information that some more militants had escaped into Bangladesh during the flush-out operation in Bhutan . He said the Indian army was in position on the border with Bhutan sealing off all entry points. |
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Vajpayee cheers for ‘LOC-Kargil’ with moist eyes
New Delhi, December 27 A special screening of the over four-hour-long film was organised for Mr Vajpayee at his 7, Race Course residence yesterday. The Prime Minister was so moved by the film that his eyes were moist during a number of sequences. Film’s lyricist Javed Akhtar, who was present during the special screening, said Mr Vajpayee was visibly impressed by the presentation of the acts of Kargil war heroes in the film, starring about 40 top names of Bollywood, including Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Manoj Bajpai, Saif Ali Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Akshaye Khanna, Ashutosh Rana, Raj Babbar, Sunil Shetty, Sanjay Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Raveena Tandon, Isha Kopikar and Preeti Jhangiani. Another special screening organised at the Films Division auditorium was watched by the Deputy Prime Minister and other Cabinet members today. Director J P Dutta, his father and dialogue writer O P Dutta, music director Anu Malik, singer Sonu Nigam and a large number of actors were present during the screening. Besides, a charity premiere in the honour of the Kargil martyrs was organised at Priya cinema hall in the capital which was attended by the entire star cast and crew of the film. Answering questions about the inordinately long film, Mr Dutta told a press conference this afternoon that it was impossible to cover the entire spectrum of the Kargil war within three hours. ‘‘In fact I was short of about one and a half hours to cover the deeds of the other five battalions. I could portray the bravery of only five of the ten battalions which fought ‘Operation Vijay’ in 1999.’’ Mr Dutta did not share the view that the huge star cast reduced the intensity of the subject. “Considering that the scope of a war film is huge. I would have had about 200 actors to cover the deeds of 10 battalions. The starcast of 40 was much less. Because I was making a film and not a tele serial, I had to limit a lot of things,” he added. Asked if the timing of the film was wrong considering that the relations between India and Pakistan were moving towards improvement, the director shot back, “ Just because the relations are improving, should we forget the war heroes who laid down their lives to ensure our safety?” Mr Dutta said, “If Kargil could be planned at PM’s Lahore visit, we should not be complacent now. We should not forget history, why should we feel shy to talk about Kargil and the Army?
— UNI |
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Naqvi for quota on economic criterion New Delhi, December 27 Mr Naqvi, who is one of the few Muslim faces in the BJP, also said that the guarantee of quota could be one of the tools to uplift the weaker sections of society, but it was not the only option. “One should not just run after it,” Mr Naqvi said, addressing a minorities convention here. The convention was attended by the Minister of State for Social Justice, Mr Nagmani, representatives of various political parties and more than 300 delegates from all over the country. Chairman of the National Minorities Action Group of India Qari Mohammad Milan Mazahari presided. Responding to the demands for greater representation and reservations for economically backward Muslims at the meet, Mr Naqvi said it was time the community stopped solely relying on the government for jobs. “To take the benefits of reservation there is a mad rush of different sections of society but one should not forget that one cannot exceed reservation over 50 per cent,” he said. Lambasting the Congress for exploiting the minorities for its political objectives, the BJP leader said the previous Congress governments had not done anything for the economic and social empowerment of Muslims. |
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SC ruling on weapon use in dacoity cases New Delhi, December 27 “What is essential to satisfy the word ‘uses’ for the purpose of Section 397 of the IPC is the robbery being committed by an offender who is armed with a deadly weapon which is within the vision of the victim so as to be capable of creating a terror in his/her mind and not that it should be further shown to have been actually used for cutting, stabbing and shooting, as the case may be,” a Bench comprising Mr Justice Doraiswamy Raju and Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat ruled. The Court said the provisions of Section 397 did not create any new substantive offence as such but merely served as complementary to Sections 392 and 395 providing for the punishment for dacoity, committed by using a deadly weapon, or causing grievous hurt, or attempting to cause death or grievous hurt. The ruling came on an appeal by accused Ashfaq, Haroon and two others, convicted for robbery at the house of Balkishan in Delhi on November 9, 1991. The court dismissed the appeal by rejecting their contention that there was no proof to show that they had actually used the weapons against Balkishan and his wife to put them under threat, and therefore, the provision of Section 397 would not be applicable in their case. “We are of the view that the said claim on behalf of the appellants proceeds upon a too narrow construction of the provision and meaning of the word ‘uses’ in the Section,” the Bench said. The apex court said there should not be a misconception in the minds of trial judges that unless the deadly weapon had actually been used to inflict any injury in the commission of an offence, the essential ingredient to attract the said provision could not be established. |
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No more deaths at Siachen due to cold New Delhi, December 27 Lieut-Gen B N Shahi, Director-General Armed Forces Medical Services, said here today that cold and pulmonary fatalities, which used to constitute 50 per cent of deaths among battle fatigues in Siachen, had now been brought down to zero level. Talking to reporters here on the occasion of the detailing celebrations to mark the 240th anniversary of the AMC General Shahi said, ‘‘For the past three years there have been no cold or pulmonary fatalities on the 42-km-long glacier’’. General Shahi said that this changeover was due to the fact that the best medical facilities were being made available even at forward-most posts some of which were located at heights of more than 23,000 feet. He pointed out that the AMC had been able to put the indigenously-produced hypo-pressurised bags which helped in easing the pulmonary attacks and enabled affected soldiers to be brought down to hospitals in survivable conditions. Besides the AMC was also insisting on better acclimatisation and strict medical screening of troops to be moved to Siachen which had helped in putting a check on the cold fatalities. He pointed out that the work being carried out by the AMC in high-altitude diseases had won acclaim around the world. The AMC had recently also held a workshop for doctors from the USA in this regard. ‘‘The US army was keen to share our experiences in the medical field at such extreme altitudes. We told them we are ready to cooperate with them for a long term research on the subject,’’ he said. Talking about the other pioneering work which the AMC was carrying, he said that corp hospitals now had the biggest joint replacement capacity in the country. And for the first time in India, robots were being used for carrying out joint replacements. He further said that the armed forces now also had the best centres for bone marrow and stem cell transplants as well as in cancer and thalassemia. |
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Cold claims five more lives Lucknow, December 27 Early this week, 26 persons were killed, mostly in road accidents, due to dense fog. During the past 24 hours, three died at Kanpur and two at Meerut. The body of an old person was found in Lucknow. Rain lashed various parts of the state. Lucknow has received 3.2 mm of rain since Friday night. While the temperature dropped to 6.2°C in Lucknow, Bareilly Bahraich, 250 km north-west of Lucknow, recorded 4°C, a weather official
said. In view of persisting cold wave, all primary schools in the state have been closed till January 4. |
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Second Pravasi Bharatiya Divas from January 9 New Delhi, December 27 The chairman of the organising committee, Dr L. M. Singhvi, at a news conference here last evening, said more than 1,000 prominent persons of Indian origin(PIO) and NRI delegates from at least 57 countries would attend the three-day conference. Though both Houses of Parliament have passed a Bill aimed at according dual citizenship for PIOs from 16 countries, the Indian Government is yet to act on as many as 150 recommendations submitted by the high-level committee of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Dr Singhvi said. Though the dual citizenship was being accorded to PIOs and NRIs from 16 countries initially, the government had assured that it would be extended gradually to such people in other countries as well, Dr Singhvi said. He also pointed out that international personal laws had been given importance in view of the problems being faced by women marrying NRIs and PIOs. Mr J. C. Sharma, Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, said the Indian Diaspora was spreading all over the world. “We want to create a web-like relationship with Indian diaspora all over the world,” he added. The meet is organised by the Union Government and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(Ficci)
at Rs 8 crore. Of this, the Centre is sharing Rs 3.5 crore and the rest is being arranged by Ficci, mostly through sponsorship. |
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International heritage festival from Jan 7 New Delhi, December 27 A joint effort by the Government of Rajasthan and the Jaipur Virasat Foundation, the festival is being organised on such a large scale for the first time. Previously on two occasions the festival was organised at a much smaller level. Addressing mediapersons here, the Secretary Tourism, Rajasthan, Mr Arvind Mayaram, said the event was the first in which both the private and public sector were jointly involved. The Department of Tourism in Rajasthan has made all efforts to publicise the festival abroad and is hopeful of increase in the inflow of tourists. During the two-week-long period till January 21, historical monuments in and around Jaipur will also be illuminated. Further heritage walks will be conducted twice daily. A number of events have been organised which include special shows, food festivals, music concerts and even artisans from far-flung areas of Rajasthan will also be brought in to ensure that the best of the state was on display. Mr Mayaram said hopefully the event would become an annual one and could be included in the calander of events in the country in future. Ms Faith Singh, Honorary Director of the Jaipur Virasat Foundation, said as part of the festival, the Jaipur Built Heritage Day was also being organised on January 15. |
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Mumbai youth does a ‘Wright’ Mumbai, December 27 Amol Yadav, who has achieved this feat when the world is celebrating the centenary of powered flight by the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk in the USA, now plans to design a fighter jet and a transport plane too. Yadav, whose family is in the construction business, told UNI here that first he designed the airframe and then fitted the engine which had been procured indigenously. He said he got the idea of building his own aircraft after he came back to India from the USA after extensive training in flying. Though he got job offers, he thought of designing his own aircraft. A resident of Charkop in north-west Mumbai, Yadav was trained as a flight marshal in 1995 in the USA and later obtained a commercial pilot’s license for flying single-engine and multi-engine Cessna 152 and Cessna 310 aircraft. The aircraft had been kept in a shed in the western suburbs here pending an inspection by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) following which he would be able to take to the skies and fulfil his dream of designing, building and flying an aircraft.
— UNI |
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Security arrangements for Ardh Kumbh Hardwar, December 27 The entire mela area has been divided into 31 sectors, with one police station in each of them. In addition to this, there will be 48 police posts and 36 fire stations. Nearly 5,000 constables from all over the state will be deployed in the mela area. Besides, over 100 companies of paramilitary forces, 17 companies of the PAC, eight companies of the Rapid Action Force along with the bomb disposal squads, divers, rescue boats, sniffer dogs and trained horses will also be pressed into service. The Director-General of Police,
P.D. Raturi, said here that the core group of the IB would coordinate the security arrangements. He also said that the speed check radar system would be used for the first time in the mela and that 29 cameras were also being fitted to keep watch on the entire mela area through the close circuit system. Since the possibility of a terrorist strike cannot be ruled out when there is such a huge gathering at one place, the mela administration is gearing up to face any eventuality, he added. The Central Government has also agreed to provide two helicopters to the mela administration to supervise security arrangements. |
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Thakur’s faux pas Kolkata, December 27 The minister was inaugurating the 71st Bangha Sankskriti Sammelan where he called Bankim Chandra the composer of the National Anthem. Dr P.C. Chunder, a former Education Minister, Mr Tapan Sikhdar, a Cabinet Minister in the Vajpayee government, and Mr Subhas Chakraborty, Bengal’s Sports and Transport Minister, were present, among several other dignitaries. Mr Thakur began his speech by acknowledging the great contribution of Bengal to the country’s freedom movement, culture and tradition. He said he had always been inspired by to the national song, “Jana gana mana....”, composed by Bankim Chandra. While Mr Thakur was delivering his speech, the dignitaries sitting on the dais got dumfounded. |
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In video:
Weapons used during the Kargil war on display.
