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Dawn-to-dusk strike in
Manipur
Teaching my first love, says Manmohan Singh
Teachers need attractive life to stay in villages:
Kalam
Rally on food issues to start from
Amritsar
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India has credible nuclear deterrence, says
Pranab
Prayers mark Mother Teresa’s death
anniversary
Sister Nirmala (right), the successor to the late Mother Teresa, prays besides her tomb on the seventh anniversary of her death in Kolkata on Sunday. — Reuters
photo
Indian robots to help Korean lovers
unite
India-Pakistan dialogue meaningless:
Geelani
Hurriyat for visa-free Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus
service
Special lawyer to monitor Nanavati probe
Entertainment industry to touch 20 pc growth rate
Railways to offer frequent traveller scheme
Illegal telephone exchange unearthed
Govt taking Left for granted: CPI
Astronomers mourn Whipple’s death
Serial blasts accused
attends brother’s funeral
Love triangle ends in twin murders
Sack Mulayam Govt, demands
Mayawati
Pay orders, DD, lockers to cost
more
Motorised wheel changes potters’ life in
Kerala
Honour killings rampant in Pak
Congress demands apology from
Sinha
2 Naxals killed in encounter
Thackeray to sport beard till
Assembly poll
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Dawn-to-dusk strike in
Manipur
Imphal, September 5 A large number of security personnel have been posted in all strategic points to avoid any untoward incident. Meanwhile, the Editors Forum of Manipur has asked all journalists in Manipur to boycott the visit of the Home Minister and all government news. The boycott had been called to protest what it called the state government’s “betrayal” of the Editors Forum. The state government had requested the editors forum to urge WCAL leaders to meet the Home Minister. On the request of the Editors Forum the WCAL had decided to meet the Home Minister but the police arrested the Manipur Forward Youth Front president S. Kangleipal while he was going to attend the WCAL meeting last night. The WCAL is unhappy over the attitude of the government. The Editors Forum felt that it has been betrayed by the government and decided to boycott the visit in a meeting held late last night. Both the National Highways No 39 and 53 had been blocked due to the general strike. The inter-state bus services had also been stopped. Last night, the WCAL brought out torch rallies in several places of Manipur. Today, a torch rally has been organised by Meira Paibis (women torched bearers). — UNI |
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Manipur peace talks fail
Imphal, September 5 After an hour-long meeting between Patil and leaders of Anuba Lup, the apex body of 32 outfits spearheading the agitation, at Raj Bhavan, the leaders of the groups told reporters that “we had made only one demand of withdrawal of the Act and it has been rejected.” Patil, who also held a series of meetings with three former chief ministers of Manipur and MLAs and MPs on the first day of his two-day visit to the violence-torn state, told reporters here that he had heard the views on the Act and would discuss them with his Cabinet colleagues in Delhi. He said there were three different sets of opinions on the Act: one
group wants its withdrawal, the other its continuance and the third wants it to be reviewed. Replying to a question, Patil said he would request the Anuba Lup leaders not to continue their agitation. However, shortly after the talks failed, hundreds of women carrying torch lights marched through the streets of Imphal defying prohibitory orders and a thick blanket of security to press for the withdrawal of the Act. Just before the meeting with the seven-member delegation of Anuba Lup, Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh ruled out withdrawal of the Act from the entire state saying the situation was not ripe as extortions continued and there was no normalcy. To a question about the delay in his coming to Manipur, the Home Minister said “we didn’t want to give an impression that the Centre is interfering. I have full confidence in the state government and elected representatives.” — PTI |
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Top Manipur agitation leader freed
Imphal, September 5 Sampacha Khangleipal, president of the Manipur Forward Youth Front, who was arrested yesterday on the charge of raising anti-national slogans, was taken to a special magistrate and released following intervention of Chief Minister Ibobi Singh, they said. —
PTI |
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Teaching my first love, says Manmohan Singh
New Delhi, September 5 Stating that teachers were nation-builders, Dr Manmohan Singh termed his teaching days as the “best days” of his life. Dr Manmohan Singh had taught at Panjab University and the Delhi School of Economics. On the teachers’ role in nation-building, he said “teachers shape the minds of children, who are the future of the nation”. “They (teachers) impart a value system, groom the personalities of children and a lot depends on what you teach,” he said, addressing the national award winning teachers. Narrating his days as student, he said: “I came from a poor family and studied at a primary school which had no roof”. “We have come a long way since those days,” he said, adding “now schools exist everywhere, but we are yet to universalise primary education.” Expressing concern at the high rate of school dropouts, Dr Manmohan Singh said: “We should ensure that none of them leaves without completing the course”. Observing that “our children are our most precious assets”, he said “the 21st century will be an Indian century”. |
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Teachers need attractive life to stay in villages:
Kalam
New Delhi, September 5 “It is not adequate to provide only school infrastructure in a village, but we have to provide an integrated learning environment for the student and economic environment for the whole family, which attracts them to stay in the village,” Dr Kalam said, observing that this could be possible by providing urban amenities to rural areas through essential connectivities. He was addressing the teachers after presenting the National Awards to them here on Teachers Day. “Today India has around five million teachers working in our primary and secondary schools. A majority of them will be teaching in the schools located in the 600,00 villages spread all over the country. Hence it is important to make their life comfortable and attractive,” he said. Dr Kalam said the aim of teachers should be to build a value-based society and enlightened citizenship. “The real aim of education should be to abolish all social disabilities like caste, creed and gender, etc,” he said, advising teachers to remember that their journey in the path of excellence in education did not end with winning the prestigious national award. “The journey rather begins from here — education is an endless journey,” the President said, adding “teachers are backbone of the counry and they can create innovators which are relevant to society.” The Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Arjun Singh, greeted the recipients of the award and asked them to lead the country by working for excellence in education. “The education system should be developed along the values and ideals of the country,” he said, asking the teachers to identify their role for society and thereby shape the future of the country. The President, earlier, conferred the National Award on 283 teachers from all over the country. The recipients included three each from Haryana and Himachal and two from Punjab. Besides, four teachers from Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, two teachers from Sainik School Society, two teachers from Atomic Energy Education Society and one from Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, 11 teachers from CBSE, four from Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, two teachers from Central Tibetan School Administration and four teachers from Jammu and Kashmir were also awarded. |
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Rally on food issues to start from
Amritsar
Jaipur, September 5 The programme aims at creating awareness and mobilise various sectors of society on the key issues of food sovereignty. It purports to provide information and motivate people towards advocacy and policy-changing efforts at various levels on the issues of the WTO, genetic engineering (GE), pesticides and agrochemical TNCs. The Jaipur-based Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants Society (CECOEDECON), along with a number of other grassroot organisations, will lead the People’s Caravan — 2004 in association with the PANAP in India. After Punjab, the Caravan will travel in Rajasthan from 13 September to 16 September covering the districts of Alwar, Jaipur, Tonk & Jhalawar where various activities like demonstrations, food festival, rallies and public meetings will be held. Apart from India, participants from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Nepal and Philippines will also join the journey. Mr Sharad Joshi, secretary of CECOEDECON and coordinator of People’s Caravan — 2004 for northern, western and central parts of India said here today that for the past two decades CECOEDECON had been addressing the issue of food sovereignty both at grassroot and national level. People’s Caravan — 2004 is virtually a celebration of the rights of the people on their natural resources, he added. |
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India has credible nuclear deterrence, says
Pranab
New Delhi, September 5 “Whatever is needed to safeguard the country and to ensure effective deterrence, in line with our nuclear doctrine of ‘no first use’, has been done,” Mr Mukherjee said in an interview to PTI here. Maintaining that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had a definite time-frame on test-firing of the country’s intermediate range 3000-km surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-III, he said India was committed to ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons and non-use of these weapons against non-nuclear weapon states. The Defence Minister also said India had reached an understanding with its neighbouring countries to share information on missile test-firing. Asked if safeguards had been taken against selective nuclear strikes on forces and on civilians, the Defence Minister replied “we are raising specialised troops to tackle such threats”. In the wide-ranging interview, Mr Mukherjee ruled out any scaling down of forces from the world’s highest battlefield, Siachen Glacier, as well as from insurgency-torn Jammu and Kashmir. “Our presence in Siachen is limited. And, secondly, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is not yet conducive for thinning down of forces”, he said. The Defence Minister said a series of confidence building measures had been proposed to Pakistan, including opening up of the road from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad in PoK. “The proposal of (PDP chief) Mehbooba Mufti to have weekly markets (haats) can also be considered. But the Pakistanis should agree,” Mr Mukherjee said. On infiltration from across the Line of Control (LoC), he said figures available indicated that it had gone up in June-July which is the time when it goes up. “There has been substantial increase in attempts (by militants) to cross the LoC, but we have frustrated most of these attempts. The fencing along the LoC is proving quite effective,” he said while indicating that the terrorist infrastructure on the other side of LoC had remained intact. While pointing out that situation on the Sino-India border had considerably eased due to confidence building measures taken mutually, Mr Mukherjee said that similar softer border approach on the western side was still distant. Ruling out perceptions that there had been any de-escalation in the military-level ties with the USA after assumption of power by the UPA Government, the Defence Minister said mutual interaction was continuing at the “same level” with Washington offering fast-track sale of some of the weapons platform, including anti-submarine P3C plus Orions for the Indian Navy. Elaborating, he said the two sides were in the process of finalising the deal. Navy proposes to buy 10 of these anti-submarine and martime reconnaissance aircraft to make up its depleted maritime aviation fleet. On the danger of depletion of IAF’s fighter strength due to phasing out of 300 MiG aircraft in the next three years, Mr Mukherjee said that efforts were on to ensure that the present level of IAF’s strength was maintained. “We intend to have a variety of aircraft, including the upgraded Mirages” for this purpose, he said, adding that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy, had submitted a detailed long-term plan on this. On defence ties with Israel, he said that it would continue and expand. “But at the same time, this will not be at the cost of India’s traditional relations with our West Asian friends”. Regarding the situation in Manipur, the Defence Minister for the first time said a bill to retain the regional character of the Assam Rifles would be revived soon. He said a bill had been introduced by the previous government which had lapsed due to Parliament being dissolved and it was proposed to be revived. On the handing over of Kangla Fort to the Manipur government, Mr Mukherjee said the process would be completed by December 31 this year after a connecting road was built to link the Assam Rifles’ Divisional Headquarters. On the demand for revocation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, he said it had been reviewed by the state government and partially lifted from Imphal city. “We (Centre) did not intervene and do not want to interfere”, he said. “So we have expressed no opinion on this and not taken any conclusive decision”.
— PTI |
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Prayers mark Mother Teresa’s death
anniversary
Kolkata, September 5 Mother House, the global headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, received a steady stream of visitors who attended the early morning mass and stayed on to pray at her tomb. The All-India Minority Forum organised an inter-faith prayer meeting at her tomb, where representatives of various religions called for world peace and prayed for the victims of Friday’s shoot-out between the security forces and terrorists at Beslan in Russia. Speaking at the prayer meet, chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission Shyamal Sen recalled Mother Teresa’s work among the poor and the downtrodden and said her missionary zeal in serving humanity was the need of the hour when inhuman activities of terrorists were causing untold pain and suffering the world over. While thanking Pope John Paul-II for expediting Mother Teresa’s beatification, which took place last October, Forum president Idris Ali called upon the pontiff to use his office in declaring her a Saint without waiting for evidence of another miracle. Mr Ali said the poor in the metropolis did not have access to proper medical care and called upon the West Bengal government to set up a hospital in Mother Teresa’s name as she had spent her life working for the sick and the dying. He also demanded that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation name Park Street after her and have her statue installed at a suitable spot along the road. Later, a large number of youngsters from a local Karate club, along with NCC cadets and laypersons, came in a procession to Mother House and prayed at her tomb. According to Missionaries of Charity sources, special Mass was held in most MC churches and chapels in West Bengal in keeping with the Vatican’s permission. Feeding programmes for the poor and the destitute were also organised. Yesterday, Archbishop of Kolkata Lucas Sircar held a special Mass at Mother House which was attended by MC Superior-General Sister Nirmala along with a large number of the order’s lay collaborators and people from other faiths. Novices of the Missionaries of Charity had also put up a show in her honour in the courtyard of Mother House. —
PTI |
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Indian robots to help Korean lovers
unite
Mumbai, September 5 Robocon, a game where robots participate, is conducted by the Asia Pacific Broadcasters Union (ABU), a body of broadcasters in the region, with an aim to promote technological awareness amongst students and to allow them to make use of knowledge garnered in classrooms. According to this year’s theme, the robots — which have to be under 60 kg of weight and be able to complete a given task in three minutes — will be required to build bridges for the two lovers of the Korean legend to unite. City-based Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology (VESIT) defeated 12 colleges from the country, including two IITs, to win the national Robocon championship. The team will now participate in the Asia Pacific competition, where teams from Japan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, among other countries, will also participate. Interacting with mediapersons at Mumbai Doordarshan Kendra, the students, Sacchidanand Malevar, Sachin Gore and Bhumesh Arkaal, said they were confident of winning the contest. —
PTI |
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India-Pakistan dialogue meaningless:
Geelani
New Delhi, September 5 ‘’The bilateral dialogue has no effect on the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Till the contentious issue of Kashmir is not resolved nothing will be achieved. All efforts are in vain,’’ Mr Geelani told UNI. He said though the neighbours were engaged in the peace process and discussed several issues for almost nine months the people of the state ‘’continued to suffer’’. ‘’The atrocities by the security forces continue and we are living under suppression,’’ said Mr Geelani, who held a five-hour- long marathon with Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri here last night. Mr Kasuri is visiting India for the bilateral composite dialogue process being held on September 5-6. The senior Hurriyat leader said he conveyed to the Pakistan Foreign Minister the ‘’sentiments of the Kashmiri people’’ about the talks. He said Mr Kasuri had assured him that Pakistan ‘’fully backed his cause’’ and would always support the ‘’fight of the people of Kashmir for self determination’’. ‘’Mr Kasuri reiterated that Kashmir was the core issue,’’ he added. Maintaining that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should be given the right to ‘’self-determination’’, the firebrand leader said India should adopt a ‘’realistic’’ approach towards resolving the vexed issue. ‘’The aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir have to be considered by both the countries to work towards restoring peace in the troubled-state,’’ he added. ‘’The high-handed attitude of the security forces should be checked and the human rights violation stopped,’’ he added. About confidence building measures between India and Pakistan, the separatist leader said,’’we oppose them.’’ He said ‘’peripheral’’ issues like the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road link were not of importance till the Kashmir issue was resolved. About other issues raised with Mr Kasuri, Mr Geelani said he apprised the Pakistan Foreign Minister about the latest situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the human rights violation. Regarding Pakistan’s efforts to unite the warring separatist groups, the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chief said there were no major differences among them and they will work together for the ‘’Kashmir cause’’. However, sources said Mr Kasuri impressed upon Mr Geelani that it was necessary to resolve their differences in the larger interest of the ‘’Kashmir cause’’. The sources said Mr Geelani, on his part, had conveyed to the Pakistan Foreign Minister that he was ready to step down as chairman of the amalgam if other groups wanted to join it. ‘’If the condition put forth by the others is my removal as chairman, I’m ready to go... provided they join the movement and not sell-out the cause of the people of Kashmir.’’ Mr Geelani said he was ready to accommodate the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, headed by Yasin Malik, and the Democratic Freedom Party, headed by Mr Shabbir Shah, in the conglomerate. Yesterday’s dinner meeting assumes significance as it was Mr Geelani’s first meeting with Pakistani authorities after he floated the new outfit — Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, which is officially recognised by Islamabad as the ‘’real’’ Hurriyat. At the meeting held at the Pakistan High Commission, Mr Geelani was accompanied by People’s League chief Sheikh Abdul Aziz among others while the Pakistani delegation, besides Mr Kasuri, comprised Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Aziz Ahmad Khan. In June, Mr Khokhar had unsuccessfully tried to bring the warring separatist groups together. —
UNI |
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Hurriyat for visa-free Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus
service
New Delhi, September 5 Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq made the proposals during his meeting with visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri here. Mr Farooq is also understood to have insisted that the Pakistani Foreign Minister should take up the issue of the involvement of Kashmiris in the dialouge process during his talks with External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh here tomorrow. “If the Governments of India and Pakistan want positive development, their talks should have an impact on Kashmir and measures should be taken on Kashmir-specific CBM,” Mr Umar told newspersons after his two-hour meeting with Mr Kasuri. Describing the proposed Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service as the “best CBM” in the context of Kashmir, Mr Umar said “Kashmiris from either side should be allowed to travel across the Line of Control (LoC) without passport”. In this regard, the Hurriyat leader demanded the revival of the pre-1947 ‘rahdari’ system of the local Deputy Commissioner issuing permission to travel from one place to another. “Unfortunately, there has been no progress in this direction, though there have been increase in cultural, sports and other exchanges between India and Pakistan,” he said. Mr Umar, who met Pakistani Foreign Minister a day after hardline separatist leader Sayed Ali Shah Geelani met the visiting dignitary, said the issue of the unification of all separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir was also discussed in detail. He said Mr Kasuri conveyed to him the need for resolving all differences among the warring groups in the larger interest of the “Kashmir cause”. The Pakistan Foreign Minister stressed the need for making efforts by all Kashmiri leaders to forge unity, adding “we expressed our point of view i.e. we were trying to iron out our differences but will not tolerate high-handedness”. Tomorrow, Mr Kasuri is scheduled to meet Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chief Yaseen Malik and Democratic Freedom Party Leader Shabir Ahmed Shah. Mr Umar said if India and Pakistan are sincere about restoring peace in the strife-torn state, they have to consider the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that this aspect forms part of the Indo-Pak dialogue. “The dialogue has to show some impact on the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the suffering of the people in the valley has to end,” he added. |
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Special lawyer to monitor Nanavati probe
Patna, September 5 Mr Lalu Prasad told newspersons here that he had decided to appoint the lawyer to prevent any attempt aimed at concealing truths and facts of the incident. He said for transparency, the lawyer would closely watch the trial. He, however, said the appointed lawyer would not hinder the inquiry but, at the same time, would not allow it to be a one-sided probe. He said the lawyer would keep him posted about every detail and the direction of the Nanavati Commission inquiry. The Railway Minister categorically clarified that the reports of the U.C. Banerjee Commission constituted by the railways and cleared by the Union cabinet for probing the Godhra incident would not at all overlap with that of the Nanavati Commission report and both reports would be separate from each other. He said the Banerjee Commission would submit its report within three months. However, he added that the period of the commission might be extended, depending on the circumstances. The Railway Minister said the Railway Safety Commission had not probed the matter and the BJP, the RSS and the Bajrang Dal panicked following the constitution of the Banerjee
Commission. BJP reaction, questioning the justification of the Banerjee Commission, itself speaks about the truth and their role behind the Godhra incident, he said. —
UNI |
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Entertainment industry to touch 20 pc growth rate
New Delhi, September 5 In fact, a study by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) says the Indian entertainment industry is at the threshold of emerging as a big market internationally, fuelled by the growing global interest in Indian products. The paper states that the industry had a turnover of Rs 166 billion in 2002 and grew to Rs 190 billion in 2003, while 2002-03 showed a 15 per cent growth rate. Earlier this year, a report prepared by Ernst and Young for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) had said the Indian entertainment industry was projected to grow at an annual compounded rate of 17 per cent from Rs 19,200 crore in 2003 to Rs 42,300 crore in 2008, but this would be possible with greater rationalisation of the entertainment tax, extension of concessions offered to multiplexes, and a fresh look at the current licence fee regime for the FM radio players. In India, the telecommunication infrastructure investment will expand the Internet access, which will fuel the growth in Internet advertising spending. The CII paper points out that the revenues from TV contribute 70 per cent to the total entertainment revenue and this is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17 per cent over the next five years. The Paper also says the live entertainment segment has grown by 60 per cent over 2002 and is expected to sustain the growth, provided the right infrastructure and regulatory framework exist.—
UNI |
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Railways to offer frequent traveller scheme
New Delhi, September 5 The scheme, once implemented, will award passengers bonus points on every journey and give them a complimentary ticket after they have achieved the desired bonus points fixed by the Railways. Chairman, Railway Board, R.K. Singh told The Tribune here today that passengers travelling by Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express and the Jan Shatabdi Express trains would be able to avail of the scheme. He said the module for the scheme had almost been finalised and was being evolved by the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS). Explaining the rationale behind the move, the Railway Board Chairman said, ``We want to promote the use of railways in preference to other modes of transport. We have some lean pockets where we want to attract traffic. For instance, some classes of Rajdhani Express trains attract few passengers between July 15 and October 15.’’ At present, the Railways runs 19 pairs of Rajdhani Express trains linking Delhi with state capitals, 13 pairs of inter-city Shatabdi Express trains and 17 pairs of Jan Shatabdi trains. Mr R.K. Singh said the move to introduce the scheme had nothing to do with the narrowing gap between economy class air fares and train fares of air-conditioned coaches. ``It has no impact on the railways. That is a misleading notion. The financial health of Indian
Railways is at its best in 150 years. In the first five months of the current fiscal (2004-’05), the passenger volume is five per cent more compared to passenger volume in the corresponding period last year. The Budget target for passenger volume was only 3 per cent. Similarly, the growth in passenger earnings is 6.1 per cent while the Budget target is 5.3 per cent. The growth in loading is 7 per cent when the incremental loading target was 4 per cent. The target for average lead was 680 km and we have achieved a lead of 690 km.’’ Sources in NR told The Tribune that the Railways was keen to enter into a customer relationship model. ``In the present model of airlines, we are not losing out our passengers to airlines. This is proved by the fact that our order books are overflowing and we continue to have waiting lists. Eight months in a year, that is, during the non-holiday season, all trains run on an occupancy of 75 to 80 per cent. During the summer, Dasehra and winter vacations, the trains touch an occupancy of 100 per cent.’’ Citing an instance of comparison of fares of Rajdhani first AC and the economy class of Indian Airlines on the Delhi-Mumbai sector, sources said, ``The fare from Delhi to Mumbai by Indian Airlines is Rs 6445 in one direction. If you book a ticket on IA 21 days in advance for Mumbai, you have to pay Rs 3,500 one way. The first AC fare by Rajdhani Express train between Delhi and Mumbai is Rs 4,135 in one direction. ``But people only talk of the flying time and conveniently forget the hassles that go with air journey, including check-in, security clearance, cost of airport transfers and hotel stay in case of late evening flights. Rajdhani Express train has come to be known for its hospitality and offers the comfort of a hotel. For example, the Rajdhani Express train that left for Mumbai today afternoon had only nine vacant seats in the 22 seat AC-one coach but we have a
waiting list in tomorrow’s Rajdhani Express.’’ |
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Illegal telephone exchange unearthed
New Delhi, September 5 Besides causing revenue loss to the exchequer, it was also posing a grave security threat to the nation, the police said. Accused Narender Paul and Kapil Gupta were arrested by the Crime Branch in a raid following a formal complaint from the MTNL, they said, adding further arrests and seizures were likely. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that the exchange was owned by one William Dean, an Indian national living in Munich, who ran an Internet cafe there. In fact, two Primar Rate Interface (PRIs) and Integrated Subscribers Digital Network (ISDN) of 30 lines each were hired by one Rainbow Christian Academy Pvt Ltd on the pretext of running a call centre, the police said. Generally, in such cases, pre-paid international calling cards are sold and then these operators illegally route their calls through illegal exchanges. But in this case, the police said, a deal was struck by a telecom company (Net Launch) in Germany, which sold its cards and William Dean agreed to route its calls to Delhi for which he was given 20 per cent share of the total revenue collected. MTNL officials were surprised to find that almost 2.5 lakh calls had already been made from this network through these lines, activated on August 4 last. The accused bypassed the authorised ISDN operators and were switching these calls using this illegal exchange which received incoming international calls via KBPS leased line of the VSNL and then the same were sent (switched) to user through the said 60 lines of the MTNL, the police said. —
PTI |
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Govt taking Left for granted: CPI
New Delhi, September 5 Addressing a press conference, CPI General Secretary A.B. Bardhan expressed the party’s “disappointment” over the performance of the Manmohan Singh Ministry in its first 100 days in office and wanted it to pay heed to the Left’s concerns over several issues, including the FDI. “Heavens would not have fallen had the government consulted the Left parties before announcing the exim policy”, he said elaborating on the decisions taken at the two-day meeting of the party’s national executive, which concluded yesterday. The press conference, also attended by CPI Secretary D. Raja, saw Mr Bardhan cautioning the Congress-led coalition that the coordination committee of the UPA and the Left would “lose relevance” if the government continued to take “unilateral” decisions. “Cutting interest rate on the EPF has already given a wrong signal. This has to be quickly remedied as assured”, he said. Asked about the Prime Minister’s optimism that he would be able to bring the Left parties round to his view on issues like hike in FDI cap in telecom, insurance and civil aviation, Mr Bardhan quipped, “He can continue to hope, but he will not succeed.” GULBARGA: The Left parties favoured giving more autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, while opposing any third party intervention in solving the issue, Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Prakash Karat said on Sunday. Addressing mediapersons here, he said under the Constitution, maximum autonomy must be extended to Jammu and Kashmir for the state government to find a solution. Mr Karat opined that the ongoing bilateral talks with Pakistan should deal with all contentious matters with the neighbouring country. Asked to comment on the performance of the UPA government, the Marxist leader felt that it was too short a time to assess the functioning of the government. He said the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), based on which the Left parties were extending support to the UPA government, must be implemented within a specific timeframe and the government should come out with concrete proposals to implement the CMP before the next Budget. Criticising the Opposition for stalling Parliament proceedings, Mr Karat said it was the Left parties which played the role of a constructive opposition by raising people’s issues. Calling for a Central legislation to regulate admissions and fix the fee structure in private professional colleges, he said the Left parties would chalk out plans to make the Union Government bring in such a legislation.
— PTI, UNI |
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Jaitley, Sushma court
arrest
Bangalore, September 5 BJP Uttar Pradesh unit chief Kesrinath Tripathi, his predecessor Vinay Katiyar, former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, former Uttaranchal Chief Minister Bhagatsingh Koshiar and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal also courted arrest. Sadhus from UP led by Mr Katiyar also courted arrest as part of the BJP’s stir involving the party’s top leaders, including L.K. Advani, to build pressure on the state government to withdraw cases against the Bharti. Addressing BJP workers from MP, UP, Himachal Pradesh and some parts of Karnataka, Ms Swaraj accused the Congress-led government in the state of giving the episode a communal colour and turning it into a Hindu-Muslim issue. “This is not at all a Hindu-Muslim issue. It is about hoisting of the National Flag.” The BJP’s ongoing struggle is about “foreign attitude versus Indian attitude”, she said, in an apparent reference to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Earlier, she told reporters that the relationship between the UPA Government in the first 100 days of rule and the opposition had “come to the lowest ebb”. She said the “discourtesy” shown by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when Opposition party leaders met him last month was being projected by the Congress as a “major achievement of the Manmohan Singh government”. — PTI |
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Uma insulting Tricolour: seer
Ayodhya, September 5 Mahant Das said here that former Uttar Pradesh BJP unit chief Vinay Katiyar was also politicising the issue by visiting Hubli along with some saints from Ayodhya. —
UNI |
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Astronomers mourn Whipple’s death
Mumbai, September 5 Discoverer of six comets, Whipple was best known for his comet research. Five decades ago, he first suggested that comets were icy conglomerates, also described by the media as dirty snowballs, Adur said. His dirty snowball theory caught the imagination of the public and revolutionised comet science, Adur said, adding that Whipple also strongly influenced the early era of paceflight. Mindful of the damage to spacecraft from meteors, in 1946 he invented the meteor bumper, a thin outer skin of metal, also known as the Whipple Shield. This mechanism explodes a meteor on contact, preventing the spacecraft from receiving catastrophic damage, Adur said. The improved versions of it are still in use today, said Aadil Desai, amateur astronomer working with an airlines, said. —
PTI |
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Serial blasts accused
attends brother’s funeral
Mumbai, September 5 Pawle was allowed to attend the funeral today and visit the graveyard at Kausa in Mumbra as well as his residence for condolence.While granting permission, Judge Kode directed the Mumbai police to escort the accused to Thane under heavy security. The court ordered the accused not to contact any absconding accused in the case, either personally or telephonically. He was also told to bear the expenses accrued while escorting him. Palwe was one of the prime accused in the serial blasts which rocked the metropolis on March 12, 1993 killing around 250 persons and injuring around 750 others. According to the prosecution case, Pawle had allegedly parked a RDX-laden Ambassador car in the parking lot of Air-India building at Nariman Point in the heart of the commercial capital that was one of the blasts on the fateful day, injuring several people and damaging the building. —
UNI |
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Love triangle ends in twin murders
Dehra Dun, September 5 The police has arrested Sunder and registered a case against him, said Nainital SSP Vijay Sankhare. According to the police, the accused had an affair with Rajendra Prasad’s wife for two years before she got married in May this year. The accused was a tenant in the house of Rajendra’s wife, Rupa, in Ramnagar. He had informed Rajendra Prasad about their relationship three days before the marriage took place, the police said. He also reportedly threatened the woman’s family during the marriage. The three, however, met after the marriage and decided to call off the relationship for good. Meanwhile, Sunder, the accused, became friends with Rupa’s husband, Rajendra, the police said. On Wednesday, Sunder hired a cab from Ramnagar and came to Mallital along with the driver, Vijay Bisht. The accused picked up Rajendra Prasad and drove down to the Mangoli valley where he jumped off the car just before a 800-metre-deep gorge and left the two for dead. The police recovered the bodies of Rajendra Prasad and the driver from the gorge at Mangoli. |
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Sack Mulayam Govt, demands
Mayawati
Lucknow, September 5 The Congress has given a call for a statewide bandh tomorrow and the BJP has charged the Mulayam Government with handling the matter in a “non-serious” manner. Addressing a press conference today, Ms Mayawati questioned Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s moral right to head the government after his complete failure to handle the lawyers’ confrontation with the police. “It was a small incident which was allowed to be blown out of proportion by an inept administration and the police”, she pointed out. She also underlined an SP-BJP nexus as even former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not see anything amiss and gave the Mulayam Government a clean chit for its handling of the matter. Holding the BJP responsible for the present law and order situation in the state, she said the party was instrumental in installing the Mulayam Singh Government and turning UP into “jungle raj”. Calling upon the Congress to withdraw its support from the SP, she said: “Else, the people of the state will not forgive them”. Earlier, UPCC chief Jagdambika Pal announced the party’s decision to resort to a statewide bandh to protest against the deteriorating law and order situation, especially the brutal beating of the lawyers and now the shooting of a ruling party MLC. Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh has charged the Mulayam Government with not taking the police brutality against the lawyers seriously. He said that an inquiry had been ordered by retired Supreme Court justice Sagheer Ahmad without making a prima facie inquiry into the incident to set the terms of reference, he charged. Meanwhile, the Awadh Bar Association demanded an unconditional apology from the government for the police brutality. In a resolution passed at its executive meeting held at the Civil Hospital today, the association demanded an inquiry to identify senior police officers and administrators responsible for lapses which led to the police lathicharge. |
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Pay orders, DD, lockers to cost
more
New Delhi, September 5 The 10 per cent service tax and a 2 per cent cess on it would push the prices of banking services up by 10.2 per cent, a banker said here today. The items which would attract service tax are pay orders, demand drafts, cheques, letter of credit, bill of exchange, bank guarantee, overdraft facility, bill discounting facility, safe deposit lockers, safe vaults and operation of bank accounts. While there is apprehension on the imposition of tax, a bank official said “the tax will be on the commissions paid by consumers for buying pay orders, demand drafts and other services from a bank and not on the amount of the pay order, demand drafts and so on.” The Indian Bank Association has told the banks to take steps to make the branch staff aware about the need to collect the service tax on various services as soon as the Finance Act comes into force. The banks have also been asked to look into the arrangements for registration and payment of service tax. On the issue of service tax on interest on loans, the IBA has taken up the matter with the Central Board of Excise and Customs. CBEC is expected to come out with a detailed guideline soon so that bankers can file service tax returns before October 25, the due date for payment of the tax for the month. —
PTI |
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Motorised wheel changes potters’ life in
Kerala
Panaji, September 5 They are a changed lot, having learnt the technique of using the pug mill and motorised wheel and in the process experienced a revolutionary socio-economic change. Many other clusters with 20 huts each, housing the poor families of the traditional craftsmen, are following suit. They are thinking of forming themselves into a cooperative to raise a bank loan so that every household can own an electric wheel and a community pug mill to pound the clay. The socio-economic revolution in this tiny hamlet is due to the initiative of the Integrated Rural Training Centre (IRTC), which gifted them not only the pug mill but also the electric wheel besides training them. The project workers have even trained the villagers in making decorated pottery which has a great potential, both in the domestic and the foreign markets. They brought accomplished artists such as President medal winner Sivan from Trivandrum and Shantiniketan to introduce Palakkad potters to the skills of “Peco Pasche”, the French art of decorating pottery with printed photographs and pictures pasted on the polished pots. “We embarked on the programme to aid the traditional potters, found in about seven to eight clusters, after making a socio-economic and technological survey of the communities in Kerala,” IRTC fellow and ceramic science expert Dr M Lalithambica said. Talking to the mediapersons in connection with a science writing workshop held at the IRTC complex at Mundur, near Palakkad, in Kerala recently, she said an effort was also being made to bring the communities under a co-operative so that they got loans to purchase the pug mills and mechanised wheels. Further efforts were also on to make 3-D pots, using the mechanically pugged clay with additional ingredients to bring about more value addition to the terracotta products. The entire community oriented project was initiated under the joint auspices of the IRTC and the Regional Research Laboratory under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Trivandrum. — UNI |
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Honour killings rampant in Pak
Kolkata, September 5 “Honour killing is very much there in Pakistan. It still takes place in significant numbers,” Ms Jahangir, former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told mediapersons today. Holding the “official indifference” as a major factor behind the misery of women in Pakistan, she said the state had not sought to eradicate traditions that prescribed honour killings nor ended the impunity of the perpetrators of such killings. Asked about the role of the human rights organisations in curbing the social vice, Ms Jahangir shot back, “It is only because of the human rights groups that you have come to know about such a practice.” Ms Jahangir, a member of the Bar Association of Pakistan, who was in the city recently, said the human rights groups had taken up a number of cases where a girl or a woman was being tortured by her family or faced the risk of being killed for activities that were considered to have brought disgrace for her family or tribe. Marrying without the family’s consent, seeking divorce or even being raped, were considered to be among the disgraceful activities, she said. — PTI |
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Congress demands apology from
Sinha
New Delhi, September 5 Not only Mr Sinha should apologise but the BJP also needed to express regrets over his remark, which needed to be condemned, AICC media department chairperson Girija Vyas said. Accusing the BJP of lowering the political debate, she told PTI that the way BJP leaders had started targeting the Prime Minister as also Congress President Sonia Gandhi showed that the defeat in the Lok Sabha poll had hit them hard leading to their losing balance. She said it was regrettable that a person like Mr Sinha who was External Affairs and Finance Minister in the BJP-led coalition should speak such a thing about the Prime Minister, known for his sober and humble nature. Another party spokesman Anand Sharma said Mr Sinha’s “low level” attack undermined the dignity of the office of Prime Minister and asked whether former premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee endorses the view. Mr Sharma said the former Union Minister’s statement represent the “class, character and political culture of the BJP and their perverse mindset”. Mr Sinha had called Manmohan Singh a “puppet” Prime Minister who is trying to “finish off” the BJP under the dictates of an “Italian”, an obvious reference to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. —
PTI |
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2 Naxals killed in encounter
Raipur, September 5 Acting on a tipoff, the police reached Samudri village and found that at least 20 Naxalites were involved in a meeting with the villagers at a primary school here yesterday morning. The police waited for the meeting to end and asked the Naxals to surrender, but instead, they opened fire. Retaliatory action followed for nearly two hours, in which two Naxals were killed while the rest fled. —
PTI |
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Thackeray to sport beard till
Assembly poll
Mumbai, September 5 “I have decided not to shave off the beard till we win the Assembly elections in the state,” Mr Thackeray told the party mouthpiece Saamna in an interview here today. Earlier, the diehard Sena workers were stumped on August 25 when they spotted their idol sporting a beard, a neatly trimmed fringe along the curve of his chin. Mr Thackeray, amid peals of laughter, had then clarified that he had not changed his religion. “I nicked myself while shaving. The doctor has advised me not to shave for another week,” he had then told the partymen. — PTI |
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