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New twist to seer case
India’s loss in tsunami
Rs 5,322 crore
N-plants to guard against
tsunami
On tree for 10 days without food
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Kalam for tsunami prediction
mechanism
Website on tsunami victims launched
Asian oil market move gains
ground
HC serves notices on 40 rebel BSP
legislators
Queue cost him life!
Deal with AIDS firmly, says
PM
Best Bakery hearing on Jan
10
Over 50 hurt as Cong, CPM workers clash
Advani made Gaur regret in Uma case
Appu, Ravi held in assault case
Amity International to set up varsity in UP
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New twist to seer case
New Delhi, January 6 This was revealed to a Bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Mr Justice G.P. Mathur and Mr Justice P.P. Naolekar by Tamil Nadu Government counsel K.T.S. Tulsi when he was pointedly asked about the motive for the seer to plan the murder of Shankararaman. “Was the deceased associated with the Mutt? And if so, when did he leave it?” the court asked. “The father of Shankararaman was a manager of the seer till 1998 and the son used to work with him. He was much concerned about certain financial irregularities in the Mutt and had written 39 letters to the Commissioner of Charity of the Mutt Trust about this, which was the reason for differences between the seer and the deceased,” Mr Tulsi said. When the court asked if Shankararaman wrote these letters in any capacity as Mutt official or a public person, the Tamil Nadu Government counsel said “certainly he wrote them as a public person. But he was a manager of another temple and was deeply concerned about the affairs of the Mutt.” Asked as from where the letters were recovered, Mr Tulsi said drafts of most of them were recovered from the office of the deceased and their contents were published in Tamil magazine “Nakeeran”. But they were certainly sent to the commissioner through courier, he claimed. When the court repeatedly asked Mr Tulsi to “pinpoint” the evidence that linked the Shankaracharya to the murder, he said co-accused Kadiraman had given a confession to the Magistrate on November 19 about the conspiracy hatched at a meeting in the Mutt at the instance of the seer on September 1 last, two days before the murder. He also said that two other witnesses had confirmed the conspiracy whose names were in the case diary which was placed before the court. Countering the state government claim, Mr Nariman said a manager of the Mutt, arrested in the case, had told the police that the money of the sale deed was in fact deposited in Indian Overseas Bank in May last year. “After the court notice, the police had arrested two more persons and got the confession of one of them recorded before the Magistrate on December 31 in a bid to make a case after Kadiraman had retracted his confession,” Mr Nariman said, while trying to point out various “loopholes” in the prosecution theory. Mr Nariman said “the transaction of money from ICICI Bank earlier appears to have been given by the police now in its reply placed before this court and a new twist about the payment of Rs 50 lakh has been given”. “There is no evidence with the police linking the pontiff to the murder, except to a confession of a co-accused, which he had retraced after five days,” he said, adding that in the absence of “substantive” evidence, confession was a “very weak evidence”. |
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India’s loss in tsunami
Rs 5,322 crore
New Delhi, January 6 Moreover, the services engineers have fanned out in the remote islands of the Union Territory to rebuild roads, bridges and jetties, besides clearing the highways of debris and evacuating people to relief camps. The three services, besides taking care of the east coast and Andaman and Nicobar, have also chipped in with rushing ships to Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia with relief supplies and personnel to rebuild the basic infrastructure including restoring power and potable water supply and providing medical help to the people, officials said here today. Having sustained the first aid for 12 days since the tsunami struck parts of India and neighbouring countries, the Navy today withdrew two ships anchored at Maldives. However, airplanes and helicopters of the IAF were still there to help the government in ferrying international aid to the far-flung islands, it was learnt. Elaborating on the operations
condenamed Operation Sea Wave in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, officials said 16 ships, 10 helicopters and six giant IL-76 transport planes continued to airlift and ship relief material. More than 600 tonnes of relief material have already arrived at Port Blair and Car Nicobar Islands and the services have now entered phase two. In Tamil Nadu, three Infantry and two Engineers columns are working round the clock, while in Kerala, five infantry columns are running nine relief camps, officials said. Operation Rainbow for Sri Lanka was on in full swing, with five ships, including one hospital ship and teams of army personnel with multi-disciplinary skills, rebuilding the devastated infrastructure. Naval divers and engineers of the Indian Navy managed to clear the approach channel to Galle
harbour, which saw extensive damage and the port is now operational. Similar operations were now on in the Trincomalee and Colombo ports and they were now partially operational, sources said, adding that more than 260 tonnes of relief materials had reached Sri Lanka. The Navy had also rushed two ships to Indonesia, including one hospital ship, carrying more than 20 tonnes of medical supplies. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today chaired a meeting of the Group of Ministers
(GoM) to review the ongoing relief operations in the tsunami-affected areas. The Prime Minister is reaching Chennai tomorrow and he was keen to have facts at his finger tips before he landed in Tamil Nadu, sources said. The report of the team of high-level officials led by Secretary (Border Management) in the Union Home Ministry Ashok Kumar
Rastogi, which went to tsunami-affected states, was likely to be submitted by this weekend, the sources said. Meanwhile, officials said that after successfully completing the first phase of Operation Sea Wave involving rescue and relief efforts in the tsunami-affected Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the government had now started a massive drive to prevent outbreak of any epidemic as part of the second phase. All children between six months and five years of age in Andaman and Nicobar were being vaccinated against measles and were also being given recommended doses of vitamin — A supplement, the officials said. About 80 MT of different drugs have already been airlifted to the Andaman and Nicobar islands in addition to 40 MT of medical supplies to Port Blair, the officials added. Meanwhile, the preliminary assessment of financial loss in the December 26 tsunami in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Pondicherry is being estimated at Rs 5322.05 crore. According to the latest status report released by the Home Ministry, the prelimniary estimates of the loss for Tamil Nadu are Rs 2730.70 crore, Andhra Pradesh Rs 720.73 crore, Kerala Rs 1358.62 crore and Pondicherry Rs 512 crore, a total of $1.18 billion. The details for Andaman and Nicobar were being still worked out, the report said. The death toll continued to go up, with official figure standing at 9,682. The report said 12 Indian nationals were killed in tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand and Indonesia. Another 12 to 15 Indians were reported missing in Sri Lanka, it said. Meanwhile, the killer tsunami waves not only caused loss of human lives, it has caused severe damage to ecological resources in the country, according to preliminary assessment made by the Centre. Some of the damage to ecological assets may impact livelihood of the people, said Dr Prodipto
Ghosh, chairman of the ecological assessment committee. Mr Ghosh, Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, had convened a meeting of experts to assess the damage to ecology. |
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N-plants to guard against
tsunami
Mumbai, January 6 Though the IGCAR atomic power station was not affected by the killer waves, other buildings located in the complex were completely devasted. Several employees, including senior scientists and their families, were washed away. Scientists here deny reports that there was a danger of nuclear radiation escaping into the environment due to the tsunami. However, they admitted that information gathering and dissemination systems needed to be overhauled to avoid a nuclear disaster. Questions are now being asked on the advisability of setting up the Kalpakkam plant so close to the southern coast. Though tsunamis are almost unheard of, their danger should have been factored into the construction of the plant, it is felt. |
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On tree for 10 days without food
Car Nicobar, January 6 He did not get down from the tree for 10 days out of fear, Dr C.B. Sathaye, who treated him, said today. His parents, who had lost all hopes of seeing their son alive, had been informed. Sathaye, who was a member of the 12-member medical team sent by the Maharashtra Government to this island, said defence personnel spotted him yesterday lying on the ground with severe dehydration. “We injected fluid immediately and he was taken to Port Blair and admitted to naval hospital,” he said. Muralidhar, who did not suffer any other injury, said he fell as he could not hold on to the tree top any longer. —
PTI |
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Kalam for tsunami prediction
mechanism
Ahmedabad, January 6 He said: “While it is not possible to predict earthquakes, it is definitely possible to predict and locate tsunami waves, which follow whenever there are high-intensity earthquakes in the ocean.” Terming the tsunami a “shock-embedded tidal wave”, the President said seismologist, geologist and other scientists should join hands to meet the challenge of developing a tsunami prediction system. —
PTI |
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Website on tsunami victims launched
Porayar, January 6 So far, complaints of 1,184 missing persons has been received by the Nagapattinam and Velankani police, he said. He said 500 bodies have been buried so far. —
PTI |
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Asian oil market move gains
ground
New Delhi, January 6 Organised at the initiative of Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar
Aiyar, the conference is aiming at evolving a consensus among Asian oil producers and consumers to set up an integrated Asian oil market. Iran also supported India’s demand of abolishing Asian premium, maintaining that “price of energy supplies from Asian producers to consumers in the region should be lower than that of other countries.” Supporting India’s stand on Asian premium — charging of about one dollar per barrel extra by oil producers from Asian countries than European countries and the USA — China and Japan also called upon oil producers to review their decision. “All talking points included in my brief have been endorsed by my counterparts from Japan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and
Quatar,” said Mr Aiyar. India is hopeful that with the setting up of an integrated Asian oil market, oil prices will stabilise in the the long term, thus insulating the Asian economies, including China, India and Japan.
Mr Aiyar claimed that over the past few years, about two-thirds of oil produced in Asia was purchased by Asian countries. Hence, there was need for more cooperation and joint ventures. “Japan has offered to promote Japanese commercial interest in the fifth round of exploration blocks being offered by India under the New Exploration Licensing Policy,” he said. Earlier, speaking at the conference, the Indian Petroleum Minister said investment in the petroleum sector in Asia itself was emerging as a significant source of investment in Asia. He said the proposed market should have a petroleum exchange, with derivatives integrated with the market practice, and spot purchases enjoying a progressively larger share of market transactions. The minister told the visiting dignitaries that “through a sustained dialogue among ourselves, we might be able to find an Asian solution of the imperatives of Asian stability.” The minister said the Asian countries required a massive $ 1,580 billion investment over the next 25 years for the development of upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas sector. He said till now Asia was looking towards the West for much of the investment in Asian petroleum exploration, production, refining and marketing. “Now, we should go in for mutual investment by producer and consumer nations of the Asian oil community,” he added. India has decided to set up a special team headed by Talmiz Ahmad, Additional Secretary
(Adminstration) in the External Affairs Ministry, to explore potential in Qatar and Oman. Speaking at the conference, Saudi Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Ibrahim Al Naimi denied that it was unable to maintain reliable delivery of petroleum supplies. He stressed that market stability could not be achieved without cooperation among all producers. While ruling out investment in exploration activities in India and elsewhere, he assured that private companies would be encouraged to look at opportunities here. The second rountable conference will be held in Saudi Arabia. |
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HC serves notices on 40 rebel BSP
legislators
Lucknow, January 6 In its order the court said that after hearing both sides it finds an “arguable case” and has admitted the writ petition filed by the Leader of the BSP Legislature Party, Swami Prasad Maurya, in September, 2003 challenging the order of the then Speaker, Mr Kesharinath Tripathi, recognising the 40 BSP MLAs as one third of the BSP’s 109 strength in the Vidhan Sabha. The court has noted: “Since the MLAs would be affected by any order, it is necessary that notices should be sent to them”. Accordingly the court has sent notices to all 40 MLAs. According to the BSP General Secretary and senior advocate S.C. Mishra , “The BSP contention was that 13 of these 40 MLAs had left the party as early as September 4 and had already met the governor. The BSP had immediately disqualified them. Hence their going and joining hands with the remaining 24 MLAs and claiming a one-third split as prescribed under the 10 Schedule of the Constitution does not hold water”. In corroboration the BSP counsel quoted the Supreme Court judgment in the Ravi Naik case of 1994 pertaining to the two MLAs of Goa. Earlier, arguing on behalf of the government, Attorney-General Virendra Bhatia defended the judgement of the Speaker and claimed that there was no scope for judicial review and hence the petition should be dismissed. One of the rebel ministers’ Rajendra Singh Rana, Minister of State for Transport, maintains that the 13 MLAs who had initially met the Governor were, in fact, representing the larger breakaway BSP group that later merged with the SP. The petition would be taken up for hearing in a fortnight. The rebel MLAs led by Mr Rajendra Singh Rana had formed a separate party ‘Loktantrik Bahujan Dal’ on September 6, 2003, which was recognised by the then assembly speaker who also permitted them to join the SP. |
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Queue cost him life!
Aurangabad, January 6 The police sources at Majalgaon in neighbouring Beed district today confirmed the death of Dnyanoba Bhanudas Gadekar yesterday and registered a case of ''sudden death''. The post-mortem report would be available in about five days, the sources said. As per the entry records available with the Special Land Acquisition Officer and Deputy Collector of Beed R. R. Deshmukh, the farmer had come to Keshavraj Jinning cotton purchasing centre from Govindpur village on December 23. He had brought 10 quintals of cotton in his bullock cart to be weighed at the centre. His turn was delayed due to the long line of farmers. The sources said the cotton he had brought was sold at the centre after his death. Mr Deshmukh said the caretaker District Collector of Beed Bhagwanrao Landge visited the cotton purchasing centre yesterday evening. The tehsildar was preparing a detailed report on the incident, which would be ready in a couple of days, he added. A group of local farmers apprised visiting Deputy Chief Minister R. R. Patil yesterday of the incident and demanded a thorough inquiry into it. —
UNI |
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Deal with AIDS firmly, says
PM
New Delhi, January 6 Recalling that from one case that was reported in 1986, India today had already crossed the five million mark, he said, “We have no choice but to act and act with firmness, with urgency and with utmost seriousness.” Chairing a media summit here on HIV/AIDS, the Prime Minister said AIDS was no longer just a public health issue but it had become a serious socio-economic and development concern. “If not checked, it can hurt our ambitions in economic growth and development very severely,” he said. Assuring the participants that the UPA government was committed to substantially strengthening the national AIDS control efforts, he said different ministries had joined hands to evolve a national action plan for spreading awareness and improving access to services related to HIV/AIDS. |
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Best Bakery hearing on Jan
10
Mumbai, January 6 Zahira's counsel H. H. Ponda moved an application before Additional Sessions Court Judge Abhay Thipsay, who is presiding over the retrial in the case, stating that Zahira was unwell and would be able to apppear in court only on Monday for cross-examination. Judge Thipsay, after crosschecking with defence advocate Adik Shirodkar that he had no objections to it, directed the prosecution to put another witness in the box if Zahira failed to appear in court on Monday. Zahira last deposed in the court on December 21, when the prosecution declared her hostile as she retracted her statement recorded by the Vadodara police. Over 40 witnesses have so far been examined in the case. They include nine eyewitnesses. Zahira and her family members — mother Sehrunissa, brothers Nafitullah and Nasibullah and sister Saira — have turned hostile. —
UNI |
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Over 50 hurt as Cong, CPM workers clash
Kolkata, January 6 The police which went there to control the two warring groups were also the target of attacks, which forced them to first resort to fire tear gas shells and later 30 rounds of bullets. Over 50 persons, including six policemen, were injured. Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury sustained minor bullet injuries. Over 60 persons were arrested. The police said supporters of both parties clashed after exchanging charges during separate processions taken out after the elections to a milk supply co-operative, now controlled by the Congress. |
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Advani made Gaur regret in Uma case
Bhopal, January 6 He told a press conference that at a closed- door meeting in Delhi two days ago, Mr Advani had told him that Ms Bharti was feeling hurt by certain observations he had made about the sadhvi during her period of suspension from the party. To this, Mr Gaur replied that he had no hesitation in expressing regrets. Mr Advani then asked Mr Gaur to go out and express his regrets before TV cameras. |
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Appu, Ravi held in assault case
Kancheepuram, January 6 The arrest memos were served on Appu, now in Government Royapettah Hospital in Chennai for treatment, and Ravi Subramaniam, lodged in the Kancheepuram sub-jail, today, police sources told UNI. The arrests of Appu and Ravi Subramaniam, who have already been remanded by the Kancheepuram Judicial Magistrate (Court-I) in the murder case, were effected by the Special team, which was probing both cases. In all 10 persons have been cited as accused in the assault case. They were: Jayendra Saraswati, Appu, Ravi Subramaniam, Kathiravan, Sundar, alias Meenakshi Sundaram, Kannan, Ananda Kumar, Kumar, alias Chinna Kumar, Bhoominathan and Lakshmanan. —
UNI |
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Amity International to set up varsity in UP
Lucknow, January 6 Speaking to the Press after a marathon Cabinet meeting, Mr Yadav said this was the first time that any private institution in the country had agreed to keep aside seats as per the government requirements. A decision to appoint a fresh Law Commission was also taken having a 5-year tenure, the commission will have one chairperson, a vice-chairperson and two members. The commission will look into the practical problems of procedures and application of law. It will also be expected to help officials prepare the government’s response to the numerous pending court cases. The Cabinet also officially approved that every minister would donate a month’s salary towards tsunami relief. In addition, the Minister of State for Transport, Mr Yogesh Pratap, presented a cheque for Rs 1 lakh to the Chief Minister. Traders of Agra have also contributed Rs 1.4 crore. |
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India’s proposal to develop a common Asian oil market and joint storage facilities, aimed at stablising the oil prices in the region, today received positive response from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Japan at the first roundtable conference of principal Asian oil and gas buyers and sellers.
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