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Govt gives Rs 2,700 cr for
tsunami-hit
Godhra carnage: crucial evidence
destroyed
Cong’s guess game on pact with
Paswan
Modernisation new Army vice-chief’s
priority
57 defence personnel get bravery awards
Indo-Nepal Home Secys hold talks
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Rlys told to pay Rs 18 lakh for woman’s death
Sales tax official’s son kidnapped
Supreme Court reserves verdict in medico-negligence
case
SC acquits murder accused
Junior seer’s remand till January
24
CBI, CISF team in Kathmandu
Action against Col K.D. Singh initiated
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Govt gives Rs 2,700 cr for
tsunami-hit
New Delhi, January 19 Mr Pawar is scheduled to visit Andaman and Nicobar islands tomorrow. Mr Chidambaram said that Rs 861.82 crore would be released immediately as “immediate relief, response and temporary rehabilitation assistance”. Out of a total of Rs 2,731 crore, Rs 1,093 crore has been earmarked for the fisheries sector. This involves Rs 454.47 crore as subsidy and Rs 639.24 crore as loan. For Tamil Nadu a total capital subsidy of Rs 356.54crore and loan component of Rs 566.47 crore have been provided in the special package for fisheries sector. Kerala would be provided Rs 75.56 crore, Pondicherry Rs 60.98 crore and Andhra Pradesh Rs 34.16 crore. For housing, a special package of Rs 752.30 crore has been given, including the cost of acquisition of land. “For construction of 1,70,500 houses for people whose houses have been damaged a special package of Rs 752.30 crore has been approved, including the cost of acquisition of land”, an official statement said. For rehabilitation of fishermen in Tamil Nadu, though the state government demanded that all replacements and repairs should be done by providing full subsidy, it had been felt that while those fishermen who would be provided with a craft with the nets only should be given full subsidy, others who need bigger type of boats and motors may be given subsidy to some extent and balance should be in the form of bank loans. For those losing their wooden catamarans, Rs 32,000 would be given as subsidy, and in the case of fishermen who have lost fiberglass boats, whose replacement cost Rs 1.5 lakh, 35 per cent of the amount would be given as subsidy while 65 per cent would be provided though bank loans at an interest of 7 per cent. In this case, there would also be an interest subsidy of 2 per cent besides a moratorium of one-and-a-half years and a repayment period of seven years. Fishermen who have lost wodden catamarans and wish to upgrade their vessels would also be eligible for the second category of assistance. For mechanised boats which cost up to Rs 20 lakh, a subsidy of 35 per cent would be provided by the government with a ceiling of Rs 5 lakh and the balance as loans. In the case where mechanised boats are to be repaired, a subsidy of 65 per cent would be provided with a ceiling of Rs 3 lakh. A subsidy of Rs 10,000 would be provided for repair of all other categories of fishing vessels. An amount of Rs 22.13 crore is also provided for rehabilitation of fishing harbours. An estimated 1,70,500 houses had been damaged due to the tsunami and their repair would cost Rs 752.30 crore Mr Chidambaram said, adding the total expenditure would be treated as the Central grant. The second phase of the package towards rehabilitation and reconstruction would focus on recovery of agricultural land damaged by floods and reconstruction of infrastructure, he said. |
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Godhra carnage: crucial evidence
destroyed
Ahmedabad, January 19 The FSL experts, who filed crucial reports about the burnt coaches of the train, were also found not to have any expertise or formal training on examining cases related to fire or patterns caused by them. During the cross-examination of Mr M N Joshi, the scientific officer of FSL, Gandhinagar said, he had inspected the S-7 coach on July 2002 at Ahmedabad and he saw a khaki-coloured canvas in place of the original black-coloured one on the coach. According to version of the Special Investigating Team (SIT), formed to investigate the Godhra train carnage, the canvas of S-7 coach was cut open and the miscreants entered the train, poured petrol and torched it. During the inspection, Mr Joshi said he noticed that it was “new” and the top metal-portion of the vestibule still contained burn marks. Surprisingly, Mr Joshi admitted that these details were not mentioned in the original report filed by him. “The original canvas of S-7 was burnt on February 27 itself”, he said. “I did not feel the need to ask the railway authorities why the canvas was changed,” he told the Commission. According to one of the annexures submitted before the commission, the S-7 coach was declared ‘sick’ when it initially reached Ahmedabad on February 27, 2002. Later it was made ‘fit’ on March 5 and was allowed in service from March 7 to July 12, 2002 on train No 9165/9166 after repairing the damages. The coach was withdrawn later on July 12 the same year and stationed at Ahmedabad railway station. Mr S G Khandelwal, the Assistant Director of FSL, who also deposed today before the commission, said he did not have any formal training or expertise about fire and fire patterns nor had he ever dealt with such cases. “I was called in to examine only one of the sliding doors on the S-6 coach at Godhra,” Mr Khandelwal said. He admitted before the commission that he had not conducted any chemical tests of the scratch mark on the sliding door of the coach, which according to him was made while the miscreants tried to forcibly open the door to enter the coach on February 27, 2002. —
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Nanavati panel summons BJP, VHP leaders
Ahmedabad, January 19 The commission also directed Vithal
Pandya, father of slain BJP leader Haren Pandya, to appear before it on February 3. Meanwhile, the main eyewitness of the high-profile Best Bakery case Zahira Sheikh and member of Forensic Science Laboratory
J.K. Dave are slated to be cross-examined by the panel on February 4. —
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Cong’s guess game on pact with
Paswan
New Delhi, January 19 After a meeting with Congress leaders Arjun Singh and Ahmed Patel, Mr Paswan told reporters that as per the
Congress-LJP electoral pact finalised today, the two parties had agreed not to field candidates against each other. Consequently, he said, the LJP would not fight the 80-odd seats which the Congress planned to contest and visa versa. The Congress, however, kept everybody guessing and, in the process, ended up adding to the confusion. The official explanation, articulated by party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan was: “Except for the seats already discussed with the RJD and the Left parties, talks are still going on with other UPA allies as to how best to defeat the communal forces in Bihar.” While the Congress shied away from saying anything definite about its talks with the LJP today, Mr. Paswan gave details about the “agreement” for the first phase of elections on February 3. He said the Congress had vacated six seats for the LJP and would now contest 16 and not 22 seats it had originally announced. On its part, the LJP would not field candidates in the seats being contested by the Congress, he said. While Mr Paswan was understandably upbeat about sewing up a pact with the Congress, the latter was predictably coy on the issue. Senior Congress leaders maintained they did not wish to give the impression that they were tilting towards any one party. The Congress, it was stated, wanted to stay neutral, especially in view of the strained relations between RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mr Paswan. It was precisely for this reason that the Congress had pointedly stated that it would not be fielding candidates in the seats held by its UPA allies, be it the
RJD, the Left parties or the LJP. “Both Mr Yadav and Mr Paswan are partners in the UPA and we don’t want to alienate either of them,” said a senior AICC leader. The Congress was treading cautiously as far as the RJD was concerned, especially since it was the bigger party in the state. Since it was contesting only 80 seats in Bihar, the Congress was obviously not in the race to form the next government. However, it was banking on a situation wherein the RJD strength was reduced and it was critically dependent on the Congress to form the next government. This, it was stated, would help the Congress contain Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav both at the Centre and in the state. |
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Freeze RJD symbol: BJP
New Delhi, January 19 “The manner of release of this report indicates that the RJD president in his capacity as Railway Minister and the committee have attempted to communalise the unfortunate events in Godhra in order to enable the RJD to create communal tensions on the issue,” party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in a letter to the Election Commission.
New Delhi, January 19 Party Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today announced the party’s comprehensive plan to defeat the RJD and the Congress in the next month’s Assembly elections which not only includes a joint campaign with JD (U) but also a
common agenda for governance for putting the state on a fast-track of development. Mr Naqvi said party President L.K. Advani had also deputed BJP MPs and MLAs to Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand where they would help the party’s election campaign.
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Janata Dal (S) suspends four leaders
New Delhi, January 19 Former Members of Parliament A Lakshmi Sagar and P Kodandaramaiah and former MLC
A.K. Subbiah are the other three leaders who have been suspended from the party for their threat to carry out the campaign against the leadership,
JD(S) Secretary-General Bapu Kaldate said. —
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Jharkhand poll notification today
Ranchi, January 19 The last date of filing of nomination papers is January 27, scrutiny is the next day and the last date of withdrawal is January 31, sources said. —
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Modernisation new Army vice-chief’s
priority
New Delhi, January 19 Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the ceremony, he said, “Enhancing the operational efficiency of the Army, absorbing high-technology equipment...keeping pace with the Revolution in Military Affairs
(RMA), continuing modernisation, acquisition of the latest weapons and honing training will be among my priorities”. Earlier, Lt-Gen Thakur laid a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate, before coming to South Bloc, where he was received by the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen
P.P.S. Bhandari, and other principal staff officers at the Army Headquarters. He then inspected a guard of honour, presented by jawans of the Sikh Light Infantry, before going up to his office. Before being appointed as the Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Thakur was the Commander-in-Chief of the tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Command. Lt-Gen Thakur, the first Army officer to head the tri-service command, handed over charge to Lt-Gen Aditya Singh, earlier the General Officer Commanding of the Bhopal-based XXI Corps, before heading to New Delhi to assume his new office. |
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57 defence personnel get bravery awards
Dehra Dun, January 19 Lieut-Gen J.J. Singh said technological advancement was the key to strengthening the defence forces of the country. Two Yudh Seva Medals, one Bar to Sena Medal (gallantry), 51 Sena Medals and three Vishist Seva Medals were presented. Twenty of the Sena Medals were awarded posthumously to the jawans who laid down lives fighting terrorism. A number of well-decorated Army officers, including General Officer Commanding, Kharga Corps, Lieut-Gen K.D.S. Shekhawat, attended the ceremony. Several top bureaucrats, civil dignitaries and families of the award-winning officers and jawans were also present on the occasion. After the ceremony the next of the kin were presented shawls by the president of the Army Wives Welfare Association, Western Command, Mrs Anupama Singh. |
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Indo-Nepal Home Secys hold talks
New Delhi, January 19 Home Secretaries Dhirendra Singh (India) and Chandi Prasad Shreshtha of Nepal held talks, focussing mainly on security along the porous border between the two countries and checking illegal activities, including the smuggling of arms and ammunition and narcotics. Sources said the talks would now conclude today. —
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Rlys told to pay Rs 18 lakh for woman’s death
New Delhi, January 19 A Bench of Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice S B Sinha in an interim order directed the Railway to pay the compensation within six weeks to the family of Ms Sarika Hora, who had fallen through the vestibule linking coach 7 and 8 of Goa Expresse, while she was crossing it during her journey on October 27, 1995. The matter came before the apex court in an appeal filed by the Union Government challenging MRTP Commission’s order awarding the compensation of Rs 18 lakh to the family of the deceased, holding that “she fell into her grave courtesy the Railways.” While issuing notice to the victim’s family on Centre’s appeal, the court said it was being admitted subject to the condition that the government deposit the entire amount of Rs 18 lakh, including interest from the date of the MRTP Commission’s order. The court gave liberty to the family to withdraw the money even during the pendency of the appeal. The award of Rs 18 lakh was considered significant as the maximum limit under Railways’ amended rules (1997) regarding compensation in death cases had been fixed at only Rs 4 lakh. The government has challenged the payment citing it a main ground. Initially, the National Human Rights Commission had initiated proceedings against the Railways in the case after a report about Ms Hora’s death was published in media. The NHRC had ordered Railways to grant Rs 1 lakh as immediate compensation to her family. Hora’s family had subsequently filed an application before the MRTP Commission in 1996, claiming Rs 4 crore as compensation, saying,”She fell to her death due to gross negligence of the Railways.” The government had even questioned the jurisdiction of MRTP Commission to hear the case, contending that the matter should have gone to the Railways Claims Tribunal. |
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Sales tax official’s son kidnapped
Patna, January 19 Mr Kislay Kumar, 12-year-old son of Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax K.K. Gupta, was overpowered by two gunmen near the Gandhi statue in Patel Nagar, when he was on the way to board the school bus. He was then bundled into a car and taken away. Mr Gupta lodged an FIR with the Shastri Nagar police station in connection with the kidnapping. Angry over the incident, the BFSA held an emergency meeting and submitted a memorandum to chief secretary K. A. H. Subramanian that if the boy was not safely recovered in the next 48 hours, its 300 members across the state, including employees of the Sales Tax Department, Treasury officers and District Account Officer would launch an indefinite strike. BFSA president B. K. Singh said the association would meet again after the time limit and announce the strike.—
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Supreme Court reserves verdict in medico-negligence
case
New Delhi, January 19 A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Mr Justice G.P. Mathur and Mr Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan, while reserving its verdict, will consider an important question whether a doctor can be held criminally liable for “gross negligence” during treatment after two division Benches had expressed different views on the issue. A division Bench of Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice D M Dharmadhikari in a judgement last year had held that a doctor could not be held criminally liable for death during treatment due to error of judgement or an accident. The prosecution had alleged that an empty cylinder was applied for giving oxygen to the patient, resulting in his death due to suffocation and the case fell in the category of “gross negligence” on the part of Dr Mathew. |
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SC acquits murder accused
New Delhi, January 19 “We do not consider it safe to sustain the conviction of Jagjit Singh, alias Jagga, on sole testimony of the child witness, Billo. The appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt,” a Bench of Mr Justice P.V. Reddi and Mr Justice B.P. Singh ruled. Jagga was awarded death senctence by Fathegarh Sabib Sessions Judge on March 31, 2003, and the Punjab and Haryana High Court confirmed it.
Kancheepuram, January 19 The police, which took the junior seer into custody for interrogation yesterday, produced him before First Class Judicial Magistrate G. Uthamaraj. Vijayendra Saraswati was later taken to the central prison at Chennai. The junior Acharya was arrested in connection with the Sankararaman murder case on Janaury 10 and had been made as the second accused in the case, the first accused being the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Jayendra Saraswati. Meanwhile, the Chengalpattu sessions court adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of Vijayendra to January 25 following a request from the prosecution. Judge S. Vanagamudi also adjourned the bail petitions of Raghu, brother of Vijayendra Saraswati and Mutt manager Sundaresa Iyer to that day. — PTI
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CBI, CISF team in Kathmandu
New Delhi, January 19 The case was handed over to the CBI after a decision by the government, which directed the agency to initiate probe into the incident. The team was flown in a special aircraft last evening and is expected to return “shortly”, CBI sources said. The team is also expected to bring back along with them the bodies of the two victims. |
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Action against Col K.D. Singh initiated
New Delhi, January 19 “As a consequence of the establishment of some facts during the court martial of Major Surinder Singh in the Siachen case, the Army has decided to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Col K.D. Singh,” an Army spokesman said. The Summary of Evidence proceedings would commence soon, he added. The ‘whistleblower’ of the fake encounters during the battalions’ forward deployment in the glacier in August-September 2003, Major Surinder Singh had pleaded he was acting on the orders of his Commanding Officer, Col K.D. Singh. The two had repeatedly clashed during the Summary of Evidence proceedings against Major Surinder Singh in Jodhpur. —
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