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Lawyers ransack office of
Meerut DM
Grant of transit permit a strategic move by Pak
Left wary of US N-deal Bill
Govt rejects LTTE apology for Rajiv killing
VP ’s claim in memoirs laughable: Vajpayee
BJP lambasts govt on farmers’ suicides
Mumbai girls make it to IAF
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Govt reviews security
in J&K
WHO asks countries to learn from past disasters
Rs 20 cr approved for Chakki Bridge
Brahmos will soon be inducted into all services: PM
Rabri’s cousin gunned down
Zoological parks to be overhauled
Panel to issue warrant against Udit Narayan
Pravin’s custody extended till July 12
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Lawyers ransack office of
Meerut DM
Lucknow, June 28 The courts in the city remained closed as the lawyer community took the body of their colleague Satvir Malik around the town raising slogans and resorting to violence, demanding action against the police. President Meerut Bar Association R.K. Aggarwal accused the police of “resorting to untruth to save their skin”. Responding to the situation, the police finally filed an FIR on the complaint of the deceased lawyer’s wife Kamlesh Malik against a Sub-Inspector Pradeep Yadav and other unidentified persons. District Magistrate Mukesh Meshram has also ordered a magisterial enquiry by the ADM (city) Manvendra Singh to probe the entire sequence of events killing research scholar Anjeev Gujjar of the Chaudhury Charan Singh University; Satvir Malik, the father of one of the accused Niraj Malik; and Constable Pradeep Giri who was in the team which had reached the Malik’s Jagriti Nagar residence to arrest him. Eight police teams have been formed to arrest Malik, the son of the deceased lawyer, who escaped when the police team arrived at his house to arrest him in connection of the murder of the research scholar earlier in the day. It was only after the FIR was lodged against police personnel and the lawyers were assured of action against the guilty by the district administration that they agreed to cremate Satvir Malik’s body. Constable Giri who died in the firing outside the Malik’s residence was given a guard of honour in the Police Lines and his body was sent to his ancestral village in Bulandshahr for last rites. The police version is that when they arrived at Malik’s house his father had emerged and fired at the team, killing Constable Giri on the spot. In retaliation the police fired in which Satvir Malik was killed. Meanwhile, Chadhury Charan Singh University, the venue of the first murder of research scholar Gujjar, has also been closed and the Pro Vice-Chancellor has ordered the students to vacate the hostels immediately. Gujjar reportedly dealt in real estate. A property dispute is said to be the cause of his murder in broad daylight outside the R.K. hostel.
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Grant of transit permit a strategic move by Pak
New Delhi, June 28 However, the Indian authorities are keeping their fingers crossed till the trucks roll out of Wagah border, slated for tomorrow. Originally, 35 Indian trucks were scheduled to crossover into Pakistan from Wagah border today for their onward journey to Afghanistan. But Islamabad sought time of one more day for logistical purposes. India is to send 240 trucks to Afghanistan as part of enormous Indian aid package that New Delhi has pledged to Kabul. Seventy Afghan drivers have already reached Amritsar for the purpose. However, the Government of India has decided to make the event a low-key affair. Pakistan’s gesture is significant in more than one way. It comes at a time when Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta arrives here on tomorrow on a three-day official visit. He will be accompanied by Davood Moradayan, Senior Adviser, Amanullah Jayhoon, Director, First Political Department, and Sultan Ahmad Bahin, spokesperson. This will be Mr Spanta’s first visit to India. He assumed the office of Foreign Minister of Afghanistan on April 20, 2006. Moreover, the gesture coincides with souring of relations between Islamabad and Kabul. Afghan leaders, including President Hamid Karzai, have repeatedly accused Pakistan of aiding and abetting terrorists based in Pakistan who launch guerrilla operations in Afghanistan. Islamabad would be keen on improving its relations with Afghanistan. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is travelling to Pakistan later this week, primarily to seek Pakistan’s cooperation in combating terrorist activities in Afghanistan, which has been on a steady upswing during past few months. This is the first time since 2003 when Indian assistance to Afghanistan will be delivered through land route, made possible through grant of transit rights by Pakistan. In 2003, India had dispatched 400 Leyland buses for hauling passengers in Kabul and other Afghan cities. In 2003, India had requested Pakistan to grant transit rights for sending one million tonnes of wheat worth $ 100 m as part of India’s humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people. When Pakistan did not oblige, the Indian Government converted wheat into flour and prepared high-protein biscuits from it. These biscuits were eventually sent to Afghanistan by air.
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Left wary of US N-deal Bill Tribune News Service@@New Delhi, June 28@@The CPM, critique of the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation, today expressed its apprehensions on the draft Bill presented before the US House International Relations Committee and observed that it is heavily loaded against the interest of India.@@The US and India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act of 2006 draft Bill says that the presidential waver will “cease to be effective” if India conducts a nuclear test.@@The party’s politburo said India’s unilateral moratorium on conducting nuclear tests cannot be subservient to such US conditionality. India’s sovereignty on these matters cannot be compromised.@@The Bill, it said, also makes a specific reference to securing India’s “full and active participation” in the US efforts to “dissuade, isolate and, if necessary, sanction and contain Iran” for seeking nuclear weapons.@@“This clearly substantiates the CPM’s apprehensions that through this nuclear deal the US will arm-twist India to change its foreign policy to suit US strategic global designs,” the politburo said.@@The Bill seeks to force India to comply with the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), which India had in the past refused to sign on the grounds of it being discriminatory.@@Further, the Bill states that the US President must first determine that India and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have “concluded a safeguards agreement requiring the application of IAEA safeguards in perpetuity”.@@The party said this ran completely contrary to the assurance given by the Prime Minister in both Houses of Parliament that India would approach the IAEA for safeguards only after the US endorsed the July 18, 2005 nuclear deal.
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Govt rejects LTTE apology for Rajiv killing
New Delhi, June 28 “What’s the point of a mere apology? India and its people cannot forgive and forget,” Mr Sharma said, while commenting on LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham’s comment yesterday in a television interview expressing apology for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. — UNI
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VP ’s claim in memoirs laughable: Vajpayee
New Delhi, June 28 Lest his silence be misconstrued as admission, Mr Vajpayee said, “V.P. Singh’s remarks that I was then unhappy with the party is not only far from truth but is laughable too”. In his memoirs “Manzil Se Zyada Safar”, Mr Singh has mentioned that BJP leader Jaswant Singh told him that Mr Vajpayee wanted to quit the BJP in 1987. “I also never suggested to him that he should take some selected people along and move ahead as he has written in his book,” Mr Vajpayee, in a four-para statement in Hindi, said. Since Mr Singh’s book could create confusion, “I am issuing this statement to clear the doubts,” he said.
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BJP lambasts govt on farmers’ suicides
New Delhi, June 28 Referring to reports over Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's refusal to accompany Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his tour of the Vidarbha region, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told newspersons "this clearly reflects the confusion and contradictions within the UPA not just on policy issues but also on regional matters". Over 500 farmers, especially cotton growers, have committed suicide in the past two years in the Vidarbha region and the UPA government has completely failed to address the issue and mitigate the sufferings of farmers, Mr Javadekar said. The BJP spokesperson attacked the UPA government for what he called its failure to come up with right package to the cotton farmers who were left with no options but to succumb after successive droughts and failed cotton crops. "The government had no definite plans to redeem the farmers loans nor did they sensitise the farmers about the dangers of going in for genetically modified BT Cotton. After the failed crops, the government did nothing to discipline the sellers of Bt Cotton seeds," Mr Javadekar said. "The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar could not shirk their responsibilities just by blaming each other. They should pay compensation to the affected families and give work to the surviving members of the farmers committing suicide," Mr Javadekar said. Taking exception to Congress President Sonia Gandhi "misleading" the people about the Rural Employment Schemes during her tour of Rajasthan, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said Ms Gandhi should not forget that the UPA Government had changed all the NDA schemes in the names of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. "She (Ms Gandhi) had also failed to understand that the Rajasthan Government had sought the Centre's approval for increasing the quantum of food and money to be paid to the persons taking Food for Work Programme under the Employment Guarantee Scheme," he said.
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Mumbai girls make it to IAF
Mumbai, June 28 The four girls — Janhavi Khanolkar (21), Madhura Hulyalkar (22), Sneha Kulkarni (21) and Tanmaya Naik (21) — were selected to attend the prestigious Indian Air Force (IAF) Academy in Hyderabad before being inducted into the Air Force. While Khanolkar will join the technical branch of the IAF, the rest will train to be pilots. So far, only five women have been accepted into the IAF Academy’s flying branch. “I always wanted to fly since I was a little girl, so it is a wonderful feeling to be selected,” says Madhura Hulyalkar, a mechanical engineer. All three girls insist that the flypast organised by the IAF every year during the Republic Day has played a crucial role in making up their minds to take up this career. Though their parents were eventually supportive of their career choices, they had had to face initial opposition. “My parents were opposed to it and I had to study in secret,” says Sneha Kulkarni. Subsequently, her parents came around to the idea and began to support her. According to the girls, they will take up their new assignments in July when they will be sent to Hyderabad for training. The course will be
for a period of 18 months. All girls unanimously said they did not agree with the statements made by Gen B. Pattabhiraman about women not suited for the Army. “Women are as capable as any man,” they chorus.
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Govt reviews security
in J&K
New Delhi, June 28 The meeting was chaired by Chief of Army Staff Gen J.J. Singh and was attended by senior officials from Ministry of Home Affairs and from intelligence agencies operating in the state. The meeting was followup of the Special Security Review meeting of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir held recently in Srinagar. It was decided to synchronise resources between various security forces besides adopting effective counter measures. It was also decided to put in place these measures to tackle new tactics being adopted by terrorists. The meeting also took serious note of the terror infrastructure still “intact” across the Line of Control (LoC). The meeting discussed specific measures to be taken to thwart the efforts of militant groups to derail peace process and ensure lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir. It was pointed out that infiltration usually went up in summer. But since it had fallen in the established pattern, it was not alarming. It was noted that spurt in violent incidents in the urban areas were generally related to prominent events like heavy turnout for the elections followed by the Round Table Conference. “Infiltration is slightly higher this year as compared to last year,” Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal told mediapersons after the 90-minute meeting attended by heads of almost all Central paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies.
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WHO asks countries to learn from past disasters
New Delhi, June 28 Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia Region, speaking at a seminar on here today drew attention to the fact that while it was difficult to prevent disasters from happening, its magnitude and the effect could be mitigated by applying lessons learnt from previous disasters. — TNS
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Rs 20 cr approved for Chakki Bridge
New Delhi, June 28 A press statement issued by Himachal Pradesh Transport Minister G. S. Bali today said the Centre Expenditure Finance Committee had approved Rs 20 crore for the Chakki Bridge and its foundation stone would be laid by Union Surface Transport and Shipping Minister T. R. Baalu, coinciding with National Road Safety Council meeting in the state during August. The Centre is convening the meeting, which will be attended by the road transport ministers and senior bureaucrats from all states and the Union Government in the third week of August at Shimla. Various aspects of the transport sector and introduction of new technology and methods to enhance road safety would be discussed at the meeting, Mr Bali said after a meeting with the Union Surface Transport and Shipping Minister. The statement added that the meeting would also discuss setting up trauma centres at National Highways, deploying modern ambulances fitted with the latest life-saving machinery, equipment and drugs and setting of “weigh bridges” at entry points of states.
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Brahmos will soon be inducted into all services: PM
New Delhi, June 28 Mr Singh, who visited the Brahmos Aerospeace complex here to get acquinted with the advanced missile system, said this programme would be the harbinger of more active cooperation between public and private enterprises. “This world-class cruise missile has been inducted by the Indian Navy and will be followed soon by other gallant armed forces,” the Prime Minister said, addressing a gathering of top officers, scientists and engineers from India and Russia and representatives from industrial units involved in the missile’s production.
— TNS
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Rabri’s cousin gunned down
Patna, June 28 Yadav, known to be a cousin brother of Ms Rabri, was attacked by the criminals when he was reportedly reading newspaper in his office at Mirganj. The police said three unidentified criminals came on a motor cycle and pumped bullets into his body. Yadav succumbed to his injuries on his way to a hospital in Siwan district. The incident led to widespread protests in the area as the locals blocked the Gopalganj-Siwan road. Shops and other establishments at Mirganj were also closed down. Senior police officials are camping in the area.
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Zoological parks to be overhauled
New Delhi, June 28 According to MoEF secretary Pradipto Ghosh, the government also plans to invite the corporate sector in the improvement of facilities. About 90 zoos were derecognised by the CZA after they were found to be not following the prescribed norms. There was also a proposal to close down some of these zoos, but the ministry said such decisions could not come all of a sudden, as there would be the problem of housing the animals. "Some of these animals are exotic. Moreover, you cannot leave zoo-bred animals in the wild," he said.
— TNS
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Panel to issue warrant against Udit Narayan
Patna, June 28 Udit Narayan was supposed to be present before the woman commission for hearing today, but failed to turn up for the fifth time in the past one month on health grounds. The woman commission was probing into his bigamy case after his first wife had surfaced, charging the singer with denying relationship with her. Narayan`s first wife, Ranjana Jha, had surfaced when the singer last came to Patna to attend a marriage ceremony in May and subsequently staged a dharna in front of the room of the city hotel where he was staying with his present wife, Deepa Narayan. Ms Ranjana Jha said that Udit Narayan had married her in eighties when he was struggling to get a foothold in Mumbai, and subsequently had started to neglect her since early nineties after he got married with Deepa Narayan. Sources in the commission, however, disclosed that of late, Udit Narayan was speaking regularly over phone to Ms Ranjana Jha and was trying to settle the case mutually.
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Pravin’s custody extended till July 12
Mumbai, June 28 Pravin had allegedly shot Pramod Mahajan thrice on April 22, following which the latter succumbed to his injuries on May 3. Pravin was not physically produced before the court today, but Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate B.L. Waghmare extended the custody through video conferencing held at a specially made room on the court premises. During the hearing, Pravin, lodged in the Arthur Road jail, told the magistrate that he had been suffering from restlessness and lack of sleep for the past one month. The court allowed Pravin to meet his lawyer after a request made by him.
— UNI
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