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Life sentence for Sharda Jain
Sharda Jain, who was involved in the Atmaram murder case, being carried by police personnel out of the court in New Delhi on Friday.
— A Tribune photograph
BJP asks Centre to shed soft approach to terror
As BJP abandons mandir issue, MP keeps it alive
Jawan
gets 7-yr RI for shooting three officers |
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Bengal Governor fails to broker peace
No intervention in Lanka: Pranab
India, Bulgaria sign protocol on extradition
SP plays host to BJP MPs
Qaida threat: Goa’s loss is Rajasthan’s gain
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Life sentence for Sharda Jain
New Delhi, December 22 Four Uttar Pradesh gangsters, Roshan Singh, Rajender, Pushpender and Nirvikar, hired by Jain to get rid of Gupta after he had ignored her warning of keeping away from Memwati Barwala, were also given life sentence by Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Prashar. The prosecution had demanded exemplary punishment to the convicts for a well planned and executed murder. Three UP policemen, ASI Sripal Raghav and constables Satender and Rakesh Kumar, were awarded three years’ rigorous imprisonment each for helping Jain in destroying the evidence. The court pronounced the sentences a day after convicting the accused yesterday. The gangsters were also convicted under the Arms Act. Gupta was kidnapped after a Congress rally at the Firozshah Kotla grounds here on August 24, 2002 by the hired goons and taken to Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh where he was murdered. His decomposed body, recovered on August 31, 2002 from Bulundshahr district, could be identified from his I-card found in the possession of Pushpender, a sharp shooter of the gang, who was apprehended on September 6, 2002 after a manhunt was launched jointly by the Delhi and UP police. His arrest had led to rounding up of the other gangster. According to the prosecution, Gupta was taken to Ghajjupur village in Ghaziabad district by the gangster and later shot dead there.
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BJP asks Centre to shed soft approach to terror
Lucknow, December 22 The BJP’s response came in a reply to a question when party general secretary and chief spokesman Arun Jaitley said that “it is a very serious matter” and the threat should be an “eye-opener” to the Prime Minister “whose views don’t represent an adequate policy for dealing with terrorism”. Mr Jaitley, who was briefing media about the opening session of the party’s National Executive, which began with the address of BJP president Rajnath Singh, said that two resolutions concerning with economic issues and threat to internal security in the context of UPA government’s divisive and Muslim appeasement policies would be discussed and finalised at today’s meeting. Dwelling upon the party president’s address, the spokesman said Mr Rajnath Singh asked the party to meet the challenge of credibility of politics and politicians by their conduct and public behaviour. The BJP should become an instrument for restoring the credibility of politics, the party president exhorted the party leaders and cadres. In his brief address, which is the last to the party’s outgoing executive, Mr Rajnath Singh touched upon the issues of internal security, price rise, growing unemployment, special economic zones and Singur, women economic and political empowerment, crisis in agriculture, Indo-US nuclear deal and the present situation in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Jaitley said. During the course of one day Executive session, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani would also address the delegates, the spokesman said. He further said state party units, where Assembly elections are going to take place early next year, would report about the poll preparations and evolve an appropriate strategy for them. Referring to the UPA government’s economic policies, the BJP chief said rising prices and increasing inflation were issues of concern. The farmers were committing suicides as they were not getting remunerative prices for their products and consumers had to pay more, he said pointing to the UPA’s failure to manage economy as it was a “high taxation” government. The NDA government’s programmes like the construction of National Highways, rural roads and inter-linking of rivers had either been abandoned or had been slowed down, Mr Rajnath Singh said. Speaking on Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s fast on the issue of the allotment of land to Tata Motors in Singur, the BJP president said the West Bengal Government should not turn this into a “prestigious issue” and give neighbouring wasteland instead of the fertile land for the project. “The BJP is opposed to the use of fertile land where two to three crops are being grown for either the SEZ or different industrial projects”, he said and asked for the Centre’s intervention and an active role. Speaking about the prevailing situation in Uttar Pradesh where Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in the next few months, Mr Rajnath Singh said mafia’s free hand, rampant corruption, the absence of governance and anarchy were the hallmark of the Mulayam Singh government in the state. The BJP wants Assembly elections in UP under President’s rule as “free and fair” poll were not possible under the Mulaym Singh regime, Mr Rajnath Singh said.
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As BJP abandons mandir issue, MP keeps it alive
Lucknow, December 22 Virtually defying the party, the MP from Gorakhpur has gone ahead with his programme exactly on the same dates December 22 to 24. He has invited 10 lakh saints and sadhus to participate in the dharm sabha to be held at the Digvijay Nath Conference on the Gorakhnath Temple premises. According to him, the message that he wants to give to the saffron party is that it may have abandoned the construction of the Ram temple due to political exigencies, the issue remains of utmost concern to the religious leaders who had entered politics just to push this very agenda. However, for the BJP, which came to power virtually riding on the Ram Mandir wave, the issue has now become embarrassingly irrelevant, which no one knows how to respond to. Party President Rajnath Singh while speaking to a select band of newspersons maintained that the Ram Mandir issue was not a political issue but a national issue. This view was repeated verbatim by spokesperson Arun Jaitley when asked by the media if the Ram Mandir issue had been abandoned by the party. Most ironic was the response of senior party leader and former HRD Minister M.M. Joshi. When a reporter asked about the Ram Mandir, he remarked, “kam se kam kuch logon ko mandir mudda yaad rahta hai (at least some people remember the mandir issue)”. He, however, did not elaborate beyond that.
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Jawan
gets 7-yr RI for shooting three officers Chandigarh, December 22 The jawan, Prashant Bhosle from the Maratha Light Infantry and
serving with a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in Kupwara, had been charged
under Section 69 of the Army Act read with Section 307 (Attempt to
Murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
The trial, presided over by Col P. Oak, commanding officer of an
artillery regiment, concluded in Jammu and Kashmir last week. The
court’s verdict is subject to confirmation.
Sources said the incident occurred in July last year after the jawan
was reportedly denied leave by his superior officer. Thereafter, he had
opened indiscriminate fire from his service weapon, which injured three
officers which included a major and two captains.
Sources said the major, belonging to the Armoured Corps, suffered
serious hip injury leading to disability. He has already been operated
upon thrice and is at present stated to be in Delhi.
Fratricide or targeting one’s own comrades under stress and
environmental factors has become a cause of concern in the Army, with a
number of cases being reported from Jammu and Kashmir and the
North-East.
According to available information, there have been 23 cases of
fratricide, involving three officers and 17 jawans, in the Army this
year. Earlier this month, the Defence Minister announced the
constitution of a high-level committee headed by the Director, Defence
Institute of Psychological Research, New Delhi, to look into the reasons
behind this problem. The committee will identify factors which lead to
these incidents and suggest remedial measures. It has been directed to
submit its report within two months.
In the past few years, the Army has convened a number of courts
martial to try jawans accused of opening fire on their own comrades.
There have also been instances where jawans have turned their weapons on
themselves after killing their comrades. 2 JCOs
charged with ‘cowardice’
Two junior commissioned officers have reportedly been charged with
cowardice in a fragging case in which a Lieutenant-Colonel posted with a
Rashtriya Rifles battalion was shot dead by a jawan near Srinagar in
October.
Sources said during investigations, it was alleged that the two JCOs
who could have intervened and prevented the shootout when the jawan went
berserk, fled from the spot. The court of inquiry into the matter was
conducted by the commanding officer of a signal regiment.
The court of inquiry as well as recording of summary of evidence
(SOE) into the matter is complete and a decision on the SOE, whether to
convene a court martial or not, is awaited. The JCOs have been attached
to a field ordnance depot.
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Bengal Governor fails to broker peace
Kolkata, December 22 Last evening, the Governor once again met Ms Banerjee at the dharna manch and expressed his deep concern at the rapid deterioration of her health. Her blood pressure fell down alarmingly and problems also developed in her kidney functioning. She told the Governor she better die than yielding to an arrogant Chief Minister who was acting like Mohammed Bin Tuglak. Mr Gandhi spent over an hour with the TMC leader, when he was handed over the affidavits and other records of those farmers whose land had been forcibly taken over at Singur. After returning to Raj Bhavan, the Governor called the Chief Minister over and advised him to immediately settle the dispute. It is learnt, he asked Mr Bhattacharjee to request Ratan Tata to temporarily suspend the construction work on the "disputed areas" and meet the TMC leader across the table which he felt could resolve the impasse. But the Chief Minister declined by arguing that the "request" might not be acceptable to Mr Tata since it would delay their project. This would also give a wrong
signal to those industrialists and the corporate houses which have decided to come in a big way in the state for its rapid industrialisation. Moreover, Mr Bhattacharjee contented that the proposed step would mean an acceptance of the undue demand of Ms Banerjee which was politically motivated. The Chief Minister denied that any land had been taken over forcibly at Singur. Instead, he claimed that over 937 acres of land needed for the Tata Motors project had been handed over to the government "willingly" by the farmers. Accordingly, they had been issued due payments through cheques which the farmers had received. Meanwhile, the TMC workers today observed the symbolic one hour rail and rasta roko agitation in the city and elsewhere which
paralysed trains and vehicular movements.
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No intervention in Lanka: Pranab
Chennai, December 22 After inaugurating the All India Passport Officers' Conference, Mr Mukherjee in an interactive session with the media said, "We will not directly intervene in the ethnic strife in Sri Lanka but at the same time ensure that the legitimate aspirations of various ethnic groups especially the Tamils are protected. We are interested in having a solution to the problem through negotiations which is being done by Norway while we also want the sovereignty of Sri Lanka to be maintained." He said the Centre was in touch with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister regarding the problem and the Prime Minister had responded to his concern. "We have clearly stated our role," he added. Asked about the explosives that were exported by a Nagpur-based private company to Sri Lanka for its Navy's use, he replied, "Explosives can be used for various purposes, including blasting, but it has been put on hold and no further trans-shipment will be allowed." When his attention was drawn to the fact that a team of 18 Sri Lankan Navy personnel arrived here today to proceed to Pune and another batch of 12 had arrived last week for training, he said, "We are providing only training to the Lankan armed forces and no lethal weapons were being given to that country." He proudly claimed, "Our defence training is well acclaimed all over the world. Our defence institutions provide training to personnel from large number of countries and Sri Lanka is also a recipient. It is nothing new and is a continuing process." Regarding easing of the police verification process for first time passport applicants, he said, "We are taking some risks to be user friendly but it will be done with close cooperation of the state governments." He said for those applying for renewal of passports, no verification certificates would be needed before or after issuance. Mr Mukherjee said a number of steps had been taken to simplify the procedure of passport issuance. The process of opening up new passport offices at Amritsar, Dehra Dun, Shimla and Raipur had been set in motion. The Minister informed that the Central Passport Organisation was also working on the introduction of biometric passports, which would have a micro-processor based digital storage device embedded in them. Besides containing the usual information concerning the passport and its holder, these would also have certain bio-metric features like finger prints on it. He said, "We hope to convert all diplomatic and official passports into bio-metric ones in 2007 as a pilot project and later all passports will be converted into bio-metric passports." Mr Mukherjee said passport offices represented the public face of the External Affairs Ministry and hence the budget for consular services to issue visas and passports had been enhanced. He emphasised, "Every effort has to be made to avoid delays, discourteous behaviour and harassment of service users and complete transparency has to be ensured in the functioning of all passport offices while complaints should be dealt with promptly."
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India, Bulgaria sign protocol on extradition
New Delhi, December 22 The document was signed yesterday by Mr Nalin Surie, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, and Mr Dragovest Goranov, Bulgarian Ambassador. On the occasion, the Instruments of Ratification were also exchanged between the two sides. The treaty was signed on October 23, 2003 during the state visit of President Abdul Kalam to Bulgaria.
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SP plays host to BJP MPs
Lucknow, December 22 The extra warm relationship that leader of Opposition Lalji Tandon, the once ‘rakhi brother’ of Mayawati, now shares with Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is said to be behind such considerations. The Chief Minister had reportedly ordered his top officials to coordinate logistics so that the BJP delegates suffer no inconveniences.
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Qaida threat: Goa’s loss is Rajasthan’s gain Varanasi, December 22 A large number of guest houses hosting Israeli, European, US and South East Asian tourists here have confirmed that following the security advisory issued by Jerusalem, the backpackers, especially Israelis, have cancelled their plans of bidding adieu to 2006 with trance parties in Goa. ''They have either moved to Rajasthan or are in the process of travelling over to various tourist hot spots of the desert state, including Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Puskar and Udaipur,'' said Badri Babu, manager of Puja Guest House in the riverine locality of Lalita Ghat. The administration Shanti Guest House edging the Manikarnika Ghat claimed that over 750 tourists mostly Israelis and those from the UK, the USA and Australia following the Israeli government advisory have left for Rajasthan to celebrate the Christmas and New Year. ''Generally the foreign tourists, especially Israelis coming to Varanasi, leave two weeks prior to Christmas for Rajasthan and from there they travel to Goa just before the twin festivities. This time, however, the tourists have either extended their Rajasthan stay till the New Year or have cancelled their ticket from Jaipur to Goa following the Al Qaeda attack threat,'' said Anshu, the manager of Shanti Guest House. The silk traders dealing largely with Israeli tourists in the localities edging the Ganga river in Varanasi also confirm the change of New Year celebrations plans among Israelis. ''The switchover from Goa to Rajasthan as the right destination for X-mas and New Year celebrations is more prominent among the middle-aged and elderly Israelis than the young tourists who form the bulk of backpackers in Varanasi,'' said Kanhaiyya, owner of Baba Silk House in Meer Ghat locality. The tourists from Israel, themselves appear jittery, when asked about their plans to travel to Goa following the security alert issued by their government. While Hela, a business professional from Tel Aviv, has postponed her New Year plans in Goa from the last week of December to second week of the New Year, a student from the same Israeli city, Yaron has cancelled his trip to Goa for Rajasthan. His compatriot Elad is bound for Pune to relish Christmas and New Year. ''The Israelis along with Indians are the prime targets of Al Qaeda and allied terror outfits and hence we are not going to take chances by travelling to Goa for X-Mas and New Year. May be we can relish the seaside sunshine in Panaji early next year,'' all three of them staying in Shanti Guest House. ''X-mas and New Year on the camel back in Jaisalmer sounds no less exciting than sizzling trance parties on the seaside in Panaji,'' they added. The Israeli government recently asked its citizens not to travel to Goa during the next few weeks in view of 'concrete' threats of an Al-Qaeda attack there. ''In light of terrorist threats by Al-Qaeda in India, a concrete threat now exists specifically for Goa, which hosts many tourists, including Israelis, during late December and over the civil New Year,'' the National Security Council Counter Terrorism Headquarters in Israel had said. ''Those travelling to Goa in the next few weeks will be under serious threat of Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks,'' the advisory had added. A lot of Israelis visit Goa towards the end of December and early January to attend trance parties. Nearly four lakh tourists flock to Goa's beaches and palm groves during the peak October-March season. Last month, authorities in Goa had decided to strengthen security in Goa after intelligence agencies warned of a ''Bali-like'' attack, referring to the 2002 bombings that killed 202 people, including many foreigners.
— UNI
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New Delhi, December 22
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