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India, Pak exchange N-lists
Business as usual for PM on day 1
UPA’s ‘go-soft policy’ breeding terror: BJP
Armed Forces Act |
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Naxals kill 4 cops in Bihar
Mishaps, hooliganism mar New Year festivities
Air Marshal Naik takes charge
Tribals vs Tigers Arts
Row
Karnataka Poll
Ten more succumb to cold in North
UP introduces VAT amid protest
High alert in Uttarakhand
India welcomes Bhutan poll
Kandhamal: Top cop shifted
CBI arrests three excise officials
Cong leader’s son, 2 others kidnapped
Nehru Chair at Cambridge business school
103-year-old freedom fighter dead
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India, Pak exchange N-lists
New Delhi, January 1 The lists were exchanged through diplomatic channels simultaneously in New Delhi and Islamabad. According to an US intelligence estimate in May 2002, over 12 million people could be killed and 7 million injured in the event of a full-scale nuclear war between India and Pakistan. Pentagon’s assessment was made when the armies of India and Pakistan were on the verge of a war in the wake of a terrorist attack on Indian Parliament House December 13, 2001. The main objective of the Indo-Pak agreement is to commit both countries from taking “any action aimed at causing destruction of, or damage to, any nuclear installation or facility in other country”. This agreement was signed on December 31, 1988, and put into force on January 27, 1991. The first such exchange of lists took place on January 1, 1992. Under the agreement, the two countries, on January 1 every year, are to inform each other of nuclear installations and facilities. These are defined as nuclear power and research reactors, fuel fabrication, uranium enrichment, isotopes separation and reprocessing facilities. These also include any other installations with fresh or irradiated nuclear fuel and materials in any form and establishments storing significant quantities of radio-active materials. The longitudes and latitudes of the nuclear facilities are given in the exchanged lists. Two Indo-Pak bilateral documents have withstood the vagaries of time and ups and downs in their ties, the 1960 Indus Water Treaty and the 1988 Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities. The latter is a unique document as it is the only such bilateral pact between two hostile countries. The two nuclear-armed neighbours also share information under the 1999 memorandum of understanding to prevent accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons. The MoU obligates them to set up communication mechanisms to enable early notification to the other of nuclear accidents.
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Business as usual for PM on day 1
New Delhi, January 1 The Prime Minister began the New Year with a meeting with his Cabinet colleagues - external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, parliamentary affairs minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi and law minister Hansraj Bhardwaj - to discuss the forthcoming Budget session. He went on to meet a host of visitors who dropped in to wish him on New Year and ended the day with an unscheduled meeting of the Union Cabinet, which discussed the Nagaland crisis where the ruling government has lost the majority, but did not take a decision on the imposition of Central Rule in the north-eastern state. This was followed with a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). While looking at various issues, which are expected to figure in the Budget session of Parliament, the meeting particularly focused on the placement of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) under the Sixth Schedule and the Delimitation Commission report, which is currently under scrutiny of a Group of Ministers (GOM) headed by Mukherjee. The Delimitation Commission report, which has drastically altered the boundaries of parliamentary Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, has also run into trouble as several UPA allies, including Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan, do not want the 2009 Lok Sabha elections to be conducted on the basis of this report. This is because a number of minority-dominated seats have been re-designated as reserved seats for Scheduled Castes. Objections have also come from Jharkhand where a number of tribal constituencies have been changed to general seats. The Delimitation Commission report has put the UPA in a dilemma. In case it does not notify the report, it will face the wrath of the Scheduled Castes who will benefit as their seats have been increased in the report. On the other hand, the minorities and the tribesmen will be up in arms as their clout stands to be reduced if this report is accepted. Despite these objections, the Centre is veering around the view that there is no escape from implementing this report. Law minister Bhardwaj was today asked to give additional inputs before the Centre decides to send the report to the President for formal notification. The minister’s inputs will be placed before the GoM at its next meeting where the Centre is expected to finalise the draft to be sent to the President. Regarding the DGHC Bill, the parliamentary standing committee studying the task of scrutinising the legislation following protests from the BJP, is expected to place its report in Parliament in the first week of the Budget session. The UPA government will be faced with a problem in case there is no consensus on this Bill. It has met with strong resistance by a section in Darjeeling who feel non-tribal areas are being included in the DGHC to give it the tribal status.
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UPA’s ‘go-soft policy’ breeding terror: BJP
New Delhi, January 1 The party also accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of attempting to prevent its president from reaching the Fidayeen attack spot, which claimed the lives of seven CRPF Jawans and a civilian. Describing the attack at the CRPF camp at Rampur as probably the first fidayeen attack outside Kashmir and in the hinterland of the country, the BJP today said the incident vindicated the BJP’s assertion that the terrorists had positioned their sleeper cells across the country that can be activated any time taking advantage of the ‘soft policies’ of the UPA government for over three years in the past. Singh, accompanied by BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, also a former MP from Rampur, however, chose to land in a village and reach the attack spot and the hospital, where the bodies were kept and talked to the survivors of the pre-dawn attack. Naqvi accused the government of preventing the nationalist leaders from reaching the spot while the administration freely allowed terrorists to attack the CRPF camp. The killing is the UPA’s heart rending new year greeting to the nation, BJP spokesman Rajeev Pratap Rudy told newspersons. Drawing a comparison between the terrorist attack at the New York’s twin towers and the terror crimes in India, Rudy said after the twin tower attack, the USA had managed that no other terrorist attack took place. However, during the last three years there were a series of terrorist attacks in Ayodhya, Varanasi, blasts on the Shramjeevi Express, court complexes in Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad and not a single accused had been arrested, which is the obvious outcome of soft pedalling against terrorism, he said. Recalling the terrorist attack on Parliament, Rudy said the security forces had prevented the entry and gunned down the attackers and pursued the perpetrators behind the ghastly design. The ‘go-soft and go-slow’ approach is emboldening Jehadi outfits and terrorist organisations spreading their tentacles across the country and the UPA has neither the will nor the desire to fight terror, he alleged.
— UNI
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CJI supports its repeal in Manipur
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, January 1 To deal with the insurgency, the panel instead had suggested the incorporation of appropriate provisions in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, amended by the UPA government after coming to power as an alternative to the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) repealed by it. Justice Balakrishnan recently had come out strongly against continuing with the draconian laws like the Armed Forces (Speical Powers) Act as the government itself had felt the need to reexamine it by appointing the Justice Reddy panel. The CJI also supported the suggestion of setting up a federal agency to investigate terror and organised crimes as was indicated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the meeting of Chief Ministers on internal security. In reference to the Armed Forces Act, the CJI had brought to the notice of the government the terms and references of the Reddy panel, which clearly laid down that the review of the law was being done to bring it in “consonance” with the obligations of the government towards human rights or to replace it by a more humane legislation. It is not only the Armed Forces Act that has come under the close scrutiny of various human rights organisations but several other legislations that deal with terrorism, organised crimes, money laundering, trafficking of arms, drugs, human and smuggling activities as these laws are applied in isolation to each other due to lack of an effective coordination mechanism. This is gross violation of human rights in the process of investigation of cases as several “innocent” people fall in the net. It was because of this reason that the CJI suggested that the executive and the legislature should take up the issue in totality to “revamp” the criminal justice system and make it more effective. Since terrorist organisations are now roping in criminal syndicates to get their work done, a need is felt to draw a new definition of organised crimes. In view of this, the CJI has drawn the attention to the California Control of Profits Organised Crime Act, 1982, which defines organised crime as unlawful activities of a “conspirational” nature intended to supply illegal goods and services such as narcotics, prostitution, loan sharking, gambling, hijacking, insurance frauds, vehicle theft ring, systematic encumbering of assets of a business for defrauding creditors. While suggesting evolving a better coordination mechanism to deal with such crimes, as the outdated laws were insufficient, the CJI was for bringing in a synergy in enforcing even the existing laws effectively without causing harm to the rights of innocent people. This, according to him, could be achieved only by implementing the reforms as per the recommendations of Padmanabhaiah and the Malimath committees and various other panels.
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Naxals kill 4 cops in Bihar
Patna, January 1 In today’s incident in Bihar, at least four policemen were killed and another sustained injuries when the Naxalites attacked a police post in Munger. The police said more than 100 Naxalites attacked the Bariapur police
post, which was keeping a vigil over a picnic spot in Rishikund, about 30 km away from Munger, where hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate
New Year. Naxalites reportedly did not disturb the tourists. They opened indiscriminate firing on the policemen in which four of them were killed on the spot. The SHO suffered injuries in the attack and was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. The developments came hours after both Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda in their respective pre-New Year pledge yesterday sought to crush Naxalites through two-pronged strategy of development and police action. Against 23 of 38 districts of Bihar, which were now said to be under the Naxal influence, in neighbouring Jharkhand, carved
out of Bihar in 2000, 18 of 24 districts were in the grip of the Left-wing
extremists. Like their counterparts in Bihar, Naxalites in Jharkhand today were engaged in a fierce encounter with the police there. But, unlike Bihar, the police in Jharkhand could succeed to destroy 15 Naxal training camps during the encounter near Parasnath hills in Girdih district. It was in the same Girdih district where Naxalites had killed the son of former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, Anup Marandi, besides 18 other civilians, on October 26 last year. Around 10 can and clamour bombs were also seized from the spot. Around 250 Naxalites were reported to have exchanged fire with the police during the encounter, which lasted for more than six hours.
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Mishaps, hooliganism mar New Year festivities
New Delhi, January 1 Armed with New year’s resolutions to turn a new leaf revellers surged into the streets under watchful eyes of the police as car drivers tooted their horns and passengers yelled from car windows at the stroke of midnight to ring in 2008. Goa was expectedly the hot spot as an estimated one lakh tourists made merry amid intense partying while several flocked to the sandy beaches under the night sky. The four-km stretch from Goa’s Calangute beach towards the capital Panaji saw traffic thrown out of gear for several hours. In the capital, the denizens let their hair down with Connaught Place and India Gate at the centre of fun and frolic unmindful of freezing night temperatures. The police armed with alcometers kept a watch on tipplers in the metropolises as they held random checks and booked drunken drivers. At least 85 were arrested in Delhi. In Rajasthan, five revellers were killed and three injured when their jeep collided head on with a truck in Chittorgarh district. The Police said the accident happened when they were returning from a party near a resort. The dawn of the new year proved fatal for a software professional working after a wooden stage erected above a swimming pool at a Chennai hotel collapsed last night during the New Year celebrations. Sumit Agnihotri (24), succumbed to his injuries at the General Hospital in the early hours today, the police said, while the condition of two others, who were among the 30 injured, was stated to be critical. The police said the makeshift stage erected above the swimming pool collapsed suddenly and several people dancing on it fell into the pool, when they were partying last night. A case has been registered against the hotel authorities. An early morning ride at the famous Marine Drive in Mumbai on the first day of the year proved fatal for a group of college students after their car rammed into a stationary dumper killing four of them and a corporation worker. But, it was not immediately known whether the accident was a tragic fallout of New Year’s festivities. Six youths aged between 17 and 22 had left their home for an early morning drive. While going towards the Marine Drive at around 6.30 am, their car rammed into the civic body dumper opposite the Taraporewala Aquarium, the police said. The civic worker was identified as Sundar Sahoo (35), while the deceased students were Somil Surji Gaddha, Bhavin Pradip Gandhi, Nitesh Dinesh Damania and Yash Harish Shah. The college students hail from south Mumbai’s Khetwadi and Ghatkopar in north-east Mumbai, the Police said. However, the college where they studied was not immediately known. “The possibility of the youths driving in an inebriated condition is very low as all of them had started from their homes. Still we are waiting for all the reports,” a senior police officer said.
— PTI
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Air Marshal Naik takes charge
New Delhi, January 1 The 58-year-old Vishisht Seva medallist, who was appointed as an honorary ADC to the President of India on July 25, 2007, took charge at the Air Headquarters here. During his 38 years of service in the Air Force, he had flown all MIG-21 variants and MIG-21-BNs. Naik is a qualified flying instructor and a fighter combat leader. Meanwhile, Air Marshal P.K. Barbora today took over as the new air officer commanding-in-chief of the Western Air Command. Barbora was serving as the air officer commanding-in-chief of the Eastern Air Command since April, 2007. Barbora, a qualified flying instructor and a fighter combat leader, also served in the directorate of Air Staff Inspection at the Air Headquarters here. He also took part in 1971 Indo-Pak war and was part of the team during formation of the first Jaguar Squadron of the IAF. After being promoted as Air Marshal in September 2005, Barbora was appointed as senior air staff officer at the IAF’s Eastern Air Command. SHILLONG:
Air Marshal Shiv Kumar Bhan today took charge as the Air officer commanding-in-chief of the Eastern Air Command. Bhan, who joined Indian Air Force in 1970 as a fighter pilot, took charge this morning in the presence of senior officers. An alumnus of Royal College of Defence Studies in UK, Air Marshal Bhan had flown over 3000 hrs on Hunter, Sukhoi-7, MIG-21 and MIG-23 Aircraft. Prior to joining here, Bhan served as a senior air staff officer of Western Air Command. He took over the charge from Air Marshal P.K. Barbora, who will take charge of AOC-in-C of Western Air Command. Air Marshal Bhan has done a two-year instructional tenure with Iraqi Air Force and had been awarded Vayu Sena Medal in 1994 and Ati Vishist Seva Medal in 1999, Defence PRO Wing Commander R.K. Sisodia said. PORT BLAIR:
Air Marshal S. Radhakrishnan today took over the charge of the commander-in-chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN). The Air Marshal was presented an impressive 50-men inter service guard of honour at INS Jarawa. Andaman and Nicobar Command is India’s first tri-service joint Command. Rear Admiral P.K. Nair, the chief of staff of the ANC handed over the Command to the new CINCAN. Nair had taken over the command from Air Marshal P.P. Rajkumar AVSM on December 29. Air Marshal S. Radhakrishnan, AVSM, alumni of National Defence Academy, was commissioned in the Indian Air Force’s Fighter Stream in June 1970, is basically a fighter pilot and has experience of over 4000 flying hours on a variety of combat and trainer aircraft. Prior to assuming charge of Andaman and Nicobar Command, he was the senior air staff officer at headquarters training command, Bangalore.
— PTI, UNI
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Tribals vs Tigers New Delhi, January 1 The Act aims to provide forest rights to STs and other people, living and depending on forests for their livelihood for three generations. Those living in forests for 75 years prior to December 13, 2005, will be main beneficiaries of the Act. Some of major rights recognised under the Act include forestland up to four hectares, right to collect, use and dispose off minor produce and traditional rights like grazing inside forests. The Tribal Affairs Ministry issued the notification to the Act promising land rights to forest dwellers on December 31-the last day of 2007. And the same day the PMO also issued the list of core notified tiger reserves that would be out-of-bounds for human beings. The PMO notification stated that as many as 11 tiger range states had been identified as critical big cat habitats. Though the tiger reserves notification was stated to be a pre-requisite for the Tribals Act, it was also something tribal rights activists were worried about. The PMO notification said that an area of around 31, 940 sq km of tiger reserves would be completely out-of-bounds to support a viable population of wild tigers in the country, adding that 11 out of 17 states with tiger reserves had been identified and notified as core or critical tiger habitats as required under Section 38-V of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. They include Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal. Four tiger states Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and UP have also been identified as core tiger habitats but notification was awaited whereas Jharkhand and Orissa were yet to identify their tiger habitats. For wildlife activists, the PMO notification of the tiger reserves came as big relief. They said this would initiate a process of creating inviolate areas for tiger conservation in areas where forest rights were likely to be modified or holders of forest right resettled. But forest rights lobby says that Act has not just been much diluted, proving claim over land will not be easy for poor tribals. The process can also be manipulated by land-grabbers, activists fear. NGOs also allege that the forest authorities have already evicted people to drive them out before the new Forests Right Act. Besides the move to hastily declare settlements as critical wildlife habitat had been carried out with proper procedure so that they could be kept out of the purview of the Forest Rights Act. The forest authorities term all these allegations useless and say that notification of the critical habitat was a must to save tiger and that this was one of the recommendations of the national task force on tiger.
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Arts
Row Vadodara, January 1 The three-member fact finding committee in its report submitted to the Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma also said that the student Chandramohan, who was at the centre of the row, should also be taken back, a member of the committee told PTI today on condition of anonymity. The committee was of the view that the action taken by the university administration against the acting dean Shivaji Panikkar and Chandramohan were not necessary as the paintings concerned of the students were part of internal examination and were not for public display, the member added. The Governor, who is a visiting chancellor to the M S University, had appointed the committee headed by renowned economist and professor Y K Alagh after the row over some paintings of Hindu Gods and Goddesses and Jesus Christ. The row was triggered by right wing organisations like the VHP, which had called it “obscene” besides “hurting the religious sentiments of the people”. Other two members of the committee were Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapeeth Sudarshan Iyengar and renowned painter Hakubhai Shah. The committee has also said in its report that the autonomy of the M S University should not be allowed to be undermined by such acts. It said the administration of M S University had failed in preventing hooligans from disrupting the examination. The committee members were of the view that the allegations of ‘obscenity’ could have been justified if the paintings were for public
display. The Pro Vice-Chancellor of the university S M Joshi told PTI today that the university has so far not received any communication from the governor in this regard. Meanwhile, Panikar welcomed the recommendations of the fact-finding committee and said he has also challenged his suspension order in the Gujarat Universities Services Tribunal. University administration had suspended Panikar for defying its order to close down the exhibition in the faculty premises. Meanwhile, the MSU administration had also appointed a committee on the Fine Arts faculty obscenity row. The MSU appointed committee in its report had recommended disciplinary actions against Panikar, Chandramohan, issuance of charge sheets to five professors of the university supporting the agitation and code of conduct be framed for the fine arts faculty for preventing the irregularities in future. Meanwhile, the students of the fine arts faculty yesterday burnt the copies of the report submitted by the committee appointed by MSU authorities.
— PTI
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EC unhappy with slow roll preparation
New Delhi, January 1 One of the deputy election commissioners is likely to go to the state for three days from tomorrow to oversee the preparation of the electoral rolls and look into the complaints, sources said. According to the schedule, the final publication of the electoral roll, with January 1, 2008, as the qualifying date, is to be published by January 10, but it may be delayed and is now likely to be published by the month-end. The commission’s action comes in the backdrop of a report submitted by the chief electoral officers (CEOs) from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Orissa, who were deputed to oversee the preparation of the electoral rolls in Karnataka. The poll panel had also directed 12 senior officials from Karnataka to supervise the preparation of rolls in each district. The commission is laying special emphasis on a meticulous preparation of the electoral rolls, as it did in the case of big states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, to weed out bogus voters. The commission was “closely monitoring” the revision of electoral rolls in Karnataka, where the House was dissolved last month when the BJP-JD (S) coalition resigned ahead the trust vote. — PTI
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Ten more succumb to cold in North
New Delhi, January 1 Five of the eight succumbed in Allahabad district with mercury touching a low of 3 degrees Celsius. Delhiites experienced the coldest day of the season with the minimum temperature dipping to 2.6 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal. However, as the day advanced soothing rays of the sun provided some relief to denizens. The day temperature settled at a maximum of 20.8 degrees Celsius in the Capital against yesterday’s 21.5 degrees Celsius. Cold wave intensified in Punjab and Haryana with mercury sinking to season’s lowest at many places. Chandigarh reeled at a low of 1.4 degrees Celsius, down by five degrees. In Amritsar, where the mercury plunged to a low of minus 2 degrees Celsius, two persons succumbed to bone-chilling cold gripping the city. Patiala shivered at 1 degree Celsius while Ludhiana recorded a minimum temperature of 2.7 degrees Celsius.
— PTI
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UP introduces VAT amid protest
Lucknow, January 1 The tax, which replaces the existing sales tax, was introduced in April, 2005. While a majority of the states switched to VAT, some states held out. They have all since adopted VAT. “Keeping in view the needs of the common man, tax rate on 91 items like kerosene, milk and medicines have been reduced under VAT,” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said here. Uttar Pradesh Governor T.V. Rajeswar had, yesterday, promulgated an ordinance for the implementation of VAT, which was rung in today amid protests by traders who took part in a shutdown of markets. Finance minister P. Chidambaram congratulated the UP government for introducing VAT. “Chikan” clothes, Baranasi sarees and handloom items have been exempted from VAT, besides all varieties of seeds and agriculture equipment. Tax rate has also been reduced on fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides, water pumps, tractors and tractor-trailers and items used in information technology. Mayawati asked manufacturers and the traders to pass on the benefit of this tax reduction to the consumers. — PTI
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Gladys expresses concern over Orissa violence
Bhubaneswar, January 1 “This news causes me great concern and I am deeply grieved,” Gladys, now in Australia, said in letters sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik in the aftermath of the Kandhamal incidents since December 24. “People need to learn to forgive each other. Forgiveness brings with it healing, as I have experienced following the deaths of my husband and two sons,” Gladys said in her letter, a copy of which was made available to PTI. Stating that the news about the violence in Kandhamal district had reached her, she said her prayer and desire was that the communities would live together in peace and communal harmony.
— PTI
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High alert in Uttarakhand
Dehra Dun, January 1 Uttarakhand DGP Subhash Joshi told mediapersons here today that security had been beefed up in Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts adjoining Rampur district. The SSPs of both districts were reviewing the security in the wake of the attack, he added. The DGP said they were in constant touch with their UP counterparts and cooperation to the neighbouring state would not be lacked in any respect. Specifically, security of the police stations, paramilitary camps, national and state establishments had been increased. He also said vigil had been increased along the Sino-India and Nepal borders touching the state. Senior police officers were also reviewing the security of all 45 police posts along the international border. The state police was keeping a close coordination with the central intelligence agencies to pre-empt any terrorist strike.
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India welcomes Bhutan poll
New Delhi, January 1 were held yesterday for 15 Dzongkhags. The elections for the remaining five Dzongkhags will be held on January 29. “This is indeed a great moment in Bhutan’s history and an important step in Bhutan’s transition into a new system of governance. India is committed to extending full support in the establishment of institutions required for the consolidation of Democratic Constitutional Monarchy in Bhutan,” the ministry of external affairs said in a statement. India is assisting Bhutan by supplying electronic voting machines (EVMs) and deepening linkages between the election commissions of both countries in the conduct of the elections. The Election Commission of India had deputed three election observers, who witnessed the polling for the National Council elections in Bhutan. Indian security agencies have been cooperating with their Bhutanese counterparts in maintaining law and order in the border areas.
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Kandhamal: Top cop shifted
Bhubaneswar, January 1 District’s superintendent of police N. Bhol has been removed from the post and given assignment at the home department here, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced today adding that he will be replaced by Bhadrak SP Nikhil Kanodia. Earlier, the government had transferred the district collector B. Mohapatra in the wake of the violence besides placing three government officials, including two police officers, under suspension. The violence had also taken its toll in the council of ministers with resignation of steel and mines minister Padmanabha Behera, also a local MLA. Meanwhile, the government appointed at least eight OAS (Orissa Administrative Service) officers in different blocks for accelerating developmental activities in riot-affected places. Replying to a question, Patnaik said the seven girls of a convent school who were reportedly missing, had been traced and all were in good condition.
— PTI
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CBI arrests three excise officials
New Delhi, January 1 A CBI spokesperson here said assistant commissioner Subhash Chand, inspector Hari Chand and superintendent Sanjay Kumar Singh of the Central Excise Department, MOD-VIII Division, were arrested for demanding Rs 10 lakh from J V Industries for submitting a favourable inspection report, following a search of its premises. The search was conducted by the Anti-Evasion Cell of the department. The CBI registered a case following a complaint by the firm. UNI
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Cong leader’s son, 2 others kidnapped Silchar, January 1 The police today informed that the three persons included two supporters of the Congress leader, whose son had also been abducted yesterday. The Congress leader was a nominee for the village panchayat president post. The police said the people were kidnapped at gun point from Kharolbasti, a remote village near Mizoram border, when they were campaigning for Abdul Khaliq Laskar, alias Kuti, a Congress candidate for Baldabaldi gram panchayat president’s post. The victims comprised the candidate’s son Hussein Ahmed(24), his supporter Abdul Noor (25) and Abdul Khaliq (26). — UNI
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Nehru Chair at Cambridge business school
New Delhi, January 1 The Chair will provide leadership for a programme of research about the changing nature of business in India and will promote understanding of contemporary India, a ministry of external affairs release today said.
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103-year-old freedom fighter dead
Ranchi, January 1 Despite being a freedom fighter, he never availed any of the facilities provided by the Centre and preferred to stay in his native village and work for the down trodden. Baksh is survived by two sons, including the parliamentarian from the Godda constituency in the state.
— UNI |
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