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Attack on North
Indians
Raj cremated on Diwali
Kundan Prasad Singh performs the funeral rites of his son Rahul Raj in Patna on Wednesday. — PTI
Lalu threatens to cancel train operations
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UP youth’s killing in Maharashtra condemned
Maharashtra pushes for low-key ‘chhath puja’
Rajapaksa may visit India
Custody of Indian Mujahideen men extended
Rizwanur Case
Chandrayaan-I
Orissa Supercyclone
Delay in FIR no ground to disbelieve prosecution: SC
PM joins Gurta Gaddi celebrations today
Malegaon Blasts
Uranium mining hangs fire
Cash-for-Votes
Post offices losing deposits to banks
Dug-out bodies haunt ULFA leaders
Govt to introduce new vocational courses
SP mounts pressure for judicial probe into Batla encounter
BJP, Shiv Sena seek dismissal of Goa govt
Bihar witnesses speedy trials, convictions
Poll dates in MP, Mizoram changed
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PM under pressure from allies to
act
Faraz Ahmad Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 29 The repeated occurrence of attacking north Indians of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar by the MNS of Raj Thackeray and the Shiv Sena of Bal Thackerary in Mumbai and its suburbs has got the UPA allies Ram Vilas Paswan, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Amar Singh worked up. They were already in a state of agitation over the overzealous Mumbai police last week gunning down an agitated gun wielding Bihari youth as some dreaded terrorist and their home minister supporting the police with his remark of a bullet for a bullet. Paswan has demanded an outright dismissal of the Maharashtra government invoking Article 356 of the Constitution. Amar Singh asked the Congress and the government to “wake up.” Railway minister Lalu Prasad has threatened to withdraw train services from any state, which fails to provide security to passengers and railway property. Lalu Prasad also meant his home state Bihar where trains and railway property were being attacked, fuelled by his political rivals the JD-U and the BJP combine who are ruling the state. He said: “Railways are becoming soft target in many states these days. If railway properties and passengers continued to be attacked we may think of cancelling train operations in those areas.” Though the immediate provocation was the beating to death of the Uttar Pradesh youth, he explained that he did not mean any particular state. He said he had spoken to the Prime Minister, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and also Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh about the youth’s death. “The Prime Minister and Soniaji have assured me that they would immediately take up the matter with the Maharashtra government.” “I have told the Prime Minister to take stringent action against those behind the incident. I also spoke to Deshmukh for action against the culprits,” he said. He sought an all-party meeting to seek a clear stand of different political parties over this matter. He described this as a “national issue.” SP general secretary Amar Singh was in no less a strident mood. He asked the Congress today to “wake up” and check such incidents before it faces the ire of voters in the coming elections in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. He described the latest attack on migrants to Mumbai as an attack on the honour of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In a severe indictment of the state government Amar Singh alleged that “Vilasrao Deshmukh administration was treating Raj Thackeray as its son-in-law” even as he continues attacks on the north Indians. “The police force of Deshmukh, R.R. Patil and Sharad Pawar has failed to protect the north Indians,” he said adding that, “While they shot dead Rahul Raj, they have not used even a stick on Raj Thackeray,” he said. Paswan, however, demanded the dismissal of the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra and charging Raj Thackeray and Bal Thackeray with murder and sedition for their anti-north Indian campaign.
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NHRC notice to Maharashtra
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today issued a notice to the Maharashtra government on the killing of Patna youth Rahul Raj. Raj was killed in an encounter inside a bus in the eastern suburb of Kurla in Mumbai on Wednesday. The state authorities have claimed that Rahul was killed in retaliatory fire - a fact that Bihar Chief Minister Nitesh Kumar contested.
The commission has directed the DGP Maharashtra and the commissioner of Mumbai police to submit reports, including the inquest report and the post-mortem report, as per the guidelines laid down by the commission. The report has been sought within two weeks.
— TNS
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Raj cremated on Diwali
Patna, October 29 Sensing the sensitivity of the situation, the relatives of Rahul agreed to follow the administration's advice and cremated his body late on Diwali night. His father Kundan Pratap Singh lit the funeral pyre. The entire neighbourhood and friends of Rahul living in Kadamkuan locality of the state capital joined the family in mourning. “We all decided not to celebrate Diwali to protest the manner in which Rahul was gunned down,” said Vinay Sinha, a neighbour of the bereaved family. Earlier, in the morning just after his arrival from New Delhi, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar drove straight to Rahul's house to console the family members. He was accompanied by the deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and health minister Nand Kishor Yadav. Rahul's father reiterated his demand for a CBI probe into the incident and the Chief Minister promised to recommend the same to the government of Maharashtra as well as the Centre. “Although the all-party delegation, in course of its meeting with the Prime Minister, sought a judicial probe into this case by a serving judge, the CBI can conduct a parallel inquiry,” Nitish said. Union minister of steel and fertiliser Ram Vilas Paswan and CPI-ML general secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya, also went to meet the family today. Although, Rahul's killing by the Mumbai police had not sparked off such tension as yet but the state administration does not want to take any chance. It has put all its law enforcing agencies on alert.
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Lalu threatens to cancel train operations
New Delhi, October 29 “Railways are becoming soft target in many states these days. If railway properties and passengers continued to be attacked we may think of cancelling train operations in those areas,” Prasad told mediapersons here. The minister, however, clarified that he did not mean any particular state. Prasad also spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and expressed serious concern over the incident involving Dharam Dev, the youth hailing from Uttar Pradesh who was beaten to death by fellow commuters. The minister also announced compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the next kith and kin of the deceased youth. “The Prime Minister and Soniaji have assured me that they would immediately take up the matter with the Maharashtra government,” he said. Seeking tough action against those involved in the train incident, Prasad requested the Prime Minister to ensure “full security” to north Indians in Maharashtra during the Chhat festival. “I have told the Prime Minister to take stringent action against those behind the incident. I also spoke to Deshmukh for action against the culprits,” he said. Describing it as a “national issue”, Prasad said he requested the Prime Minister to call an all-party meeting so that the stand of political parties over the matter becomes clear. Dubbing the Deshmukh government as a “weak” one, Prasad said, it did not take any action and demanded registration of sedition case against the MNS. Prasad also criticised Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for allegedly publishing derogatory remarks against him and north Indians. Dismissing the demand for his resignation made by SP general secretary Amar Singh over the issue, Prasad said: “This is rubbish. Resignation is not a solution. We have faith in the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has earlier also taken action and I am sure this time also he would do the needful.” Taking a dig at BJP prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani for maintaining silence on the issue. Charging the government railway police (GRP) of the Maharashtra government for not taking prompt action after the youth was beaten up, Prasad said, they (GRP) were “not even registering a police case against the culprits”. He also demanded registration of a case of murder against Maharashtra policemen for the earlier shoot-out in a bus in which Rahul Raj, a youth from Patna was shot dead.
— PTI
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UP youth’s killing in Maharashtra condemned
Lucknow, October 29 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the family of the deceased. She has also directed the district administration to provide all possible assistance to the affected family. As news of the death of Rai reached his village Goryabhar last night, the Diwali celebrations turned into mourning. His pregnant wife’s shrieks pierced the still night. His parents and brother were too shell shocked to talk. The fact that their son’s body was not handed over to them and cremated in Thane in the presence of his friends has further aggrieved them. A computer operator, Rai had gone to Mumbai just three months ago and was on his way back home when supporters of the MNS reportedly attacked him. Denouncing the incident as “unfortunate” Mayawati has shot off letters to the Maharashtra and Central government demanding effective action for the prevention of violent attacks against north Indians in Maharashtra. Terming such incidents “contrary to the spirit of the Indian constitution” she said both the Maharastra government as well as the Central government appear to have completely failed to curb these recurring incidents involving north Indians. BJP state president Ramapati Rai Tripathi went so far as to demand imposition of the NSA against MNS chief Raj
Thackeray. Speaking to a news channel Tripathi said: “Anyone who divided the country on the basis of region, caste or language was definitely an anti-national and should be booked under the
NSA”. Talking to mediapersons in his home district of Etawah, SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav demanded the immediate ban of parties like the
MNS. Maintaining that such incidents pose a threat to both national integrity and internal security of the country, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi strongly criticised the killing of the Sant Kabir Nagar youth near Thane.
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Maharashtra pushes for low-key ‘chhath puja’
Mumbai, October 29 Chhath puja has become a prestige issue with the Bihar Front headed by Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam planning a huge gala show on Mumbai’s Juhu beach. Nirupam scored a small victory after the Supreme Court allowed his organisation to use loudspeakers on the beach till 10 pm on the days of the event. The administration went on to impose gag orders against Thackeray apart from filing a number of cases against him in the police stations across the state after his supporters attacked north Indian candidates at a Railways’ examination earlier this month. Activists of the MNS have also been taken into preventive custody ahead of the Chhath Puja, according to the police. Sources say low-ranking MNS leaders have gone underground to evade arrests. Meanwhile, the state government has managed to urge north Indian politicians to stay away from the Chhath Puja celebrations. Union railway minister Lalu Yadav, who earlier this year had threatened to attend the celebrations has indicated that he might not turn up citing family problems. Other leaders from UP and Bihar may also be asked to stay away, the sources said. The government is also leaning on local north Indian leaders to prevent them from using the platform for making political statements. Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has now said that maximum security would be provided to north Indians who want to observe the Chhath Puja. Even the Shiv Sena, which had echoed Raj Thackeray’s sentiments and warned north Indians from political mobilization, has chosen to remain silent. Party leader Uddhav Thackeray while speaking to mediapersons on the occasion of Diwali said he would not comment on chhath puja in the city since there are so many others with a point of view on the matter.
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Rajapaksa may visit India
New Delhi, October 29 Rajapaksa’s New Delhi mission is primarily aimed at attending the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Scientific, Technical and Economic Cooperation
(BIMSTEC) Summit to be held here from November 11-13. Indian officials and Sri Lankan high commission sources here confirmed that arrangements were being made for Rajapaksa’s visit to India during which he is expected to also have bilateral talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders. There are also indications that external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee might visit Colombo early next month to formally invite Rajapaksa for the BIMSTEC summit as also to discuss the situation in the island nation with the Sri Lankan leadership. The military action in Sri Lanka has raised the heckles of political parties in Tamil Nadu, which have urged the UPA regime to come forward and ask the Sri Lankan government to end the ‘genocide’ of Tamilians. The military action has resulted in nearly 2,00,000 civilians being rendered homeless. India has already taken up the matter with the Sri Lankan government and urged it to find a political settlement of the ethnic crisis, which respects the rights of all minorities, including Tamils, and at the same time protects the unity of the island nation. Recently, Rajapkasa had sent his brother and special envoy Basil Rajapaksa to New Delhi to discuss the situation with the Indian leaders. He had assured New Delhi that the Sri Lankan navy would stop firing on Indian vessels and take care of the well being of the Tamil community in the country. Sources here said New Delhi was going ahead with preparations for the summit though the political crisis in Thailand was a cause of anxiety since the South East Asian nation also is a member of the grouping. The presence of the head of the state or government of each member nation is mandatory for the BIMSTEC summit to take place. The BIMSTEC brings together the seven nations of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. The summit was earlier scheduled to be held in February 2007. Senior officials of the BIMSTEC countries would meet on November 11, followed by a meeting of the foreign ministers the next day. The summit will be held on November 13, with the focus being on terrorism and cooperation social and economic sectors.
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Custody of Indian Mujahideen men extended
Mumbai, October 29 Special MCOCA judge M.R Puranik remanded the 12 persons to the police custody after the prosecution argued that they need their custody to interrogate them on their involvement in the Surat and Ahmedabad blasts. The Mumbai crime branch had arrested 20 suspected Indian Mujahideen members last month for their alleged involvement in a series of blasts across the country
since 2005. Out of the 20 members, eight were remanded to judicial custody last week by the court. Four accused today filed an application before the court alleging that they were being physically tortured by the police in custody. One of the accused Naushad Ali claimed that his hearing has been impaired due to the police torture. The court directed the police to take Naushad to an ENT specialist and submit a report on November 3. The four have also filed an application seeking retraction of their confession. According to the application, they were forced to make the confession by the police. On the last hearing, another accused Mohammad Mansoor Peerbhoy had filed an application stating that he wants to turn an approver in the case.
— PTI
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Todi brothers may be declared POs
Tribune News Service
Kolkata, October 29 The CBI, which had found the three members in the Todi family responsible for the suicide of Rizwanur Rahman, yesterday conducted a raid in search of the accused against whom non-bailable arrest warrants were issued by the court on Monday. According to the chief metropolitan magistrate’s order issued on October 26, all accused, including two senior IPS officers at Lalbazar, be arrested and kept in the CBI custody till they were being remanded before the court on November 3. While all other accused had already surrendered before the court, Todi brothers and Sarogi were still absconding.
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Fourth orbit raising manoeuvre carried
Tribune News Service
Bangalore, October 29 The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bangalore, with support from Indian Deep Space Network antennas at Byalalu near Bangalore.
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Victims’ kin yet to receive compensation
Kendrapara (Orissa), October 29 The supercyclone on October 29 in 1999 caused extensive damage to coastal Orissa, killing people, livestock and damaging houses, crops and infrastructure. The ex-gratia payment to the kin of 136 persons who died in the supercyclone in Orissa’s Kendrapara district has not been settled yet, official sources said. But, 147 poor families have claimed to have been left out from the ex-gratia payment. The delay has primarily been blamed on bureaucratic red tape. “Apart from that, a number of claimants have failed to corroborate legal-heir proof and many more have moved the Orissa High Court for speedy payment of money. Several claims have been contested by tehsil office,” officials said. It had been decided to settle the issue by September 2008. But severe flood in the Mahanadi river this year posed hurdles, they said. Earlier the ex-gratia compensation eluded many families, inviting adverse reaction from the National Human Rights Commission, political parties and several rights bodies. But review of left-out cases for ex-gratia cover marred by bureaucratic red tape moved at a snails pace since the matter was taken up in 2002. The families of 376 persons who perished in the supercyclone have got the compensation. The Centre had announced Rs 50,000 compensation from the National Calamity Relief Fund to the next of the kin of the bereaved families in the aftermath of supercyclone. The state government also declared to pay Rs 25,000 more to each of the bereaved families. An ex-gratia reconsideration board to settle disputes on compensation had been formed in 2002 after the NHRC intervened. — PTI
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Delay in FIR no ground to disbelieve prosecution: SC
New Delhi, October 29 “Delay in receipt of the FIR and the connected documents in all cases cannot be a factor corroding the credibility of the prosecution version,” a bench of justices Arijit passayat and Mukundakam Sharma observed. The apex court passed the observation while dismissing an appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government against the acquittal order passed by the Madras High Court against six persons in a murder case. In all, 16 persons had faced trial, of whom one died during trial and another is absconding. The sessions judge convicted six of the accused N. Rajamanickam and others while acquitting the rest of the accused. Family members of the deceased and the state filed criminal revision petitions before the high court challenging the acquittal of the accused, while the convicts filed their appeal challenging the convictions. The high court acquitting all convicted persons on the premise that certain vital factors rendered the Prosecution version improbable. The factors included delay in registration of the FIR and no official explanation for injuries suffered by the accused in the clash. — PTI
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PM joins Gurta Gaddi celebrations today
New Delhi, October 29 Among other VVIP visitors to Nanded, home minister Shivraj Patil and tourism and culture minister Ambika Soni, both members of the National Coordination Committee for the Gurta Gaddi Divas, will take part in the ongoing celebrations. Shivraj Patil, who is the chairperson of the committee, is visiting Nanded at a troubled time when the Maharashtra government is in the dock for its failure to protect north Indians from the hate campaign unleashed by the Raj Thackarey’s MNS. The committee is co-chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who is expected to join the top central leadership. Meanwhile, Takht Hazur Sahib, Takht Patna Sahib and several other panthic organisations will celebrate the historic event at gurdwara Abchal Nagar Takht Sachkhand Shri Hazoor Sahib, Nanded as per the traditional Bikrami Calendar, tomorrow.
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Ex-army man, associate sent to police custody
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, October 29 The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police had sought their remand in order to probe the case further. While Upadhyay was arrested from Pune, Kulkarni was picked up from Jabalpur on Tuesday. The police are also looking for some serving military personnel for passing on RDX and other explosive material to the two bomb makers, sources said. Both men were working for Hindutva organisations attached to the Sangh Parivar. According to the police, Upadhyay was an associate of Pragya Singh, a sadhvi who was arrested for providing logistics support to the bombers. A two-wheeler owned by her was used to carry out the blast in Malegaon. According to the police, the organisation Abhinav Bharat was set up by some of these activists who were once part of the Sangh Parivar. Pragya Singh used to be an activist of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), though RSS activists say she was no longer one of them. The organisation Abhinav Bharat is said be inspired by a similar organisation founded by controversial character in the freedom movement, Veer Savarkar. Kulkarni had set up the body in Madhya Pradesh sometime ago.
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Uranium mining hangs fire
Guwahati, October 29 The Meghalaya government has little control over the land, which either belongs to the community or private owners. Obviously, the government is not empowered legally to procure land. The situation is being exploited in the state especially in Jaintia Hills district by coal miners and mafias. The government has no control over land and as a result mindless open cast coal mining is going on in the state on private land or community land. There is no law to regulate rampant coal mining that is posing serious threat to environment and green cover in the state. Meghalaya cabinet minister Manas Chaudhuri said the state government was on the verge of formulating a mining policy to try regulating the rampant coal mining that has benefited a handful of landowners, transporters and coal exporters. The irony is that there is hardly any voice against coal mining in Meghalaya though there are many NGOs and political groups that are so loud in raising protest against proposed uranium mining on the ground of possible health hazards to the community. The Centre plans to mine uranium in Meghalaya, which has an estimated 9.2 million tons deposit in the Khasi and Garo hills regions. The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) has been trying hard to access the ore, but in vain because of protests from organisations and individuals. Recently, the state government set up two expert groups to study the impact of the mining and is awaiting the report of the committees before giving its nod to the UCIL to go ahead with the Rs 1,000 crore project, that has been stalled for the last one-and-a-half decade. The influential Khasi Students Union (KSU) has announced that it would not allow uranium mining in the state as it was hardly convinced by the assurance given by the UCIL to take all safety measures to protect the health of the community near the mining area. KSU leader Samuel B. Jyrwa said: “The government better cancel the uranium mining project in Meghalaya. We know people are made to live with sickness near uranium mines all over the world. We will not allow the same to happen in
Meghalaya.”
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Cash-for-Votes
New Delhi, October 29 The case at hand goes back to July 22 this year, when three BJP MPs Ashok Argal, Mahavir Bhagora and Fagan Singh Kulste flashed wads of currency notes in the well of the Lok Sabha, alleging that they had been bribed to abstain from voting on UPA’s confidence motion. Subsequently, the three made a formal complaint to the Speaker against Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, member Reoti Raman Singh, and Ahmad Patel, political secretary to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. One of the three complainants - Mahavir Bhagora - could not depose before the committee due to ill health despite being afforded several opportunities. The panel, for its part, sought four extensions to examine the evidence (including TV footage) and witnesses. The draft report of the committee is now ready, and will come up for consideration and passing tomorrow, said highly placed sources. They added that unless last minute proposals came up from the members, the draft report would most likely be adopted. Confidentiality of findings, they added, will have to be maintained considering the report has to be first submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker and then laid on the table of the House. That can’t happen unless Parliament is in session, said sources, adding that the panel was still divided on whether an outside agency should be handed over further investigations into the case. The sources again dismissed speculation of a clean chit to Amar Singh and Ahmad Patel. On its last meeting on October 17, the panel had to defer adoption of the draft report following fresh proposals by BJP and SP members on the panel - V.K. Malhotra and Ram Gopal Yadav, respectively. With the proposals now accommodated, deo is keen to adopt the report tomorrow. He had earlier dismissed speculations about the panel letting off Amar Singh and Ahmad Patel as “unfortunate and a figment of people’s imagination.” The panel was supposed to submit its report on August 11, after which it got extensions to cover the range of issues involved. The sources describe the case at hand as “unusual” as it involves several issues outside the ambit of
Parliament.
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Post offices losing deposits to banks
New Delhi, October 29 As on March 31, 2007, the total deposits with the post office stood at over Rs 3,51,547 crore but there has been a steady decline since 2006 and available resources with the department have dwindled. Not only has there been a decline in the deposits but also there has been a steady increase in the withdrawals that has had the officials of the Department of Posts worried. Available figures point out that while deposits in the post offices came down from Rs 1,30,474 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 1,16,085 crore in 2006-07, withdrawals from various schemes rose from Rs 76,740 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 90,922 crore in 2006-07. There has been a decline in every scheme of the post office that has also had its Parliamentary Committee worried and asking the ministry of finance to adopt immediate measures to help the department compete with the banks. According to figures submitted by the department to the Parliamentary Committee, in the first seven months of the 2007-08 fiscal, the total funds under the national small savings had declined by over Rs 9,715 crore against the budget estimate of a net mobilisation of Rs 1,589.65 crore. Further, in the popular tax savings schemes like the public provident fund, too, the net mobilisation till October 2007 was reported to be Rs 177.69 crore only against the budget estimate of Rs 1,640 crore. According to the circle-wise data furnished by the department, there is also an alarming decrease in the savings account. Out of the 22 circles, declining trends have been noticed in 13 circles with Haryana being the worst, seeing an almost 30 per cent decline in the total accounts. In the post office savings bank (POSB) Schemes, the total fund mobilisation under various schemes declined to Rs 1,19,883 crore in 2006-07 from Rs 1,33,498 crore, a decline of more than Rs 13,600 crore. The savings certificates operations have also taken a major hit. While the number of certificates issued during the year 2005-06 were 7.11 crore with the amount mobilised being Rs 39,810.14 crore. It declined to 6.38 crore in 2006-07 with the amount mobilisation dropping to Rs 34,534.73 crore. Officials point to various reasons for this trend from 2006 onwards. Mainly it is due to the hardening of interest rates besides the competition from the banks in both smaller term deposits and high rates of interests. The rate of interests on the POSB schemes, have not been increased by the ministry of finance though the commercial banks have been permitted to do so. For instance, in term deposit schemes of one and two years the State Bank of India is offering interest rate at 9.5 per cent for the general category while the POSB is offering just 6.5 per cent. Besides, for senior citizens the interest rate is further hiked by 0.5 per cent by the bank while the same is not allowed for the POSB. Officials say the government would have to alter the schemes of the post office if it wants the customers to return. If these steps are not taken immediately there would be a further decline in deposits with the post office, they say.
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Dug-out bodies haunt ULFA leaders
Guwahati, October 29 The barbaric killings of the five youths-Anil Gohain, Beerbol Dahotia, Mridul Borpatra Gohain, Swaraj Moran and Chandra Gohain-by the ULFA had come to light when their decomposed bodies were exhumed one after another from a pit inside a jungle by the police after being spotted by locals. All these youths went missing in February this year when the ULFA’s 28 th battalion companies were yet to declare unilateral truce and were suspected to be camping inside the dense forest areas in and around Kakopathar. The police and the Army have claimed that these youths were abducted, killed and then buried by the ULFA men from the 28th battalion, taking them to be informers of security forces. This has landed the ULFA doves from the outfit’s A and C companies of the 28th battalion in a soup with people in the Kakopathar area now demanding an explanation from Jiten Dutta, the leader of the ULFA doves, who was the commander of the ULFA’s 28th battalion at the time of killing of these youths.
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Govt to introduce new vocational courses
New Delhi, October 29 The modified scheme in the Eleventh Plan Period will allow institutes to pick up from the wide range of programmes identified. Some of the indicated course for the science stream include refrigeration, hospital waste disposal management, sericulture and biotechnology. For social science and humanities stream, the courses proposed are inter-disciplinary in nature such as applied sociology, applied psychology, tourism, fashion designing, translation proficiency, television and video production. According to the
sources, the programmes have been approved by the UGC. For the commerce stream, the courses are insurance, banking, e-commerce, world trade, foreign exchange trade, retailing, etc. During the last financial year, the government had released about Rs 46 crore for the running of vocational programmes in colleges and a year before that about Rs 26 crore.
— PTI
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SP mounts pressure for judicial probe into Batla encounter
New Delhi, October 29 Party general secretary Amar Singh, however, did not set any deadline for the demand to be met. “If there is no judicial probe, it will be difficult for us to share the same dais with Congress,” Singh told PTI here but did not elaborate. The SP leader, who has been raising the demand for long, however, said he continued to have hope that a judicial probe will be announced until the government categorically rules it out. He particularly pins his hopes on UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in this regard. “Although there has been no response from the government on our demand for a judicial probe, I have hopes from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi,”
Singh said. Samajwadi Party has raised the demand for a judicial probe even at its Coordination Committee meeting with Congress but failed to get any positive response. Questions have been raised over authenticity of the September 19 encounter at Batla House in Jamia Nagar in which a police inspector and two
suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists were killed. — PTI
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BJP, Shiv Sena seek dismissal of Goa govt
Panaji, October 29 Shiv Sena leaders met the governor and submitted a memorandum yesterday, while BJP delegation is likely to meet him today or tomorrow. “The governor can use powers to dismiss the government as the law and order situation is turning grave in the state,” BJP legislative wing spokesman Damodar Naik said. Miscreants are on idol desecration spree in the state with the police failing to nab the culprits, he said. The Goa government has constituted a special team to probe the trend of desecration, which might spark off communal tensions in the state, Naik added.
— PTI
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Bihar witnesses speedy trials, convictions
Patna, October 29 According to official sources, during the past two and a half years, 25,755 criminals were convicted because of speedy trials. While 6,839 anti-social elements were convicted in 2006, the figure for year 2007 was 9,853 with the number of convictions till September this year standing at 9,063. September witnessed almost 12 per cent increase with 1,511 accused convicted, while 1,348 were convicted the preceding month, the sources said. Of those convicted in September, three were awarded capital punishment, 278-life imprisonment, 65 to 10 years imprisonment and the remaining 1,165 less than 10 years of imprisonment, the sources added. They said Nalanda, the home district of chief minister Nitish Kumar, topped the list of convictions followed by Patna fast track courts. During the past 30 months of the NDA government, the Bihar police have solved a number of cases.
— PTI
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Poll dates in MP, Mizoram changed
New Delhi, October 29 The Election Commission after reassessing the time required for proper de-mobilisation and transportation of the police forces for elections in Madhya Pradesh after the elections are over, decided to re-fix the poll date in Madhya Pradesh on November 27. On Mizoram, the EC has said that the earlier schedule for holding polls on November 29, which is a Saturday, was not convenient for voters in the state. A section of the voters brought to the notice of the EC that casting votes on that day would be inconvenient for a segment of the people for whom Saturday has some special significance. The new date is December 2.
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Jayalalithaa gets threat letter from LTTE 10,000 fowls perish in fire 3 circus elephants rescued Partial response to bandh Czech convict flees 3 killed in road mishap
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There could not have been a darker Diwali for the parents and neighbours of Rahul Raj, the Patna youth killed in the police firing at Mumbai just a day before the festival of lights.
