Mumbai, October 19
Despite assurances from Russia, it is still not clear whether the Indian Navy would receive the INS Chakra, the Akula-II class nuclear attack submarine, originally named Nerpa, by next January, as had been promised by their government.

Indian Navy officials are keeping their fingers crossed over the issue after it emerged that the Amur Dockyard in Russia, which is repairing the vessel, halted work after payments from the Russian government were delayed.

The submarine was sent for repairs after a major fire in November 2008 killed three crew members and several workers of a shipyard where it was berthed. Officials of the Amur Dockyard told Russian media that they had run out of money and payments for work done on the submarine was due from their government.

As per the agreement India has with Russia, the submarine is to be inducted into the Russian Navy after which it would be leased to the Indian Navy for 10 years. The 10-year lease would reportedly cost India US $650 million. The submarine had to be leased out to India earlier this year but the deadline was moved to December following delays caused by the fire. And now, Russia has promised delivery by early 2010.

Under the revised schedule, an Indian crew of about 300 personnel would be trained with Russian experts aboard the submarine, before being able to sail on their own. 

A VM-5 pressure water reactor with an OK-650 reactor core with a capacity of 190-MW, would power the submarine. The maximum submerged speed of the submarine would be 33 knots while its surface speed would be 10 knots. It can dive up to 600 metres depth and stay submerged for 100 days with a full crew complement of 73.

The submarines are the quietest of all nuclear-powered attack submarines in the Russian Navy. Its arsenal includes 12 Granit torpedo tube-launched cruise missiles and Novator SS-N-15 Starfish and the Novator SS-N-16 Stallion anti-ship missiles.

New Delhi, October 19
The Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Contemporary Studies at Panjab University may finally see light of the day, with appointment of the Chair Professor on the cards. The selection by the search committee happened last week in the Capital, two days before Diwali, and four years after the issue first got embroiled in legal hassles 

The committee’s report will be taken up for acceptance by the PU Syndicate when it meets this week in Chandigarh. Significantly, PU Vice-Chancellor Prof RC Sobti did not sit in the search committee this time, it is learnt.

The professorship for the Chair was first advertised in November 2005, but the process was abandoned after the present V-C took over and issued a fresh advertisement in January 2007. Dr MU Khan, former scientist, National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS) was selected in June that year by a 12-member committee headed by the V-C himself and approved by the PU Syndicate. 

The selection was, however, challenged and finally annulled by the Punjab and Haryana High Court following evidence that the PU had ignored the selection procedure laid down by the UGC for such cases.

After prolonged delays, the selection process concluded in Delhi on October 15, with the search committee, comprising Dr GP Talwar, former director of National Institute of Immunology; Prof Govardhan Mehta, former director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; and Prof Zoya Hasan, JNU, screening the candidates. The first two experts were PU V-C’s nominees, while the last one was UGC’s representative as the UGC sponsors and funds the Chair.

The four candidates who appeared for the interviews in Delhi are Prof Arun Deep Ahluwalia, Panjab University; Dr MU Khan, Prof Rajesh Kochhar, former director, NISTADS and Prof Harbans Singh Sidhu, former chairman of Punjab School Education Board. 

Hyderabad, October 19
Family members of senior engineer P Krishna Rao, who was abducted by Bodo militants in Assam three days ago, have made an appeal to the state and Central government to secure his safe release.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah spoke to his Assam counterpart Tarun Kumar Gogoi over the phone and requested him to make all efforts to secure the safe release of the civil engineer, who was reportedly kidnapped by militants from a project site at Bhoipur in Kokhrajhar district.

Gogoi assured Rosaiah that his government would leave no stone unturned to trace the abducted official. Special teams have been constituted for the purpose.

The engineer’s family members at Gannavaram in the coastal district of Krishna pleaded with the authorities to ensure his safe release.

Rao, 50, had been working for infrastructure firm Gayatri Constructions as project manager on a national highway project in Assam for the last 10 years.

“We are extremely anxious over his safety. We appeal to the state and Central governments to rescue him,” Rao’s wife Rajeswari, along with her teenaged son and daughter, pleaded to the officials who visited their house.

Chandigarh, October 19
While a general court martial (GCM) assembled to try an Army captain for illegally possessing an imported weapon and trying to sell it off in the civilian market has accepted the defence plea that it does not have jurisdiction to try the case, it also kicked up a controversy, with its court’s presiding officer facing a separate court of inquiry (COI) for irregularities in procurements.

The court, held at Meerut, accepted the defence plea on October 14, over six months after it was assembled. Under provisions of Army Rule 51, the court’s decision is to be reported to the convening authority, but it does not require any conformation from higher authorities.

The General Officer Commanding, 9 Infantry Division, Major-Gen Ranbir Singh, ordered the COI a few weeks ago while the GCM was in progress at Meerut. The COI has been completed and submitted for further action, it is learnt. The COI’s terms of reference are to investigate certain complaints received against the presiding officer, a colonel commanding an ordnance unit said.

The captain faced two charges under the Arms Act for possessing the weapon without a licence. He had allegedly tried to sell the weapon to a civilian while he was admitted to an Army Hospital in New Delhi. Another officer is also said to be involved in the case. The alleged transaction was revealed when they were caught in a raid conducted by the military intelligence.

Defence counsel Lt Col PN Chaturvedi (Retd) said they had raised the plea of non-jurisdiction because certain legal safeguards mandated under the Arms Act had not been complied with during the proceedings.

They had relied on a judgement by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a similar case, which was subsequently upheld by the apex court.

New Delhi, October 19
The government today gave its approval for state-of-the-art security for the 2010 Commonwealth Games at an estimated cost of Rs 370 crore.

In a move that aims to set a benchmark for security for all big events in future, the government had given Hyderabad-based state-owned Electronics Corporation of India Limited the approval for setting up the Integrated Security System (ISS) for the Games.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here today. “In the interests of uniformity, compatibility and economies of scale and to ensure that a complete security solution is provided, the ECIL has been tasked to provide the ISS,” the statement said.

It further said: “The indigenous capacity creation and capacity validation to provide state-of-the-art security cover for large-scale events will not only set new benchmarks but would be vital for the secure conduct of the Commonwealth Games 2010”.

“This is the first time in India that a project for installation of an ISS on such a large-scale is being implemented,” a statement issued here said after the cabinet meeting.

As per the “host city agreement”, all venues associated with the Games are to be provided with specified facilities, including security.

Head of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Michael Fennel, who raised concerns about India’s preparedness for the Games, had also brought up the issue of adequate security arrangements for the event scheduled to begin October 3, 2010.

In fact some of the Commonwealth countries have been citing security concerns as a reason to even suggest a pullout from the Games, which would be the largest ever hosted by India after the Asian Games in 1982.

The ECIL, a wholly owned Indian government enterprise established in 1967 to create a strong indigenous base in electronics, will deliver the security solution by March 31 next year.

In another decision, the government also approved the plans for the Haj pilgrims from India for this year . The first batch of Indian Haj pilgrims will leave for Saudi Arabia tomorrow marking the beginning of the two-and-a-half month operation during which over 1,23,000 Indian Muslims will perform the annual pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca.

Starting tomorrow, about a dozen flights will carry around 4,000 pilgrims a day till November 22 from 19 different Indian embarkation points. The Haj operation will conclude on January 1, 2010, according to the salient features for the pilgrimage approved by the Union Cabinet

Every Haj pilgrim would pay only Rs.16,000 as fare. The remaining fare would be borne by the government. The Haj operations would be carried out from 19 embarkation points as against 17 of last year.

The cabinet this year has approved two new embarkation points from Ranchi and Mangalore. The pilgrims would travel on Air India, Saudi Arabian Airline and National Air Services of Saudi Arabia.

Mumbai, October 19
The Goa government is mulling a ban on Sanatan Saunstha after two of its activists died while attempting to plant bombs during Diwali celebrations on Friday night. Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has asked Goa’s Law Department to give its opinion for ban on the organisation. Advocate-General of Goa Subodh Kantak is expected to give his opinion to the Chief Minister soon, sources said.

Earlier today, Kamat told reporters that his government’s first priority was to complete investigations in the blast case.

Meanwhile, Kamat is coming under pressure from fellow ministers and MLAs of his own Congress party to drop Transport Minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudhin’ Dhavalikar from the cabinet. Dhavalikar belongs to the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. His brother Deepak is also an MLA of the MGP. The wives of both the brothers are active members of the Sanatan Saunstha.

Home Minister Ravi Naik today said both Dhavalikar brothers and their relatives are being investigated by the police for their links to the organisation. “We are trying to find out how deeply the two are linked with the organisation,” Naik told reporters today.

Political observers say Naik has been given the go-ahead with the Congress party’s leadership to come out against the Dhavalikar brothers. After Naik’s announcement, Sudhin Dhavalikar sought to distance himself from the organisation.

“My brother and I have nothing to do with the Sanatan Saunstha though our wives are working as volunteers with the organisation,” Dhavalikar told reporters. He added that his wife Jyoti was a part-time worker who helped manage the body’s finances for nearly 10 years.

The Maharashtra police is also probing the Saunstha for the recent communal riots in the towns of Sangli and Miraj. The police said two activists who were arrested late last month following Hindu-Muslim riots were linked to the Sanatan Saunstha. In all five cases have been registered against the organisation for inciting communal violence, possession of arms etc.

Meanwhile, the Sanatan Saunstha has denied being involved in the blasts. In a press release issued today, the body said it did not indulge in any anti-social activity. “We do not indulge in any anti-social activity and do not encourage the same. That is why on October 16, we have cooperated with the police investigations and will continue to cooperate in the future too.” 

Guwahati, October 19
The wildlife staff in Kaziranga National Park (KNP), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on the south bank of the Brahmaputra River in Assam, is facing a challenging task to fight poachers, who, equipped with sophisticated weapons, are on the prowl for rhinos. Already, five full-grown rhinos have been killed by them this year.

With the international clandestine trade of rhino horns continuing despite the global crackdown against it, inter-state gangs of poachers are mounting pressure on the rhino abode in Kaziranga.

Poachers’ gangs are usually equipped with .303 rifles as well as sophisticated assault rifles to tackle wildlife staff, who are armed with .315 and .303 rifles. The Arms Act provisions do not allow arming wildlife personnel with sophisticated weapons.

However, to counter the threat posed by the poachers to the treasure trove of one-horned rhinoceros in the national park, the wildlife and forest department has set up a coordinated strategy with police and army besides setting up a vibrant network among villagers living in the fringe areas for gathering information on poachers’ movement.

“We have set up district-level coordination with police and also get help from Army personnel in nearby camps to keep poachers’ gangs at bay. Our focus is on preventing the poachers from entering the park instead of fighting them inside the 859 sq km protection area,” divisional forest officer (DFO) Dibyadhar Gogoi informed The Tribune over phone from Kaziranga Park.

He said an intensive operation was launched to neutralise a gang of poachers, which had sneaked into the park from its eastern range on Friday night. Even elephants have been engaged in the operation that started in the wee hours of Saturday and there have been exchanges of fire.

Meanwhile, Assam government has chalked out an action plan to increase the number of wildlife personnel as well as anti-poaching camps in the Park. “There is plan to upgrade some temporary or semi-permanent camps to permanent camps and to set up some new camps in strategic locations,” the DFO informed.

Despite the pressure from the poachers, population of the precious one-horned Rhinoceros in Kaziranga has increased to 2048 as per the census carried out in April 2009. The figure was 1855 in the previous census carried out in May 2006.

New Delhi, October 19
The Competition Appellate Tribunal became functional today under the chairmanship of Justice Arijit Pasayat, with Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan and Union Ministers M Veerappa Moily and Salman Khursheed affirming that it was aimed at ensuring a level-playing field for small enterprises and protecting the interests of consumers.

The Tribunal, set up under the 2007 provision inserted into the Competition Act, 2002, would gradually assume all functions of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) leading to the winding up of the commission in two years.

The CJI said the MRTP Act, 1969, had become quite inadequate to address the changes brought about by economic liberalisation, while the Competition Commission of 2002 was merely playing an advisory role. The tribunal would protect the interests of smaller market players and the consumers by preventing a few big players from making “extra profits” at the cost of others.

Justice Pasayat, who retired from the Supreme Court in May this year, said the tribunal would promote competition among producers, resulting in wider choice and better quality to consumers at lower prices.

The tribunal would spare no efforts to be one of the best in the world, if not the best. Corporate Affairs Minister Khursheed said there was no need for any reservation or apprehension that the tribunal meant more control. The government was absolutely determined to protect the freedom of enterprises. Regulated freedom would not curb growth, he said.

Law Minister Moily said there was need for a revolution in every sector of the economy on the lines of the exponential growth of the telecom sector. “What we need is an ocean of excellence, not islands of excellence” represented by sectors like telecom, he said and expressed the hope that the tribunal would be instrumental in bringing about such a change.

Chennai, October 19
Tension prevailed for over three hours today in Kanchipuram district, which borders Chennai, following a bomb scare in a school, apparently raised by a group of students who wanted the school management to extend the Diwali holidays by another day.

As the students began arriving for classes after the holidays, the headmaster of the Ramakrishna Mission Higher Secondary School in Chengalpattu received a phone call claiming there was bomb inside the school compound and all the buildings in it would collapse if it went off.

The headmaster, Aravamudhan, immediately asked all students to evacuate the school and stand outside after informing the police about the bomb threat. The cops, with dog squads and bomb experts, arrived soon. However, following a thorough search, they did not find anything and came to the conclusion it was a false alarm. The school started functioning thereafter.

As the police were searching the school premises, panic spread among area residents. Parents of students rushed to the school causing traffic jams lasting over three hours. Aravamudhan said the voice in the phone call resembled that of a student and recalled some of the students had wanted extension of the Diwali holidays.

He added when the school reopened today he had noticed the announcement on the posted on the notice board had been changed, saying the Diwali holidays would be extended for another day.

The headmaster stated the police was investigating the incident and would soon find out which students were behind the false alarm. “The school management will take severe disciplinary action against the students involved”, he said, adding their names, however, would not be revealed.

Kolkata, October 19
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has requested Prime minister Manmohan Singh to re-appoint West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi for another term after his present tenure ends on December 13.

She also met Gandhi and requested him to remain in the Governor’s chair for another five years. But the Governor himself expressed his reluctance for continuing in the post any more. Accordingly he also conveyed this to President Pratibha Patil.

Though nothing has been decided about Gandhi’s successor, according to home ministry sources, former Home Minister Shivraj Patil could succeed Gandhi, if the latter was not re-appointed. Former union minister Santosh Dev is another choice.

However, the CPM has been strongly divided over re-appointment of Gandhi. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the politburo leader Sitaram Yechuri want that Gandhi be re-appointed and the next Assembly elections in 2011 be held under his governorship.

But the CPM leadership is strongly opposed to Gandhi’s re-appointment.

New Delhi, October 19
The BJP has hit out at Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, accusing him of working for the US and other developed European nations, for suggesting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that India must junk the Kyoto protocol on climate change.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley reacted strongly here today to news reports of Ramesh’s letter to the Prime Minister also suggesting the de-linking of India from G-77, a group of developing nations, and permit external scrutiny of measures to curb greenhouse gases.

Jaitley said: “The BJP deplores this effort to alter and change India’s negotiating position on climate change. The equitable principle which is universally accepted is that the ‘polluter pays’. India emits only 1.2 tonnes per capita of greenhouse gases as compared to 20 tonnes by the US.

The developed nations have not yet complied with the Kyoto protocol obligations and are now suggesting its abandonment. By virtually accepting this, India would commit itself, along with big three developing countries - China, Brazil and South Africa - to bring its emission levels below the base level.”

He said: “This change in India’s position completely breaks the unity of the developing countries and undermines India’s credibility as the leader of developing nations even in the WTO talks.

“The direct consequence of this altered position would be that India would undertake commitments and pay the price for pollution caused by the developed countries. Our energy cost would go up manifold thereby retarding the pace of our industrial growth and slowing down our initiatives on poverty alleviation. Our commitments to the weaker sections within our own society would radically suffer.”

“Is the Environment Minister giving his personal views or is he a stalking horse for a larger lobby?” he said, adding, “If these are his personal views, can he continue as India’s key negotiator on climate change? If he is a spokesman or a trial balloon for a larger lobby, the issue acquires even greater seriousness.”The senior BJP leader also charged that during the recent Bangkok negotiations, Ramesh “sabotaged” India’s position by publicly taking a stand contrary to the country’s position projected by the negotiating team.

“While our interlocutors were adopting a contrary position, it was the American delegation, which surprised our negotiators by quoting our Minister’s statement in their support. Similarly, the chairman of the AWG on the Kyoto protocol asked the Indian delegation if India’s conventional position had changed and asked them to respond to the ‘Indian Minister’s statement’. Whose interest is being protected by such acts of sabotage?” he asked.

Patna, October 19
Notwithstanding the common perception about Bihar becoming economically buoyant during Nitish Kumar’s tenure, there is Rs 2,000 crore loan on the state government, which was bound to pay enhanced salary and pension to its employees.

Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the Sixth Pay Panel’s recommendations have put a tremendous financial pressure on the state. Modi, who also happens to be the Finance Minister, said the implementation of pay panel’s recommendations was a compulsion. Justifying the need for the loan, he said, “The interest rates are low at the moment. Moreover, the loan is still within the limits — 4 per cent of the state GDP — prescribed by the Centre for availing the waiver scheme,” Modi added.

Bihar’s total expenditure on payment of salaries and pension was Rs 11, 405 crore. But after the implementation of sixth pay panel suggestions it is estimated to be Rs 16,000 crore. The state government is heavily dependent for its financial resources on the Centre by way of its share in Central taxes.

Although the final figures for the current financial year are yet to become public, it is almost certain that there would be a shortfall in state’s share in the Central taxes. In the beginning, the shortfall was estimated to be to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore but now it is expected to be around Rs 5,000 crore.

Under the circumstances, the state may go for more loans to support its annual planned expenditure of Rs 16,000 crore, Modi admitted. 

Hyderabad, October 19
Andhra Pradesh, one of the major paddy producers in the country, is set to witness a sharp fall in production during this Kharif season due to unprecedented floods which left a trail of destruction in the state recently. “We expect a 35 per cent fall in the output during the current kharif season,” state Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy said.

The paddy production is expected to be around 5.5 million tonnes, nearly 2.9 million tonnes less than the 2008 kharif output of 8.38 million tonnes.

For the past few years, AP has been the third largest producer of foodgrains in the country, thanks to copious rainfall. However, the situation has changed now due to acute drought followed by devastating floods.

A steep fall in the foodgrain production is imminent. This, as it is feared, will have a cascading effect on food prices.

The state’s agriculture sector had to bear the impact of a double whammy following the worst drought in 50 years and highest floods in 100 years of recorded history.

The state had received deficit rainfall during the south-west monsoon and 981 of the total 1,128 mandals (administrative units) have been declared drought-hit. The crop area has declined by 32 per cent to 5.3 million hectares as against the kharif season’s normal sown area of 7.9 million hectares.

Even as the government was grappling with severe drought conditions, unprecedented floods in the Krishna river basin hit the state early this month, submerging the standing crops in Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Krishna and Guntur districts. The floods had damaged standing crops over an extent of 2.41 lakh hectares, resulting in a production loss of 9 lakh tonne of food grain valued at Rs 860 crore.

Ghaziabad, October 19
Ashutosh Asthana — alleged to be the main player in the multi-crore Provident Fund (PF) scam — is not the first key accused of a high-profile case to have died in custody in Dasna jail. Asthana was cremated yesterday at 6.30 pm even as the post-mortem examination, which went on for three hours, by a panel of five doctors could not establish the exact cause of his death.

“We have preserved the viscera which will be sent to Agra for further forensic examination. The final report from Agra will help us in establishing the exact cause of the death,” said police sources. The report from Agra is expected in three months. Notably, as many as seven prisoners have died in custody in the past one year in Dasna jail.

In 2008, Ravinder Pradhan, the key accused in the sensational Kavita Chaudhary murder case, had died under mysterious circumstances in Dasna jail. Ravinder was taking a stroll outside his barrack when he suddenly collapsed. He was rushed to a hospital, but like Asthana, he, too, was declared as brought dead by the doctors.

Even at that time, the Dasna jail authorities were accused of killing Ravinder Pradhan. Notably, fragments of glass were reportedly recovered from Pradhan’s stomach. In both the cases, the cause of death is not clear. Ashutosh’s death has raised a number of questions. Seven members of the Asthana family, including Ashutosh’s wife, Shushma, are in Dasna Jail.

The family has alleged that Asthana was killed by the jail authorities. He was receiving threats to his life and had asked for better security. District Magistrate R Ramesh Kumar said the state government had asked DIG (Jail), AK Panda to conduct an inquiry into Asthana’s death. District jail doctor AK Singh has suspected that Ashutosh could have died due to swallowing of poison.

Ashutosh’s brother, Shriesh Ashutosh, said the former did not suffer from heart or any other serious ailment. “Then how could he get a heart attack, which proved fatal,” he questioned, alleging that his brother had been poisoned in the jail, as his dead body had turned blue. Shriesh said his brother used to be beaten up while being taken from jail to court and on his return.

A day before Ashutosh’s death, a CBI team had quizzed him for a couple hours. He appeared quite lost after the CBI interrogation. 

Hyderabad, October 19
The Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), a powerful Muslim political party, today boycotted inauguration of the country’s longest flyover here, opposing its naming after former Prime Minister late PV Narasimha Rao.

The MIM, which represents Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency and has seven MLAs in the 294-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly, blames the former Prime Minister for demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992.

“We feel Narasimha Rao had hurt the sentiments of Muslims as he was at the helm of the country when Babri Masjid was demolished,” the MIM President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said.

The MIM, which has strong presence in old city areas, demanded that the 11.63-km long flyover, connecting the city to the international airport, be named after former Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

With the government rejecting its demand, the MIM boycotted the inauguration function. The Chief Minister K Rosaiah formally inaugurated the flyover, christened as PVNR Expressway. The Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and several state ministers were present on the occasion.

Built at a cost of Rs 600 crore in three years, it is India’s longest elevated corridor that helps cut down the travel time to the international airport by 30 to 40 minutes.

The 17.2-metre-wide, four-lane elevated expressway starts at Mehdipatnam in the heart of the city and lands at Aramghar Junction on Hyderabad-Bangalore Highway to join an underpass en route to Rajiv Gandhi International airport.

Built by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) using state-of-the-art segmental construction technology, the elevated corridor ensures smooth and uninterrupted flow of airport-bound traffic, allowing a maximum speed of 100 kmph.

The Expressway, which encompasses 327 spans, was one of the dream projects of YSR who died in a helicopter crash last month.

The city police has prohibited entry of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, goods vehicles and slow-moving vehicles on the flyover.

Agra, October 19
Cementing the newly formed strategic bond, the Indian Air Force and its US counterpart today kicked-off a six-day joint exercise to fine-tune airborne capabilities in inducting armed troops and equipment into combat zones, especially during the anti-terrorist operations and rescue missions.

This comes less than a week after the armies of both the countries started a fortnight-long exercise at Babina, some 200 km south of the historic city of Agra. The air exercise --- Cope-India 09 --- is aimed at moving troops and equipment using the transport planes.

The special forces of both the countries are participating in the exercise which will go on till October 24. Talking to mediapersons, Group Captain Matthew Mammen, IAF’s director for the exercise, said the exercise will enhance knowledge levels of the two sides. “Besides transport operations, the exercises will focus on insertion and extraction of its special forces in hostile zones, as also searching for pilots, who may have crashed in the enemy territory, and rescuing them,” said Mammen.

The director of the US team Col Raymond Lamarche said they were looking at rapid insertion of troops for every contingency situation using their tactical aircraft.

The US refers to its 20-tonne C-130 series of transporters as “tactical-lift aircraft”. “There could be a possibility of using these techniques for anti--terrorism and anti-piracy operations and also for delivery of supplies,” said Col Lamarche, while responding to a query.

For India, the exercise will help in the post-2001 “Cold start” doctrine formulated after Operation Parakaram. The doctrine envisages surgical strikes using paracommadoes, who can be air dropped. On the strategic side, Larmache denied that the exercise was aimed at operating some servicing hub from India. However, he said the US could use the synergy of the IAF when it comes to saving lives in humanitarian and relief operations that need rapid insertion of troops.

The US team comprises more than 160 personnel, three C-130 H Hercules and one C-130J aircraft, one C-17 Globemaster that can carry nearly 80 tonnes of load and induct up to 110 fully armed troops. The IAF will field 250 of its men and officers, one IL-76, which is its main workhorse, five AN-32, two MI-17s and one Chetak chopper for the exercise. 

New Delhi, October 19
The government on Thursday approved the proposal to exchange letters of agreement between the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the Government of India for the provision of necessary privileges and immunities to the participants invited by the UN to participate in the high-level conference on climate change to be held here later this month.

The government, in collaboration with the UNDESA, is organising the ‘High-Level Conference on Climate Change: Technology Development and Transfer’ on October 22 and 23 here.

The conference is being organised by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) as conference partners. The clearance came at the meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The conference would be a step forward in the process of the international policy dialogue on technologies needed to address climate change. It will advance the discussions on technology development and technology transfer initiated at the Beijing conference in November last.

The emphasis will be on defining a road map for technology development and transfer by bringing together the key players in the international climate change community. Technology has a central and fundamental role in addressing climate change concerns with due regard to the imperatives of national economic growth, energy security, and sustainable development.

The outcomes of the conference will support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process.

Chandigarh, October 19
A blast ripped apart the wall of a room of a madrasa in Jind town of Haryana late tonight. Fortunately, no loss of life has been reported. The madrasa is located on the campus of Idgah in the meat market along the Hansi branch canal.

According to information received here, the blast took place shortly after the conclusion of Namaz-e-Isha around 9.45 pm. About 25 persons had offered the namaz. The explosion was heard at far off places in the town.

Mohammad Shayin, Deputy Commissioner, Jind, who along with the SP, Jind, told The Tribune from the site on the phone that about 45 students, who study in the madrasa, also stayed there. But today they were sleeping in another room.

Forensic science experts have been called from Hissar for investigation. The area has been cordoned off. Security in the town has been strengthened. So far, the cause of explosion is not known.