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Bofors, Satyam kept CBI busy in 2009
Jaipur institute finds cure
to retinal disorders
C’wealth Games: Jaipur gets ready to charm tourists
...but city not that friendly
Telangana tangle: Fiery speeches mark rally by students
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presents an award to a scientist at the 97th Indian Science
Congress in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. — Reuters
No external hand in BARC fire, says DAE
1984 Riots
New AP Guv gets down to business
Security around Parliament to be beefed up
18 medical students held for ragging
‘Murder’ aboard cruise-liner
Cold wave kills 30 in UP
UPSC increases seats
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Bofors, Satyam kept CBI busy in 2009
New Delhi, January 3 The agency probing the alleged rape and murder of two women in Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir gave a clean chit to four police officials. After three years of probe, the CBI in December filed a charge sheet against the two sons of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. Acting on the Andhra Pradesh government’s request, the CBI had on February 18 taken over probe into the Satyam case leading to the arrest of former chairman B Ramalingam Raju, MD B Rama Raju and ex-CFO Vadlamani Srinivas. On January seven, Raju confessed to have cooked the company’s account books and inflated profits over the past several years. The probe in the case has been completed and the agency has filed two charge sheets. Former Union minister Sukhram was convicted and sentenced on February 25 to undergo three years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs two lakh in a disproportionate assets case. In a first of its kind incident, senior RAW officer A S Narayan Rao was on February 3 arrested by the CBI for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs one lakh from a Chennai-based manufacturer. Prime accused in the three-year-old Nithari killings, Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surinder Koli were awarded death sentence by a CBI court in February for the rape and murder of 14-year-old girl Rimpa Halder. Sixteen more cases are under judicial process. In April, giving a twist to its probe in the Rs 64-crore Bofors scam, the CBI asked the Interpol to take off the name of Quattrocchi from the Red Corner notice list in which he had been put at India's behest. The CBI carried out a number of anti-corruption drives and arrested various government officials during the year and recovered crore of rupees. A majority of them were from Delhi Municipal Corporation, Delhi Development Authority, Insurance companies, Customs, All India Council of Technical Education and University Grants Commission. The CBI registered a case in May against an IGP and a Commandant, CRPF Bihar sector and six private persons in the CRPF Constables recruitment scam. In June, the CBI sought extension of the term of the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) - probing the conspiracy behind former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. The agency also launched a nationwide drive against corruption in June and registered 69 cases of corruption and alleged irregularities by public functionaries. During the drive, the CBI also
registered one case of alleged corruption in the Railway Recruitment Board, Allahabad. CBI sleuths arrested Padamsinh Patil, a senior NCP leader and Lok Sabha MP, from Navi Mumbai for his alleged involvement in the 2006 murder of Maharashtra Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar, who along with his driver, were shot dead in a car in 2006. In July, the CBI arrested member secretary of All India Council for Technical Education K Narayan Rao for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs
five lakh. A case was also registered against AICTE Chairman RA Yadav, its Advisor H C Rai, Deputy Director Robinder Randhawa and Regional Officer Sriom Dalal on alleged bribery charges. The CBI registered a case against some persons for hacking into the subscriber details of top most customers of private telecom service operator Vodafone and changing their mail IDs for getting the e-bills delivered to fake mail IDs. It took 19 years for the CBI to file a charge sheet against two Christian priests and a nun for the murder of Sister Abhaya in a Kerala convent at Kottayam. Father Thomas Kottoor, Father Thomas Poothrikkayil and Sister Sephy were arrested on November 19, 2008. The 21-year-old nun was found dead in a well in St Pius convent in Kottayam on 27 March, 1992. The agency sleuths on July 31 arrested National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Chairman Buta Singh’s son Sarobjit for allegedly demanding bribe of Rs one crore from a Nashik-based contractor for closing a case against him. Claiming to have got new leads into the case, the CBI had on August 19 filed charge sheet in the 2002 “coffin scam” of the Kargil war against four persons, including two retired army officials and one
serving officer. The agency also reconstituted its team of officials probing the sensational Aarushi-Hemraj double-murder case. The agency had on October nine visited the office of oil regulator V K Sibal to check records following charges of him receiving favours from Mukesh Ambani-led RIL to approve an inflated expenditure for The agency also filed a charge sheet against 19 persons for allegedly carrying out nine serial blasts in Assam on October 30, 2008. The CBI on November 24 arrested a member of Company Law Board (CLB), R Vasudevan and a company secretary, Manoj Banthia for allegedly seeking bribe to the tune of Rs seven lakh to give a favourable ruling in a case. The agency conducted searches at the offices of the Telecom Ministry probing the allegations of corruption in allocation of 2G spectrum estimated to be of Rs 22,000 crore. Abdul Kareem Telgi and eight others were convicted to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment ranging between three years to seven years for printing and selling fake stamps.
— PTI
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Concerns conveyed to China over PoK projects: Krishna
New Delhi, January 3 Despite differences on a host of issues with China, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is expected to visit Beijing in April this year, said the country did not see it in "antagonistic terms". In a year-end review of the foreign policy and India's relations with its neighbours, the minister said, “India lives in a difficult neighbourhood and national security and terrorism originating from across our borders would remain a major challenge in 2010.” During an exclusive interview to PTI, he touched upon the troubled ties with Pakistan, relations with China and his optimism about "meaningful cooperation" from the US in regard to cases of two terror suspects David Headley and Tahawwur Rana, arrested there for plotting terror attacks in India. He emphasised that China's continued supply of weapons to Pakistan and activities of Chinese companies in PoK were a matter of concern and India was talking about all these issues with China. Explaining why India sees these activities in PoK as "illegal', Krishna said Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the country and neither Pakistan nor China have a "locus standi" there.0 Still India did not see China in "antagonistic terms" as it believes that there is enough space for both to develop in a "mutually supportive manner while remaining sensitive to each other's concerns and aspirations", as befits good neighbours and strategic partners, Krishna said. On the outlook for 2010, he said, "I am optimistic about the progress in our bilateral ties with China in the year ahead". He also said "India and China are engaged in deepening their strategic and cooperative partnership on the one hand and narrowing divergences on the other." Krishna emphasised that India was "committed to friendly relations with our neighbours" as it was convinced "that our destinies are interlinked". Referring to Pakistan, he noted that progress had been achieved in five years of composite dialogue but it was "eroded" by continued terrorism emanating from that country. For better ties, he put the onus on Pakistan to act with "determination" against terrorism directed at India. Observing that it was in India's interest to "engage and normalise our relations", Krishna said "at the same time we are very clear that any meaningful dialogue with Pakistan can only be based on fulfilment of its commitment, in letter and spirit, not to allow its territory to be used in any manner for terrorist activities against India." "In this context we expect Pakistan to unravel the full conspiracy behind the Mumbai terrorist attack and bring to justice the perpetrators and the conspirators of this heinous act of terrorism", he added. Asked about the perception that the US authorities were not "fully cooperating" with their Indian counterparts with regard to Headley and Rana, he said, "the US Government has assured us of all possible help to deal with the Headley-Rana case. They have extended valuable cooperation to us in the Mumbai attacks case. The Headley-Rana case is presently under investigation, on which both India and the US are working. I am optimistic of meaningful cooperation from the US side in the matter." On whether India will seek extradition of Headley and Rana, the minister said, "the Headley-Rana case is presently under investigation. An appropriate decision on the future course of action would be taken in due course." Asked about his assessment of the way country's foreign policy has worked in the year gone by, Krishna said "our approach, aimed at a supportive external environment helpful for our security and for sustaining rapid economic growth, has paid rich dividends. — PTI
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Jaipur institute finds cure
to retinal disorders
Jaipur, January 3 Talking to The Tribune, NIA director Prof MC Sharma said the NIA’s research work and subsequent treatment has led to partial restoration of vision among the patients of retinitis pigmentosa, a disease in which a patient is either blind by birth or loses eyesight gradually. “We have successfully restored vision among three such patients this year,” he averred. Apart from retinitis pigmentosa, the patients of macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and myopic degeneration can also benefit from this treatment, which costs merely Rs 500 a month, though the treatment can last up to over a year. The institute has opened a clinic for treatment of eye diseases in collaboration with Kerala’s Shreedhariyam Hospital. Dr Pawan Kumar of NIA told that the institute’s research work on the MNDs has also yielded good results. According to him, MND is a disease which afflicts a person in young age and leads to gradual degeneration of the body, ultimately causing the death. He said the initial leads of their research work were encouraging, as it not only delayed degeneration of body but also resulted in partial regeneration. He said the modern medicine has no treatment for this neuro-muscular disorder. He said the institute plans to take up a full-fledged research project on the disease, besides opening a specialty clinic for its treatment. He said the government has given its approval for opening the clinic in collaboration with a government college based in Thrissur and an MoU to this effect will be signed very soon. He said the institute also conducted a major research on lifestyle disorders in which survey was conducted among 8,000-10,000 people. In the first phase of the research, they have covered obesity while they plan to work on metabolic syndrome in the next phase. He said the institute has done some pioneering work in the field of geriatrics and has come out with such treatment, which delays aging. Apart from these, they have also done research on kidney stones as a result of which they can now remove kidney stones up to the size of 9 mm without any surgery. About the NIA’s future projects, Prof Sharma said they were planning to work on epidemic disorders, as every year new diseases like swine flu pose a threat to people’s health. “We would like to come out with some immunity enhancing medication,” he said. The institute also plans to carry out research work in the field of HIV/AIDS. Another key area of the NIA’s focus in 2010 will be neuro-muscular disorders. He also revealed that they have explored a herb, which has not been documented anywhere, for diabetic complications, adding that they would conduct further studies and see if it can be patented in the coming year. Meanwhile, in a significant move to boost evidence-based research in Ayurveda, the NIA has been made nodal centre for a national-level programme which involves seven other institutes of the country. Under the project, computers have been installed in all the OPDs of the institute for data collection. The move has paved the way multi-centric studies.
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C’wealth Games: Jaipur gets ready to charm tourists
Jaipur, January 3 A team comprising Union tourism ministry officials and members of the promotional panel of Commonwealth Games has already visited the Pink City. According to sources, they captured the glory of destinations like Amber Fort to make it a part of the promotional video for the games. Tourism department officials said they recently threw open a tunnel in the fort’s western backyard to the visitors. It is an added attraction, apart from the famous elephant safari and light and sound shows. While Amber will be at its sparkling best, the same might not hold true for two other major destinations - Hawa Mahal and Nahargarh Fort. Even as the ongoing restoration work at Hawa Mahal will take over a year to complete, the work at Nahargarh Fort, for which the Centre has sanctioned Rs 4 crore, is likely to begin early next year. In another move aimed at boosting tourism, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on transport, tourism and culture has recommended tax incentives for hotels in Jaipur on the lines of those applicable for hotels in the National Capital Region. The panel report laid stress on the need to roping in the private sector for better tourist packages. The state government also intimated the panel about its keenness to provide land free of cost for the construction of airports in Kota and Ajmer. Talking to The Tribune, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation chairman Manjit Singh said the preparations to attract tourists during the Commonwealth Games were on in full swing. “We are renovating all our hotels, besides holding training sessions for staff to improve our services. We are also working on our facilities on the national highways, for which we have received funds from the Centre. We will spend Rs 8 crore on this work,” he added. Meanwhile, the railway station, too, has been given a facelift. Among the new facilities are an air-conditioned VIP lounge, ATMs, well-lit parking and surroundings, escalators, lifts and a touch screen inquiry system. The railway authorities plan to install lifts by March 31 while escalators mighty take some time. As part of its beautification plan, the railways is also constructing a rock garden with a fountain at the entrance. The garden’s concept lighting would exhibit the cultural heritage of the Pink City.
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Even as the Pink City is eying the forthcoming Commonwealth Games to make up for the losses that it suffered in tourism sector over the last couple of years, the city has miles to go before it can claim to be “tourist-friendly”. Illegal encroachments in market areas, haphazard parking, overcharging auto-rickshaws, lack of parallel transport and unregistered guides are some of the woes that tourists have to confront in the city. The city doesn’t even have a pre-paid auto booth at the railway station. In such a scenario, the auto-rickshaws charge tourists as per their own free will. The state administration had issued a notification couple of months back, stating that all auto-rickshaws would run on meters, but surprisingly the norm was violated on the very first day. What adds to tourists’ woes is the fact that there is no parallel transport available in the city. Though there are cycle-rickshaws, they are not viable for travelling long distances. Another related problem is the lack of parking area, particularly around historical monuments. Tourists also complain that the city hardly has any signboard which can make it easy for them to reach their destination. “The city should have prominent signboards at least for spots like Hawa Mahal, City Palace and Jantar Mantar,” said Linda Wright, a tourist from UK. Illegal hawkers and unregistered guides at almost all the tourist spots make up for the rest. While illegal hawkers can be often seen pestering the tourists, pleading them to buy different stuff, unregistered guides, who neither have qualification nor licence, try to take them for a ride.
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Telangana tangle: Fiery speeches mark rally by students
Hyderabad, January 3 “We will demolish offices of political parties which oppose formation of Telangana state. We will also prevent their leaders from entering Telangana,” leaders of Joint Action Committee (JAC), a conglomeration of 13 student organisations fighting for statehood cause, said. Over one-lakh students from across the Telangana region, comprising nine districts and Hyderabad, participated in the rally, christened as ‘Vidyarthi Maha Garjana’ (students’ roar). Providing a slice of a grim campaign ahead, the JAC leaders made inflammatory speeches, targeting ‘settlers’ from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. “We will not allow buses and trains from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions to enter Telangana after Pongal if any attempt is made to stall the bifurcation of the state,” they said. They demanded that the UPA government should specify the time frame for carving out the new state and introduce Telangana Bill in Parliament instead of insisting on an Assembly resolution. The tone and tenor of the speeches, made by student leaders and representatives of other pro-Telangana organisations, showed that the statehood movement has gone beyond the control of political parties. The speakers at the rally, held at the historic Arts College building on the Osmania University campus, called upon Telangana politicians to come out of the shackles of their parties and join the agitation. The JAC also called for rail and road blockade on January 5, coinciding with an all-party meeting convened by the Centre in Delhi to discuss Telangana issue. The student leaders also called for boycott of all examinations till the new state was created. The rally adopted resolutions demanding immediate withdrawal of cases against the Telangana agitators and payment of Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia to those who committed suicide for the statehood cause. Mainly targeting the ruling Congress and TDP, the JAC leaders asked the two parties to come out with their stand on Telangana before the January 5 all-party meeting. The Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao called for a militant struggle and non-cooperation movement to achieve Telangana state while Prof M Kodandaram, the convener of Telangana JAC, comprising various political parties, favoured a non-violent agitation to realize the statehood goal. The political parties stayed away from the event as per a directive of the High Court which gave a conditional permission for the rally. The court had yesterday ordered that the student rally must be peaceful without any provocative speeches and that the outsiders should not be allowed. Massive police deployment was made in and around the university campus to prevent any untoward incidents and heavy traffic restrictions were in place on the roads leading to the University.
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India to neutralise enemy satellites
Thiruvananthapuram, January 3 “India is putting together building blocks of technology that could be used to neutralise enemy satellites,” Defence Research and Development Organisation Director-General V K Saraswat told reporters on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress. However, he added that the defence scientists have not planned any tests but have started planning such technology which could be used to leapfrog to build a weapon in case the country needed it. Saraswat, who is also the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, said the scientists were planning to build the weapon which would have the capacity to hit and destroy satellites in low-earth orbit and polar orbit. Usually, satellites in such orbits are used for network centric warfare and neutralising such spacecraft would deny enemy access to its space assets. “We are working to ensure space security and protect our satellites. At the same time we are also working on how to deny the enemy access to its space assets,” he said. To achieve such capabilities, a kill vehicle needs to be developed and that process is being carried out under the Ballistic Missile Defence programme. “Basically, these are deterrence technologies and quite certainly many of these technologies will not be used. hope they are not used,” Saraswat said. In January 2007, China had demonstrated its capability to destroy satellites by conducting an anti-satellite test.
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No external hand in BARC fire, says DAE
Thiruvananthapuram, January 3 Banerjee said the place where fire broke out was a basic research facility on anti-oxidants and did not have any chemicals that could pose a fire
hazard. “It would have been obvious and easy to point out if you have a gas cylinder or a hydrogen cylinder. But it was not there. The lab did not have anything that could be said to be a fire hazard,” he said. The investigators are now working out a list of different chemicals that were being brought in the lab which was renovated and handed over to the scientists the same day the accident happened, said Banerjee, who is also the Chairman of the Atomic Energy
Commission. “We are also looking at the possibility of vapour accumulation. The problem is that everything was charred and there is not much trace of anything left,” he said.
— PTI
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Register cases against others too: Sikh body
Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 3 Addressing a press conference the All India Sikh Conference (AISC) said: “It was a great conspiracy to name only Sajjan Kumar. There are numerous affidavits against many big leaders and senior police officers which are on record and action should be taken against all of them”. The records are with the Central Government. The conference president Gurcharan Singh Babbar said he pleaded with the Central Government to file the FIR against the then Union Home Secretary MMK Wali, Lt. Governor P G Gavai, former Delhi Police Commissioner Subash Tandon and all 72 police officers who were involved in the carnage case in 1984. The list of officers as provided by the Kusum Lata Mittal report was also provided by Babbar. The Sikh conference said it had lost faith in the CBI and the Delhi police and demanded the 1984 carnage case should be investigated by a team of officials from the north-east and the Punjab police jointly. During the riots Sikh women were insulted, thousands of Guru Granth Sahibs were burnt and Gurdwaras were destroyed. Babbar said the way the government had treated Ruchika suicide case and taken immediate action against former DGP SPS Rathore, the anti-Sikh riots should also be treated in the same way.
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New AP Guv gets down to business
Hyderabad, January 3 The Governor has virtually turned the Raj Bhavan into a beehive of activity and is holding regular review meetings on the law and order situation in the state. Apart from interacting with leaders from various walks of life, he is also holding “Praja Durbar” (people’s court) to receive petitions from the general public. Soon after taking the oath last week,
Narasimhan, a former intelligence officer, got down to business and proactively interacted with the police top brass, bureaucrats and leaders across the political spectrum to get information on the ground situation in the state. He also held review meetings with Chief Minister K Rosaiah on the law and order situation in view of the agitations for and against the Telangana cause. The official sources said the former IB director was chosen for the job specifically to handle the delicate situation arising out of the Telangana movement. The Governor has been making a detailed assessment of the situation after interacting with various leaders and officials and sending the reports to the
Centre. His assessment would be one of the key inputs for the January 5 all-party meeting on
Telangana, convened by the Union Home Ministry in Delhi. The Governor is likely to leave for Delhi tomorrow, a day before the all-party meeting. An IPS officer of 1968 batch, Narasimhan is well versed with the affairs of AP and his services will come in handy to tackle any kind of law and order situation in the wake of Telangana agitation. The Governor held Praja Durbar (people’s court) at the Raj Bhavan last Friday and received representations from public on a wide range of issues. Several people and organisations queued up at the Raj Bhavan to submit complaints and memoranda to the Governor. This was perhaps the first time that a Governor held a ‘Praja Durbar’ and interacted with common people directly.
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Security around Parliament to be beefed up
New Delhi, January 3 As part of measures to further beef up security in the highly protected complex, installation of these new gadgets are being considered. The state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has been asked by the Lok Sabha Secretariat to give a demonstration of these scanners as early as possible. Parliament sources said the use of new gadgets are being thought of to ensure foolproof security to Parliament which had witnessed a terror
strike in 2001. The Committee on Security in Parliament Complex headed by Deputy Speaker Karia Munda had earlier wanted to send a team of Parliamentarians to some countries to see how the system works but has now given up the idea. Following the 2001 attack, security in the entire complex had been overhauled. CCTV cameras put in place during the Speakership of Shivraj Patil in early 1990s had helped in
the investigation of the terror strike. A full-body scanner is a seven-metre box through which one has to
pass while entering a building. This equipment was installed at several airports in Western countries after the
9/11 terror attacks in the US. — PTI
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18 medical students held for ragging
Mumbai, January 3 Acting on a complaint registered by the deputy dean of Seth G S Medical College, N D Bhonsale, the police registered an FIR and arrested 18 students belonging to occupational and physiotherapy courses on charges of ragging, the Deputy Police Commissioner, S Baviskar, said. The Deputy Police Commissioner said the arrested students, including some intern doctors, are in the age group of
18 to 25. The students have been booked under the IPC Section- 34 (acts done by several in furtherance of common intention), Section 341 (wrongful restraint), and 504
(intentional insult with intention to provoke of breach of the peace) besides Section 4
(penalty for ragging) of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act. One of the victims is the son of a police officer, sources said. Ten first-year students of the Physiotherapy Department in the medical college at Parel in central Mumbai have alleged ragging by seniors at a New Year party. An anti-ragging committee of the Seth G S Medical College college has initiated a probe into the alleged ragging charges.
— PTI
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FIR against civil surgeon’s family
Sunit Dhawan Tribune News Service
Gurgaon, January 3 Neha (23) was reported to have died after falling from the 12th deck of a cruise-liner, which was on the way from Miami in the USA to the Bahamas. Neha’s parents had held her in-laws responsible for her death. The Gurgaon police did not register an FIR in the case yesterday, stating that they would first seek legal opinion on the matter.Finally, after much media pressure, the police today registered an FIR under Sections 498, 323 and 406 of the IPC against Dr Dalal’s family. The family has accused Neha’s husband Ankit Dalal, father-in-law Dr SS Dalal, mother-in-law Nirmal Dalal and sister-in-law for harassing their daughter for dowry.Neha, who reportedly went missing from the cruise-liner on December 31 and was later reported to have died, had sent an e-mail to her brother Anuj Chhikara. In the mail, she had alleged torture by her husband Ankit Dalal, a manager at the cruise-liner. Neha’s family had also alleged that the police was not taking prompt action in the case as it was under the influence of Dr Dalal’s high connections. Dr Dalal is said to be related to a top police officer of the state. Meanwhile, Dr Dalal has also lodged a complaint with the police, stating that after Neha’s death, her father had threatened him over the phone. Refuting the allegations of dowry demand and Neha’s harassment in his statement submitted with the police, Dr Dalal even alleged that his son had told him that at times Neha used to turn violent and she was on anti-depressant drug. DCP (west Gurgaon) Rakesh Arya said they were examining both versions of the matter and appropriate action would be taken. He, however, stated that no arrests had so far been made in the case. On the delay in the registration of the FIR, he said given the circumstances, they had to seek legal opinion first.
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Cold wave kills 30 in UP
New Delhi, January 3 As many as 33 people died due to intense cold conditions in UP since last night, taking the death toll to 74 in the state this winter.While six persons died in Mirzapur, five deaths were each reported from Ballia and Banda, four from Kanpur dehat, three from Muzaffarnagar, two each from Sonbhadra, Hamirpur, Fatehpur and Chandauli, and one each from Farukkhabad and Unnao, official sources said.
— PTI
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