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26/11 Trial
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Ajmer Blast
Ranjan Daimary, chairman of the anti-talk faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland, being taken to a court in Guwahati on Sunday. — PTI
Lawyers stay away from Daimary
JEE errors: IITs rule out re-exam
Jantar Mantar
Friends in deed are foes indeed
Nation’s first specialised glaciology school likely at Dehradun
Madhuri picked up packet for Pak handler
Tara Tarini temple to be tourist spot
Maoists block supplies to CRPF
DU radiation-safe
Ammo supply to Naxals: 2 more held
CRPF arms racket: Two more held
No alliance with Cong in Bengal now, says Mamata
Maoists blast Orissa school
30-year jail for rapist teacher
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Verdict on Kasab today
Shiv Kumar/Tribune News Service
Mumbai, May 2 While the Pakistanis have been charged with killing 166 persons and injuring 304 others, the two Indians are charged with conspiracy in the case. According to the prosecutors, Kasab and his accomplices were linked to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). The trial began last year at the special court set up within the Arthur Road Jail. The evidence runs into 3,192 pages and 658 witnesses have been examined. Among those who gave evidence during the trial included officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to FBI officials, the terrorists used technology like the global positioning system and mobile phones equipped with voice over internet protocol to communicate with their handlers in Pakistan. According to the public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, the LeT carried out attacks with support from the Pakistani security agencies. Kasab is guarded round the clock in a high-security cell.
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Hang him in public, say kin of dead
Mumbai, May 2 That is certainly what 60-year-old Mohammed Hanif Peer Mohammed believes. “Those terrorists killed my sister’s husband. The sole surviving terrorist should not be spared. He should be hanged in public,” he said. Indru Mansukhani, 71, a survivor of the attack, said it would make no sense if Kasab was awarded life sentence. “He is one of those responsible for killing so many people. There is no need to take pity on him. He is a murderer,” said Mansukhani. Kavita Karkare, widow of slain Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare who was shot three times in the chest as he led his men at the Taj Mahal Hotel to free it of terrorists, is eagerly awaiting the verdict. “Let us see what the verdict is. I will speak to you only after that,” she said. Many survivors even feel that Kasab should be hanged and the event should be telecast live. — IANS
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Tight security at jail complex
Mumbai, May 2 Checkposts have been set up at strategic points along the Sane Guruji Marg that leads to the prison. Patrolling has been intensified and sand bunkers have been erected behind which armed policemen are standing guard round-the-clock. The road near the prison has been made one-way and registration numbers of all vehicles taking that route are being noted down by the police.
— PTI
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ATS for narco test of accused
Perneet Singh Tribune News Service
Jaipur/Ajmer, May 2 Investigators had traced a SIM card used to trigger the blast to him. He is also alleged to have links with the right-wing Hindu outfit - the Abhinav Bharat. “We have sought permission from the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ajmer, to conduct narco test conducted on Gupta and a decision on it would be taken during the next hearing tomorrow,” ATS sources said. In the meantime, the ATS on Saturday arrested another suspect identified as Vishnu Prasad from Shajahanpur in Madhya Pradesh. He was a close associate of Chandrashekhar, who was also arrested from MP in connection with the case, and had reportedly played a role in the procurement of mobile phones and SIM cards used in the terror strike. With this, the number of arrests made in the case has gone up to three. According to sources, while Devendra Gupta and Chandrashekhar were directly involved in the planning and execution of the attack, Vishnu was a member of the terror module. Vishnu had been under strict surveillance for the past few months. The ATS had also interrogated him at Sujanpur (MP) in October last when it came to light that Chandrashekhar had given him a SIM card that was bought using fake documents. Meanwhile, there are reports that a team of the Rajasthan ATS has been sent to Gujarat to track down the mastermind of the blast. Sources said Gupta, during his interrogation, revealed that the mastermind was based in Gujarat. He has also reportedly revealed the name of the mastermind. Following his interrogation, the Rajasthan police is now saying that the blasts in Ajmer and Malegaon appear to have been engineered by the same group. Gupta has purportedly disclosed that his organisation, the Abhinav Bharat Sangathan, was also involved in the Malegaon incident. According to sources, what has further corroborated the link between the two blasts is the fact that the SIM cards used to trigger blast at both the places were of the same series. In the light of these revelations, a three-member CBI team has reached Jaipur to interrogate all three accused arrested in connection with Ajmer Dargah blast.
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Assam blasts kingpin held in Bangladesh
Guwahati, May 2 Daimary was named by the CBI as prime accused and the mastermind behind the October 30, 2008, serial blasts in Guwahati, Barpeta Road, Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon in Assam that claimed over 90 lives and injured more than 400 persons. Assam’s Principal Secretary (Home) Subhash Chandra Das confirmed the development. Meanwhile, a red alert has been sounded in Assam, especially in all the four districts of Bodoland Territorial Council areas where the NDFB is most active, apprehending retaliation by Daimary’s faction, which has been fighting for the sovereignty of Bodo tribe-dominated areas. According to security sources, Daimary, against whom a red corner notice had been issued by Interpol, was being brought to Guwahati. The arrest is going to cripple the anti-talks faction of the NDFB that had been engaged in mass killings in Assam triggering mindless blasts in public places under Daimary”s instruction. He had been taking shelter in Bangladesh after the NDFB’s base in Bhutan was destroyed by the Royal Bhutan Army in December 2003. The Government of India has been in touch with the new and friendly Sheikh Hasina regime in Bangladesh seeking cooperation in evicting bases of North East insurgents from that country. The NDFB, under Ranjan Daimary, had declared unilateral truce in October 2004, which was reciprocated by Government of India in June 2005. Subsequently, top leaders and a large number of NDFB cadres came over ground to participate in the peace process, but Daimary remained stay put in Bangladesh.
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Lawyers stay away from Daimary
Guwahati, May 2 “The militant leader Ranjan Daimary was produced before the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) here this afternoon without any lawyer representing him and was remanded to 12 days police custody,” government counsel Minoti Saikia said. As the most wanted terrorist, Daimary was arrested in Bangladesh and handed over to Assam Police at the Border Security Force (BSF) post at Dawki along India-Bangladesh border I Meghalaya in the wee hours of Saturday. The CBI named him the mastermind behind the serial blasts and criminal lawyers here have shied away from appearing before him in the court here. Senior advocate Bijon Mahajan who has appeared in the court for many top insurgent leaders, including the chairman of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) over the years, has said he would not take up the case of Daimary even if he is approached as the NDFB led by Daimary had allegedly triggered the October 30, 2008 serial blasts in the state killing so many innocent people in Assam. “I am not going to take up the case on Daimary’s behalf on moral ground,” he said. Another senior advocate Nekibur Zaman who is known for fighting cases for insurgents and their families, said, “I will not get involved in the case of Daimary as I am not in a state of mind to take up his case.” It may be mentioned that All Assam Lawyers” Association (AALA) and Guwahati Lawyers” Association (GLA) had taken a decision not to appear for anyone involved in October 30 (2008) serial blasts. The AALA is an apex body of total 37 bar associations in the state.
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Controversy overshadows the spectacular 3G auction
The entry-level handsets required for 3G services , it is estimated, will cost around Rupees seven thousand or
so. India could have adopted the 3G technology much earlier but the tussle between the Ministry of Defence
(MoD) and Telecom Ministry over vacating of the spectrum by the armed forces led to a delay of almost two years. While the MoD insisted on a new dedicated spectrum for the armed forces, the Telecom Ministry, while agreeing to the demand, took time to implement it. The current auction of the 3G spectrum has, however, been overshadowed by allegations that the government goofed in giving away the 2G spectrum.
While the Telecom minister put up a brave face in Parliament and claimed there was nothing wrong in the allotment of the 2G spectrum in the year 2008, the controversy is unlikely to peter
out. Ironically, it is the highly successful auction of the 3G spectrum currently underway, which has raised eyebrows over the department's seemingly arbitrary allotment of the 2G spectrum earlier. While the allotment of the 2G spectrum to eight operators in January, 2008 had fetched the government a paltry Rs 1,651 crore, the 3G auction, it is estimated, will fetch anywhere between Rs. 25,000 crore to Rs. 55,000
crore. Telecom experts are unanimous in saying that the 2G spectrum being far more basic and required for voice transmission, the operators would have been ready to pay much more for the 2G services than 3G, which is going to facilitate data and video transfers. The market bears out the view. There are 600 million mobile users in the country but only 60 million Internet users. Also less than 10 million of them use the
broadband. The government made a mistake by not auctioning the 2G spectrum. And the department of Telecom compounded it by allocating the spectrum to several start-ups and new companies. Some of these companies later sold off their stakes at astronomical prices, raising uncomfortable questions about the government's
decision. There are other arguments against the government's decision. The capital market was far more robust in January, 2008 and the operators would have willingly paid more. What is more, 2G spectrum did not require installation of new equipment, network and more capital because the platform was already there with the operators. In contrast, 3G spectrum would require a new set of equipment and additional capital. Norway 's
Telenor, which in October, 2008 acquired 67.25 per cent stake in Unitech Wireless for Rs 6,120 crore and is the world's seventh-largest mobile operator, is not participating in the 3G auctions. This, despite the fact that Norway was among the first countries in the world where 3G was launched and despite the company's presence in the entire South Asian region. The decision is driven by the fact that 92 per cent of the Indian market is voice, and if the operators have enough of the spectrum, there's no point in fighting for the 3G spectrum. The ones scrambling for 3G are doing so due to the 2G spectrum crunch and they would not have done it had Raja auctioned the same in 2007-08 instead of doling it out to new licensees at throwaway prices. What could be further damning for the government and especially for Raja are reports that the CBI has acquired clinching evidence showing that a high-profile public relations lobbyist acted as power-broker in the
mutli-crore 2G spectrum scam and that she was in regular touch with the minister. The investigating agency is said to have unearthed the evidence by authorised tapping of telephones of several persons, including the lady, who runs several public relations and consultancy companies and was consultant to nine of the companies that benefited from the dubious spectrum allocation by Raja. There are also allegations that as a result of the spectrum allotment by Raja, there was a loss of at least Rs 26,000 crore to the government exchequer. But going by the 3G spectrum auction results, that amount could be much higher. The country's highest audit body, the Comptroller and Auditor General
(CAG), has also pointed out that the Department of Telecom (DoT) extended undue benefits to RCOM and Dishnet Wireless (now
Aircel) at the cost of others while allotting spectrum in 2008. The CAG said the then existing operators like Hutch (now Vodafone
Essar), Bharti and Spice, who had applied for allotment of additional spectrum prior to these two companies, were not allotted the same. |
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JEE errors: IITs rule out re-exam
New Delhi, May 2 Here is a low-down on errors and corresponding corrective measure by IITs (available on jee.iitd.ac.in): Error 1: For the first error on subject headings of Physics and Mathematics in the ORS being interchanged, each ORS (both for Paper 1 and 2) would be evaluated in two ways -- sequential question number-wise and subject heading-wise. “In each case, the higher score of the two evaluations will be taken as the candidate’s score. Should one way of evaluating lead to a mark below the minimum qualifying mark in one of the subjects, the other way will be deemed to be the ‘higher’ of the two scores,” the IITs today said. The concern however is this - the said remedy would have helped had IITs not passed instructions clarifying the said interchanging on April 11. Since instructions were passed, students marked the answer in a certain way as per the instruction. In such a case, two-way evaluation of ORS would help little, said experts. Error 2: Question 44 in Math section of Paper 1 in Code 4 of the Hindi version was not printed. The IITs said the ORS of candidates given Code 4 of the Hindi version of Paper 1 would be evaluated omitting Question 44 and the overall score for the Math section of Paper 1 of those candidates would be appropriately scaled. Experts said the remedy would serve little as the candidate, who got misprinted question, would suffer due to scaling because scaling of marks is proportionate to average of marks attained. Error 3: The error that even attracted the intervention of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar pertained to instructions on question paper format and marking scheme for section IV in the Hindi version of Paper 2 being wrongly printed and each question in this section being shown to carry 3 marks instead of 8 (in English version). The IITs said each question of section IV of Paper 2 would be evaluated for 8 marks. The remedy may not help because due to absence of partial marking and due to low score ascribed to the questions, most students didn’t attempt the said section. Error 4: In a few cases, the question paper contained two unreadable pages and two partially readable pages in the Physics section of Paper 1. The IITs’ corrective formula is this — since the registration numbers of these candidates are available since the time of examination, their ORS will be evaluated omitting the unreadable questions and their scores for the Physics section of Paper 1 will then be appropriately scaled. The JAB today said it would implement the said measures and monitor the situation till the admissions to IITs/IT, BHU and Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, through JEE 2010 was over. An error the IITs ignored was that any student could score 93 marks by darkening all bubbles in section II of Paper 1 and section IV of Paper 2 because the instructions in the said section didn’t prescribe negative marking and said one or more answers could be correct.
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Jantar Mantar
Alzheimer on Jharkhand Ever since the BJP elevated Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley as leaders of opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha, respectively, the two leaders have been locked in competition about who is more effective in cornering the government. Therefore, Jaitley must have been quite pleased when the party ended up with egg on its face after its alliance partner, Jharkhand chief minister Shibu
Soren, supported the UPA government in the Lok Sabha when the opposition-sponsored cut motions were put to vote. Sushma
Swaraj, who was leading the opposition charge in the Lok Sabha, was acutely embrrassed and was unable to explain Soren's action as the BJP had gone out of its way to fly him down for this vote. The more charitable in the BJP were inclined to believe that Soren had actually made a mistake as he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Jaitley, however, took care to steer clear of this controversy. "if anybody asks me about
Jharkhand, I just tell them I have got Alzheimer's," was his prompt reply when media persons quizzed him on the subject.
Quick learner,
Tharoor Former minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor is a changed man after he was forced to put in his papers following his controversial involvement in the IPL Kochi franchise. Determined to maintain a low profile, he now keeps the media at arms length. The old swagger and flamboyance is gone and there is hardly a word out of him. He is constantly looking over his shoulder and is so petrified of being overheard that he literally whispers into his
cellphone. In fact, Tharoor has become so nervous that he was recently heard asking somebody he was conversing with if the driver being sent by that person could be trusted not to disclose his whereabouts to
others. A classic case of once bitten, twice
shy.
Hooda’s fall from grace Sonia Gandhi wrote an angry letter to
Hooda, telling him that the incident was a matter of shame and horror,especially since it happened in the presence of the local police, and was told to ensure justice for the
victims. Hooda further spoilt his case when he failed to visit the village immediately and was instead busy socialising in the Central Hall of Parliament. He rushed to meet the families of the victims only after he was told to do so by the Congress leadership. Even worse, he was not taken into confidence when AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi paid a quiet visit to the village on Friday.
Sonia’s whip Congress president Sonia Gandhi never loses an opportunity to tick off party MPs for playing hooky from Parliament but to little avail. Congress MPs are routinely absent from both Houses of Parliament and have often to be cajoled by floor managers to attend the sessions regularly. Sonia Gandhi was apparently furious when the government was forced to defer the introduction of the nuclear liability Bill in the first half of the ongoing budget session as 30-odd Congress members were missing from the Lok Sabha on that day.
She,therefore, took a personal interest in the preparations for the government's first trial of strength after the opposition declared its intent to move cut motions in the Lok Sabha last week. The Congress president even convened a meeting of the parliamentary party executive committee members to underline the importance of ensuring the presence of all members for this crucial vote. If members fail to turn up on this fateful day, they were told in no uncertain terms, they would end up sitting out for good. Little wonder then that the party's floor managers worked overtime to see that Congress members were present in full strength on that critical day.
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Friends in deed are foes indeed
It is possibly because it requires a bit of irreverence, a pinch humor and a lot of courage to call a spade a spade in the circus of Indian politics. Trying to make some sense out of last week's strange political behavior of some of our leading political luminaries can be tough. A senior Congress leader however admitted that the required numbers in the Lok Sabha were not conjured by the floor managers of the ruling party with a three-line whip. What helped was a three-letter word - C.B.I. How else can one explain BSP supremo Mayawati conduct that proved to be the game changer. For a good quarter of an hour in Lucknow she spewed venom against the economic policies of the Congress during the last sixty years. Then she suddenly took a complete volte-face by announcing, in a sentence, her party's support for Dr Manmohan Singh's government on the cut motion in order to keep the communal forces at bay! Her bête-noir in state politics Samajwadi party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, his son and their men were at work on the streets of Lucknow and New Delhi since early morning. Roadways buses had to be burnt important and not so important trains were held up and ruckus created inside the Parliament questioning why it should function at all when there was an all-India hartal! When by evening the SP's 22 MPs were expected to stand up and be counted they quietly bit the dust and meekly walked out dumping the emerging Third Front for the umpteenth time. Just two days ago in Lucknow Mulayam Singh Yadav in a reflective mood had confided that perhaps supporting UPA 1 on the Indo-US nuclear deal issue was not such a good idea after all as it had made him part ways with natural allies like the Left parties. Two days later he conveniently ate his words and ditched them again. There is of course a DA case pending against the SP president and his family It was no different with Lalu Prasad's RJD having all of four MPs. Declaring to launch a movement from 'sansad se sadak tak' on the price rise issue, he also took a pragmatic decision of supporting the ruling party at the centre. With a CBI case dangling and Bihar assembly election a few months away it is not such a wise thing to be on the wrong side of the central government. Is it? Privately explaining their action both the Yadavs told well wishers that did not want to vote with the BJP as it would have sent a wrong message to their Muslim voters! But the mother of all surprises was Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren, propped up by the BJP-led NDA, voting for the UPA in what he later bravely described as a bout of Alzheimer's. When he was questioned about the reason for pressing the red button in support of the UPA Soren had vaguely muttered, "Jo kiya, so kiya (whatever had to be done, was done). Facing murder charges he knows a helpful CBI can do wonders by "not doing its homework" and presenting weak evidence. Next day when an incensed Sushma Swaraj spoke of withdrawing support to his government the Alzheimer's version was presented. Accepting the bait of a BJP CM in Jharkhand the BJP also appears to have had a change of heart as far as Soren is concerned. One had heard that there are no permanent friends or foes in politics. But what was witnessed last week was a phenomenon of appearing to be a foe in words and friends in action. Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary aptly describes politics as the conduct of public affair for private advantage"
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Explore options to breed tigers in the wild, ministry told
New Delhi, May 2 India has 60 per cent of its tigers living in wild forests. Officially there are 1,411 tigers living in wild in India, experts though believe the number to be as few as 1000. In the neighbouring China, tigers are bred in captivity and India has a reason to believe that this has increased the demand for wild tiger parts since their body parts are preferred to that of farm-bred big cats. In fact India wants China to “disband” such farms since it will always be far more profitable to poach a tiger in the wild than to raise it on a farm. However, in its report on conservation and protection of tigers in reserves the committee notes that unlike China, the US, France and Russia, where tigers are bred in captivity, there is no such captive breeding of tigers in the country. In the light of fast dwindling numbers of big cats in the country, it wants the NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) to explore the possibility. “Notwithstanding the differences in the characteristics of the tigers that are bred in captivity and that are born in the wild, the committee is of the considered view that in light of the fast dwindling tiger population in reserves, the NTCA may explore launching a National Tiger Breeding Programme and introduce these in designated habitats,” the committee headed by BJP leader Gopinath Munde has recommended. While underscoring the need to protect tigers in the wild, members had asked the MoEF whether tigers could be bred in captivity and reintroduced in the wild. In response, the MoEF secretary said there was a qualitative difference between a tiger in the wild and the entire character of the tiger. The problem is a captive tiger is not able to predate because he is taught by the mother and that can happen only in the wild. “Tigers bred in captivity cannot be reintroduced in the wild for the want of the innate predatory/stalking habits in such animals, leading to their elimination on account of man-tiger conflicts,” the ministry felt. So, will tiger farming increase tiger population in the wild - the answer as according to the WWF is a big “No”. WWF says: “Captive breeding of tiger or tiger farming does not help to increase tiger population in the wild. If this was true then those countries indulging in tiger farming would boast a healthy population of tigers in the wild and this hasn’t happened so far.”
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Nation’s first specialised glaciology school likely at Dehradun
The study group on Himalayan Glaciers, constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has recommended establishment of a nodal institution for glaciology that could act as a repository of the currently available data with different knowledge institutions in the country. The Union government is soon expected to take a decision in this regard and the institution is likely to be set up at Dehradun, reveal well-informed sources. The study group headed by Prof Anand Patwardhan of IIT, Mumbai, has many eminent scientists, including environmentalist Chandi Parsad Bhatt from Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, on board. Bhatt said the report of the study group has been submitted to the Prime Minister. The group has completed the exercise to access and compile existing data and information from different sources and knowledge institutions with regard to glacier stations and evolution. The group has made recommendation in four broad categories: Scientific issues, human resource development, regional planning and ecosystem management and data repository. The group was of the view that the available field data are too short to arrive at any statistically reliable estimate of the impact of climate change on Himalayan glaciers. It felt that long-term sustained monitoring of select glaciers should be given top priority. It was also recommended that an extensive network of observing stations for monitoring glacial phenomena and associated climate, geophysical and biogeochemical processes should be set up. The group also recommended the use of remote sensing and satellite imageries and study by Geological Survey of India (GSI) of at least 2-3 glaciers where available data should be used for ground truthing high resolution remote sensing data mainly on the rate of glacier retreat study. It was recommended that more funding was needed for glacier research with appropriate institutional structure, manpower and fast-track programmes, including study tours to Antarctica and Arctic, at graduate, postgraduate levels. The group says that the vegetation’s response to changing climate in mountain eco-system should be investigated with the help of Botanical Survey of India. Dr DP Dobhal, an eminent glaciologist of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, who was awarded by the Time magazine three years ago,said it was for the first time in India that the entire data collected by different institutions have been compiled together and would pave the way for the specialised institute.
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Madhuri picked up packet for Pak handler
Jammu, May 2 Gupta, who was sent to 14-days judicial remand by a Delhi court on Saturday, had picked up the packet in Raghunath Bazar area of Jammu city, sources said. However, who handed over the packet to her could not be ascertained. Gupta, a second secretary at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, had hired a local driver while doing shopping in Jammu city. She had travelled across the border in her official car with the diplomatic number plate of the Indian High Commission to the home of a doctor couple in Sunderbani, 120 km north of Jammu. However, when she visited Jammu she hired a different driver, intelligence sources said. Des Raj, a driver from Sunderbani, was hired by Gupta to drive her car from Sunderbani to Jammu and back on March 30. She did some shopping in the well-known Raghunath Bazar area here where she is alleged to have picked up a packet for her Pakistani handler. The car was parked in the parking lot of Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital. The driver was there all along till Gupta returned from shopping, which was almost 90 minutes, sources said. From there, she asked the driver to take her to a popular sweet shop in the Gandhi Nagar area, before returning to Sunderbani. The driver had been hired for Gupta by Kham Raj Sharma, with whom she had stayed. Sunderbani is close to the Line of Control (LoC). — IANS
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Tara Tarini temple to be tourist spot
Berhampur (Orissa), May 2 The decision was taken at a high level-meeting held recently where the state government unfolded plans to develop the spot near Purushottampur, officials said. While Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB) has renovated the old hill-top temple, several other peripheral development works, including the approach roads, round-the-clock water supply, community toilets and a 'pantha nivas' were constructed by various departments of the government. Situated on the banks of river Rushikulya, about 30 km from here, the place is visited by thousands of people every year, particularly on all Tuesdays of the Hindu month of Chaitra. State tourism department is likely to spend around Rs 71 lakh in the first phase, while the state Rural Development and Law Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh has promised steps for construction of guard-walls to protect the shrine, general secretary of TTDB Pramod Kumar Panda said. The law minister has also promised to restore over 200 acres of the temple, which was now in the possession of locals, he added. Since the infrastructure facilities are now being developed, tourists from far off places of the state as well as outsiders visited the state every day, district tourist officer S K Patnaik said. The old temple is now replaced with a new one and the twin idols are ready to be installed at the shrine. Around Rs 2.10 crore was spent for the construction of the new temple, Panda said. Besides, about Rs 6 crore was spent for peripheral development, while a ropeway was constructed by a private company.
— PTI
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Maoists block supplies to CRPF
Raipur, May 2 A camp in Chintalnar comprising two to three companies of 62nd battalion of CRPF, one of which was wiped out by Maoists on April six, have had their supplies aidropped two days back as the state police refused to accompany the paramilitary force in reaching there, official sources said. Chintalnar was the site of the Naxal attack which killed 76 security personnel. The Naxal presence in the area was picked up by the security agencies which suggested that Maoists had laid an ambush and were blocking all the supplies to the CRPF camp.
The jawans, virtually facing a blockade, sent messages to its headquarters in Raipur and Dantewada following which a high-level meeting was held. However, the meeting could not come to a decision after the CRPF sought protection of state police in ensuring that supplies, which also included anti-malaria drugs and mosquito repellent creams, reach the area. State police officials said it was not possible for it to send a road opening party to Chintalnar as heavy presence of Maoists was reported around nearby Errabore. Pushed to wall, the CRPF was left with no other option than to send the supplies through helicopter which airdropped the items at the camp, the sources said. Neither the state police nor the para-military force officials were willing to come on record and privately they blamed each other for lack of coordination. The lack of cohesiveness between the state police and the CRPF has been brought forward by the one-member committee of E Rammohan, which probed the Dantewada incident. During the meeting, it was said that the Naxals had heavily mined the area and were ready to ambush any relief supply party going towards Chintalnar. Besides this, reports suggested that the so-called military commission of Naxals, which finalises its strategies, has rushed in its activists from the neighbouring Jharkhand towards Chintalnar area, the sources said. Maoists have been restless ever since the CRPF camp came in Chintalnar. They consider it as 'capital' of Dandakaranya, a forest tract in the country's central-southern region covering parts of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, where they virtually run a parallel government envisioning a “liberated”
zone. — PTI
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New Delhi, May 2 “How many radioactive substances are in use and what is their condition? We inspected that they are alright,” said Raju Kumar, a nuclear expert. “There is no concern regarding radioactivity safety point of view,” he added. A professor refuted newspaper reports that the varsity buried radioactive material on its campus. “So far they are rumours unless they are proved. I don’t know. The scientific people have come; hopefully some people will be coming from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Our colleagues are cooperating with them. It is actually good for us, if we discover something,” said DS Kulshreshtha, Head of the Department of Physics, Delhi University. Delhi University came under the scanner, after radioactive Cobalt-60 was found in a West Delhi scrap market and was traced to its chemistry department. Reportedly over 11 persons were hospitalised following the radiation leak in the Mayapuri scrap market and one of them died. It is reported that the Mayapuri scrap dealers dismantled the equipment and in the process, the lead covering on it was peeled off leading to radiation exposure. 10 sources of Cobalt-60 were discovered in the market. Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of cobalt, which is a hard, lustrous, grey metal. It is used in cancer therapy machines and other medical equipment.
— ANI
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Ammo supply to Naxals: 2 more held
Mau (UP), May 2 The duo was arrested from Jagdishpur village here on the basis of inputs by Uttar Pradesh STF which had taken into custody six people, including two CRPF jawans, in connection with the case three days ago, a senior police officer said here. “On the basis of inputs provided by the Special Task Force, Dinesh and Shanker were arrested this morning from Jagdishpur village,” Superintendent of Police Onkar Singh said. He said the duo, allegedly involved in various criminal cases in the past, was acting as middlemen and 16 cartridges of 9 mm were recovered from them. “Dinesh and Shanker are being interrogated and efforts are on to arrest more members of the racket,” Singh said. On April 30, the STF had arrested five security personnel and a retired sub-inspector following inputs that a large quantity of cartridges were being smuggled out of the CRPF group centre at Rampur via a source in Allahabad to various criminal gangs and possibly Naxals. Over 5,000 live cartridges, 16 magazines of INSAS rifles, .25 bore guns, SLR and AK-47s had been recovered besides 245 kg of empty shells following raids at various places. “Going by the size of recovery, it is clear that the weapons were being supplied to some big organisation which could even be a Naxal outfit. Further details will be known only after completion of the investigations,” ADG (Law and Order) Brij Lal had said in Lucknow.
— PTI
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CRPF arms racket: Two more held
Lucknow, May 2 After interrogation of the policeman arrested in Basti two days ago, the Special Task Force (STF) arrested two more people, suspected of having supplied ammunition to the Naxalites involved in the Dantewada massacre. Residents of Jagdishpur village under Haldarpur police station, the two accused Dinesh and Shanker, have been charged for their alleged involvement in supplying police cartridges to the criminals and
Naxalites. According to police sources, 16 live cartridges of 0.9 mm pistol were recovered from them. On Friday, the STF had unearthed an outrageous racket involving serving and retired policemen, who stole arms and ammunitions from the
CRPF to be supplied to anti-social elements, including Naxals. Seven people, including 2 CRPF men and 4 UP police jawans, had been arrested during raids conducted at Rampur, Moradabad, Jhansi, Basti and other places.
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No alliance with Cong in Bengal now, says Mamata
Kolkata, May 2 She, however, stated that Trinamool’s alliance with the UPA at the Centre would continue and remain “as long as we can get due honour”. Squarely blaming the Congress for the failure to clinch the seat-sharing understanding for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, she told a press conference here, “We cannot have any truck with those who are giving the CPM oxygen. We will not leave an inch to them.” Banerjee, who announced candidates for all 141 seats in the KMC, said in war there could not be any friendly fight. “The Congress has broken the alliance. Those, who have broken the alliance, should take the responsibility for it. They should realise we will have our own way. And we will take decisions in our own way. If we have to bow down, we will do it before the people. We will not do so to the agents of the CPM,” she said. She observed her party was in the UPA government because it was not a one-party government. “The Congress is a major constituent and leading the government. But the Congress has 206 MPs and not the magic number of 273,” she said..
— PTI
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Maoists blast Orissa school
Koraput (Orissa), May 2 Around 200 ultras stormed the school premises at Dhepaguda under Narayapatna area and set off at least three blasts last night, causing extensive damage to furniture and other goods, Superintendent of Police Anup Kumar Sahoo said. However, no one was injured in the attack as the girls had gone home for summer vacation and no damage was caused to the structure. The ultras put up posters on the wall and shouted slogans before leaving the place. A BSF camp is located barely 500 metres from the Kanyashram but the Maoists could manage to target the school before the security personnel intervened. Combing operation had been intensified in the area, Sahoo
added. — PTI
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30-year jail for rapist teacher
Kozhikode, May 2 Despite being sentenced to a total of 30 years in jail under various cases, AK Haridasan, now under suspension, will spend 16 years behind bars, as the punishment for his
different offences will run concurrently. Apart from the jail term, Nadapuram First Class Magistrate
KP Anil Kumar yesterday slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict. The money will be distributed among the victims. Sub-inspector of the Valayam police station TP Jacob said the case against Haridasan was registered in March 2007. “Following complaints from a few parents that their wards were abused by the teacher, six cases were registered,” said Jacob. After the registration of cases, the teacher surrendered before the police.
— IANS
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Jammu, May 2
New Delhi, May 2
The irrepressible Mani Shankar Aiyar, now a Rajya Sabha MP, is a hugely entertaining story teller and can keep listeners mesmerised for hours with his tales. Ever since Aiyar moved to the bungalow, which was once occupied by the famous or infamous telecom minister Sukh Ram, he loves telling everybody about how he is busy digging up the lawns in his new house in the fond hope that he might stumble upon some hidden treasures. After all, Sukh Ram was living in this bungalow when he was raided and the cops had found a huge stash of money tucked under his bed. " So,if you suddenly find me driving round in an expensive car or overspending, don't be surprised," he was overheard telling his friends recently. Maybe, he should check if Margaret Alva had any luck on this front when she was occupying this bungalow before she moved to the Uttarakhand Raj
Bhavan.
Once a blue-eyed boy of the Congress leadership, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has certainly fallen from grace. Already in the doghouse for his patronage to the
Jat-dominated khap panchayats in the state, the chief minister was pulled up by Congress president Sonia Gandhi for his administration's handling of the recent attack on Dalits by a Jat mob in Mirchpur village.
New Delhi, May 2
Dehradun, May 2