|
|
|
|
|
Ponty case: 8 absconding accused
surrender
Ponty Chadha
Building of roads in
Naxal-hit areas
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Delhi gang rape
Need for a maritime security architecture in region
Cabinet defers anti-rape Bill
Khurshid to host lunch for Pak PM
Pranab to be chief guest at Mauritius National Day
Parliament panel: Term manual scavenging national shame in Bill
Roll back rail fare hike: BJP
Reinstate Mirza in DRDO if no evidence against him: Katju
MoD confronts Agusta with fresh evidence
Broad agreement on restructuring pension: Jairam Govt does a tightrope walk on Sri Lankan Tamils
KUNDA MURDERS
Slain DSP’s kin fight over govt largesse
Kaziranga Park
Assam tangle can’t be resolved under Constitution: Barua
Lanka intimidating India, Jaya tells PM
Jayalalithaa
|
|
Ponty case: 8 absconding accused surrender
New Delhi, March 7 Baaj Singh, Pargat Singh, Kulbir, Hardayal Singh, Balkar Singh alias Ballu, Bakshish Singh and Satnam Singh alias Satte were presented at the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Raj Kumar Tripathi at Saket in Delhi. Except for Satnam, who was the private security guard of the late liquor baron Gurdeep Singh Chadha - also known as Ponty, the remaining six are “henchmen” of former Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chief Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, the police said. The CMM remanded Baaj, Pargat, Kulbir and Bakshish to seven-day custody of the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police. The police will conduct the test identification parade of Satnam, Balkar and Hardayal. After that, they will be placed in police custody. In such a test, the complainant and victims of a case identify the accused. Investigators want to take these seven accused to Bareilly, Rampur, Milak and Suar cities in Uttar Pradesh, besides Rudrapur and Bajpur in Uttarakhand. The police want to seize the weapons and ammunition that the accused had used while evicting the employees of Ponty’s younger brother, Hardeep Singh, from two farmhouses in Delhi’s Chhatarpur and Bijwasan localities on November 17. Both the farmhouses were in the possession of Hardeep, according to the police. After Hardeep learnt that his employees had been evicted from farmhouse number 42 in Chhatarpur, he reached there and a shootout took place on the same day. He and Ponty were killed during the incident. The eighth accused is a juvenile and cannot be named in media reports, according to the law. This accused is also allegedly a henchman of Namdhari and was produced at a court in Kashipur, Uttarakhand, where he was wanted in a separate case. The police will file a supplementary chargesheet against the eight accused. Investigators said only two more accused, Inderpal and Premveer, are absconding. There are a total of 22 accused in the case, including Namdhari and his personal security officer Sachin Tyagi, who is a constable with the Uttarakhand Police. They both have been charged with killing Hardeep by shooting at him outside the Chhatarpur farmhouse. In the case chargesheet, Ponty is the main conspirator in the “armed and forcible dispossession of the employees of Hardeep” from the two farmhouses. In the document, the police have mentioned that as Ponty was allegedly killed by Hardeep, the charges against the former may be abated.
Case file
There are a total of 22 accused in the case, including Namdhari and his personal security officer Sachin Tyagi Tyagi is a constable with the Uttarakhand Police Eight accused surrendered at two courts in Delhi and Uttarakhand on Thursday Only two more accused, Inderpal and Premveer, are absconding
|
|
Building of roads in
Naxal-hit areas Shaurya Karanbir Gurung Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 7 The government will also install close to 3,000 mobile phone towers in the nine Naxal-affected states of India. These are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal. The CRPF is the main central armed police force dealing in anti-Naxal operations in these nine states. They will be backed by the state police. “We are hopeful that the new offer will attract companies,” said a Home Ministry official. The 550 km of road are stretches that require linkages. About eight bridges also have to be constructed in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. So far, the government has floated tenders four times for the construction of the roads, but no company has come forward, fearing the Naxal attacks on their men and property. How to tackle this problem was discussed at a meeting here on Monday between the Union Home Secretary RK Singh and the Chief Secretaries and Director-Generals of Police of the nine states. The road construction is a part of the Phase-I of the Road Requirement Plan (RRP-I) for the improvement of connectivity in these states. The government has intensified its other development measures by planning to install about 3,000 mobile towers in the nine states at a cost of over Rs 3,000 crore. These towers will be positioned near security establishments and police stations. Approved in February 2009, the RRP-I envisages the development of 1,126 km of national highways and 4,351 km of state roads at a cost of Rs 7,300 crore. “We have not got a good response from companies, because of security concerns. They don’t want the tender, because they fear being killed by the Maoists,” said sources in the government. Developing new security tactics to counter the Naxals was also discussed at the meeting. One of these is setting up a standard operating procedure to be used in situations similar to the Latehar encounter. In this incident, the Maoists had allegedly placed an IED inside a CRPF jawan’s body, which was later detected and defused. “The procedure has been created for security forces to retrieve a dead jawan’s body in such situations,” sources said.
|
|
|
HC allows accused to use TV interview as evidence
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, March 7 Justice GP Mittal permitted Ram Singh and his brother Mukesh to produce the CD in the trial court as evidence in support of their contention that they were not guilty of committing the crime. The HC has thus rejected the Delhi police plea against allowing the CD as evidence. Ram Singh was the driver of the bus in which the gang rape was committed on the night of December 16 while the vehicle was on the move. The 23-year-old girl succumbed to the injuries on December 29. The accused had approached the HC challenging the trial court’s refusal to allow the CD as evidence. After framing charges against five of the six accused on February 2, the trial court is holding in-camera proceedings.
|
|
|
Need for a maritime security architecture in region
New Delhi, March 7 Discounting the theory of the inevitability of Sino-Indian maritime rivalry, the National Security Adviser said it was in the interest of both the countries to keep the sea lanes of communication open for the passage of trade and energy through it. While mentioning the idea of a having an overarching security architecture both in the Indian Ocean Region and the Western Pacific, as suggested by Saran, was indeed missing, the NSA said such a set-up would allow states and navies to conduct their activities and cooperate to mitigate conflict and avoid competition. ‘What is missing in the Indian Ocean, the near seas and the Western Pacific is the over-arching security architecture, within which the naval actors and states conduct their activities and cooperate, mitigating conflicts and avoiding competition”, Menon said at the launch of C. Raja Mohan’s book “Samudra Manthan: Sino-India Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific”, here yesterday. In this context, he said both the Indian Navy and the PLA-Navy were cooperating and last year initiated a separate dialogue on maritime security and cooperation. He mentioned the presence of both Navies across the Strait of Malacca and in anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden as cases in point. At a discussion, Saran said the book offers deep insight into the emerging Indo-Pacific theatre as maritime profiles of both the countries begin to intersect and that it takes a look at the role of the United States in this context. Saran felt that while India should drawn up its historical strength especially of the southern states which have a rich maritime tradition, he reiterated the need for an “open, inclusive and transparent” security architecture in the region in which all stake holders could work in close collaboration. Speaking at a seminar on security and development in 2009, Saran had rejected any contradiction in Sino-Indian relations as well as the “inevitability of conflict with China. These observations came when the Chinese military sought to describe as “totally groundless” apprehension in India of Beijing’s encirclement with a ‘String of Pearls” strategy that includes establishing naval bases in the region with Gwadar Port in Pakistan being part of it.
|
|
|
Cabinet defers anti-rape Bill
New Delhi, March 7 The Bill replacing the ordinance as vetted by the Ministry of Law doesn’t include marital rape as an IPC offence with the Law Minister today admitting to sharp divergences of opinion on the issue. Interacting with The Tribune, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said: “The government is open to persuasion on the issue of marital rape as an offence although it’s a fact that there’s strong divergence of opinion on it.” He said the ministry had included in the Bill a new provision to penalise men who force themselves on women during the period of de facto separation of the two even if the decree of separation has not been awarded by the court. “So far, only if such a decree has been awarded can a man be accused of raping his wife during the period of separation. We have for the first time acknowledged forced sex during de facto separation as rape,” Kumar said. On the Bill not being taken up today, the Law Minister said the Home Ministry was fine-tuning certain provisions and the Bill would soon be cleared by the Cabinet. “Our endeavour will be to get the Bill passed in Parliament by March 22.” The minister admitted to concerns over the possibility of abuse of the stringent provisions which the ordinance makes against the perpetrators of a range of new sexual offences such as stalking, voyeurism and pornography, saying safeguards were a must. “The Act seeks to make certain conduct criminal with stringent penal consequences. There is a need to ensure safeguards against such misuse. The Law Ministry has suggested safeguards. To what extent we succeed in incorporating them into the law, only time will tell,” the Law Minister said on the differences of opinion between members of the Cabinet on the penal provisions against sexual offences. The Law Ministry has proposed significant safeguards in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill by qualifying these offences. For instance, in case of the provision making use of pornography punishable, the ministry has mentioned “forcing the woman to see pornography” as the offence. Voyeurism has also been similarly qualified. The Bill also makes a landmark provision for the first time by making it mandatory for all hospitals - private and public - to admit victims of rape for treatment. “Such treatment has been mandated by law,” Kumar said. On consensual sex, the Law Minister said the Bill had provided for lowering the age for consensual sex and there was a wide agreement on that provision. He said the Bill had replaced the term “sexual assault” with “rape” and made rape a gender-specific crime - one that only a man can perpetrate on a woman. The ordinance had made rape a gender-neutral crime, a move many women’s organisations had opposed. The changes came about after women activists met UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Kumar to flag the concerns. “We have replaced sexual assault with rape and made rape gender-specific so far as the commission of crime is concerned. This we did in deference to the argument by women activists that historically rape has been construed as an offence a man commits against a woman. If the same reversed, men will file counter-charges to defeat the complaint of women victims,” Kumar said.
New provisions
No consensus on marital rape as an offence No hospital can refuse treatment to victims Age for consensual sex reduced from 18 to 16 Only a man can be accused for rape Rape during de facto separation of husband and wife acknowledged as a crime
|
|
|
Khurshid to host lunch for Pak PM
New Delhi, March 7 However, no substantive talks will be held between the two countries during the course of the visit in the backdrop of the recent beheading and mutilation of the bodies of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops which affected bilateral ties. It is learnt that there was a division within the government over the visit. Sources said senior officials were of the view that a junior minister could be sent to receive Ashraf as that would send a clear message to Islamabad that it can’t be business-as-usual between the two countries until Islamabad investigates the beheading incident and brings to justice those responsible for the incident. However, the PM and Khurshid felt that normal diplomatic courtesies, which a visiting dignitary is entitled to, must be extended to Ashraf also. The lunch will take place at a five-star hotel (Rambagh Palace) and not at the Raj Bhawan where such functions are normally organised. This is seen as a clear message to Islamabad that it can’t be business-as-usual between the two countries until Islamabad investigates the beheading incident and brings to justice those responsible for the incident. Briefing reporters here this afternoon, MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said the Pakistan High Commission here had informed New Delhi about a week back that Ashraf desired to undertake a private visit to India to offer prayers at Ajmer.
No talks
Khurshid will to go to Jaipur and host a lunch in honour of Pakistan PM Raja Pervez Ashraf, who is coming to offer prayers at the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer It is, however, clear that no substantive talks will be held between the two countries during the course of the visit in the backdrop of the recent beheading and mutilation of the bodies of two Indian soldiers by Pak troops
|
|
|
Pranab to be chief guest at Mauritius National Day
New Delhi, March 7 Mauritius celebrates March 12 as its National Day as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian freedom struggle as it was the day Gandhiji launched the Dandi March. It was in 1901 that the Mahatma made a brief stopover in the country en route to India from South Africa. During the three-day visit starting March 11, the President will meet Mauritius President Rajkeswar Purryag, Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Speaker of the National Assembly Abdool Razack Peeroo, Chief Justice YKJ Yeung Sik Yuen and the Leader of Opposition Paul Berenger. Both countries are working on agreements in the sectors of health, tourism and those concerning senior citizens. These could be signed during the visit of the President, his second overseas tour after assuming office last year. Earlier this month, President Mukherjee paid a three-day state visit to Bangladesh. Characterising India-Mauritius relations as “unique, special and extraordinary”, Secretary (West) Sudhir Vyas said New Delhi attaches the highest importance to its relationship with the Indian Ocean country. The issue of Double Tax Avoidance Convention with Mauritius has come under criticism for its misuse. The issue got accentuated after Finance Minister P Chidambaram mentioned the Tax Residency Certificate in his Budget speech. Mauritius responded by saying that it was willing to address India's concern.
|
|
|
Parliament panel: Term manual scavenging national shame in Bill
New Delhi, March 7 The Preamble of “The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation
Bill 2012”, currently describes manual scavenging as a highly iniquitous caste system. The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in December after the apex court rapped the government for failure to eliminate the practice. As per the Census 2011, India has 24.6 crore
households of which 26 lakh toilets are insanitary as they discharge excreta directly into open drains (13.14 lakh toilets) or
are cleaned manually or serviced by animals (12.91 lakh). The Bill makes employment of manual scavengers a cognisable and non-bailable offence and will override the 1993 Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Toilets Prohibition Act which prescribed one-year jail and Rs 20,000 fine for employing manual scavengers. No one has so far been convicted under this law. The new law mandates that within nine months from its commencement (when it is notified after being passed by both Houses and assented to by the President), all insanitary (dry) latrines will be destroyed and replaced with sanitary ones. The parliamentary panel has asked the government to specify the period after which excreta can be removed in the rules
of the Act. The Bill defines manual scavengers as “those employed for manually cleaning, carrying, and disposing of human excreta from insanitary latrines or railway tracks before it decompose fully.” But the panel says people may be still asked to remove the excreta in the absence of stipulated time period provided for decomposing or certification of decomposition by an
independent authority or expert. “This apprehension must be addressed in rules,” the report says. The Bill
mandates state governments will, within a year of its law, prohibit employment of persons for manual cleaning of septic tanks and sewers and give
them protective gears or use modern cleaning technology. It requires municipalities to survey insanitary toilets and scavengers within two months of enforcement. The parliamentary panel in its report has said a deterrent penalty in the Act must be imposed keeping in mind the financial condition of the owner of insanitary latrines. The Bill prescribes up to one-year jail and Rs 50,000 fine on first contravention and up to two-year jail and up to Rs 1 lakh fine upon the subsequent violation. “The survey of scavengers must be properly done and format must specify cut-off dates to ensure the genuine people get benefits. Some NGOs are recruiting bogus scavengers,” the panel said.
The New Bill
Manual scavenging a cognisable and non-bailable offence Replacement of all insanitary (dry) latrines with sanitary ones within nine months from its commencement Prohibits employment of persons for manual cleaning of septic tanks, sewers One-year jail and Rs 50,000 fine on first contravention, two-year jail and up to Rs 1 lakh fine for subsequent violation
|
|
|
Roll back rail fare hike: BJP
New Delhi, March 7 Initiating a debate in the Lok Sabha, BJP Youth Wing president and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur said the Rail Budget was
prepared with two Lok Sabha constituencies in mind-Rae Bareli, the segment of UPA chief Sonia Gandhi; and Chandigarh, the segment of Railway Minister Pawan Bansal. He said there was a need to have a relook at the 21 per cent hike announced by Bansal just ahead of
the Rail Budget. Even in the Budget, the fares had been hiked by adopting back door measures like increase in passenger service charges. “The Railway Ministry must roll back the 21 per cent rail fare hike and improve passenger facilities,” Anurag said. “This Budget is a Rae Bareli and Chandigarh Budget and is not a Budget for the entire nation,” he added. He said new luxury coaches “Anubhutis” had been added to Rajdhanis and Shatabadis with the elite of Chandigarh in mind. “While the poor are already reeling under the impact of inflation, this rail fare hike will burden them further. This fare hike must be rolled back. Also, the Railway Minister has the urban rich of Chandigarh in mind when he introduced luxury coach ‘Anubhuti’ to select trains,” he said. The Indian Railways had announced addition of 10 ultra-luxury coaches to be produced at the Rae Bareli factory. The coaches, Bansal had said in the Budget speech, would be attached to Shatabdis and Rajdhanis to give passengers “world-class services”. Countering the BJP attack on the government, Congress MP Jagdambika Pal said it was after many years that the UPA had presented a Budget that met mass expectations of the people. “The Railways should set up a Rail Yatri Niwas at Gorakhpur station to cater to the needs of passengers coming from eastern UP and Nepal to national capital region,” Pal said. The railway fare hike announced by Bansal will be effective from January 22 and will yield additional Rs 6,600 crore per annum to the Railways that has been reeling under financial strain.
|
|
|
Reinstate Mirza in DRDO if no evidence against him: Katju
New Delhi, March 7 In a letter written to Defence Minister A K Antony and Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar, Katju said that if there is no evidence against Mirza, he should be reinstated and given adequate compensation, besides an open apology by central and state governments. "I would request you to look into this matter immediately, and if it is true that there is no evidence against Aijaz Ahmed Mirza, he should be reinstated forthwith on the post he was holding before he was sacked, otherwise a wrong message will be sent throughout the country that Muslims are terrorists and are fair game for being persecuted and victimised by the communal forces," the PCI Chief said in his letter. Katju said that he had already issued a press note criticising the false implication of Muslims in bomb blast cases. He also said that Mirza had in a TV interview said that he was tortured and made to suffer indignities in jail. PTI
|
|
|
MoD confronts Agusta with fresh evidence
New Delhi, March 7 This is the second explanation the MoD has sought from AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of Italian aerospace major Finmeccanica. Earlier it has issued a show-cause notice asking it why its contract should not be cancelled. Agusta had dismissed the show-cause notice as being based on “speculation in the media”. In the latest missive to the helicopter maker, the MoD has given it one week to explain its links with software companies allegedly used as a cover for paying kickbacks in the deal. The MoD has rejected the helicopter maker’s three-page reply to the earlier show-cause and has now asked AgustaWestland to provide specific details about its transactions with Tunisia and India-based firms IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix, sources said.
|
|
|
Broad agreement on restructuring pension: Jairam
New Delhi, March 7 He, however, didn’t commit on a time-frame for its implementation, saying it could be operational “between one year to five years, but on my part I will make all efforts to expedite it”. The minister also agreed to raise the uniform Rs 300 monthly pension to Rs 500, which is still lower than what the civil society groups and a section of economists had been demanding. The Prime Minister has asked the Rural Development Minister to evolve a comprehensive NSAP within six weeks. An announcement in this regard was made to a query put up by CPI leader D Raja during zero hour in the Rajya Sabha today. Agreement had also been reached on indexing pension to inflation and adjust it accordingly every year, he added. — TNS
|
|
|
Govt does a tightrope walk on Sri Lankan Tamils
New Delhi, March 7
At a four-hour-long debate in the Lok Sabha today, MPs cutting across party lines wanted India to be stern with Sri Lanka and take a lead in getting a resolution passed in the forthcoming UN resolution on the matter. The government, however, did not clearly spell its stance on the issue.
Speaking at the debate on “the plight of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka”, senior BJP leader Yashwant
Sinha, a former External Affairs Minister, suggested a list of points that India needed to firmly tell Sri Lanka. “Let India convey, in no uncertain terms, to the other nations (hint at China) in our neighbourhood that any undue interference in India-Sri Lanka relationship will not be acceptable,” he added.
Tamil Nadu Parties like the DMK, the AIADMK and the MDMK were vociferous in their stand in demanding that the government should spell out what “action” it intended in case of Sri Lanka. TR Ballu of the
DMK, a coalition partner in the UPA, wanted External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to tell what would be the stand at the UN and what India wanted to convey to Sri Lanka.
Replying to the debate, Khurshid refused to spell out the Indian Government’s stand on the upcoming UN rights panel vote on Sri Lanka. He, however, said, “A final decision will be taken after taking in view the feelings expressed in Parliament.”
|
|
|
CBI takes over probe; Raja Bhaiya booked for murder
Shahira Naim/TNS
Lucknow, March 7 The FIR that names Raja Bhaiya has been filed by the agency taking cognisance of slain Kunda CO DSP Ziaul Haq’s widow’s complaint. She had accused five-time Independent MLA from Kunda of murder and criminal conspiracy. She had also blamed four of his associates, namely Sanjay Singh (alias Guddu Singh), his driver Rohit Singh, district panchayat chairman Gulshan Yadav and Hari Om Srivastava. All five persons named in the FIR face charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting, assaulting and obstructing public servant and intentional insult to provoke violence. On March 4, Raja Bhaiya resigned as the Food Minister. A few weeks ago, he had been divested of the charge of Minister of Jails. A 10-member CBI special crime unit team would reach Kunda in Pratapgarh to investigate the case tomorrow. The possibility of exhuming the body of the slain CO Haq buried in his ancestral village of Juafar in Deoria for a second autopsy has not been ruled out. A CBI forensic team is also expected to work on identifying the murder weapon used to kill the CO. Two of the four CBI cases deal with the killing of the CO as well as murders of Balipur gram pradhan Nanhe Yadav and his brother Suresh Yadav while the other two relate to the murder of the CO, who was ambushed while on duty. These FIRs are based on two similar FIRs filed by the state police.
|
|
|
Slain DSP’s kin fight over govt largesse
Lucknow, March 7 Eager to pacify the gutsy widow, Parveen Azad, who had threatened not to allow her martyred husband’s burial if the CM did not personally attend, Yadav had airdashed to Deoria and hastily agreed to all her demands. The eight-point charter of demands, presented by her to the Chief Minister when he visited the grieving family in Juafar village on Monday, included among other demands five jobs to her and other family members equivalent in stature to that of her dead husband. While Akhilesh was sensitive enough to present the family two cheques of Rs 25 lakh each — one for the widow and the other for the slain DSP’s father so that they do cross swords over inheritance, this is exactly what is happening. The slain DSP’s father Shamsul Haq has sent a letter to the government objecting to the names forwarded for the government jobs by his daughter-in-law. While the widow had asked the CM to provide jobs to five members of her family, the list she has finally submitted reportedly contains eight names. The names, besides herself, given by Parveen to the government for jobs include her younger sisters Farheen and Razia, her sister’s husband Ismail Ahmad, sister-in-law Kaneez Fatima and cousin Rustam Ali. The list also includes her husband’s brother Sohrab Ali and husband’s brother-in-law Mujibur Rehman. DSP Haq’s brother Sohrab Ali said, “We agree that she has the first right to get a job. But after her, other members of my brother’s family deserve a job. How can members of her family have a claim over jobs in lieu of my brother’s death?”
|
|
|
Illegal settlements hurting rhino conservation
Bijay Sankar Bora/TNS
Guwahati, March 7 Poachers have been virtually on a rampage in the park since the beginning of this year, killing nine rhinos so far. This is alarming given the fact that the park, where conservation of wildlife goes back to over a century, is one of the biggest success stories in terms of conservation of rhinos. Poachers continue to keep forest personnel on their toes despite deployment of additional forces. The state government recently formed the Assam Forest Protection Force and recruited 300 personnel exclusively to man the park. The force is equipped with SLRs and .303 rifles. Of the new recruits, 100 have already joined their duty in the park. An official source says rhino protection has become a major challenge for the force of late because of growing number of settlements of encroachers in new additions to the park. These encroachers, suspected to be illegal Bangladesh nationals, have been accused of providing refuge to poachers and giving them information about rhinos straying out of the core area.
Unsettling trend
Settlements of encroachers in new additions to the park causing hurdles in conservation efforts Encroachers, mostly illegal Bangladesh nationals, provide refuge to poachers besides passing on info about rhinos Maximum encroachment witnessed in Burapahar, Kanchanjuri, Brahmaputra sand bar island areas
|
|
|
Assam tangle can’t be resolved under Constitution: Barua
Guwahati, March 7 In a statement e-mailed to the media here, Barua said he was not the one to “finish halfway up the mountain”. He lambasted Arabinda Rajkhowa’s statement before the media in New Delhi that Paresh Barua was still the commander-in-chief of the entire ULFA and would also come over for talks. Barua reiterated that he would never come forward for talks with the government under the framework of Constitution as it would not be able to solve the conflict as the solution lay only in restoration of sovereignty of Assam. He fired a broadside at Rajkhowa and company for forgetting 14,000 ULFA men who died fighting “Indian occupational forces” and “meekly accepting the Indian Constitution ignoring the main demands of the ULFA as enshrined in the outfit’s constitution”. Barua said he was no longer the commander-in-chief of the pro-talks ULFA faction led by Rajkhowa who has cowered before the Government of India. “I will rather prefer to lay down my life than to lead such a coward group of comrades,” Barua said. The ULFA hawks have, meanwhile, announced that they have stopped fund collection (extortion) in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts of eastern Assam till further orders. Assam DGP JN Choudhury said ULFA hawks had been forced to stop extortions as the security forces had mounted vigil to stifle the flow of fund to the ULFA coffers.
|
|
|
Lanka intimidating India, Jaya tells PM
Chennai, March 7 In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said: “The incidents of arrests of fishermen and the recent firing should be viewed as an indirect attempt to intimidate the government of India and browbeat it into not raising its voice against Sri Lankan atrocities on innocent Sri Lankan Tamilians on the international fora.” The text of the letter was released to the media here. Jayalalithaa was referring to the firing by the Lankan navy at Indian fishermen on Wednesday and said it was "highly unacceptable". Urging that the Indian government not remain a silent spectator, Jayalalithaa said: "The Sri Lankan government should be advised to desist from using force against our innocent Indian fishermen who have been fishing in their traditional fishing areas for centuries." According to her, 14 Indian fishermen - 10 from Puducherry and four from Tamil Nadu - were shot at by the Lankan navy Wednesday night, injuring a fisherman. — IANS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
New Delhi, March 7
Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh today said a broad in-principle agreement had been reached on restructuring pension under the National Social Assistance Programme
(NSAP) towards making it universal with clear-cut exclusion criteria. He was addressing a gathering of the Pension Parishad at Jantar
Mantar.
Trouble for notorious 44-year-old politician Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiya, grew today as the CBI finally took charge of the Kunda murders and named the former minister in one of the four FIRs lodged by it.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday alleged that Sri Lanka is attempting to "intimidate" India into not raising its voice against the atrocities on Tamils in that country by arresting Indian fishermen.
