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ceasefire violation by pakistan in J&K |
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Rajnath warns of quick action
Not pro-BJP, just
pro-India: Tharoor
Eid passes off peacefully in Ahmedabad
No place for party, leaders in govt ads, says SC panel
Killing civilians won’t help Pak: Omar
Burdwan blast: Another person arrested
Maharashtra Votes 2014
Ally trouble for BJP over onion prices
‘Major reshuffle’ in BJP on anvil
BJP avoids responding to Sena barbs
Curfew in Palwal town after clash over land
Khushwant Singh lit fest from Oct 10
Panel: Update laws to revive growth
ex-cji JS verma’s death raises questions of negligence Army to procure new APCs for UN missions
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ceasefire violation by pakistan in J&K Perneet Singh Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 This is the first time that the goodwill gesture has been dumped by both the sides in recent years. Talking to The Tribune, Border Security Force DIG MF Farooqui confirmed that their Pakistani counterparts didn’t exchange sweets with them today for the “reasons best known to them”. He said exchanging sweets and pleasantries on festivals such as Eid was a part of their mutually agreed norms. He said they usually have a flag meeting with the Pakistan Rangers a day before Eid during which the latter intimate them about the next day’s plan and the timings for the same are fixed. “However, this time the Pakistan Rangers told us that they are not going to follow the norm of exchanging sweets and pleasantries on Eid. Therefore, we also took a decision on the same lines,” he said. According to him, gestures like these need to be reciprocated and they can never be one-sided. Though there had been tension along the LoC for the past couple of months or so, the two countries had been exchanging sweets at the border as per the protocol and laid down customs till now. The BSF had accepted the greetings and sweets offered by the Pakistan Rangers at the Attari-Wagah joint check post on their Independence Day celebrations on August 14. Similarly, the Pakistan Rangers too had accepted sweets offered by the BSF officials on India’s Independence Day on August 15. However, the entire exercise remained a modest affair due to tension at the LoC. The Eid celebrations on July 29 was also a low-key affair as mediapersons were not allowed at the Zero Line where the sweets were exchanged by the BSF officials and the Pak Rangers. BSF officials present sweets to Pak Rangers on Diwali, Independence Day and Republic Day. On the other hand, the Pakistan Rangers offer the same to the BSF on their Independence Day.
BSF to protest Pak move
The BSF will lodge a protest against the Pakistan move. BSF DIG MF Farooqui said they would send a protest note to the Pakistan authorities as it was a clear violation of mutually agreed norms. Subsequently, there would be a discussion on the protest note in their monthly meeting, he added. On being asked about the BSF’s strategy on presenting sweets to the Pakistan Rangers on Diwali, he said, “It all depends on their response to the protest letter dispatched by us. As far as the BSF is concerned we are committed to maintaining harmony.”
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Rajnath warns of quick action
New Delhi, October 6 Since the firing targeted Arnia, which is along the international border in J&K, the BSF has been tasked to respond with adequate fire-power, sources said. The BSF is mandated along the international boundary, while the Army is mandated along the LoC. “A response is expected from the BSF soon,” a source said. BSF Director General DK Pathak briefed Rajnath on the situation. Rajnath said: “India will not tolerate Pakistan ceasefire violations anymore. It should understand the reality that times have changed in India.” The Home Affairs Ministry has asked Pathak to rush to the border areas of J&K and coordinate the response. Pakistan rangers used automatic weapons and mortars to target the border hamlets along the border last night. Pakistan also shelled Army-patrolled areas along the LoC in the Mendhar sector today. The Army has responded adequately and the Director Generals of Military Operations on either side are expected to speak tomorrow over the telephone hotline.
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Not pro-BJP, just
pro-India: Tharoor
New Delhi, October 6 Tharoor’s move to accept Modi’s invitation has
ruffled many feathers in the Congress party whose other senior leaders,
including Rajeev Shukla, had earlier dismissed Modi’s cleanliness
initiative as a hype. Flooded on the social media network with
accusations of being pro-BJP, Tharoor today clarified his stand saying,
“I am astonished that anyone will suggest that I am pro-BJP. I have a
30-year paper trail of published writings on my idea of India and my
profound belief in India’s pluralism. Being receptive to specific
statements or actions of BJP leaders does not remotely imply acceptance
of the party’s core Hindutva agenda. The PM pitched his appeal as a
non-political one and I received it in that spirit. I am a proud
Congressman and a proud Indian. In short: not pro-BJP, just pro-India!” Tharoor,
MP from Thiruvananthapuram, had once earlier faced the heat from his own
colleagues in the Congress after he had made some condescending remarks
about Modi in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. He had to later
clarify his position. While launching the “Clean India” drive,
Modi had invited nine eminent citizens from different walks of life to
initiate a human chain in favour of the campaign. Tharoor was among
those invited. He reciprocated with acceptance.
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Eid passes off peacefully in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad, October 6 Policemen sustained injuries in stone-throwing by a mob forcing the police to burst teargas shells to disperse the crowd yesterday. As the violent mob reassembled last night and started throwing stones on the policemen, they were forced to open fire causing injuries to three persons. A youth reportedly succumbed to bullet injuries this morning, but the police did not confirm. Elaborate security arrangements were made following intelligence inputs that some anti-social elements were trying to create communal tension in Gujarat.
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No place for party, leaders in govt ads, says SC panel
New Delhi, October 6 The panel, headed by Prof NR Madhava Menon, ex-Director of the National Judicial Academy at Bhopal, had been appointed on April 23, 2014, by a Bench of the then Chief Justice P Sathasivam. It had been asked to suggest guidelines for preventing Central and state governments from carrying out huge publicity campaigns through advertisements in the print and electronic media along with photos of not only ministers but also political leaders at the cost of the exchequer. Official advertisements should not promote the interests of the ruling party. Rather, it should maintain political neutrality and avoid glorification of political personalities and projecting a positive impression of the party in power or a negative impression of opposition parties, the panel suggested in the five-point guidelines with several sub-clauses. The SC had set up the panel in its verdict on a PIL by NGOs Common Cause and Centre for PIL. TK Viswanathan, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who has since become Solicitor General, were its other members. The Information and Broadcasting Secretary assisted the committee. According to the petitioners, “mala fide use of public funds in the name of highlighting the achievements of the incumbent governments has become an established practice. There is a spurt in such advertisements before the announcement of every general election.” The panel suggested that the government appoint an independent and eminent expert as the ombudsman to receive complaints of violations of the proposed guidelines and recommend action.
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Killing civilians won’t help Pak: Omar
Jammu, September 6 “Unfortunately, the people who had gone to the UN didn’t find any takers for their rant on Kashmir. The killing of five civilians would not help them in creating an atmosphere for a dialogue. If they sincerely intend to have better relations with their neighbours, they, too, should share the responsibility. It is not alone the responsibility of India to make efforts (in this direction),” Omar said after attending the last rites of the deceased in the shelling at Arnia village. On being asked what should be the Central Government’s response, Omar said, “Clearly, this has to be taken up assertively with the Government of Pakistan. How the Central Government chooses to do is not for me to advise them.” He said the Centre should help the state in constructing bunkers for border residents so that they could be evacuated. He took on Pakistan for targeting civilians on Eid, saying: “It’s a shame that the neighbouring country has shelled the innocent people on Eid”. Earlier, he visited the civilians injured in the shelling at Government Medical College Hospital here.
Forces ready: Jaitley
New Delhi: Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday deplored the ceasefire violations by Pakistan and said the Indian armed forces were “fully ready” and are responding to each of these provocations from across the border. The minister said, “Pakistan must realise that the kind of environment it is generating between the two countries is not going to help in normalising relations. The onus of creating a positive environment is on Pakistan which is utterly failing to do so.”— PTI
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Burdwan blast: Another person arrested
Burdwan/Kolkata, October 6 Hafez Mollah alias Hasan who was detained by the CID from his house at Khar Duttapa in Purbostholi, about 70 km from here yesterday, was formally arrested today, DIG (Operations), CID Dilip Adak said. Two women were arrested yesterday in connection with the blast in which involvement of terror outfits like LeT and HuJI is being suspected. The women, Rajira Bibi alias Rumi hailing from Karimpur in Nadia and Amina Bibi hailing from Lalbagh in Murshidabad - were remanded to police custody for nine days by a local court. — PTI
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Shiv Sena questions Modi’s respect for Bal Thackeray
Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service
Mumbai, October 6 In its party mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena wondered what had happened to Modi’s “respect for Balasaheb” when the BJP leaders broke off alliance with them. “When you stabbed us only on the issue of seat-sharing, where did that respect disappear? Did you not remember Balasaheb when you broke the alliance formed on the principles of Hindutva?” Saamana said in its editorial. The newspaper went on to imply that the BJP, too, wanted to “loot” Maharashtra like the Congress and the NCP did in the past. “Why did Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel visit Mumbai? If she gets all industrialists to leave Maharashtra for Gujarat, doesn’t it also amount to looting Maharashtra?” Saamana said. The newspaper went on to ask the BJP not to take the name of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in vain. “When you come to make deals in Mumbai to benefit Gujarat .... and then talk of getting the blessings of Shivaji Maharaj, it is only an insult for us,” Saamana said. Addressing a rally in Tuljapur today, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray likened the BJP election campaigners to Mughal general Afzal Khan’s army which had besieged Shivaji and his troops in the 17th century. “They (BJP leaders) are like Afzal Khan’s army who have come to break Maharashtra into many pieces,” Uddhav said referring to the BJP’s support for granting statehood to Vidarbha. “If you want to divide Maharashtra, vote for the BJP. Do you want to divide Maharashtra?” Uddhav added.
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Ally trouble for BJP over onion prices
Mumbai, October 6 Modi was scheduled to address a rally in the country’s onion capital of Nashik. Though the BJP said Modi’s rally was cancelled due to inclement weather, SSS chief Raju Shetti’s displeasure over onion prices made evident the reason behind the cancellation of event. Shetti said farmers in the state’s onion belt were banking on the Modi-led government for relief. Instead the government had imposed minimum export price on bulb without cushioning cultivators against rise in input prices. “ The Modi government has betrayed the farmers who had voted for the BJP. Fewer farmers will turn out to vote in the Assembly elections,” Shetti told reporters last weekend. The SSS is also blaming the Centre for not cracking down on onion traders having allegiance to Sharad Pawar’s
NCP.
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‘Major reshuffle’ in BJP on anvil
New Delhi, October 6 According to reports from Nagpur, Javadekar yesterday indicated there would be a “major reshuffle” in the Cabinet either in October third week or in December around the winter session of Parliament. Party sources in Delhi nod in affirmation, saying that it depends on many factors, including election results in Maharashtra. In Haryana, one of the state leaders is likely to get the Chief Minister’s post if the BJP manages to reach the halfway mark on its own, but in Maharashtra the responsibility might be passed on to a Central minister from the state, sources say. After the death of BJP’s Maharashtra strongman Gopinath Munde, the only obvious choice left is Transport and Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari. Though lately the name of Munde’s daughter Pankaja — who refused to contest her father’s Lok Sabha constituency Beed by deciding to stick to her Parli Assembly seat — is also doing the rounds. She has also expressed her wish to get the top job saying that the “state should be headed by a woman Chief Minister”. Both Modi and Amit Shah have been supportive of the 35-year-old, who has inherited her father’s mass base, but a section in the party believes that she is too young for the job. Though a section also believes that no one from the Centre would be sent to head the two states, sources say Maharashtra cannot be compared with Haryana. India’s financial capital is located in Maharashtra, making the state critical for the BJP and, therefore, a politically savvy leader with contacts in all parties. If Gadkari is shifted to Maharashtra, which he, too, is also believed to be angling for, it would create two big vacancies at the Centre. However, Gadkari, who is currently camping in the state, says he is happy with his Central assignments and does not want to return to state politics. Besides his original assignment — the Ministry of Transport — Gadkari is also holding Munde’s portfolio — Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation. Sources say if the BJP does well in Maharashtra, the party in charge Rajiv Pratap Rudy may be rewarded with a berth.
Gadkari may be M'rashtra CM
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BJP avoids responding to Sena barbs
New Delhi, October 6 Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday mentioned how he would not utter a word against the BJP’s estranged Maratha ally while campaigning as a mark of respect for Sena founder Bal Thackeray. In turn, Sena mouthpiece Saamana and party chief Uddhav Thackaray’s son Aditya said: “Modi says that he will not attack the Sena in his speeches as he has respect for Balasaheb Thackeray. We too respect the PM. But when you back-stabbed us merely on the issue of seat sharing, where did that respect disappear? Did you not think of Balasaheb before breaking the alliance forged on the principles of Hindutva?” However, sources say allegation of “backstabbing” is the maximum that the Sena will go while criticising BJP. As far as the saffron party is concerned, all it has done is giving cautious responses to Sena charge even though its earlier strategy was to target Uddhav for his “arrogance” and being the reason for the “breaking of the 25-year-old alliance”. Apart from keeping the doors open for Sena’s homecoming, if the need be after the elections, there are other compulsions before the BJP. First and foremost it is quite obvious that apart from “arrogance”, Uddhav cannot be criticised on any other account such as corruption or poor governance as he has not been in power. BJP leaders say if he is targeted on account of his “arrogance”, it may actually work to his benefit. The fact that for him the Maratha pride — Maharashtra’s self-esteem and identity — was more important may further benefit him in his stronghold. Keeping the doors open
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Curfew in Palwal town after clash over land
Palwal, October 6 The police said the situation turned tense last night when members of a community objected to the construction of a wall around the mosque near the Old Police station. Sources said some persons pulled the newly constructed wall down. Hundreds of members of the other community allegedly damaged a temple in Gadi Vinoda village. It is reported that members of the both the communities had resolved to halt the construction near the mosque till the polling date, but resumption of construction last night fueled a protest and retaliatory action from the other side. Though the sources claimed that some of the miscreants tried to set the spot on fire, the authorities denied it saying no damage had been done to any religious spot. They, however, accepted though there was a visible tension between the two communities. “Adequate police force, including some companies of the CRPF, IRB and RAF, has been deployed at the spot,” said the police. A police spokesman said the situation was under control as senior officers, including the IG, Rewari Range, and the SP, Palwal, were camping in Hathin.
Communal tension
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Khushwant Singh lit fest from Oct 10
Chandigarh, October 6 Another session will be dedicated to Indian soldiers and the World War-I. Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Rana Chhina will be invited to recall the contribution of India, particularly Punjab, in the war. British High Commission Brian McCall will also attend the festival. Dignitaries will bring back to life the lost art of Urdu storytelling. There will also be a session on whether the art of short story writing can be learnt. Former Prime minister Manmohan Singh’s daughter Daman Singh will reveal some erstwhile first family secrets in one of the story-telling sessions in the festival. ‘At home in India: A Muslim saga’, a book by former Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid will also be discussed on the last day. The special attraction of the festival will be a competition for the remake of the second novel of Khushwant Singh ‘I shall not hear the nightingale’. A select committee will shortlist the winners of this competition.
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Panel: Update laws to revive growth
New Delhi, October 6 Laws and legal structures should keep pace with economic liberalisation to avoid “legal gaps, inconsistencies and contradictions causing serious impediments to the processes of growth and development,” the Commission explained in the report recommending urgent steps for the repeal of 72 obsolete laws. The Commission regretted that the Centre was sleeping over the advice for the repeal of 253 irrelevant laws pertaining to trade and commerce, taxes, banking and insurance, land, revenue and energy, besides criminal aspects. Over 700 appropriation laws enacted till 2004 required to be trashed as they had served their purpose. Headed by Justice AP Shah (retd), the Commission said it was examining another 189 laws to assess the need for repealing them and would give its recommendations soon.
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ex-cji JS verma’s death raises questions of negligence New Delhi, October 6 Rejecting DMC’s orders as “predetermined”, Justice Verma’s family has urged the PM to establish a new national regulator for health management. It has in a separate letter to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan levelled serious allegations against the DMC’s ethics committee that heard the case saying that “it even allowed fresh evidence from negligent doctors”. “My husband’s death was a case of a series of medical mismanagements by doctors who had known him for years and in whom he had complete faith. After we complained to the MCI we realised there is absolutely no accountability for medical practitioners. It has been over a year and we are still awaiting justice. We request you for a national regulatory body for health management and medical practitioners. I am alarmed to think that if my husband, a well-known person, could lose his life to medical negligence what must be the fate of a common man,” Justice Verma’s wife Pushpa Verma has written to the PM who is yet to acknowledge her letter (a copy is with The Tribune). In a separate letter to Vardhan, Justice Verma’s daughter Shubhra Verma has accused the DMC of passing a predetermined order which created suspicion of a pact between vested interests with loyalties to each other.
The case
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Army to procure new APCs for UN missions Chandigarh, October 6 The Army is projected its preference for wheeled APCs over tracked vehicles. These would replace the earlier BTR-60 and BRDMs, which are of Soviet origin and date back to the 60s and 70s. India is among the largest contributors of troops for UN peacekeeping missions, having contributed over 1.60 lakh troops for 43 operations since Independence. Many operations call for deployment of armoured vehicles to protect troops. Besides APCs, India has also deployed the tracked BMP-1/2/3 mechanised infantry combat vehicles and even T-72 tanks as in Operation Continue Hope in war ravaged Somalia. The Army is on the hunt for APCs with high mobility, state of the art driving and navigation aids, modern electro-optical sights for the driver, gunner and commander, firing ports in the hull, provision for externally mounted anti-tank guided missiles, adequate environmental protection and amphibious capability. While wheeled vehicles are more susceptible to damage by small arms fires, mines, grenades and artillery fragments because of exposed tyres, suspension and underbelly components that tracked vehicles, they have higher road mobility and better maneuverability in built up and semi-built areas and in areas where operations in difficult terrain are not an issue. Besides emitting a lower noise signature, wheeled vehicles have better fuel economy and require lesser support and maintenance. This has a direct correlation with operational logistics.
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Mumbai, October 6
Chandigarh, October 6
The failure of the Centre to respond effectively to ceasefire violations by Pak has emboldened the neighbour to cause tensions. The death of jawans & civilians on the border has become a regular feature since the BJP govt assumed
office
Nitin Gadkari may become Maharashtra CM if party performs well in state