M A I N   N E W S

Foreign equity in print media ruled out

NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (PTI) — Barely a month after she sought a national debate, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj today brought the curtain down on allowing foreign equity in the print media by declaring that the government had categorically decided against such a move.

Mrs Swaraj, who had a meeting recently with Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee on the subject, told reporters that the government was of the view that there was “no need” to permit foreign equity in the field as “media is not just another sector of trade which you can open blindly”.

The minister, who had only last week said the government had an “open mind” on the issue, today made it clear that it had come to the conclusion that “the concerns of 1955 (when the Union Cabinet had passed a resolution against the entry of foreign Press) were still valid”.

Stating that the decision would be “valid for years”, she indicated that the concerns included the effect of the print media on the political process.

ULFA kills 7 non-Assamese

GUWAHATI, Nov 17 (PTI) — In yet another attack on non-Assamese communities, the banned ULFA militants shot dead seven persons, including a woman and her three children, and injured three others in upper Assam’s Sibsagar district yesterday, the police said here today.

They said about 10 ULFA extremists dressed in “olive green uniform” walked into the house of a Marwari businessman Radheshyam Agarwalla at Bihubar and sprayed bullets on the residents killing his wife Sulokchana Devi and two minor daughters and a son on the spot.

The militants also killed two guests in the house located in remote tea garden areas, the police said.

The militants then moved on to the nearby Kamal Sapori, about 1 km from Nagaland, and shot dead a businessman, Suresh Chauhan before fleeing under the cover of darkness.

The anti-insurgency Unified Command has cordoned off the area and launched a massive search to nab the attackers, who were armed with ak-47s. Besides, three persons were being interrogated, the police said.

Tremor shakes Delhi

NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (PTI) — An earthquake of slight intensity shook the capital late tonight. There was, however, no immediate report of harm to human life of property.

The tremor, measuring 2.6 on the Richter Scale, rudely woke up the people from their sleep and many were seen rushing out of their houses as the ground shook and windows rattled.

Seismological Department sources said the quake had its epicentre in the Capital, 18 km northeast of the Meteorological Department observatory on the Lodhi road.

The tremor, which occurred at 10.56 p.m. lasted for a few seconds, they said adding that it took place at a latitude of 28.7 degrees and a longitude of 77.36 degrees.