 |
Sunday,
March
31, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Al-Qaida using Pak as transit point: George Clashes, arson break out in Vadodara
|
|
||||||
|
Abdullah leaves
with PM’s message Poll reverses to be assessed: PM CPM refuses to ban SIMI in West Bengal First POTO charge
sheet against Lashkar ultras |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Panun Kashmir irked at exclusion New Delhi, March 30 Miffed at being left out of the peace process the Panun Kashmir members accused the National Democratic Alliance of “deliberately excluding” Kashmiri pandits from participating in the process.
5 killed during Holi in Bihar
|
|
Al-Qaida using Pak as transit point: George Bangalore, March 30 Talking to mediapersons here after dedicating the multi-role advanced light helicopter to the nation, he said the government had definite information on Al Qaida and Taliban elements having entered Pakistan en route to Kashmir. “There are enough reasons to believe that they are using Pakistan as a transit point,’’ he added. Mr Fernandes’ comments assume importance in the light of reports from Islamabad of joint raids by American and Pakistani commandos on Al Qaida hide-outs in Pakistan. The minister categorically stated that there would not be any de-escalation of troops under such circumstances and the atmosphere for the resumption of talks between India and Pakistan could be created only when the neighbouring country fulfilled the conditions laid down by India. Mr Fernandes said India had received reports that Al Qaida and Taliban elements who entered Pakistan were making it a transit centre before moving into Jammu and Kashmir. To a query, the minister admitted that the Tehelka scandal had affected the purchases of the armed forces and a little over Rs 5,000 crore, earmarked for defence purchases, had to be surrendered this year. Though the purchases amounted to about 18 per cent last October, there had been some improvement during the first quarter of this year. “Between October and March we signed quite a few transactions,’’ he added. On the purchase of the advanced jet trainer, Hawk, Mr Fernandes said the price negotiating committee had finalised its report. “I have not received the report yet,’’ he added. He said he would accept China’s invitation to visit that country, once he received it. Asked about the Agni-III Missile, the minister said it was very much on the agenda. Replying to queries regarding blazes in various ammunition depots across the country, Mr Fernandes ruled out sabotage, except for one instance in Kanpur. A Rs 3,500-crore proposal had been taken up to provide storage facilities for ammunition and no armament would be allowed to be stored in open space henceforth, the minister pointed out. Mr Fernandes expressed confidence that a substantial number of ALH would be exported to other countries. HAL had received inquiries from several countries for the state-of-the-art chopper. |
|
Indo-US military exercises likely New Delhi, March 30 Sources here said today that the Americans were serious about picking up a few points from the Indians’ Siachen experience now that American troops have been engaged in special operations in Afghanistan The Americans are painfully aware of the fact that the Al Qaida and Taliban cadres are making desperate attempts to regroup and it is indeed going to be a long haul for the American troops in their Afghanistan operations. |
|
Clashes, arson break out in Vadodara Vadodara, March 30 Despite the tense situation, curfew was relaxed in Wadi, Vadodara, Panigate, Raopura, Karelibaug and Nawapura police station areas from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today. Police Control Room sources said the police had to open fire at Kotiyar Nagar and Bawachawad under Panigate police station and Badri Mohalla and Jambudikoi under Wadi police station after armed mobs clashed with one an other, using guns and stones and committing arson. The police lobbed tear-gas and fired 11 rounds ad 60 persons were arrested on charges of rioting. A three-storey building in the posh Raopura area was also set on fire by some people early today. The building housing a shoe centre was completely gutted. According to Vadodara rural police sources, two rounds were fired and several tear-gas shells lobbed in Sinor town last night after nearly 700 persons belonging to two communities clashed and tried to set shops and houses in the town on fire. Additional re-enforcements have been sent to the strife-torn town. Meanwhile 70 leaders of different faiths will lead a multi-religion “pilgrimage of compassion” to the riot-affected areas of Gujarat to spread the message of peace, unity and harmony and instil a sense of confidence among the affected people, a report from New Delhi said. Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth Swami Madhavashram, Swami Indravesh, social activist Swami Agnivesh, general secretary of Jamait-e-Islami Maulana Rafique Qasami, general secretary of Jamait-e-Ulema-e-Hind Maulana Mahmood Madani, Amrendra Muni, disciple of the late Sushil Muni, noted Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande, the Revd Valson Thampu of the Church of North India and general secretary of the Delhi Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Kulmohan Singh are among the religious leaders taking part in the pilgrimage. Addressing a joint press conference here, Swami Agnivesh, Rev Thampu and Mr Qasami said the pilgrimage is not meant to take stock of the situation and file any report, but only to express solidarity with the affected people and to assure them that the country was with them at this hour of crisis. However, an appointment has been sought from President K.R. Narayanan to allow the members of the pilgrimage to meet him and inform him about the state of affairs in the state and their efforts to improve it. The pilgrimage would start from Delhi on April 1 and will culminate in the Capital on April 5. The group would visit Godhra, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Himmat Nagar where they would interact with riot-victims taking shelter in relief camps. Another member of the pilgrimage, Udit Raj, claimed that the aim of the pilgrimage was to prevent Dalits in Gujarat from falling in the hands of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who they claimed, had conspired to spread communal hatred in the society and disintegrate the country. Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi, in a message, wished the pilgrimage all success in its endeavour and felt that such a mission was required to instil a sense of confidence among the riot-victims. Asked what would they do if prevented by the state administration from going ahead with the pilgrimage on security grounds, Swami Agnivesh said they do not anticipate any hurdle from the state administration as they are undertaking the tour as part of confidence-building measure. Charging the Narendra Modi government with abdication of responsibility, the leaders felt that lack of timely action by the government allowed the situation to go out of hand. A few statements made by Mr Modi and the RSS aggravated the situation. NEW DELHI: A citizens’ “Tribunal” comprising eminent jurists and intellectuals has also decided to examine and probe into the incidents of arson at Godhra and the subsequent widespread violence that hit Gujarat. The “Tribunal”, led by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, Justice P.B. Sawant, Justice Kuldip Singh, Justice Hosbet Singh and Justice Rajinder Sachar, would start its hearing for a fortnight beginning mid-April and conduct its probe in three cities of the violence-ridden state, a press note said here today. The “Terms of Reference” of the “Tribunal” include investigation into the fallout of the Ram janambhoomi movement, including the demolition of the Babri masjid and atmosphere and incidents in Gujarat thereafter, investigation into the political policies followed by the BJP government since it assumed power in Gujarat in February 1998. The conveners of the “Tribunal” include prominent citizens like Mallika Sarabhai, Teesta Setalvad and Batuk Vora.
UNI, TNS |
|
Abdullah leaves
with PM’s message New Delhi, March 30 Mr Abdullah’s two-day Iran visit gains significance especially after US President George W. Bush’s speech in which he had identified Iran as one of the three countries he named as the “axis of evil”. India has been having a moderately good relationship with Iran, with focus currently on trade and commerce and cultrual relations between the two countries. In strategic terms, however, the Shia-dominated Iran has betrayed a tilt towards the Sunni-ruled Pakistan whenever an Indo-Pak crisis flared up in the past. Mr Abdullah’s visit is aimed at reaffirming Indo-Iran bilateral ties, especially in the context of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan. There have been reports in the western media of Iran’s dubious role in harbouring the Al-Qaida and Taliban cadres who are on the run since the USA started its Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan on October 7. “There is no doubt at all that people have been moving back and forth across that (Iranian-Afghan) border, to the great disadvantage of the interim government of Afghanistan and the Afghan people,” US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had gone on record as saying. |
|
Poll reverses to be assessed: PM Nainital, March 30 Addressing mediapersons at the Raj Bhawan here, Mr Vajpayee said the BJP’s defeat was expected in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, but “such a terrible defeat” was unexpected. On the BJP’s debacle in elections to the Uttaranchal Assembly, the Prime Minister said he had warned the party’s state unit leaders against “being overconfident”. He said the Centre would provide all possible assistance to the nascent hill state, which had innumerable possibilities for development. On a development package for Uttaranchal, Mr Vajpayee said the hill state would not be allowed to remain backward due to lack of resources. Claiming that all efforts would be made to make Nainital a prosperous city, he said development programmes of lakes in the district would be taken up under the National Lake Conservation Plan of the Union Environment Ministry. Development of Uttaranchal’s ‘Char Dham’ (pilgrim circuit) would be undertaken once proposals to that effect were submitted by the state government. The Prime Minister said tax and central excise concessions to attract investment in the industrial sector would be worked out for Uttaranchal and other special category states. Entrepreneurs would be encouraged to set up environment-friendly industries in the state, he said.
UNI |
|
CPM refuses to ban SIMI in West Bengal Kolkata, March 30 Mr Bhattacharjee has argued that if SIMI and some other organisations were to be banned, then the government would also have to ban the BJP’s frontal organisations like the VHP, the RSS and the Bajrang Dal. Would this be acceptable to the Centre, the Chief Minister has asked Mr Advani. In his letter to the Home Minister, Mr Bhattacharjee alleged that not only SIMI, but activities of some other fundamentalist and terrorist organisations, of late, had been posing a serious threat to the state’s law and order situation. He is, however, confident that the state’s proposed POCA would help solve these problems to a large extent. Mr Bhattacharjee admitted that some fundamentalist and terrorist outfits, including SIMI, the Maoists Communists Centre (ML) and the Kamtapuri Liberation Party (KPP) had been creating problems in several districts but added that mere banning them would not solve the problem. He urged all political parties and social welfare organisations to help the police and the district administrations to crush them and said that the proposed POCA would help the police to deal with the organised crime perpetrated by these organisations. Though the Chief Minister appealed to the Front partners to support the proposed POCA, today the RSP openly opposed it. Mr Kshiti Goswami, a former RSP minister, said they would oppose the Bill in the Assembly as well as outside. |
|
First POTO charge
sheet against Lashkar ultras New Delhi, March 30 The first charge sheet under POTO in the Capital was filed in the court of Special Judge S. N. Dhingra, who took cognizance of the offence against the accused. The four LeT terrorists, Bilal Ahmed Mir, Mohd Afzal Kumhar, Adil Nazir Keen and Ansar Ahmed, and three hawala operators, Dilip Tribhuvandas Bahrot, Rajesh Khoda Bhai Prajapati and Mehboob Karim Merchant, have been accused of trying to disrupt internal security of the country.
PTI |
|
Panun Kashmir irked at exclusion New Delhi, March 30 Addressing the media here today, the President of the Panun Kashmir, Mr Moti Kaul, said, “the Hindu minority is being deliberately kept out of the peace process as it suits the Centre’s policy of appeasing the National Conference”. He accused the Prime Minister of failing to formulate a national policy on the Kashmir issue and addressing the cause of the displaced people. He said the community had lost faith in Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee as their leader. Mr Kaul termed the forthcoming state elections as a farce and reiterated that Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah did not wish the return of the displaced pandits to the valley. Mr Kaul also dismissed the exercise of posting their vote. He added that since the pandits were in the dark regarding their constituencies and representatives there was no point in posting their ballots. Panun Kashmir members said the need for establishing a separate homeland for the minority community was the only solution to their problems. |
|
Delhi Press Club gets 1.6 acres New Delhi, March 30 The allotment letter was handed over by Union Minister for Urban Development Ananth Kumar to the office-bearers of the club at a function held here on Thursday. The land has been allotted to the club according to institutional rates with a condition that it will
construct its building within two years. |
|
5 killed during Holi in Bihar Patna, March 30 The police said while four persons were killed in Gaya, another was killed at Mirjapur in Nawada district of Bihar during Holi. Twentyfour persons were injured at Baijda village when some people fired indiscriminately on a group of villagers while they were returning home after attending a function.
PTI |
|
Anand Bakshi passes away Mumbai, March 30 Bakshi, who had not been keeping well for the past six months, was admitted to Nanavati Hospital, where he breathed his last, family sources said.
PTI |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
video
