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BJP deputes Ananth, Munde for talks
Gujjar stir ‘against Constitution’
Centre asks states to be alert
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Protests spread in Delhi
Ditto western UP
Restore peace, CPM to Raje, Centre
Train services resumed
SAFMA function begins on optimistic note
Stress on restoring global ecological balance
Goa records 66 pc polling
Bangalore
cops go hi-tech
8 planets on show in next ten days
4 Maoists killed as clashes intensify
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BJP deputes Ananth, Munde for talks
New Delhi, June 2 Kumar and Munde have been participating in the talks, being held by the Chief Minister with the Gujjar leaders, since afternoon over their demand, party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Claiming that the situation in the state had significantly improved today with no untoward incident taking place, Prasad said national highways had been cleared and people stranded at the Balaji temple on the Jaipur-Agra road were also being evacuated. L K Advani and Jaswant Singh, with whom Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a meeting to discuss the situation, later went to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence to brief him about the talks. Party president Rajnath Singh was also present. The leaders later reviewed the political situation, Prasad added. He said all efforts were being made by the Rajasthan government and the BJP to restore normalcy in the state after the violence that had claimed 24 lives. The party, meanwhile, took a strong exception to the comment by minister of state for home Sriprakash Jaiswal that the Rajasthan government had failed in handling the situation. Jaiswal should learn from his seniors how to conduct himself and he should have not made such a comment, Prasad stated.
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Gujjar stir ‘against Constitution’
Jhabua, June 2 ''The Gujjar agitation is wrong. The Constitution's fifth and sixth Schedules enshrine provisions for tribals' rights and the Centre cannot turn Nelson's eye on those,'' he told mediapersons here. Bhuria explained that before a caste is granted reservation at par with tribals, its financial condition, culture, way of living, backwardness etc are to be surveyed and a status report presented in the Parliament besides amending the Constitution.
— UNI
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Centre asks states to be alert
New Delhi, June 2 The adivisory issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs also asked the Rajasthan government to ensure the publicity of joint appeals of the leaders from both communities. The ministry has also issued an advisory to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh to maintain high alert. The ministry also appealed to the media not to carry any unverified reports and requested it to report events in a manner conducive to restoration of peace. — TNS
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Protests spread in Delhi
New Delhi, June 2 It was the fourth straight day of demonstrations here, and on Saturday the trouble spread to the interior from the suburbs when members of the community came out of their homes in Ashram area in south Delhi. Thousands of Gujjars blocked roads and took out rallies also at Keshavpur area in the city’s northwest and Bhajanpura in the northeast. They burnt effigies of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and burnt tyres on the roads, hitting vehicular traffic. But the police quickly moved in and brought the situation under control. “There were minor protests in our area. There is nothing to worry as the situation is completely under control,” said Sagar P. Hudda, additional deputy commissioner of police in northwest Delhi. But at Dadri and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, adjoining east Delhi, violent mobs damaged railway tracks, severely affecting the rail traffic. “Twenty-seven trains on the Delhi-Kanpur route have been affected,” Vagesh Pandey, a railway spokesman, told IANS. “We are working on alternative routes to restore the affected train services.” The protests that originated May 29 in Rajasthan have now spilled onto Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. The mass anger is directed against the Rajasthan government for having fired at Gujjar mobs, leaving nearly 20 people dead. Five people were also killed and 20 injured Friday in clashes between Gujjars and Meenas in Rajasthan’s Dausa and Karauli districts, taking the death toll to 25. On Saturday, protestors blocked a highway in Sohana, 20 km away from Gurgaon, for a few hours and burnt tyres on roads. The Gujjars in Rajasthan are demanding tribal status in a desperate bid to corner more government jobs and get preferential treatment in educational institutions. “The situation is normal. We have deployed 300 paramilitary personnel along with our police force,” Gurgaon Senior Superintendent of Police Hanif Quereshi said. Protests also continued Saturday in Faridabad in Haryana and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
— IANS
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Ditto western UP
Lucknow, June 2 Rail traffic was disrupted due to protest by Gurjars and 13 trains coming from New Delhi and seven from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi were affected by the agitation. The situation was later normalised but trains on this route are running late, principal secretary, home, K Chandramauli told reporters here. He said that train traffic on the main Howrah-Delhi route was severely disrupted following damaging of four feet track between Ajaibpur and Dankaur railway station near the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. The protestors managed to remove around four feet portion of railway track near Dankaur railway station, resulting in dealy of several trains, which were diverted through Tundla-Agra route, Chandramauli said. The damaged track was later repaired. Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi was also delayed due to the agitation and was expected to arrive in lucknow around seven hours late. About measures to check spread of violent protest by Gurjars, Chandramauli said that officers in sensitive districts like Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Meerut had been asked to initiate talks with local Gurjar leaders and public representatives to ensure that public transport did not affect. On the Rajasthan government decision to seal UP-Rajasthan border, he said, “I am neither confirming it nor denying.”
— PTI
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Restore peace, CPM to Raje, Centre
New Delhi, June 2 The Left party blamed the "opportunist policies" of the BJP for the present tension. The party also appealed to the leaders and members of both Gujjar and Meena communities to desist from violence. It also asked the revolting community to come to the negotiating table to find an amicable solution to the crisis. "The opportunist policies and false promises of the BJP government are responsible for the present situation. There is danger that the confrontation between the two communities may spread to other states," it said. The CPM had earlier demanded a judicial inquiry into the police firing on Gujjars. The party alleged that the Vasundhara Raje government had become "notorious" for its "heavy-handed police repression". A statement issued by the party Politburo asked the state government and the Centre to "take all appropriate measures to control the situation and restore peace and normal life in the disturbed areas".
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Train services resumed
New Delhi, June 2 A Railways spokesman said the 2904 Golden Temple Mail (Amritsar-Mumbai central) would be the first train to be restored on this route. Two additional pairs of special trains had also been pressed into service on the Jaipur-Ringus-Rewari metre gauge route, which has connectivity with Delhi through broad gauge route trains at Rewari.
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SAFMA function begins on optimistic note
Shimla, June 2 Some of the Pakistani delegates raised the Kashmir issue in the question-answer session held toward the end of the function. The questions, while showing the Pakistanis’ pre-occupation with Kashmir, were asked in the overall framework of regional cooperation and did not unsettle the tenor of the event. Delivering his inaugural address, Speaker of the Lok Sabha Somnath Chatterjee said it was a matter of grave concern that 40 per cent of the world’s poor lived in South Asia. He said the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) held a bright future for the SAARC countries and so the parliamentarians of the member countries should ensure that the agreement was properly implemented by their countries. He also talked at length about the media’s role as an effective interface between the people, parliament and administration. With a number of MPs recently facing the brunt of sting operations by the electronic media, it was only natural that the Speaker would dwell on the subject. He said while the media should consider it its duty to expose public authorities, including parliamentarians indulging in corruption, it should have a larger perspective rather than focusing on short-term commercial gains and sensationalism. Quoting extensively an article written by a Pulitzer prize winner American journalist in the Wall Street Journal, he said while the media had every right to expose a particular instance of political corruption, it should not use the instance to create the cynical impression that all politicians were corrupt. He said free flow of information among the SAARC countries would help clear the atmosphere of suspicion and misunderstanding among the people of the region. With this in view, the Indian Government had taken a decision to liberalise the visa regime for students, teachers and journalists from other SAARC countries, he said. Maulana Fazal Ur Rehman, an MP from Pakistan representing the conservative JUI, said SAFMA was trying to bring various nations together at a time when their relationships were often bordering on the brink of hostility. He then had a go at the “global powers” (read the USA) and said these were against South Asian countries’ coming closer. “Be it the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline or the improvement of relation between Pakistan and China or the problem in Afghanistan and its fallout on Pakistan, these powers want to dictate terms on all these regional issues,” he said. He also mentioned Kashmir and said a democratic solution ought to be worked out. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said when barriers dividing the countries were being lowered all over the world, the SAARC countries should also follow suit. Leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) Madhav Kumar Nepal, Speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament W.J.M. Lokubandara, Tsherin Tobgay of Bhutan, Osman Farruk of Bangladesh, Mohammad S. Saljogi of Afghanistan and Mohammed Shihab of Maldives also spoke. Senior journalist and SAFMA president K.K. Katiyal extended the vote of thanks.
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Stress on restoring global ecological balance
Dehra Dun, June 2 Addressing the opening session of a conclave organised by the International Academy of Law and the World Council for Corporate Governance on "Legislative measures to combat climate change" in
Nainital, the Governor observed that there was an urgent need at the policy level to bring in various controls such as stringent vehicle and industrial emission laws, shift from fossil fuels to renewable fuels, reforms in both forestry and farming sectors and laws on applying energy efficiently. The Nainital conclave is a prelude to the first-ever Convention on Corporate Response to Climate Change, being held next week at Palampur in Himachal Pradesh. The convention's focus is to reduce carbon footprint, bio-fuel bazaar and carbon trading as well as Wellness exhibition on holistic solution for rejuvenation therapies for body, mind and soul. Tamil Nadu Governor S.S. Barnala said the protection of environment was a shared and common concern of humanity and manifestly required a heightened degree of cooperation. In his keynote address, president, World Council for Corporate Governance, Dr Madhav Mehra observed that temperatures in India could rise by 6 degrees celsius by the end of the century, causing flooding of the entire coastline of India and severe drought conditions in the rest of the country. These called for mitigation and adaptation strategies. Famous dancer and social activist Sonal Man Singh , director, NTPC, Chandan Roy, DG, International Academy of Law, J.C. Khurana, senior journalist Seema Mustafa, Dr Veena Pandey and Dr
B.S.Kotlia, respective heads of departments of biotechnology and geology at Kumaon University, also presented their views at the conclave.
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Goa records 66 pc polling
Panjim, June 2 The first day of the monsoons, which coincided with the polling day, saw voters turn up in small numbers in the first two hours. But as the rains took a break later in the day, there were long queues outside polling stations. Polling in most places went beyond the stipulated 5 pm deadline as voters who had queued up earlier were given tokens and allowed to vote. Election Commission officials said a healthy turnout was reported from even the rural areas. Turnout of nearly 80 per cent was reported from the rural areas despite the inclement weather. Officials say, the initial estimate of 66 per cent would exceed slightly when all votes are added up. Traditionally, Goa sees a huge turnout of more than 70 per cent. In all, there were 202 candidates, including 49 Independents in the fray.
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Bangalore
cops go hi-tech Jangveer Singh Tribune News Service
Bangalore, June 2 The blackberry handsets can be used to provide real time traffic updates. This can be done by sending a complaint to a call centre. There, the history of the offender is checked for past violations and a chargesheet of the current violation is prepared. Notices are generated through bluetooth-enabled wireless pocket printers. Explaining the system, state director-general of police K.R. Srinivasan disclosed that the traffic police was taking the help of cameras which had been installed at important traffic junctions. He said due to heavy traffic in peak hours, many motorists were able to get away with violations. “The cameras will help us to record proof of violations and the blackberry sets can be used to get a quick update on the violator”. The Traffic Police Department has been provided over 280 sets and once the scheme gets moving, more such sets are likely to be distributed to traffic cops. The scheme is likely to pin point repeat offenders immediately. “Such persons stand to lose their licence”, the DGP added. While the blackberry’s are aimed at traffic violators, the department has also introduced another online scheme, aimed at the harassed commuters. Commuters can now access real time traffic jams and snarls instead of relying on sketchy reports being provided by local FM radio stations. The message service, which is initially being serviced by Airtel, will allow commuters to know about the relative time taken to travel from one point to another. Real time traffic updates will also be provided through electronic bill boards to increase the reach of the service. Through another service, which has also been introduced as part of the B-Trac 200 project of the Bangalore Police, commuters can now avail of the ‘easyauto’ service.
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8 planets on show in next ten days
Hyderabad, June 2 A rare opportunity awaits star gazers for the next ten days when five planets can be seen with the naked eye while three others can be seen using a telescope and other astronomical aids. Disclosing this here today, Planetary Society India secretary Raghunandan Kumar said a series of celestial events, including a parade of planets awaits the people in the night sky. While Mercury will be at the greatest elongation on June 2 i.e. 23.3659 degrees east of Sun hence people can spot it in the western direction after sunset. As Mercury on June 2 will be far away from the Sun, this will be an opportunity to see the planet, he said. On the same day, two more planets - Venus and Saturn - will also make their appearance. While mercury will make its appearance immediately after sunset towards the western horizon, Venus will follow and can be seen towards area between West and North west direction followed by Saturn which would be visible above west direction near Venus (which is very bright). — PTI
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4 Maoists killed as clashes intensify
Raipur, June 2 "Two men and an equal number of women Maoists were killed in Sendra jungle, under Farsegarh police station, about 550 km from the state capital in an encounter," Bijapur police told PTI over phone. They were killed after a fierce encounter, the officials said, adding three rifles, two hand grenades and one land mine were recovered from the possesion of the deceased naxalites. — PTI |
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