New Delhi, October 20
After the spate of transfers of civil and police officers in Gujarat in the run up to the Assembly elections in the state, the Election Commission has decided to send three special observers to supervise the observance of the model code of conduct by the political parties.

G.D. Tripathi, Manisha Arun Patankar and Arun Singhal will tour various areas in Ahmedabad, Surat and Jamnagar, according to sources in the EC. They will also oversee the revision of electoral rolls and election preparedness for three days from October 23.

Further, the EC is also sending three teams of its officials next week to oversee the poll readiness in Baroda, Surat and Ahmedabad.

Firmly rejecting the Narendra Modi government’s objections questioning the jurisdiction of the EC to effect transfer of officers, the EC directed that none of the officials given the marching orders would be overseeing any election related post or work.

The strong action aimed in the superintendence of and holding of free and fair elections, the EC transferred Gujarat DGP P.C. Pande and appointed K.R. Kaushik in his place. Pande was the Ahmedabad police commissioner during the 2002 post-Godhra riots in the state and had come under a cloud over the communal violence.

The two-phase polling in the state will take place on December 11 and 16 and the counting will be held on December 23.

Guwahati, October 20
In a major blow to the militant Black Widow or the anti-talk faction of the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), the police in north Cachar hill district arrested the second in command of the outfit, Joy Kishore Tharasen alias Daku Singh, and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition in subsequent operations.

North Cachar hills’ additional superintendent of police P R Kar informed that acting on the information extracted from the arrested Black Widow leader, the police yesterday recovered 10 AK 47 assault rifles, one grenade launcher, 670 rounds of AK 47 rifles ammunition and Rs 19 lakh in cash from three different places in the hill district.

It happened to be the biggest seizure of arms and ammunition from militant groups in this insurgency-ravaged district in the recent times.

Acting on a tip-off that the wanted militant leader, who had masterminded many of the bloody operations of the Black Widow in north Cachar hill district, was travelling in a Tata Indica in the guise of an elderly patient from Umrangshu in north Cachar hills to Lanka in the neighbouring Karbi Anglong.

The arrest of Daku Singh, close on the heels of arrest of another top Black Widow leader Action Dimasa, along with seven others in a joint operation by the police and the Army in Shillong last week, have served a crippling blow to the militant group.

The police said both these leaders were virtually the two arms of the Black Widow’s fugitive commander-in-chief Jewel Garlosa who had floated the anti-talk faction group, breaking away from the parent DHD group, to oppose the truce and on going peace process between the government of India and the DHD.

The Black Widow has been on a rampage in north Cachar hills. They extort money from different quarters, besides random killings.

New Delhi, October 20
Amid indications of tension resurfacing in the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, state Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today met party president Sonia Gandhi to apprise her of the political situation.

Azad’s meeting with the Congress president comes amid veiled threats by the PDP of a possible rethink by it about continuing in the ruling coalition due to the party cadre’s unhappiness with the performance of the Congress-led government on many fronts. PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had said yesterday in Jammu that his party may have to rethink on continuing in the coalition if the government’s credibility among people was affected.

Sayeed said though his party wanted the coalition government to complete its full term, there were some hurdles in achieving objectives of the coalition government under the common minimum programme.

While some PDP leaders have complained of “unilateral” decisions by the Chief Minister, including the manner in which a PDP minister was divested of forest portfolio, the party is also unhappy over the lack of progress on its demand for troop reduction in the state.

Sayeed recently reiterated the party’s demand for troop reduction saying the expert committee had given its report and conflicting statements from various quarters were adding to confusion.

Sources close to the Chief Minister said apart from briefing Gandhi about the political situation, Azad also told her about the steps taken to ensure speedier economic development, especially in the backward areas of the state. They said Gandhi expressed satisfaction over the working of the coalition government.

Ahmed Patel, political secretary to the Congress president, was present during Azad’s meeting with Gandhi that lasted nearly 40 minutes.

Azad also met AICC general secretary Prithviraj Chavan, who is in charge of Jammu and Kashmir. Chavan is likely to visit the state next week and discuss organisational matters, including the appointment of a new PCC chief. The incumbent PCC chief, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, is also a minister in the government. 

New Delhi, October 20
President, Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, today greeted the people of the nation on the occasion of Dussehra.

President Patil in her message to the nation said, “On the auspicious occasion of Dussehra, I send my greetings and good wishes to all my fellow citizens in Indian and abroad”.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “Vijayadashmi is a festival amass the length and breadth of the country, it signifies the triumph of good over evil. It is an occasion to foster goodness within and to radiate peace and harmony.”

Aizwal, October 20
A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrived at Mizoram to probe the case of a boy, who went missing from Vairengte under Kolasib district.

Kolasib additional superintendent of police (SP) Lalremmuana told UNI here today that a three-member CBI team arrived at Kolasib a few days ago and after a brief meeting with the SP had started investigation yesterday.

Shillongthanga, then aged 11 and missing since 2000, was allegedly abducted by Lt-Col Kulwan Singh, the then administrative officer at the Counter- insurgency and Jungle Welfare School (CIJWS), Vairengte.

Sources said Kulwant Singh, with the permission of the boy’s parents, had employed the boy in 2000 as a domestic help at his house in Chandigarh.

However, nothing was heard from either Kulwant Singh or the boy since then. Sources said Kulwant Singh (now Colonel) was at present posted at Jammu and Kashmir.

The army officer had allegedly taken away two other boys of Vairengte in similar circumstances earlier in 1987 and 1989. After years of incommunicado, the two boys Bawitea and Thangliankhuma had returned a few years ago, but not Shillongthanga.

Chungrothanga had pleaded with the Manipur Chief Minister for a CBI probe.

Meanwhile, a Guwahati-based advocate had filed a public interest litigation at the Guwahati High Court, which had ordered a CBI inquiry, the SP said. — UNI

Hyderabad, October 20
A new Information Technology initiative that serves as "Tele-medicine for plant life" is making waves in Andhra Pradesh.

"e-Saagu" (e-cultivation), an IT-based agro-advisory system, has bagged the prestigious "Manthan Award" for 2007 for India's best e-content development. The project, developed jointly by the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) here and New Delhi-based Media Lab Asia, works on similar lines of telemedicine and provides personalised expert advice on farm practices.

The project, being implemented in several districts in Andhra Pradesh, helps farmers gain access to personalised farm-specific advice from agricultural experts without having to run around agricultural officers.

The Manthan Awards, instituted by New Delhi-based Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), are given annually to promote the use of Information and Communication Technology at the grassroots level for innovation and e-content development.

Started in 2004 on a pilot basis, e-Saagu provides professional agro-advice to farmers on matters ranging from pre-sowing operations to post-harvest precautions.

The system is designed in a three-tier model with farmers as end-users, coordinators at the village level as intermediaries and agricultural experts.

The coordinators, picked up from the educated youth of village, would visit the farms on a weekly basis and collect data, including the crop status.

They even take digital photographs of pests and diseases on the crops. These digital images would then be transmitted to the agricultural lab at IIIT where experts would analyse the data and suggest remedial measures for each crop.

The expert advice would be transmitted to the agri centres from where it would be downloaded by coordinators and disseminated to the farmers.

Following the experts' advice which reaches them within 36 hours, farmers in the villages where "e-Saagu" is being implemented have been able to reduce the use of pesticides and fertiliser and save up to Rs 3,820 per acre besides improving the productivity of their farms, the Chief Investigator of "e-Saagu" P Krishna Reddy, who was conferred the award, said.

Patna, October 20
Goddess Durga is finally on wheels, courtesy the reported innovation by railway minister Lalu Prasad.

One might call it puja fever, but a statue of the Goddess had been placed inside the pantry of the Patna-Delhi Sampoorna Kranti Express.

With devi Durga getting a place on the train, passengers were said to be happy as no one had complained so far.

According to a senior official of the East Central Railway (ECR), for the railway staff, the pantry is no less than a temple as they do not allow anybody to enter the pantry with his/her footwear on, nor do they serve non-vegetarian dishes.

On the other hand, during the navaratras, which would conclude with dussehra tomorrow, passengers reportedly believed that the puja of goddess Durga inside the train ensured them her blessings for a safe journey.

Ranchi, October 20
Once treated as incarnation of God by his subjects, the 64th descendant of the famous Seraikela royal family, Aditya Pratap Singhdeo, is observing the 807th puja at the palace temple at Seraikela in Jharkhand amidst traditional rituals.

Common people however were not allowed to watch the rituals at the palace temple since it is an exclusive puja for the royalty.

“The ritual is observed by family members only at the temple built by our ancestors and no outsider is allowed,” Aditya Pratap Singhdeo, the eldest of the family, told PTI.

While daughters-in-law were allowed but not the daughters because after marriage their gotra changes, he said.

Even now people from nearby villages call on the erstwhile family, not to greet, but to seek blessings from the eldest member of the royal family on Vijayadashmi, the tenth day of the puja.

“As per tradition, our family had been observing the puja since 1205 from Podahat (now Chakradharpur to Sareikela, both in Jharkhand) and the goddess is called Paudi Devi,” he said. — PTI