Excelsior... Nation

Kanshi Ram

Newspersons walk out
of Kanshi Ram’s press conference

BHOPAL, Apr 3: Newspersons today walked out of a press conference of...more

S C Jamir

Nothing has emerged after ceasefire: Jamir

KOHIMA, Apr 3: Nagaland Chief Minister S C Jamir today regretted that nothing .....more

ISRS confers award on Rao

HYDERABAD, Apr 3: The Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS) has conferred .......more

Govt fails to restore
security for Judge Kode

MUMBAI, Apr 3: Despite assurance by Maharashtra Government to forthwith .....more

L K Advani

National security topmost priority of NDA Govt: HM

ITANAGAR, Apr 3: Union Home Minister L K Advani today made a scathing attack on Pakistan for trying to destabilise........more

Ashok Singhal

UKD opposes exclusion
of Hardwar from hill state

DEHRA DUN, Apr 3: The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) will observe April 8 and 10 as protest days to oppose ........more

PK delegation meets Maharashtra Governor

MUMBAI, Apr 3: Panun Kashmir, an organisation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu and Kashmir,........more

200 militants to
surrender today

GUWAHATI, Apr 3: GUWAHATI, Apr 3: About 200 militants of different outfits would surrender in Sibsagar district tomorrow in presence of Assam Governor Lt Gen (retd) S K Sinha and....more

Newspersons walk out of Kanshi Ram’s press conference

BHOPAL, Apr 3: Newspersons today walked out of a press conference of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Kanshi Ram in protest over his remarks that the local media was allegedly dominated by the RSS.

The BSP chief made such remarks when a reporter asked him about why some people, including four MLAs who had worked with him in Madhya Pradesh, had left his party and joined the Congress.

Instead of giving a straight reply to the reporter’s question, Kanshi Ram Cooly said he knew that he was talking to people from the RSS.

This led to an angry uproar from journalists some of whom demanded that the BSP supremo take back his words and apologise for what he had said.

Kanshi Ram, however, refused to apologise and insisted that the manner in which questions were being put to him indicated that those who were asking them belonged to the RSS.

When he showed no signs of apologising, journalists covering the press conference walked out in protest and later also decided to boycott the coverage of the jeep rally to be flagged off by Kanshi Ram here later in the day.

Madhya Pradesh Working Journalists president Shalabh Bhadoria in a statement criticised Kanshi Ram for his remarks and demanded an unconditional apology from him. (PTI)

Nothing has emerged after ceasefire: Jamir

KOHIMA, Apr 3: Nagaland Chief Minister S C Jamir today regretted that nothing had emerged in the last two years and seven month-old ceasefire between the Centre and NSCN (I-M) and said people of the state had become sceptical about the progress of the peace talks.

My Government told the Centre in no uncertain terms that a tangible solution is possible only when the Centre extends ceasefire to all underground groups and they agree on truce pacts among themselves, the Chief Minister asserted in his key note address to Pradesh Congress workers.

The State Government, he said did not want to become a party to talks with underground leaders, but it (as well as Congress) can play a vital role in bringing all factions together for a meaningful dialogue’, Jamir clarified.

Claiming that not a single group had the mandate of the entire Naga society, the Chief Minister said negotiations should not be left to a single group and everyone’s views including over-ground political parties should be taken into account.

Jamir said he had told the Centre that the people of Nagaland be allowed to determine their destiny.

The Nagaland Pradesh Congress also echoed a similar view pointing out that underground groups should not only strike a peace deal with the Centre but also agree on a ceasefire among themselves to create a conducive atmosphere in the state.

At a general meeting here today, the Nagaland Pradesh Congress said only such an arrangement among the warring underground factions would pave the way for meaningful political dialogue with the Centre for resolving the Naga problem.

The meeting presided over by Pradesh Congress president and Chief Minister S C Jamir, thanked Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for holding consultations with the Chief Minister and the Governor Om Prakash Sharma on the on-going peace process in Nagaland.

The meeting observed that all underground groups should be brought under the purview of the ceasefire and included in the peace-talk process by the Centre.

The Pradesh Congress also urged its workers to send message across to people that the Naga problem should be solved by the ‘Nagas of Nagaland, not by outsiders. (PTI)

ISRS confers award on Rao

HYDERABAD, Apr 3: The Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS) has conferred the prestigious Bhaskara award for 1999 on Pavuluri Subba Rao of Hyderabad for his pioneering contributions toward promotion of remote sensing usage in the private sector.

The prestigious award was presented at the just concluded ISRS annual meeting at Bhubaneshwar.

Rao, 48, founded Indian Resources Information and Management Technologies (In-RIMT) nine years ago as the first private sector enterprise offering remote sensing applications services. In-RIMT has now developed into a national network of natural resources management solution provider, the citation said.

Describing Rao as the pioneer in commercialising space in India, the citation said he has been instrumental, through In-RIMT, in promoting the use of remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) solutions for the private sector and in providing total solutions to many Central and State Government agencies.

In 1992, Rao also diversified to developing sub-systems for satellites and launch vehicles, through Ananth Technologies Limited (ATL) that provided support to the country’s space programme by understanding turnkey solutions, the citation said.

Prior to setting up In-RIMT, Rao had worked at National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) at Hyderabad and contributed in the development of operational applications of remote sensing for water resources management, irrigation management, flood mapping and damage assessment and snow melt run-off modelling, the citation said. (PTI)

Govt fails to restore security for Judge Kode

MUMBAI, Apr 3: Despite assurance by Maharashtra Government to forthwith restore Z category security to designated TADA Judge P D Kode, hearing the sensitive serial blast trial, there has been no change in his protection cover.

The judge now moves around with just two personnel holding service revolvers compared to the nine guards with sten guns earlier, court sources told PTI.

In a related development, CBI has informed the Government that the judge continued to face threat from 24 absconders who allegedly engineered serial blasts here in 1993 to shatter India’s economy at the behest of Pakistan, sources revealed.

Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, Javed Chikna, Mohammed Dossa and many others have been declared as proclaimed offenders in the trial conducted by CBI after police failed to trace them. The designated TADA court also recently attached properties worth crores of rupees owned by Dossa.

Judge Kode’s security was abruptly pruned down on March 8 from Z category to Y category and his security guards reduced from 19 per shift to just five. Z category security guards include personnel with sten gun, while those in Y category carry service revolver only.

Of the five security guards in Y category, only two move around with him while the rest are posted at his residence. Earlier, he had 19 guards of whom nine were guarding him while the rest were posted at his residence.

Legal circles are baffled over Government’s inaction in restoring security cover for the judge in the wake of rise in ISI activities and have described it as an attempt to neglect the judiciary. (PTI)

National security topmost priority of NDA Govt: HM

ITANAGAR, Apr 3: Union Home Minister L K Advani today made a scathing attack on Pakistan for trying to destabilise the secular fabric of India and said national security was the topmost priority of the NDA Government at the Centre.

Talking to reporters here, Mr Advani averred that Pakistan was out to shatter the country’s democracy and its recent activities smacked of its bigger gameplan of not only roping in Jammu and Kashmir, but also dismembering the country as a whole.

"They are unable to reconcile with the success India has achieved as a secular and democratic country, despite the fact that it is a multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-ethnic country", he opined.

Mr Advani said in the process of internationalising the Jammu and Kashmir issue, Pakistan was in fact internationalising terrorism. They had attracted the attention of the whole world for espousing extremism, he alleged.

Referring to infiltration to the North Eastern region, Mr Advani said it was a serious problem. "We will have to take several steps like erection of border fencing, issuance of citizen identity cards and creation of more checkposts in the border. The issuance of citizen identity card has already been finalised ", he added.

He discussed the Chakma and Hajong refugees issue of Arunachal Pradesh with the State Government. "It is a human problem. They are here for a long period. Their children were also born here and Human Rights Commission, Parliamentary Committees and law courts are asking for the issuance of citizenship to these people", he said adding that the whole issue was under active consideration of the centre now.

The Union Home Minister discussed the security problem of Arunachal Pradesh and development projects of this backward state with the State Government officials in two sessions yesterday. He termed the discussion as "purposeful and worthwile".

The State Government had made representation on law and order situation of the state and preparedness of the state police in tackling the situation, specially in Tirap and Changlang districts, he said.

These two districts had been affeected by some major insurgent groups, otherwise the entire Arunachal Pradesh could have been the most peaceful, he said.

The Centre was committed to containing terrorism by its own efforts and also creating world opinion against cross-border terrorism, Mr Advani said, adding that the Centre had already achieved success in this direction.

Referring to the Indo-China border, he commented that at present the border was peaceful and no major conflict was going on, but roads were being constructed on the other side of the border for which vigilance was necessary, he said.

Replying to the arrest of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (M) leader Issac Muivah by Thailand police, Mr Advani said it would not hamper the ongoing peace talks.

He, however, charged Pakistan with encouraging the ultras of the North East.

Mr Advani said the Centre was dealing with the militants in the North Eastern region in a "holistic manner". Out of eight states in the region, four states- Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalya and Mizoram- were peaceful, while militancy in Assam and Nagaland were on the wane due to several measures taken by the State Governments.

The Centre was also taking action to contain extremism in Manipur and Tripura effectively, he opined and asked the concerned State Governments to deal with militancy firmly.

The Centre would help the State Government in this matter, he said adding, "we are assisting all the states for the modernisation of police force by providing modern arms, vehicles, communication sets and weapons".

On the question of initiating dialogues with the neighbouring states like Bangladesh and Bhutan for flushing out the ultras from their hideouts in these states, Mr Advani said they were friendly countries.

The Centre had already initiated steps on that line, Mr Advani said adding the Governments of these countries had assured their full cooperation in dealing with the ultras. "We are trying to take effective steps in case of Bangladesh and Nepal. Bhutan has also agreed to help us in this direction. We have taken action", he said. (UNI)

UKD opposes exclusion of Hardwar from hill state

DEHRA DUN, Apr 3: The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) will observe April 8 and 10 as protest days to oppose the exclusion of Hardwar from the proposed hill state of Uttarakhand.

UKD leader A S Sharma said here that Hardwar was an integral part of the Uttarakhand region and had been so since the pre-independence days.

"Mythologically, culturally, historically and geographically, hardwar is a apart of this rgion," he said.

Meanwhile, Youth Congress activists in the region have also urged the party high command to build up pressure on the Centre to include Hardwar in Uttarakhand.

Speaking in Hardwar yesterday, Mr Ashok Singhal, national president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, said that the differences of opinion regarding inclusion of Hardwar in the proposed state should be resovled with consensus.

A huge procession of Uttarakhand activists in Srinagar (Garhwal) demanded the creation of a separate hill state that included Hardwar.

Slogans being voiced by the activists were "Hardwar Ke Bina Uttarakhand Nahin" and "Rajya Do, Abhi Do."

Activists from various parties and organsiations reiterated their resolve to renew their agitation for a hill state. They called upon students, women and ex-servicemen to revive the earlier vigour in the movement for Uttarakhand. (UNI)