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Spy
device triggers controversy From B L Kak Service
through condoms From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Feb 6: Mr Philip D Harvey, renowned family planning expert, has asserted that birth control is the only way to saving the lives of a.....more
No question of rejoining BJP ever: Kalyan BHOPAL, Feb 6: Rashtriya Kranti Party (RKP) president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today said there was no question of .....more HC issues notices to Defence Ministry, IMA on forest land NEW DELHI, Feb 6: NEW DELHI, Feb 6: The Delhi High Court has sought replies from Defence Ministry and Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun....more |
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Naga political issue should be resolved soon: Jamir KOHIMA, Feb 6: Nagaland Chief Minister S C Jamir has said that the Naga political ......more
Mulayam advocates Jharkhand creation RANCHI, Feb 6: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today advocated for ......more
Laloo facing daunting DANAPUR, Feb 6: Amid prospects of division in Yadav votes, RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav ....more 170 kg of ganja seized, RAJAHMUNDRY, Feb 6: In a major haul, State Excise Department Enforcement .....more |
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Spy
device triggers controversy From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Feb 6: The Government has begun quiet consultations with security and intelligence specialists on the question of setting up special wings of crack detectives to exclusively tackle the activities of Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Proposed plan envisages enrolment of highly-trained and well-equipped personnel from the Army and paramilitary forces for the purpose. Although the Army and the Border Security Force (BSF), deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, do have counter insurgency wings, the Government would like to make available in future groups of combatants that can be utilised as rapid action force against the ISI’s unabated activities in the State. Another plan, currently receiving the attention of security and intelligence specialists, will, when implemented, provide effective counter intelligence wings not only in Jammu and Kashmir but also in several other States, particularly Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Andhra Pradesh Government, obviously alarmed by the growth in the activity of Muslim fundamentalism in parts of the State, has informed the Centre-the Home Ministry, to be precise-about its decision to constitute a separate counter intelligence wing to exclusively tackle the ISI activities. A message from Andhra’s Home Minister, Mr T Devender Goud, has revealed the State Government’s plan to set up special cells on the lines of Special Intelligence Bureau (anti-Naxalite wing) in Hyderabad. According to Mr Goud, Andhra Pradesh Intelligence department is being entrusted with the job of gathering information and checking the ISI activities. Union Minister for Home Affairs, Mr LK Advani, who himself is supervising anti-militancy operations in the North-Eastern region, is said to have called for effective measures to revitalise intelligence machinery in Assam and other States in the region. Mr Advani’s directive assumes importance in the context of the effective presence of ISI operatives in the region. Several Muslim militant organisations in Assam and Manipur are under surveillance because of their alleged nexus with the ISI. These organisations include Muslim Liberation Tigers of Assam, Muslim United Liberation Front, Revolutionary Muslim Commandos and Islamic Sevak Sangh, besides Manipur’s Islamic National Front and Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (Muslim wing). According to Mr Advani, major causes responsible for growth of insurgent activities in the North-Eastern States include influx of foreigners, long porous border with Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan which makes it easier for the militants to get sanctuary and foreign support, large scale unemployment among youth and ethnic tensions. At a time when the Government of India is engaged in the crucial exercise of channelising Washington’s attention and energy against Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism, a controversy has been kicked up by the Andhra Chief Minister, Mr N Chandrababu Naidu’s move, hiring an American satellite. Some experts have questioned his rationale and termed the move as highly dangerous. According to these experts, considering the fact that the Government of India can provide whatever data the Andhra Pradesh Government requires, there is not need to hire an American satellite. "It is like placing a gun in a terrorist’s hand and inviting trouble", is their comment. Mr S Subramaniam, founder of the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) and former Director-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), has posed: Why should an American satellite be hired when the Government of India can provide necessary data to the State ? Several sensitive defence establishments are situated in Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad is one of the cities being scanned by the American satellite. An amount of Rs 1 crore sis being paid for the high resolution pictures to be taken of Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati. A functionary of the Indian defence forces has talked about chances of the pictures also being supplied or sold to agencies inimical to India. |
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Service through
condoms From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Feb 6: Mr Philip D Harvey, renowned family planning expert, has asserted that birth control is the only way to saving the lives of a large number of infant and maternal deaths across the globe. And he has reiterated that he wants a world where there are no unwanted children. Towards realising this dream, Mr Philip, known for his long association with India, has embarked upon an ambitious goal of making contraceptives available at affordable prices in every nook and corner of the world. Selling more than 50 million condoms and another 4 million oral pills every year, the head of DKT International holds strong the belief that birth control is the only way to saving the lives of a large number of infant and maternal deaths across the globe. Mr Philip said in an interview: "In fact, we named our organisation DKT after Dheeraj Kumar Tyagi who designed the famous red triangle logo of family planning". Holding a Master’s Degree in Family Planning, Mr Philip first came to India to work with Care, a voluntary organisation. It was then he realised that offering food and clothes to the underprivileged was not going to offer succour to these sections in the long run. "Through various voluntary bodies and organisations, we were feeding and providing clothing to about one million under-privileged children. But, the number of such needy children kept on increasing forcing me to have a second look at the whole system", he said. The idea of social marketing of condoms and contraceptives by offering them at subsidised prices caught his imagination. With the success of Nirodh condom offering an impetus, Mr Philip D Harvey set up DKT International and decided to fill the gap between Government marketing (mostly free supplies) and the commercial marketing of costly contraceptives. "Free goods are not taken seriously. Thus, when we make condoms available and charge a small price, it is treated as a commodity", claims the Washington-based head. Emerging as the largest social marketer of condoms, DKT International has the support of several international donors including USAID and British Government and is already established in several countries including Vietnam, China, Philippines, Ethiopia and Brazil, apart from India. The various contraceptives marketed by DKT include Zaroor condom, Choice oral pills apart from two new products, Noristerat and Depo Provera. Compared to a commercially marketed Kamasutra condom (Rs 18 per pack), Zaroor is offered at Rs 3 per pack. |
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No question of rejoining BJP ever: Kalyan BHOPAL, Feb 6: Rashtriya Kranti Party (RKP) president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today said there was no question of his ever returning to BJP. Addressing a "Meet-the-Press" programme organised by the Madhya Pradesh Union of working journalists here, Singh said he would not return to BJP which had expelled him from the party for six years. Lashing out at Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for "not practising what he preached", he alleged, "Vajpayee talks of nationalism but follows casteism, speaks of Swadeshi but encourages multinationals to come to India and appears to be large-hearted but is narrow-minded in his approach." Predicting that a bleak future lay ahead for BJP, Singh claimed the party would be wiped out from UP in the next Assembly election and "its presence will shrink in other parts of the country. The downfall of Congress had also begun after it was wiped out from Uttar Pradesh". "Till today no BJP leader has been able to explain the reasons for my expulsion from the party," Singh said, adding that before expelling him, BJP should have taken action against Vajpayee who had "instigated" 16 MLAs in UP to speak in public against his Chief Ministership. "Similarly, no action was taken against the Minister of State who, while resigning from his post, had levelled trumped up charges against his Government in the Assembly," he said. The RKP will field nominees in all 425 constituencies during the next Assembly elections in UP without entering into any alliance, he said. (PTI) |
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HC issues notices to Defence Ministry, IMA on forest land NEW DELHI, Feb 6: The Delhi High Court has sought replies from Defence Ministry and Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun on a petition by Indian Council of Forest Research and Education (ICFRE) and Forest Institute of India (FRI) seeking dispossession of their land allegedly occupied by the Academy. Issuing notices to the Ministry and IMA last week, Justice C M Nayar directed both the respondents to file replies by April 26, the next date of hearing. ICFRE and FRI in a joint civil writ claimed that 43.83 acres of its land which also include a golf course, was handed over to IMA temporarily to meet emergency situation in 1962 and the Academy till last year had never disputed its status as reserved forest. The twin forest institutes said they had been constantly writing to IMA authorities for return of the land since 1966 considering their requirement for various projects, but the Academy continued to use it for non-forestry purposes, thereby violating the Forest Conservation Act. Though the access of the two institutes’ officials to the land had never been stopped during all these years, IMA authorities on December 13 last year forcibly blocked the entry for them by putting up barricades and positioning guards at the entry points, the petition said. The petitioners alleged that IMA authorities not only prevented entry of ICFRE and FRI officials into the land which Rightfully belonged to them, but also continued commercial activities in the area in violation of the act. The respondent (IMA) deliberately did not pay heed to the correspondence made by the petitioners and continued the commercial activities including allowing outsiders to play golf in the golf course, it said. Seeking direction to the Defence Ministry and IMA to hand over possession of the land to them, ICFRE and FRI said the Academy should be restrained from carrying out any Illegal and non-forestry activities on it. The land was required by the two institutes for purposes of research projects aided by World Bank, USAID and Ministry of Health, the petition said, adding that it had been observed that some important shrubs, plants and trees were being destroyed due to IMA’s activities. (PTI) |
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Mulayam advocates Jharkhand creation RANCHI, Feb 6: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today advocated for creating a separate Jharkhand state comprising eighteen districts of Bihar and charged the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with conspiring to delay its formation. Talking to reporters here, Mr Yadav said his party would support the Bihar State Reorganisation Bill, 1999, for statehood. Mr Yadav admitted that his party favoured a greater Jharkhand state comprising 26 districts, carved out of Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, but at the moment was even ready to accept a state consisting of only 18 districts of Bihar. However, he reiterated his demand for the constitution of a State Reorganisation Commission for taking up the issue of smaller states. On the BJP’s move to get the constitution reviewed, he said his party was opposed to it and would even hit the streets against the NDA’s "hidden agenda". The matter should have been brought before Parliament and properly debated, he averred. (UNI) |
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Laloo facing daunting task in Danapur DANAPUR, Feb 6: Amid prospects of division in Yadav votes, RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav is locked in a battle royale with his friend-turned-foe BJP candidate Ramanand Yadav in Danapur Assembly constituency in Bihar. In the 1995 Assembly polls, Laloo won the seat defeating Samata Party candidate Bhola Prasad Singh and BJP’s Vijay Singh Yadav. That year, the RJD president polled 45,540 votes while the BJP nominee secured 25,780 votes. Laloo later resigned the Danapur seat and retained Raghopur from where also he emerged victorious by over 50,000 votes. With the BJP candidate being backed by the party’s National Democratic Alliance partners Janata Dal (U), Samata Party and Bihar People’s Party, the electoral battle for Danapur promises to be a keenly-contested affair between the RJD president and Ramanand Yadav, who switched over to BJP after parting company with RJD. The possibility of division in Yadav votes has also increased with another Yadav leader and sitting MLA Vijay Singh Yadav in the fray. Vijay Singh, who had successfully fought the 1996 by-election from Danapur, decided to contest again as an independent after BJP denied him nomination. (PTI) |
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170 kg of ganja seized, 6 held RAJAHMUNDRY, Feb 6: In a major haul, State Excise Department Enforcement Wing personnel seized 170 kg of ganja packed in eight gunny bags and arrested six people at Gummigregula village in east Godavary district of Andhra Pradesh, in the wee hours today. Enforcement Wing Assistant Commissioner N Ramamohan Rao told UNI over phone that the seizure was effected after a week-long surveillance. Those arrested included one Srinivas, a habitual ganja smuggler, he added. The narcotic substance, said to be brought from interior forest areas of the district, was meant for transportation to other places, he said. The other arrested were G V Ramana, D Appa Rao, J Naga Raju, Ramamurty and V Papayya, all hailing from Gummiregula and adjoining hamlets. (UNI) |
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