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Haryana to give CHANDIGARH, Jan 1: The Haryana Government has decided to release Non-Practising.....more
BSP will have no NEW DELHI, Jan 1: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Kanshi Ram today said he...more Konark bathed by BHUBANESWAR, Jan 1: First rays of the sun that washed the ruins of the 13th....more |
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Rajasthan includes 18 JAIPUR, Jan 1: Accepting the recommendation of the state Other Backward......more BJP, SP workers clash BARABANKI (UP), Jan 1: At least 24 persons were injured yesterday when......more GUWAHATI, Jan 1: A senior journalist was among two people shot dead by....more Govt had not other NEW DELHI, Jan 1: Government did not have any option but to release the hardcore.....more Eunuch’s election shows JABALPUR, (MP), Jan 1: While election of four eunuchs in the civic polls in Madhya.....more |
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Haryana to give non-practising allowance to doctors CHANDIGARH, Jan 1: The Haryana Government has decided to release Non-Practising Allowance (NPA) to the doctors on the pattern of the centre from April one, 2000. The NPA, approved by State Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, would be given at the rate of 25 per cent of their basic pay, an official release said here today. The state would have to bear an annual burden of about Rs 4.92 crore by giving this benefit to the doctors, it added. The Chief Minister also approved to give an extra weightage of five per cent marks for admission to MD and MS courses to those students who graduate from the Pt B D Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak. (PTI) BSP will have no truck with BJP NEW DELHI, Jan 1: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Kanshi Ram today said he will have no truck with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) even after Mr Kalyan Singh’s ouster and that his party would contest all the seats when elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly were held. Talking to UNI, Mr Kanshi Ram said the ‘go-it-alone’ policy had helped the BSP win fourteen Lok Sabha seats, come a close second in as many as 16 seats and achieve reackoning in 35 other seats in Uttar Pradesh. Mr Kalyan Singh’s associates who played a key role in enabling the Samajwadi Party win 26 parliamentary seats would ensure that the ‘most backward class’ vote bank of the BJP crumbled during the Assembly elections, he said. These social sections who had hitherto backed the BJP have started moving towards the BSP, he claimed. The BSP would contest all the seats in Bihar, Orissa and Haryana on its own and ensure the defeat of the BJP and its allies, he said. (UNI) |
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Konark bathed by first sun rays BHUBANESWAR, Jan 1: First rays of the sun that washed the ruins of the 13th century sun temple at Konark heralded the new millennium in cyclone-devastated Orissa at dawn today. Visitors thronged the sands of Chandrabhaga coast close to the black pagoda to witness the rise of the sun while people elsewhere woke up to the reality of having arrived in 2000. The State Government’s plans for having a millennium sunrise programme at Konark as a mega tourism event was torpedoed by the super-cyclone which had inflicted death and destruction on the state two months ago. Ear-splitting bursts of crackers and music heralded the new millennium earlier in the cities at midnight last night. Most people watched television programmes and discussed the release of hostages in faraway Kandahar late into the night when revellers hit the road singing and shouting. For Christians, who celebrate the new year as a festival of thanks giving, early morning worship services were held in many churches across the state. Midnight services were also organised in the chapels. (PTI) |
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Rajasthan includes 18 more castes in OBC list JAIPUR, Jan 1: Accepting the recommendation of the state Other Backward Classes (OBC) Commission, the Rajasthan Government today included 18 more castes into its OBC list. The State Cabinet in its meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, today approved the proposal to include the 18 castes into the OBC list, an official spokesman said. The castes joining the OBC category included Vishnois, Meos and Kayamkhanis. The State OBC Commission, headed by Justice R S Verma, had recommended inclusion of 18 castes into the OBC list on December 30 in its report submitted to the Chief Minister. The acceptance of the recommendation by the Government means that the people belonging to these castes would be able to get reservation benefit in the ensuing panchayat elections. (PTI) |
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Govt had not other option but to
release NEW DELHI, Jan 1: Government did not have any option but to release the hardcore militants to secure the safe return of hostages from the hijacked aircraft, security experts said today. However, one of them said there had been a big series of errors which resulted in the narrowing down of options and release of the three militants would encourage others to take recourse to similar actions in future. Jasjit Singh, Director, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), said the aircraft was in a sanctuary with Pakistan in between. This had left the Government with no option but to enter into some form of give and take. Stating that the release would not have any impact on militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said it was wrong to compare the current situation with that during which some militants were released to get the Rubaiyya Sayeed back. The situation then was that insurgency and proxy war had just started, whereas now there are only suicidal attacks which basically is transnational terrorism, he said. Lt Gen (Retd) V R Raghavan, former Director General Military Operations (DGMO), however, castigated the Government for handling the hijacking negotiations very incompetently and claimed that a big series of errors were committed which had reduced the number of options. Asserting that the release of militants would encourage others to take recourse to similar actions, he said the aircraft should have been stopped at Amritsar Airport even if that would have meant killing of a few more passengers. Stating that half a dozen people had brought the Government machinery to a halt, Gen Raghavan said the release of militants would certainly give boost to terrorism in Kashmir. Gen (Retd) K Nambiar, who commanded the IPKF operations against LTTE in Sri Lanka, said under the circumstances in which Pakistan and the Taliban had the upper hand throughout, there was no other option but to release the terrorists. Though the Government was caught flat-footed, India’s image has taken a beating and the impression conveyed has been that we are a soft state. While no self-respecting nation should have succumbed to the pressures, Gen Nambiar said India has for long been a target of terrorists, but we have only been shouting from roof-tops about the threat of terrorism and not taking firm steps to quell it. He also said the political parties should not take mileage out of the entire hijacking episode at it was beyond party-politics. To questions on whether the aircraft could have been prevented from taking off from Amritsar Airport, Jasjit Singh said the Pilots’ panic, which was understandable, contributed to decision-making in Delhi. Asked about the Israeli operation against hijackers at the Entebbe Airport in Kenya some years ago, the IDSA Director said it would be unfair to compare the two hijackings. For Israel at that time, it was a question of survival of the state itself, whereas that was not the issue in India. Noted defence analyst K Subrahmanyam, who headed the comprehensive probe team on Kargil intrusion and the conflict, said the hijacking was a victory for terrorism and no amount of verbiage or dissimulation can convert this setback into a victory for the Indian nation. Though apologists for the decision to exchange the terrorists for the hostages could claim that the hijackers climbed down from their demand for releasing 36 terrorists to three, he said India has not thought through its strategy to counter the proxy war threat and terrorist challenge despite having developed nuclear capability to counter Pakistan. For over a decade, an adhocist policy has been followed, throwing in the Army to counter Pakistan’s proxy war in Kashmir without a comprehensive overall strategy, Subrahmanyam said in a signed article. On the lessons drawn from the hijacking of flight IC-814, Gen Nambiar said the proxy war would have to be tackled ruthlessly and capital punishment should be awarded to terrorists. Besides this, the anti-terrorism laws should be made stringent by lawmakers in Parliament and human rights issues not come in the way of dealing with terrorists who themselves do not respect these rights, he added. (PTI) |
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Eunuch’s election shows voters disgust with politics JABALPUR, (MP), Jan 1: While election of four eunuchs in the civic polls in Madhya Pradesh is thought to be the voters’ angry reaction to the politicians, it has also given rise to a debate over the constitutional validity of the election. Kamla Jaan (Mausi) was elected Mayor of Katni Municipal Corporation while Minabai was elected Sehora Nagar Palika chairperson. Two others, Hirabai and Gulshan were elected as Corporators in Jabalpur Municipal Corporation and Bina Municipal Council respectively. The reactions gathered by UNI from cross-section of the voters reveal that at least in the case of Katni, the victory of Kamla Jaan was a show of resentment of the voters to, what they called, non-performance of the politicians. Encouraged by her victory in civic polls, Hirabai is even planning to contest the Assembly elections from Jabalpur (central). She said the eunuch community was happy over the way the people had reposed faith in them by electing four members of the community in the local bodies elections. Kamla Jaan alias Mausi is quite popular in the area and she succeeded in trouncing her BJP rival Alka Jain by a margin of 1897 votes. The Mayor’s post is reserved for women in Katni. A high school teacher in Katni, who prefers to remain annonymous, said by electing an eunuch, the voters had given a clear message that they were not happy with the present-day politics and politicians. Mr Vishnu Prasad, working in a factory at Katni, said the voters had faith in Kamla as they knew that this candidate was honest and would stand by them in good or bad times. In the state capital also, leaders of different political parties were unanimous over what they called "seemingly curious verdict" of the voters by electing eunuchs. Though some of them evadee comments on this issue, most of them considered it to be the voters’ anger towards the politicians. Bharatiya Janata Party state unit media chief Prabhat Jha said the victory of eunuchs showed that the voters were fed up with both politics and politicians. Terming it as a sort of pessimistic reaction on the part of voters, he said, "the verdict indicates a bad omen of some revolution at a time when the country is entering the 21st century". Senior Communist Party of India leader Balkrishna Gupta also conurred with the view that the election results displayed the voters’ ire towards politicians. However, Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary Shelendra Shelly does not find any hing strange in the elections of eunuchs. In a democratic system, voters were free to elect their representatives of their own choice, he added. All the four local bodies from where eunuchs were elected were reserved for women. This has given rise to a debate over the constitutional validity of their election. However, the state election office sources said as all the winning candidates were enlisted in the voters’ list, they had the constitutional right to contest the election. Those objecting to their election could file a petition in the court, the sources added. The eunuchs continue to be euphoric over the victory of four members of their community. Eunuchs from different parts of the state were reaching here to congratulate newly elected corporator Hirabai. Neelam, an eunuch said the representation of their community in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha was the need of the hour. "We are grateful to the people of Mahakushal for boosting our morale to come forward and fulfil the responsibility in the field of social service", Neelam added. (UNI) |
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