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Major gas leak as KOZHIKODE, Dec 20: Panic-stricken people scampered for safety following a massive leak of ammonia after a tanker carrying....more US
should not advise NEW DELHI, Dec 20: The Union Minister for science and technology and human resource development Murli Manohar Joshi...more Congress
to keep NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today said her party would keep a strict vigil over the administrative,....more Good
monsoon after JAIPUR, Dec 20: A good monsoon after three consecutive years of ravaging drought was thehighlight of the first year...more |
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"Prasar Bharati should
NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Government must strive to secure an "accountable, credible and efficient" Prasar Bharati which is financially stable, free from ..more Polluting
factory NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Remaining in the limelight for the long-drawn tussle with the city Government for taking strong measures....more UP
election results will shape future Indian RANCHI, Dec 20: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Laloo Prasad Yadav today said the coming Assembly polls in.....more Notice
to Van Gujjars DEHRA DUN, Dec 20: The pastoral Van Gujjars living within the Rajaji (proposed) National Park in Uttaranchal......more |
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Major gas leak as tanker lorry capsizes, 2 killed KOZHIKODE, Dec 20: Panic-stricken people scampered for safety following a massive leak of ammonia after a tanker carrying thousands of litres of the gas collided with a goods carrier killing two persons and injuring three in the wee hours today. The driver and cleaner of the goods carrier were killed on the spot while three were injured, police said. The injured had been hospitalised. Fire Force and police personnel were carrying out preliminary rescue operations by pumping out water to dilute the toxic effect of the gas, the sources said, adding people living in the vicinity of the accident site had been asked to vacate the area as a precautionary measure. ‘There is no need for panic and evacuation is being done as a precautionary measure’, City Mayor Thottathil Ravindran, who visited the spot along with Police Commissioner Patjoshi, said. Experts had been summoned to assist in the operations, he said. A PTI correspondent, who visited the site, could smell the pungent odour and feel severe eye irritation hours after the accident. The tanker lorry was coming from Mangalore while the goods carrier was on its way from Wyanad when the mishap took place, police said. Eyewitnesses said a heavy noise was heard around 1 a.m. and the entire area upto 100 metres was covered with a thick smoke even as gas began leaking from the capsized tanker. People, who soon began feeling severe irritation in the eyes and unable to bear the pungent smell, ran away from their houses to far-off places fearing serious effects on account of the gas leak. The district administration had announced that cleaning up operations would be completed soon and that the residents could return to their houses by evening. Police had been asked to help the people in evacuating them to places of safety. (PTI) |
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US should not advise us on exercising restraint: Joshi NEW DELHI, Dec 20: The Union Minister for science and technology and human resource development Murli Manohar Joshi today took umbrage at the United States’ counsel to India to exercise restraint in its dealings with Pakistan in view of the December 13 attack on Parliament. We have been exercising restraint since 1947. When Pakistan captured a part of Kashmir, we could have entered the heart of Pakistan but we did not. We have had problems with Bangladesh and China, but we exercised restraint, Dr Joshi, who delivered the keynote address at the international symposium "from quanta to qubits" of the centre of philosophy and foundations of science here, told UNI. Asked whether the limits of restraint had been crossed, he said that had to be decided by the National Security Council. But who are they (the US) to tell us what to do? , he asked. We are a sovereign country and must preserve our sovereignty, economic, social and political, at all costs. We should always give importance to our sovereignty at national as well as individual levels, Dr Joshi said. The root cause of terrorism, Dr Joshi further said, was fragmentation in society, which manifested itself in different aspects like religion, geography and so on. (UNI) |
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Congress to keep vigil over diplomatic steps of centre NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today said her party would keep a strict vigil over the administrative, political and diplomatic steps which the NDA government initiates in tackling the extraordinary situation arising following the terrorist attack on Parliament. "We must keep vigil over the administrative, political and diplomatic steps which the Government takes to meet the needs of the extraordinary situation. Precious little substance was revealed by Government in Parliament about what specifically it intends to do", Gandhi said while addressing a general body meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party. Gandhi, who is also the leader of opposition and chairperson of the CPP said though the whole nation would rise as one to combat terrorism which has been ailing the country for more than two decades, Congress would be very carefully monitoring developments in this regard. Gandhi also assailed the Government for its failure to act against terrorism inspite of advance intelligence furnished to it, including that from Maharashtra Government. "It was the failure of the intelligence which led to tragedy of Kargil. It is again the failure to act upon available intelligence which lies at the root of the attack on Parliament", she said. Referring to the "unfortunate" climax to the session which has been declared sine die two days before its schedule, Gandhi said though the democracy survived following the attack, it was due to the bravery and unflinching sense of duty of those nine men and women who sacrificed their lives. Strongly opposing the re-induction of Defence Minister George Fernandes and Harin Pathak into the cabinet, Gandhi said it was "inexplicable" that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was so weak to admit back to his Council of Ministers, "persons who have been so discredited that he himself had asked them to leave". "They have not been cleared. Indeed, the judicial process, in some cases, and commissions of enquiry, in other cases, are far from completing their work," she said adding if the Prime Minister has succumbed to internal political pressure to accomodate these flawed persons then it gives the country no confidence in the ability of his Government to resist unhealthy influences in other areas of concern. "The CAG report is conclusive and damning.....Instead of making a clean breast of its mistakes, the Government has sought to hide its weaknesses behind a smokescreen of technicalities", she said. Gandhi said Congress was ready for a through debate on the issue but it was the adamant Government, knowing its makes would be revealed, that it procrastinates. (PTI) |
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UP election results will shape future Indian politics: Laloo RANCHI, Dec 20: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Laloo Prasad Yadav today said the coming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will shape the future of politics in the country. "The country is passing through its worst phase and is facing threat on all fronts," Mr Yadav said adding the attack on Parliament had exposed the weakness of the Vajpayee Government. Asked about the elections in UP, the RJD supremo said his party had decided to ally with the Congress and other like-minded parties who were out to dislodge the ruling NDA Government at the Centre. "Efforts are underway to mobilise the non-BJP parties for forming an alternative front at the national level," he added. Mr Yadav said talks had already been initiated with the Congress and the Left Parties. The Samajwadi Party is also being consulted in this regard, he added. Mr Yadav said talks on the formation of the front have also been held with former Prime Ministers Chandrashekhar and V P Singh who had called on him in Patna. Even the regional parties were being contacted for a grand union of forces opposed to the saffron brigade, he added. The RJD chief said the Vajpayee Government had miserably failed on all fronts. The recent attack on Parliament had exposed the weaknesses of the NDA regime, he added. Charging the NDA with having failed on the external front, he said it had ‘worsened’ the country’s relations with its neighbours. To a query, he said the Centre must immediately consult all political parties for a solution to the problem. "War is no solution and the centre must act with a cool head in the given situation," Mr Yadav said. He said the Government must come out immediately with a specific statement on the attack on Parliament. Mr Yadav criticised the centre for the alleged financial irregularities in the purchase of coffins for Kargil martyrs and the induction of George Fernandes in the Union Cabinet. "The move proved that the NDA’s stand on corruption was hollow." He dared the Centre to implement the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) saying the RJD will oppose any such move. "The existing laws were enough to counter terrorism and there was no need to enact fresh laws. The RJD would not allow POTO to be implemented in Bihar and also in Jharkhand," the RJD chief said. He charged the Jharkhand Government with implementing POTO through the backdoor. "The move will be strongly opposed at all levels. It was unfortunate that arrests were being made in the state under the anti-terrorism ordinance." The RJD will play a decisive role in the formation of the new Government in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Yadav said. (UNI) |
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Notice to Van Gujjars in wake of recent elephant killings DEHRA DUN, Dec 20: The pastoral Van Gujjars living within the Rajaji (proposed) National Park in Uttaranchal have received a notice from the Government which puts the onus on them to inform the authorities on animal killings in the park area. The notice warns that any failure to comply with the directive would make them directly responsible for the crime and invite appropriate legal action. The notice has been issued from Pauri in which district falls the Gohari range of the park where two elephants were found dead recently. The elephants were killed on December four but the carcasses were found much later. Superintendent of Police (Pauri) Abhinav Kumar told UNI that the notice had been issued to the Van Gujjars by the police on December 14. This has again brought into focus the plight of the Van-Gujjars who have been residing in these forests for more than a hundred years now. It is their traditional home and during the summer months they migrate to the upper himalayas to find pastures for their buffaloes. During this period the forests of the Shivaliks, where the Rajaji Park is located, get a chance to regenerate. Environmentalist Avadhesh Kaushal termed the police notice as ‘unfair and prejudiced’. When five elephants were killed in the corbett tiger reserve last year, the kilers finally turned out to be a group from the north east and even in these elephant killings in Rajaji this month, there was no proof of involvement of any Van Gujjars, he said. Uttaranchal Assistant Director General of Police (ADGP) Anil K Raturi said no breakthrough had been made so far in the case. We are interrogating a lot of people in this case but the people responsible for killing the two elephants in Gohari range have not been traced, he added. Dr R S Tolia, Principal Secretary (Forests), Uttaranchal, said the terrain of the Gohari range was extremely difficult and conducting investigations a tough task. The delay in the discovery of the carcasses has also complicated the case, he said. One of the two forest rangers of that beat had been suspended and the other transferred. All employees of the Forest Department found lacking in responsibility would be dealt with strictly, he said. (UNI) |
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