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Agra on summit eve AGRA, July 14: Sharpshooters today took positions on several rooftops around the venue for tomorrow’s....more Begum Sehba to visit AGRA, July 14: When Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is busy holding talks with Indian Prime ......more Bhim begins dharna AGRA, July 14: Protesting the Pakistan’s harping on Kashmir as the core issue, Jammu and Kashmir ....more Indian flag seen NEW DELHI, July 14: The first encouraging sign of the summit was the fluttering of the Indian flag ......more |
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Musharraf given ceremonial reception NEW DELHI, July 14: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was today accorded a warm ceremonial .....more Musharraf returns NEW DELHI, July 14: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was today a guest in his own home, ....more Pandits protest NEW DELHI, July 14: Kashmiri Pandits today protested Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s ....more Apex court turns down NEW DELHI, July 14: The Supreme Court has turned down a judgement of the Andhra Pradesh High.......more |
Excitement in Agra on summit eve AGRA, July 14: Sharpshooters today took positions on several rooftops around the venue for tomorrow’s Indo-Pak summit here while policemen patrolled the city street on horses and various vehicles. A light drizzle in morning washed the spruced-up city as the National Security Guards (NSG) commandos sanitised and virtually sealed hotel Jaypee Palace, the venue of talks between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf. Only the hotel staff who have been issued special passes were allowed in besides the guests. The Ministry of External Affairs has booked 150-odd rooms at the hotel. Dog squads sniff around at intervals at the group lounge where Mr Vajpayee and Gen Musharraf will have one-on-one sitting and the facing group reception area where officials from both countries will have discussions. The other hotel which is buzzing with activity is Amar Vilas where Gen. Musharraf and Begum Sehba will stay overnight. Mr Vajpayee, who is expected to arrive here around midnight today, will put up at the Jaypee Palace. Gen Musharraf and his team will land at 0940 hrs tomorrow. Uttar Pradesh Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri and Chief Minister Rajnath Singh are expected here by this afternoon to receive the Prime Minister. Outside, hectic administrative activity has been on for over a month now. Agra Commissioner Subodh Nath Jha, District Magistrate Kumar Kamlesh, Additional District Magistrate (protocol) V K Yadav have held several interactive meetings with security agencies including the special task force, the special protection group, the rapid action force, the provincial armed constabulary and local police. The security arrangements also include closed circuit televisions, bomb disposal, mine detection and anti-sabotage squads. Several agra residents, especially those staying around the delhi cantonment area from where the vvip entourage will proceed from 4 wing air force station to hotel Jaypee Palace on Fetahbad Road, have already started facing restricted movements. Their excitement drowns the discomfort, hence nobody is complaining. Meanwhile, highway patrol police has been carrying out security checks on vehicles coming into the erstwhile Mughal capital. History sheeters have been rounded up and cyber cafes asked to keep records about the visiting clients. Police is also combing villages around the city for suspicious characters or terrorists who might take shelter there. A round-the-clock motor boat patrol on yamuna river has also been under way for about two weeks. As officials wrestle with the problem of providing top-of-the-line security and royal comforts to summit delegates, the state medical top brass is taking no chances. A new operation theatre has come up at the Army hospital which will be under the charge of chief security officer of Gen Musharraf. Another operation theatre equipped with modern gadgetry will be under the charge of Mr Vajpayee’s medical team. Several units of specific blood groups have been placed under refrigerating units of the Army hospital. (UNI) |
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Begum Sehba to visit Fatehpur Sikri today AGRA, July 14: When Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is busy holding talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee tomorrow, Begum Sehba will visit the Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar’s 15th century city which symbolises secularism. The Begum is likely to spend around half-an-hour there tomorrow morning and will be taken around the red sandstone minarets by archaeologist Mohammad K K, the same guide who will show the Taj later in the day to her and the President. "The Ibadat Khana where Akbar listened to leaders of all faiths at the Fatehpur Sikri is a symbol of Indian secularism," said Mohammad, who has recently excavated some structures nearby discovering that Akbar had also built a chapel for the Christian community there. Heavy security guards the nearly 40 km stretch from agra to the the walled city with nine gates including the Buland Darwaza, where Begum Sehba is to visit the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti, yet another masterpiece of marble-work in the country. As last minute preparations are on for the begum’s visit, entry for the general public to the Fatehpur Sikri has been closed from this afternoon. Mohammad said his excavations had also unearthed a single vaulted chamber at the Diwan-i-Khas, which was used by Akbar to do the Surya Sahastrabdi, the Hindu worship of the sun, and the Agni Puja. The magnificent architecture in city has been drawn from mosques, temples and churches beside which there are carvings denoting even Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Jewish cultures. Akbar is also said to have built a school for girls from the royal family besides a five-floor Hawa Mahal in Buddhist architecture - it is entirely built on pillars and has no walls. The place where Tansen Sang various raagas, from where Akbar watched the performance, the Ganga Jal Pot, the Mariam Ka Mahal where a mosque and a temple with Lord Krishna’s mural stand side by side and the Tulsi pot in the courtyard of Jodhabai’s palace all signify a confluence of faiths. (PTI) |
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Bhim begins dharna asking Pak to withdraw from PoK AGRA, July 14: Protesting the Pakistan’s harping on Kashmir as the core issue, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party president Bhim Singh today started his dharna near the venue for Indo-Pak talks saying it was Pakistan which has to withdraw from occupied Kashmir. Sore over preferences shown to the Hurriyat Conference leaders by the Pakistan High Commission by inviting them to a reception for President Musharraf, Singh told PTI "Hurriyat does not even represent six per cent of the Muslim population of the Valley" "I am talking on behalf of the people of Kashmir, who firmly believe in the Indian nationalism and are wedded to the ethos of brotherhood and democracy," he said, adding "we would like to convey to Pakistani President Gen Musharraf that people of Jammu and Kashmir would not allow division of the state on communal basis." He said he was absolutely sure that Musharraf was coming to India to give legitimacy to the Dickson plan. The Australian Judge Owen Dickson in 1950 as an emissary of United Nations had suggested division of the state on religion basis to offer a face saving device to Pakistan to bail it out of the UN resolution asking the Islamic republic to vacate the occupied Kashmir, he said. "It is Pakistan which has created hell in the state by sending fundamentalists, terrorists and Taliban to carry on subversive activities. Musharraf must understand that people of Jammu and Kashmir have acceded to India in 1947 only when the state was invaded by Pakistan," he said. Still one-third of the state having an area of 32,500 sq miles comprising Azad Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan region, was under Pak occupation, he said adding "we are holding a dharna here on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to urge Musharraf to vacate these areas in accordance with the UN resolution.’ "If he is not prepared to vacate these areas, then he should conduct a plebiscite there to ascertain whether the people of that area wanted to stay with Pakistan," said Singh, who was accompanied by a dozen activists of his party including its general secretary D S Billauria. Curious onlookers, who are not familiar with the name of the party, were seen asking for pamphlets even as police tried its level best to dissuade Singh from holding the dharna. However, Singh continued his protest agitation. (PTI) |
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Pandits protest Musharraf’s decision to meet Hurriyat NEW DELHI, July 14: Kashmiri Pandits today protested Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s decision to meet the leaders of Hurriyat Conference saying "they (Hurriyat) are responsible for cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir which has rendered several families homeless". "Hurriyat leaders are not the true representatives of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the creation of Pakistan and they have worked hand in glove with Islamabad to cause misery in the state," A N Vaishanavi, president of All State Kashmir Pandit Conference told PTI here. Holding dharna and shouting anti-Musharraf slogans, they demanded inclusion of Kashmiri Pandits in the peace talks and said "without the representation of the Pandits human touch to the meeting would not be possible". Stating that Kashmiri Pandits were not against President Musharraf’s visit, Vaishnavi said "we wish that the summit is a success, but we want to remind him (Musharraf) that Pakistan is responsible for making 3.5 lakh families homeless". (PTI) |
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Apex court turns down AP High Court ruling NEW DELHI, July 14: The Supreme Court has turned down a judgement of the Andhra Pradesh High Court setting aside orders of the State Government appointing a commission under the Commission of Enquiry Act 1952 to go into the Yeleru land acquisition scam. The alleged scam, relating to the works on the Yeluru Canal, had rocked the State Assembly for long in 1996 and 1997. Allowing appeals by Congress Legislature Party leader P Janardhana Reddy, in its judgemnet delivered yesterday, a bench of Justice D P Mohapatra and Justice Sivaraj V Patil said: "We are not persuaded to accept the view taken in the judgment dated June 23, 1999 of the High Court, quashing the appointment of enquiry under the act." The Commission of enquiry was appointed following a statement by the Chief Minister on the floor of the house on December 13, 1996 that he had no objection if a sitting judge of the High Court was posted for conducting an enquiry and rendering punishment under its supervision into the scam relating to the payment of exorbitant compensation in Yeleru land aquisition scam. The High Court had quashed the State Government order appointing the commission vide GO MS No 83, dated February 5, 1997 and GO MS No 468, dated June 2, 1997 holding inter alia that the Government did not form any opinion to appiont the commission under the act. The Supreme Court in its judgement said that when the Chief Minister of the state expressed on the floor of the house that he had no objection for appointment of an enquiry under the act to inquire into the serious allegation regarding irregularities in payment of compensation for the aquired land, it was reasonable to presume that he had gien neccessary thought to the matter and on being satisfied that it was neccessary to do so, expreesed his agreement for the appointment of a commision of enquiry under the act. The statement was made on behalf of the State Government, the court added. "Indeed, there is little scope for doubt that the controversy is a matter of public importance and it is but appropriate that the State Government wanted a detailed enquiry into the matter for its information and guidance," the court observed. The court noted that a serious matter of public importance which gave rise to criticism from different quarters against public functionaries and also private persons was a matter which called for proper enquiry and if the State Government in its wisdom thought it proper to entrust the enquiry to a sitting or retired judge of the HC no exception could be taken to such an action. "It is desirable that activities of public functionaries should be above board and if allegations and criticism are received in that regard the matter should be immediately inquired into and appropriate follow up action taken. The need is all the more important in matters relating to public money," the court said. The High Court, the apex court judges said, omitted to look into the main purpose of appointment of commission of enquiry under the act and interfered with the notifications issued by the state Government without any firm basis in law and without justification of facts. (UNI) |
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