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Eyewitness identifies 2 accused in Gulshan case MUMBAI, June 18: An eyewitness in the sensational Gulshan Kumar murder case today identified two accused during an identification parade held at the city, Civil and Sessions Court here. ....more IAF launches training course for spouses of senior officials BANGALORE, June 18: Indian Air Force is planning to launch a special training programme for senior officials and their wives. . ...more Women in Rajasthan find water, and with it freedom BHIKAMPURA (RAJASTHAN), June 18: Some 3500 women from 11 districts in Rajasthan converged in this small village in Alwar district for a ....more UP Govt effects a major administrative reshuffle LUCKNOW, June 18: A day after transferring 63 Indian Police Services (IPS) officers, the Uttar Pradesh Government today....more |
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No truck between KANPUR, June 18: Uttar Pradesh Food and Civil Supply Minister and Kisan Mazdoor Bahujan Samaj Party chief Chaudhary Narendra Singh today said ...more Cong
hopeful of coming NEW DELHI, June 18: The Congress is hopeful of coming to power in Punjab where Assembly elections are expected to be held early next year, ...more PM-Musharraf
talks MUMBAI, June 18: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today said the proposed talks between Prime Minister Atal Behar ....more Govt
to bar many NEW DELHI, June 18: More than 30 medical and dental colleges in the country would be allowed to take up new.more |
Eyewitness identifies 2 accused in Gulshan case MUMBAI, June 18: An eyewitness in the sensational Gulshan Kumar murder case today identified two accused during an identification parade held at the city, Civil and Sessions Court here. Deposing before Additional Sessions Judge M L Tahilyani, the eyewitness, Ramchandra Lavangare (49), who is also the complainant in the case, identified Abdul Rauf Dawood Merchant and Abdul Rashid Dawood Merchant as the sharp shooters, who gunned down ‘audio king’ Gulshan Kumar. Lavangare, during his deposition told the court that there were three accused, who fired at Gulshan Kumar and confirmed the identity of the two present in the court room. Third shooter is absconding and has been declared a proclaimed offender. Replying to a question by Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, Lavangare unfolded the series of events of the shoot out that took place near a Shiva Temple at Andheri in north-west Mumbai on August 12, 1997. He said the trip sprayed bullets at Gulshan Kumar, using sophisticated firearms, after which the latter fell to the ground. Despite his injuries, he had tried to run twice but as the accused kept on firing indiscriminately, the cassette king collapsed and breathed his last. The prosecution said that police recovered 12 empties from the place of shoot-out. The eyewitness, who is also the trustee of the Shiv Mandir said that Gulshan Kumar used to visit the temple every morning over the past several years. Lavangre said that later Gulshan Kumar was rushed to the Cooper Hospital and was pronounced dead on admission. It may be recalled that Abdul Rauf Dawood Merchant was one of the shooters in the case, who was arrested on January eight in Kolkata. Lavangre, who has been given police protection, was the first out of the 270 witnessess to be examined by the court including film personalities and music bigwigs. All the 17 arrested accused in the case were brought to the court amid tight security. However, the trial was delayed by four years following the extradition proceedings by the Indian Government in London against the prime accused music director Nadeem Akhtar Saifee, who is allegedly one of the prime conspirators in the case and is now in Britain. A British court has rejected the plea of the Indian Government and the Mumbai Police seeking Nadeem’s extradition. The House of Lords later discharged Nadeem from the extradition case. Nadeem, it is alleged, has conspired with the Abu Salem faction of the Dawood Ibrahim gang to murder Gulshan Kumar. (UNI) |
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IAF launches training course for spouses of senior officials BANGALORE, June 18: Indian Air Force is planning to launch a special training programme for senior officials and their wives. Air Marshal T J Master, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the training command here told a group of visiting journalists that the course, a brainchild of Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis will be for officials of the rank of Air Commodore and above and their spouses. It would give the officials necessary training before they take independent charge of their units. The wives would be trained in welfare services like meeting the needs of the families of deceased airmen and other such activities. First such exposure will be conducted for two weeks from July 2 at the college of Air Warfare, Secunderabad, he said. "The training will focus not only on professional field but also the human aspect. It can be achieved only by improving both the work and home environment. It will help individuals pick up the right approach. The short duration course is meant for people to get together and work out for themselves what is the need of the nation." This is the first such course in which wives would also participate. Earlier, only wives of airmen going into diplomatic assignments were imparted such training. Realising the importance of in-service training to airmen, the College of Air Warfare is focussing on training middle level and senior officers to appreciated nuances of aerospace powers and its advantages. A series of seminars is being organised on the subject, Air Marshal master said and added that one such seminar will be held in october around the air force day. Many publications and periodicals would be brought out to help understand the way of life in iaf and strategic importance of air power. Meanwhile, every officer and airman now has to undergo a basic six-month training to inculcate the mission and ethos of air force, before he is given his posting. Earlier, this training was imparted at the different countries. (UNI) |
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Women in Rajasthan find water, and with it freedom BHIKAMPURA (RAJASTHAN), June 18: Some 3500 women from 11 districts in Rajasthan converged in this small village in Alwar district for a three-day get-together to celebrate their newly found strength which has its source ironically in the rarest thing found in the state - water. The June 15-17 meet in this quaint little village was a manifestation of a revolution going on silently in the villages of 11 districts in Rajasthan for the past four years - women getting together to form ‘Samuh’ or groups to give themselves a social forum. Sitting in groups under a colourful Pandal, applying Henna on each other’s palms and singing what sound like folk songs, these women at first sight appeared to be indulging in festive rituals. But they were actually creating songs on the spot; Songs about serious issues like harvesting water, the importance of education, the need to save money and most importantly about sisterhood, about women joining hands. In the last four years, women in some 800 villages in 11 districts of Rajasthan have formed ‘Samuh’ under the guidance of an NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh, initially to have a say in decisions taken by the ‘Gram Sabha’ regarding construction of ‘Johad’ or small dams, and later to issues like getting their husbands rid of alcoholism. "Earlier, women too would contribute with manual labour in the making of Johad, but only the men took decisions about the nature of the dam to be made, about how the money for the work would be mobilised. Now we are more vocal, and are being heard," said chhoti devi, a delegate from Kohili village in Karoli district. "The men have to hear us because we are now contributing to the water harvesting project" said Kajori, who came from Rajkot village in Sariska district. Samuh-members are now saving their earnings, and multiplying it by lending it out on interest, as well as contributing it to water harversting work. Kajori’s Samuh has contributed financially to the construction of four Johads. "The Samuh is also eligible for bank loans, so we are women with money in hand. The men have no choice but to take us seriously," quipped Chhoti Devi. The many Samuh have also fought against alcohol abuse. "Earlier, we watched helplessly if our husband happened to be an alcoholic. But the Samuh gave us the strength to coerce the Sarpanch to close down the liquor shops in the village," said Kajori. "Liquor shops located near dhabas on the highway is one big reason why truck drivers indulge in rash driving and meet with accidents. Why doesn’t Government close them down?" posed Darbi, who belongs to Rajahera village in Karoli district. Divided into groups of 15 each, the women had discussions on topics as wide-ranging as the Women’s Reservation Bill to something as basic as "isn’t it better to store grains in drums rather than Kothis (container made of mud)?" "I got a very logical view on the issue of having separate quotas for women from the weaker sections in the Women’s Reservation Bill - `the problems of women are the same, irrespective of the social stratum she belongs to, hence why the talk about separate quotas?’" said former MP Pramila Dandavate," who, having heard of the Samuh culture, was here to see it for herself. The many groups had discussions on topics like ‘how do you view your village 10 years from now’, ‘the role of women in management of natural resources’ and ‘how the strength the women have found can be made long-lasting, said Rajendra Singh, the founder of Tarun Bharat Sangh. "We did not have a time-bound prior agenda. It was up to the women to give the meeting a direction," Singh said. "In their own way, they have taken the meet to its logical conclusion - they have reiterated their determination in continuing with the Samuh, have learnt from each other’s experiences and have made their views known, many a time by breaking into a song," he added. "Innumerable songs were made here, but my favourite is the one about about how a woman persuaded her husband to bring her to the meet, Singh said. (PTI) |
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PM-Musharraf talks ‘exercise in futility’, says Thackeray MUMBAI, June 18: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today said the proposed talks between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf would be ‘an exercise in futility’. ‘There will not be any concrete outcome of the summit talks and we should not expect much from it’, he was quoted as saying in the party mouthpiece ‘Dopahar Ka Saamna’ here. Thackeray, whose party is a coalition partner in the NDA Government at the Centre, said, ‘Gen Musharraf is indulging in double-speak on the Kashmir issue by sending out conflicting signals’. ‘In one posture, he was trying to project himself as a messiah of peace while in another the Pakistani Chief Executive was articulating a rigid and uncompromising stand on the Kashmir issue’, the Sena supremo said. The 54-year-old Kashmir issue would continue to defy a solution if Pakistani rulers stuck to their old policies, Thackeray added. (PTI) |
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Govt to bar many medical colleges from taking new batch NEW DELHI, June 18: More than 30 medical and dental colleges in the country would be allowed to take up new batches this year only if they get renewal sanctions, sources in the Health Ministry said today. "The colleges which fail to get prior sanction for the renewal of seats from the ministry will not be allowed to accomodate students in the new batch. The decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting recently," the sources said. With the implementation of this decision, 15 colleges from Punjab, ten from Karnataka, six from Andhra Pradesh and two from Kerala would lose about 2, 500 seats this academic year. Every year, the approved colleges have to get the renewal sanctions from the ministry for new admissions, the sources said. However, the State Governments issued seats without consulting the ministry and without checking if these institutions had got proper sanctions. The ministry in consultation with the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Dental Council of India (DCI) has taken the decision after finding colleges mushrooming without any basic infrastructure or the required staff and the proper syllabi. "There is also a possibility of these colleges being derecognised in the near future if they do not follow the rules and regulations of the MCI and the DCI," the sources added. A list of the colleges which have got renewal sanctions would be published by the ministry on June 30, they said. Several students across the country have been fleeced by these colleges and cases with the councils were pending in the courts, the sources said. The students should check with the authorities before enrolling in profesional colleges, they added. (UNI) |
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