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US planes pound Taliban front, envoy defiant KABUL/JABAL-US-SARAJ (AFGHANISTAN), Oct 24: US warplanes today hit the Taliban frontline north of Kabul, but the movement’s sole ambassador said it would not hand over Osama bin Laden even at the cost of every life in Afghanistan. Waves of aircraft roared over the frontline trenches of the Taliban facing the opposition Northern Alliance a few kilometres north of the capital and fired at Taliban targets after a night of heavy bombing of Kabul. The raids were the heaviest on the Taliban front since they began on Sunday. Watching from the roof of his frontline position, opposition commander Abdul Mahfus said the missiles had landed near four Taliban strongholds facing the strategic opposition-held airport of Bagram. At least four jets could be seen high in the sky. A single warplane would break away, dive, and release two missiles before climbing steeply. But Taliban leaders breathed defiance, saying they were arming villagers to resist US ground attacks. They vowed to fight to the last man. "Now our decision is to form armed groups in villages and all provinces of Afghanistan to confront the United States and its friends in a possible commando operation," Education Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told Reuters television in an interview in Kabul. Eighteen days of US air raids had inflicted some damage, but the Taliban remained defiant, Muttaqi said. "Ground forces are important here and they are all in place. Of course, damage has been inflicted on some radar, technical instruments and airports, but no difference has occurred to the strength and order of the detachments of the Islamic emirate (Taliban)," he said. Muttaqi said the Taliban were battle-hardened and had great experience of ground warfare in Afghanistan’s rugged terrain after fighting the Soviet occupation between 1979 and 1989. If American troops entered Afghanistan, they would suffer huge casualties, he warned. "Their casualties will be higher than the Russians because Americans are people of (more) pleasure and comfort than the Russian people," he said. Moscow lost some 17,000 troops in its Afghan war. "There is no doubt that our Mujahideen and people have training of the past and have good experience in ground battle," he said, adding that they did not need to depend on sophisticated communications and computers for their war. "A ground force is important here and they are all in place," he said. "It is true that their technology is more advanced than ours but as long as one Muslim Afghan is alive he will not surrender to America," he said. But ordinary Afghans in Kabul appeared shaken on the 18th day of US strikes on Afghanistan to punish the Taliban militia for providing a haven for the man wanted for masterminding the September 11 suicide plane attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and sliced into the Pentagon. US planes screamed over the capital through the night and the sounds of huge explosions echoed through the empty streets as residents cowered in their homes, trapped by a nighttime curfew. "It was a horrible night, planes coming and going, coming and going. They stopped around prayers at dawn and have not resumed," said one witness. But US forces, which said they inadvertently hit a home for the elderly in the western city of Herat earlier in the week, struck a village in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 52 people, the Pakistan-based Islamic Afghan Press agency said. The village, identified as Chakor Kariz, about 40 km (25 miles) southeast of the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, was bombed by US-led forces yesterday. Most victims were nomads, AIP said quoting unidentified sources. There was no independent confirmation of the report. A number of civilians has been killed and wounded since the United States launched its campaign, but Washington has dismissed Taliban claims of more than 1,000 civilian deaths as wildly exaggerated. But the sole foreign envoy of the isolated hardline Taliban vowed the movement would not hand over bin Laden, even at the cost of every life in Afghanistan. Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef said Afghanistan was ready to attack the United States — if only it had the resources — and vowed to kill Americans in revenge for their killing of Afghans. "We are not going to hand over Osama bin Laden to them," he told Reuters in an interview in Islamabad. "If they were to kill all of the nation of Afghanistan, we will not hand over Osama bin Laden because we have law, we have respect for the honour of Afghanistan, we have the culture of Afghanistan and this is against the culture of Afghanistan." He did not rule out the possibility of negotiation to solve the crisis, but insisted that Afghanistan was ready to fight to the last drop of its blood in defence of honour. He dismissed US reports that an air raid on the western city of Herat had mistakenly hit a home for the elderly, repeating that the stray bomb had destroyed a hospital and a nearby mosque. He said Afghanistan had no such homes and the old were taken care of by their own families. Washington has disputed a Taliban report that US bombing had killed more than 100 people in a Herat hospital. While there was no respite in the rain of death from the skies, on the ground it appeared an offensive in the north by opposition fighters against the strategic city of Mazar-i-Sharif had paused. "With the grace of God, there is calm there," Mohammad Habeel, spokesman for the opposition Northern Alliance told Reuters by satellite phone from near the front line. "Right now there is no fighting," he said without giving further details or saying if the Taliban had fought the offensive to a standstill. The forces of anti-Taliban warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum launched the assault — coinciding with US air raids on the area — against the fundamentalist Islamic militia on Monday in Keshendeh, some 40 km (25 miles) south of Mazar-i-Sharif. (REUTERS) |
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Police open firing on
demonstrators ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: Police today opened fire to disperse thousands of angry demonstrators protesting the authorities’ refusal to allow bodies of the eight of the 22 Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militants who were killed in US air raids in Kabul. Earlier in the day, a crowd of 5000 people who had gathered for the funeral prayers of the ultras in Karachi turned violent on being told that Pakistan border guards refused to let the bodies inside the country for burial. The border guards prevented vehicles carrying the bodies of the eight militants to enter the country saying they have instructions from higher authorities not to receive the bodies. But late this evening, the protests were defused when the authorities allowed the bodies in at the Torkham point in North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan. Earlier in the day a crowd of more than 5,000 people had gathered in Pakistan’s largest city for funeral prayers for the militants. They grew angry after being told the authorities had refused to let eight of the bodies back into Pakistan. Thirty-five members of the group were reported killed in a US bomb attack on the Afghan capital, part of the US campaign against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden’s network. The demonstrators, who stripped one policeman naked, vowed they would not leave the public square where the protest was staged until the Government agreed the bodies could be returned to Pakistan. The bodies were earlier turned back at the border with Afghanistan in what was seen as a warning to radical Muslim groups about fighting with the Taliban against the US-led anti-terrorism coalition. Mufti Jamil, a cleric and senior official in the fundamentalist Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) political party, told AFP the dead men belonged to Harkat and were in Kabul to wage a jehad when they were killed. A US bomb landed on a house in Darul Aman, south of Kabul where the men were staying. A Taliban base in the area is a known centre for foreign, mostly Arab, fighters who have joined the Taliban, according to local residents. Reports say several thousand Pakistanis, many of them youths from Islamic seminaries, have answered the Taliban’s call for a "jihad" holy war against the United States. "They were involved in jihad and they are martyrs," Jamil told AFP. He condemned the move to stop the bodies entering the country. An official at the Torkham crossing point in North West Frontier Province said the bodies had arrived but been refused entry. "We had instructions from higher authorities not to receive the bodies," said the official, Bakhtiar Khan. Jamil said 22 of the men killed came from Karachi and major police reinforcements were on the streets in case of protests. The JUI said the move was part of the Pakistan Government’s pro-US policy. Jamil said: "thousands of Mujahedin from Pakistan are fighting side by side with Taliban against America and more will join them," he said. Experts said letting in the bodies would have risked serious anti-US and anti-Government demonstrations at the funerals. Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan said the Government had no information about the deaths in Kabul or whether bodies had been refused. But he said: "for quite some time the Pakistan Government has impressed on the Afghanistan Government that they should not allow any Pakistanis to be part of any of their forces. "We have unconfirmed reports that 35 fighters have been martyred," a spokesman for the Harakatul Mujahideen group told Reuters. "But we have the names of 20 people who died in the attack," said the spokesman in Muzaffarabad, state capital of Pakistani occupied Kashmir. The list of dead included six commanders of the group that has long been on a US list of terrorist organisations. The group has long been believed to send its guerrillas into Afghanistan for training at the many camps there. Among the commanders was one known as Ustad Farooq from the Pakistani city of Lahore. Provincial Home Office officials in North West Frontier Province said eight bodies had been brought as far as the Torkham border post at the Western end of the Famed Kyber Pass, and 12 more were en route. However, the bodies had not been allowed into Pakistan because no permission had been received from the federal Government in Islamabad. The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press said the eight bodies had been sent back to the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The spokesman for the group had no other details about the attack but confirmed that those killed included activist Chacha Lahori, also sometimes called Baba Lahori, for his old age. It is the second time Harakatul Mujahideen has lost men in US attacks on Afghanistan. Nine fighters were killed and several wounded in cruise missile attacks by the United States on a training camp in the eastern Khost area of Afghanistan in August 1998. Following that attack the group said the US attack had destroyed their camp where activists were being trained to fight in Kashmir and denied any links to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, the main target of the cruise missile attacks. Those attacks were launched after the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998. The group was formerly known as Harakatul Ansar and was declared a terrorist group by the United States for its alleged involvement in the kidnapping of four Western tourists in Kashmir. After being listed as a terrorist outfit, the group renamed itself Harakatul Mujahideen. It was named as one of the entities whose assets were frozen by Washington due to its alleged connections with the Al Qaeda network of bin Laden following the deadly September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. The group’s main leader, Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, has not been seen since Washington put the group’s name on the list of 27 individuals and groups whose assets were frozen. The group again denied any involvement with bin Laden and vowed to continue Jihad, or holy war, against New Delhi. Harakatul Mujahideen was accused of being involved in the hijacking of an Indian Airliner in December 1999. It denied the charge, but the hijacking ended when India released Harkatul Mujahideen member Maulana Masood Azhar and two others in exchange for the passengers. Azhar later broke away and formed Jaish-e-Mohammad, a militant organisation that supports Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban and has also been placed on Washington’s list of individuals and groups suspected of having links with Al Qaeda. Jaish-e-Mohammad initially took responsibility and later denied involvement in the October 1 bombing of the State legislature of Srinagar, summer capital of Kashmir, in which 38 people were killed. (AFP/REUTERS) |
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Centre giving serious thought to nation's security: Advani NEW DELHI, Oct 24: Union Home Minister L K Advani today said Government is giving serious thought to the security of the country and was confident of tackling militancy "whether any country helps us or not." Admitting that the country’s security was being troubled by militancy, Advani told reporters on the sidelines of the 40th raising day celebrations of Indo-Tibetan Border Police "Government is giving serious thought to security and we are confident of achieving success against the war of terrorism whether any other country helps us or not." Asked whether the Mantra of "hot pursuit" had taken a back seat, Advani replied "hot pursuit has been accepted by the international community as a legitimate way to attack terrorist camps outside the country but that does not mean that we are going to do it." When asked about views of a school of thought for attacking the terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the Home Minister said the Government would tackle the menace from within its borders. The Home Minister said the idea of initiating proxy war and attacking "soft targets" was started by Pakistan after it failed to take over even an inch of land in Jammu and Kashmir during the three wars. Referring to the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, Advani said India had been highlighting the menace of terrorism for long but it was only after the suicide attacks that the world understood that terrorism had no boundaries. "Terrorism not only defies boundaries but this menace is making all the democratic countries its specific target," Advani said. He said the world should become aware of the dangerous ramifications of terrorism. About India’s stand, he said the country was capable enough to deal with the menace of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir without crossing the border even though "hot pursuit", which has now the international recognition, allowed targeting terrorist camps outside the country. "We do not want to go across the border and hit the camps. We did not do so even during the Kargil war and still won despite several problems being faced by our forces mainly by the Indian Air Force," Advani said. Earlier, addressing troops of ITBP, he announced an assistance of Rs 25 lakh for providing satellite uplinking and other facilities to its jawans posted in far flung areas. Advani eulogised the services rendered by the ITBP since 1962 in defending the frontiers of the country. The Home Minister also presented medals to awardees of President Police medals for distinguished service and police medals for meritorious services. In his address, Director General of ITBP S C Chaube listed the achievements of ITBP in the past one year in the field of counter-insurgency, mountaineering, rescue operations, welfare schemes and in the field of vocational education." Advani said he pitied Pakistan’s predicament in acknowledging terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and thus "eat its own words". Referring to the rhetorics of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf at Agra earlier this year when he had termed militancy as "freedom struggle", Advani said "what a pity that the same general ate his words and rightly termed the October one attack outside Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly as a terrorist act." Entire gathering at the 40th Raising Day of Indo-Tibetan Border Police burst into laughter when Advani likened the recent statement of Gen Musharraf with false bravado of someone who ends up licking his wounds. The Home Minister said after taking a severe beating in the three wars with India, Pakistan came up with an idea of terrorism and began a proxy war first in Punjab and now in Jammu and Kashmir. "We have given them a befitting reply in Punjab and we want to tell the world that terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir was our problem and we are strong enough to deal with it," the Home Minister said. (PTI) |
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NEW DELHI, Oct 24: "Become an Indian first, the rest will follow," was the impassioned appeal of Union Home Minister L K Advani during his address at the 40th Raising Day celebrations of Indo Tibetan Border Police today. "Citizens of the country should wake up from their slumber and give priority to national interest rather than their self interest," Advani said in his address. He said what happened in the United States in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks was a good example. "Entire America stood as one and the rival political forces in the country threw their weight behind President George Bush," he said. "I remember when our plane was hijacked from Kathmandu and taken to Kandahar, relatives of the passengers used to demonstrate daily outside Prime Minister’s residence demanding release of three hardcore militants," Advani said and compared it to the incident when some Americans were kidnapped in Iran and their relatives used to gather at one point and light candles besides praying to God for their safety. "Become an Indian first so that this country is matchless in the world," the Home Minister said. Referring to the anthrax scare in the country, he said again "discipline is essential. Whatever has taken place in the US after September 11 is a perfect example of keeping positive attitude against such terror spreading acts." "We should have a positive attitude and I assure that Government will not take any chances," he added. (PTI) |
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MUMBAI, Oct 24: Abu Salem, prime accused in Gulshan Kumar murder case and a close associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested in a Gulf country today, reports said. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who also holds the Home portfolio, told PTI the State Home Department had received information about Salem’s arrest but official confirmation was awaited. According to official sources, the Dubai Police had requested India to forward finger prints of Abu Salem to establish his identity. The sources said the request of Dubai Police was being given a top priority. "If Salem has been arrested, we will make all out efforts for his extradition," Bhujbal said. Abu Salem is wanted in several cases of murder and extortion in Mumbai. (PTI) |
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Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 24: The State Government today partially modified the transfers in civil administration involving 71 officers ordered yesterday. According to official sources, Vinod Gupta, Managing Director of State Financial Corporation (SFC), who was transferred and posted as MD SICOP, will continue on his previous posting. V C Sharma, the senior most General Manager in SICOP, has been elevated and posted as MD SICOP. |
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2 Karnah civilians killed
in LoC clash Excelsior Special Correspondent SRINAGAR, Oct 24: While as security forces eliminated five militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba in two separate gunbattles in Chadoura and Pattan, two civilians got killed in an armed clash between militants and security forces at Amrohi on LoC, in Karnah sector today. Militants also killed a Police constable in an abortive attempt on life of a Janata Dal activist in Kupwara district. Informed sources told EXCELSIOR that, on the basis of a specific information, men of Police Station Chadoura alongwith BSF 171 Bn, raided a militant hideout at Kralchak village in Chadoura area of Budgam district this afternoon. According to the tip off, three young militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad, believed to be Pakistani nationals, were present at the house of Ghulam Ahmed Mir S/o Habib Mir. As the Police and BSF contingent zeroed in on the target house, militants opened gunfire and made unsuccessful attempts to escape. In retaliatory fire, all the three militants got killed. One of them was identified as Abdur Rehman Khan of Baluchistan. Three AK-56 rifles and a wireless set were recovered from the spot. Officials claimed that there was neither any civilian casualty nor any damage to Police or BSF. However, the target house suffered partial damage in exchange of fire. On yet another specific information, troops of Rashtriya Rifles 02 Bn and SOG Magam raided a militant hideout at Nowlari village in Magam-Pattan belt of north Kashmir this evening. According to the tip off, two Pakistani militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were present at the house of one Ghulam Mohammad Dar. As security forces swooped on the target house, fierce exchange of gunfire took place in which both the militants got killed. Again, security forces did not suffer any damage nor was there any civilian casualty. Two AK-56 rifles were recovered from the site of encounter. According to a Police bulletin two unidentified militants have been killed by security forces at Hanuman Top in Kupwara district. 2 civilians killed at LoC Sources said that troops of 6/11 GR, with the village headman and few other civilians, were on a routine patrol at Amrohi on LoC in Karnah sector. As they spotted movement of some suspicious persons and directed them to halt, they responded with heavy gunfire. The village headman, Kamal-ud-din, as also fellow villager Ghulam Haider died on spot. One civilian and two soldiers sustained injuries. In retaliation, troops used mortar shelling. It could not be ascertained immediately whether there was any damage to the militants’ concentration across the LoC. Attack on JD activist’s house Sources said that late last evening, a group of militants in Army uniform appeared at the house of a JD activist, Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Dar, at Krusan in Lolab valley of Kupwara district. They told the Dar’s house-guards that some militants were present at the protected house. The guard personnel developed suspicion and directed the militants to halt. As a guard opened fire, it was quickly retaliated by militants, killing a selection grade constable, Abdul Ahad of Kooligam (Lolab), on spot. One SPO, Farooq Ahmed, who had gone out alongwith Abdul Ahad, sustained gunshot wounds. Militants escaped while lifting their .303 rifles. Officials said that headed by a head constable, there were one selectionn grade constable, one constable, one ex-serviceman and 7 SPOs at the guard duty. They had with them one SLR and four .303 rifles. |
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4 Hizb militants nabbed in Thane THANE, Oct 24: With the arrest of four militants of the banned ‘Hizbul Mujahideen’ from nearby Mumbra town, police today claimed to have unravelled a major conspiracy hatched by them to eliminate key political leaders and trigger off a chain of explosions in crowded places here. Thane Police Commissioner S M Shangari told reporters here that police had also recovered three revolvers, 26 live cartridges, incriminating documents, binoculars, mobile phones and a ‘Mumbai Guide’ from them. The militants, hailing from Baramulla in Kashmir, were identified as Javed alias Java Ahmed Mohammad Akbar Bhat (23), Farooq Ahmed Mohammad Sidiqui (23), Altaf Hussain Gulam Mohideen Bhat (19) and Farooq Ahmed Mohammad Ramzan Sopan(28). Sopan, who had been residing in various places in Mumbai and Thane district for the past one year, was involved in a number of murders in Kashmir and had fled the Valley carrying a revolver and a walkie talkie. A manhunt had been launched by the police and army for soban, who had been closely associated with the ‘Jehadi’ movement, the Police Commissioner said. Elaborating the role of Javed, he said the ultra was familiar with the route from Baramulla to Pakistan and was responsible for guiding militants across the path besides imparting training to others in the use of arms. The role of militants in the conspiracy would be known during sustained interrogations. They were remanded to police custody till October 31, Shangari said. (PTI) |
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Hurriyat leader's
links with terror trust From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Oct 24: The Muslim World League is reported to be under pressure to openly operate from Kashmir, where Muslims constitute a preponderant majority and where India continues to face "rage and revolt" from the Muslim rebels. Some Kashmiri Muslim activists, currently based in Saudi Arabia, who have been, in the past several years, acting as money-raising agents for anti-India leaders and organisations in Kashmir, are busy building pressure on the Rabita Alam-e-Islami, which is widely known as the Muslim World League outside Saudi Arabia, to open an office in Kashmir. One of these activists, according to intelligence sources, was recently in Srinagar. Before his return to Riyadh, this Muslim activist spent more than two hours with a senior leader of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and discussed, among other things, the latter’s none-too-old missive to the Saudi Arabia-based chief of the Rabita Alam-e-Islami. SPECIAL REPORT The Hurriyat leader, who campaigns for Islamic order in Kashmir and the merger of Muslim Kashmir with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, had, in his missive, urged the chief of the Muslim World League to "favourably consider" the proposal for setting up an office of the Rabita Alam-e-Islami in the Valley. The Muslim World League has offices all over the world. According to uncontradicted reports, millions of dollars are being routed through these offices to promote Islam through charity work and publications. The Government of India has already been provided with a set of reports vis-à-vis the flow of undisclosed amounts of money into the hands of some Muslim fundamentalist and secessionist leaders in Kashmir since 1987. The Government, a highly-placed source told EXCELSIOR, also possessed evidence of funds being routed through the Muslim World League to Al-Rasheed Trust and the Rabita Trust in Pakistan. Al-Rasheed Trust and Rabita Trust were recently placed in the terrorist entities list of the US State Department. And the two trusts, America’s CIA has confirmed, received millions of dollars from their Saudi Arabia-based patron, Rabita Alam-e-Islami, in the past several years. Among the charitable organisations originally listed as Osama bin Laden fronts was the Rabita Trust for the Rehabilitation of Stranded Pakistanis. Rabita Trust recently grabbed headlines because of media reports claiming that Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, was one of its patrons and that Washington had advised him to disassociate himself from the organisation. Pakistani media has confirmed that Rabita worldwide is headed by a Saudi citizen, Wa’el Hamza Jalaidan. The Bush Administration has identified him as among those who helped Osama bin Laden establish Al Qaeda network. Jalaidan is considered the ‘logistics chief’ of the Al Qaeda. The Karachi-based Al-Rasheed Trust, which has been banned by the US for alleged contacts with terrorists, currently operates food centres in Kandahar, Kabul, Heart, Jalalabad and Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan. In spite of Washington’s decision to freeze its assets, the Al-Rasheed Trust ‘s offices in Pakistan and its volunteers continue to function. |
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Govt to regularise employees against migrant posts Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Oct 24 : In a significant development, the Farooq Abdullah Government in Jammu and Kashmir today decided to set up a Committee to consider regularisation of ad hoc employees appointed against the vacancies of Pandits who left the Valley after onset of militancy in 1989. The decision to set up the four-member Committee was taken at a Cabinet meeting last evening, an official spokesman said here today. This shall be done in accordance with the principles outlined in the High Court orders of May this year, he said. Commissioner, Finance Department, will be the Chairman of the Committee, which will also have the Administrative Secretary concerned, a representative of the General Administration Department and Director Codes of Finance Department as members. Chief Secretary Ashok Jaitly said respective administrative departments shall submit necessary proposals along with relevant details to the Finance Department for further action. The committee shall examine that candidates fulfill the necessary qualifications in accordance with the rule books, he said adding the Committee will also make necessary recommendations to the respective Administrative Departments. The Department will then issue necessary orders of regularisation. It will also be authorised to relax the lower or upper age limit and qualification wherever recommended by the Committee, he said. The copy of these orders shall be sent to General Administrative Department for record, he added. |
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Excelsior Correspondent RAJOURI, Oct 24: SHO Thanna Mandi police station Inspector Surinder Kumar Chowdhary was today placed under suspension and attached to District Police Lines (DPL) here following complaints levelled against him by local people. An order to this effect was issued today by SP Rajouri Rajesh Kumar . Sub Inspector Mohd Amin has been posted as new SHO of Thanna Mandi, police sources said. |
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Pant meets industry leaders to enhance investment in J&K NEW DELHI, Oct 24: Centre has convened a meeting with industry representatives as part of its efforts to expedite private sector investment and generate employment opportunities in the trouble-torn State of Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting convened by Centre’s interlocutor on Jammu and Kashmir and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission K C Pant yesterday was attended by representatives of leading industry chambers CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM in addition to other industry associations like NASSCOM, official sources said here. Pant informed industry representatives that so far Rs 100 crore had been pumped by the private sector into the State which offered tremendous potential in sectors like horticulture, handloom and handicrafts. Home Ministry officials, who participated in the deliberations, pointed out that only 3000 migrants had been provided employment so far. The officials said a list of 2100 youths of the State had been passed on to the industry chambers with a request to grant them preference during placements. Meanwhile, the telecom industries service association of India said a list of 175 PCOs which would be pruned later had been finalised for being converted into internet cafes. The youth manning these PCOs would be provided training, the association said. (PTI) |
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Lucknow, Srinagar, Kozhikode new points for Haj NEW DELHI, Oct 24: Government today announced Lucknow, Srinagar and Kozhikode as the three new embarkation points for Haj pilgrims with Civil Aviation Minister Shanawaz Hussain saying that there would be no cut in air subsidies for the annual pilgrimage. "In view of the long pending demand from Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala we have decided to start Air India flights from these three cities to facilitate thousands of pilgrims," Hussain told PTI. As many as 72,000 Hajis would be given the concessional passage from eight embarkation points, he said while asserting that "there will be no subsidy cut for Hajis." India has a quota of 120,000 pilgrims for the Haj, likely to start in early January and Government would provide subsidised passage to 72,000 pilgrims cleared by Haj committee, Hussain said. The concessional tariff would be at the last year’s level of Rs 12,000 a passenger, he said adding that as many as 40,000 Hajis would be carried by Air India and 32,000 by Saudis as part of mutual agreement between India and Saudi Arabia. Hussain said Air India was asked to fly Hajis this year in view of the prevailing slump in the aviation market and the proposed arrangement would help the airline take some business. "This will certainly help Air India," he said while pointing out that last year private charter Kampuchia was arranged for Haj pilgrimage. Asked about the extent of benefit for Air India, Hussain said it could not be quantified now, but discouted reports that Haj subsidies would be reduced to save upto Rs 100 crore. Air India has not been flying Mecca for the last few years for Haj for want of enough aircraft and the post September 11 slump in the global market has prompted the Government to deploy the carrier for the pilgrimage. (PTI) |
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People gheroe police
station Excelsior Correspondent RAJOURI, Oct 24: A ‘Ghatak party’ of Mendhar’s Special Operations Group (SOG) gunned down a young woman this evening in what appeared to be a case of mistaken identity at village Chak Bunal, about eight kms from Mendhar town in Poonch district. The killing sparked off massive protests in Mendhar tonight. Victim has been identified as Zameela Bi, 24, wife of Mohd Naseer, an army jawan posted with 12 JAK Li in Assam. Official reports received here said the woman was returning to her house carrying a bundle of grass on her head at about 1800 hours. A ‘Ghatak party’ of SOG led by Sub Inspector Vijay Chowdhary had laid an ambush for the terrorists in Chak Bunal village. The SOG team mistook the woman as the terrorist and opened firing causing her serious wounds. Later, the cops realised their mistake and rushed the woman to sub district hospital in Mendhar but she died enroute. Police sources, however, claimed that the woman was killed in exchange of firing between SOG team and the terrorists. Local people contradicted police team saying there was no movement of the terrorists in their village at the time of shoot-out. They claimed that young innocent woman was killed in cold blood. As soon as the report of woman’s killing spread, a large number of people including women took to streets shouting slogans against SOG and police. They took the body of Zameela Bi from the hospital and marched towards Mendhar police station where they sat on dharna alongwith dead body shouting slogans. People were demanding registration of a murder case against the SOG team and stern action. Till late tonight when the reports last came in, people hadn’t lifted their gheroe of Mendhar police station. Senior officers of police and civil administration were camping in Mendhar trying to persuade the mob to give up dharna but the dead-lock persisted. |
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Farooq announces 33 pc reservation for women Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Oct 24 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today announced 33 per cent reservation for women in the state’s civic bodies. "Women have a greater role in public life and their political empowerment is imperative for their uplift," he said while making the announcement. Addressing a day-long convention of ruling National Conference Women’s Wing, Abdullah said, "we have already made 33 per cent reservation for women in Panchayats enabling their greater involvement in decision making at grass roots level." A Women’s Commission has been constituted to check atrocities against women, Abdullah, who is also the president of the NC said. He also announced setting up of a Women Development Corporation for their economic upliftment. The Chief Minister asked women to participate actively in conferences in various parts of the country. He said the expenses would be borne by the Government. |
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