Massive manhunt on
to nab militants
in Tripura

AGARTALA, July 27: Central para-military and State security forces continued a massive manhunt for the.......more

Jaya’s arch rival
endorses her remarks
on invitation issue

CHENNAI, July 27: In a rare instance of meeting point between arch rivals in Tamil Nadu politics, DMK president....more

Krishan Kant’s
nonagenarian mother
sits in stunned shock

NEW DELHI, July 27: As the stream of political leaders, VIPs, friends and relatives filed...more

Kant: veteran freedom
fighter, strong votary
of poll reforms

NEW DELHI, July 27: Krishan Kant, who died here today .....more

Morning of shock at
AIIMS as Vice President dies

NEW DELHI, July 27: It came as a morning shock to the staff of the All India Institute of Medical....more

‘Shadow’ to retire

JODHPUR, July 27 : "Shadow", a German Shepherd canine, who helped the intelligence wing of the Rajasthan.....more

Punjab constitutes board to promote tourism, heritage

CHANDIGARH, July 27: The Punjab Government today constituted

a 12-member Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board, an autonomous body as a ....more

BJP distances itself
from PMK’s demand

CHENNAI, July 26: The Bharatiya Janata Party today distanced itself from the demand for a separate ....more

 

Massive manhunt on to nab militants in Tripura

AGARTALA, July 27: Central para-military and State security forces continued a massive manhunt for the second day today to nab the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants, after they killed nine people in the State.

The banned NLFT militants yesterday gunned down eight people, including six security personnel and a Government teacher. They also kidnapped eight others, including three health department officials, and injured five others in different areas in the State.

Police said senior police and para-military officials had been supervising the combing operation.

The six security personnel, belonging to the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and the Central Industrial Security Force, along with their driver were gunned down by the ultras at Debendra para in West Tripura yesterday. They were escorting the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) officials who were were returning to their headquarters after visiting a drilling site.

An NLFT militant was also killed when the other jawans retaliated.

After half-an-hour-long gun battle, the remaining ultras managed to escape deep inside the jungle. They also decamped with two self-loading rifles.

In a separate incident, the NLFT ultras abducted three Government health officials of the State Health Department and severely beat up as many health workers at Lefunga in West Tripura district yesterday. A special health camp was on in the area when the militants armed with sophisticated weapons attacked it.

In a different incident a youth was killed and his elder brother Akhil Debnath, a Government teacher, was abducted at Kumarghat in North Tripura yesterday. In the third incident, the NLFT militants kidnapped the father, mother and two brothers of surrendered militant Swapan Debbarma at Kalyanpur in West Tripura yesterday. Swapan Debbarma alongwith Balendra Debbarma, both All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) militants, surrendered to the Border Security Force and deposited huge cache of arms and ammunition. They had recently fled from their Bangladeshi hideouts at Satchari to surrender before the authority.

Meanwhile, all the major political parties, including ruling CPI(M) and main opposition Congress, have condemned the militants’ violence in different parts of the State.

Tripura Pradesh Congress president Birjit Sinha in a statement said the violence unleashed by the militants proved that the Left Front Government had totally failed to protect the life and property of the people in the State.

Condemning the incidents, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in a statement said that the ONGC was instrumental in the overall progress of the State. Because of the ONGC, the State has been able to attract and envisage big fertiliser and power projects among others. These projects would have opened a good avenue for the employment of youths in the State. "But, all those involved in this incident are acting against the State’s interest and the interest of the people." Earlier also, such attempts had been made to thwart the developmental activities in the State, he added.

"This heinous crime has been committed to demoralise and dampen the spirit of our security forces who are achieving success against these elements with the help of the people. This has also been done to divert the attention of the people from the developmental activities," Mr Sarkar observed.

The Chief Minister said that it was most unfortunate that these anti-national elements have been getting "overt and covert" support from some political parties who have been spewing venom against Tripura State Rifles, special police officers and other security forces.

"The people of the State must realise the nasty designs of this narrow and opportunistic move," he stated. (UNI)

Jaya’s arch rival endorses her remarks on invitation issue

CHENNAI, July 27: In a rare instance of meeting point between arch rivals in Tamil Nadu politics, DMK president M Karunanidhi today endorsed state Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s stand that Chief Ministers should be invited for important functions like swearing in cermony of the President, but hastened to add that his remarks should not be construed as a support to Jayalalithaa.

Karunanidhi told reporters that the Centre should make it a convention in future to send invitations to all Chief Ministers for swearing-in ceremonies of Presidents and Prime Ministers without waiting for requests.

"The Centre should change the existing practice. Invitations should be voluntary and should not be obtained upon applications", he said when asked for comments on Jayalalithaa’s outburst at the centre for having not invited her for A P J Abdul Kalam’s swearing in ceremony on Thursday.

Asked what was the reason for his sudden support to Jayalalithaa’s demand, he said it did not mean he was supporting her but had only proved that he was firm on his state autonomy demand.

Sending invitations to all Chief Ministers to such functions upon applications might be the practice being followed. "The same practice need not be followed for ever by slighting the Chief Ministers", he said.

Karunanidhi said he was firm that the states’ rights should not be taken away or given up. That was why he had fought with the Centre and got the right for Chief Ministers to participate in the Independence-Day functions, something hitherto enjoyed only by Governors. (PTI)

Krishan Kant’s nonagenarian mother sits in stunned shock

NEW DELHI, July 27: As the stream of political leaders, VIPs, friends and relatives filed past the body of Vice-President Krishan Kant, the wizened old lady in a white saree sat quietly with her hand wrapped around his face.

Acknowledging the condolences with a flicker of her eyes, or at times a slight nod, 95-year-old Satyawati, the mother of Mr Krishan Kant, sat in a state of stunned shock at his sudden demise. It is all a matter of fate. There is no arguing with destiny, the look on her face seemed to say as the who’s who of the country shared in her grief.

She did break down a few times, once when the body was brought in, when one of her nephews hugged her and when Mrs Suman Krishan Kant’s mother condoled her. And then, her entire frail body rocked with the pent-up emotion that flowed with her tears.

The slightly built Satyawati, herself a freedom fighter, was sitting next to the flower bedecked body of her son Krishan Kight from the time it was brought back to the Vice-President’s official residence at 6, Maulana Azad Road.

Even as Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and Vice-Presidential candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat touched her feet, she raised her hand slightly, acknowledging their condolence.

Her right hand cupped constantly around her son’s face, she dabbed her eyes with a white hankerchief once in a while with the other one.

Noted women’s activist and Mr Krishan Kant’s wife Suman cried inconsolably as she sat surrounded by her colleagues from Mahila Dakshata Samiti, the organisation she headed, and other leaders of the women’s movement including former chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) Mohini Giri.

"Why did he not complain to me if he was uncomortable last night. He just went away in his sleep without saying anything to us," was her constant refrain as leader of the opposition Sonia Gandhi and Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj tried to console her. (UNI)

Kant: veteran freedom fighter, strong votary of poll reforms

NEW DELHI, July 27: Krishan Kant, who died here today days before he was to demit office of Vice-President was a veteran freedom fighter, a staunch socialist and a strong votary of poll reforms.

Born on February 28, 1927, in Kot Mohammed Khan village of Amritsar district, Kant obtained an M Sc from Benaras Hindu University and started his career as a scientist with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

He was a member of Rajya Sabha from 1966 to 1977 and made his mark as a young turk, championing the cause of radical and progressive politics in the company of other members of the group, former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, Mohan Dharia and Ram Dhan.

He was expelled from the Congress in 1975 for his opposition to the emergency. He was later a member of Lok Sabha till 1980.

A strong protagonist of India going nuclear, Krishan Kant was a member of the executive council of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis.

Krishan Kant was the founding general secretary of the Peoples’ Union of Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights, of which Jayprakash Narayan was the president in 1976.

He was instrumental in the release of Naxalites after the formation of Janata Government in 1977, when CPI (ML) general secretary Satyanarain Singh came over ground at his residence in New Delhi.

He was also associated with the anti-liquor movement which engulfed Andhra Pradesh in the early 90’s resulting in the imposition of dry laws in the state after N T Rama Rao won a landslide victory in 1994.

With his commitment to rid politics of the influence of "big money", Krishan Kant became a strong votary of electoral reforms and in Ahmedabad session of Congress in 1971, following the party split, he made a strong plea for linking politics with the people and their basic problems.

Kant’s first brush with politics came when he plunged into the Quit India movement, while he was still a student in Lahore.

He was appreciative of the concerns of extremists though he disagreed with their method of violence. He met important Sikh extremists in Punjab to understand their point of view and was one of the first to raise the issue of Pakistani interference in Punjab and the need for a national approach to solve the problem.

Kant was appointed Governor of Andhra Pradesh by the V P Singh Government in 1989 and served in that position for seven years till he was elevated as Vice-President.

A connoisseur of Urdu poetry, he was also a prolific writer and contributed extensively to prominent dailies and periodicals on issues relating to national and international politics, culture and science.

His father, Lala Achint Ram, was a member of the Constituent Assembly and later an MP, while his wife Suman is a social activist.

On the issue of criminalisation of politics, Kant enlisted the support of leaders of all political parties and a consensus approach document was agreed upon to fight the evil. His proposal to have a ‘negative’ vote in the election process was appreciated.

An advocate of integrating science and sprituality, Kant was the secretary of the Indian Parliamentary and Scientific Committee of which Jawaharlal Nehru was the president and Lal Bahadur Shastri chairman.

He was editor of the quarterly journal "Science in Parliament".

As a member of Parliament, Kant took special interest in the fields of foreign policy, defence affairs, land reforms, freedom of the press and electoral reforms. He was chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee for the first legislation on environment in India, known as the prevention of water pollution bill.

At the time of the NAM conference in Delhi, he was able to organise a consensus document of all political parties which, as a commentator remarked, even both Houses of Parliament were unable to do.

Kant was a life member and president of the Servants of People Society, inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1921. He was a member of the board of management of the Gandhian Institute of Studies, Varanasi, formed by Jayaprakash Narayan. (PTI)

Morning of shock at AIIMS as Vice President dies

NEW DELHI, July 27: It came as a morning shock to the staff of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the patients.

Very early, it dawned on them that it was not a usual morning as personnel from Delhi Police and other security agencies arrived and started enforcing a ‘no-tresspassing zone’ and sensitising the area.

Vice President Krishan Kant had suffered a massive heart attack and he was rushed to the AIIMS where he breathed his last at around 8.45 am.

While the security of the dignitaries visiting the hospital was uppermost for the police, it was hassles for the staffers and patients, who were seen arguing with the cops, whether it be the entry of vehicles or personnel into the hospital. Besides, there were a horde of journalists jostling to either get a snapshot of the visiting dinitaries or to get a comment from them.

"We are all doing our jobs," a police officer said summing up the situation.

However, the patients were hardly ready to buy this. "If there is death of a VVIP, why should we face the hassles and inconvenience," remarked Vinod Kumar who had come with his mother for her eye treatment.

His refrain was that the policemen had cordoned off a section of the hospital for everyone for security reasons. Sanjay Bhushan, a patient himself, said with sisdain "whenever a VVIP patient comes, we are shooed away by the security personnel. Are the lives of VVIPs more precious than ours?"

Securitymen had cordoned off the entire passage towards the medical superintendent’s office and some other departments of the hospital and scores of automatic gun-totting personnel kept a sharp vigil as several VVIPs visited the hospital.

The high-profile dignitaries included President A P J Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, former Prime Minister I K Gujral and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Advani was the first visitor at the hospital followed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Laloo Prasad Yadav and Minister of State in PMO Vijay Goel.

Then came Kalam calling with Vajpayee following suit.

All of them left together at around 11.15 am, just 15 minutes before the body was shifted out to the Vice President’s official residence at 1, Maulana Azad Road.

It was pack-up time for security personnel also and a relief for patients and their relatives.

"Thank god, this bandobast has ended," an old lady, who had been stopped outside the cordoned-off area, commented. (PTI)

‘Shadow’ to retire

JODHPUR, July 27 : "Shadow", a German Shepherd canine, who helped the intelligence wing of the Rajasthan police in fighting border terrorism, smuggling, and other crimes is soon "retiring" because of old age.

The finest trained dog, having a fearful appearance, has been serving the police for the past one decade. But as age began to affect its performance a recomendatory letter of "retirement" has been sent to the police headquarters in Jaipur, official sources said here today. The dog was named "Shadow" because he pursued the criminals like a shadow, they said. However, the feats achieved by the canine in busting various crimes during its long career would remain burried in secret police files. "We do not give such information to media", said local head of intelligence wing of the police Prashakha Mathur. (PTI)

Punjab constitutes board to promote tourism, heritage

CHANDIGARH, July 27: The Punjab Government today constituted

a 12-member Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board, an autonomous body as a public charitable trust under the chairmanship of the State Chief Minister.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the State Council of Ministers held here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Besides the Punjab Chief Minister, other members of the board are — Finance Minister, Minister of State for Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and the Principal Secretaries to the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Tourism, Culture, PWD and Finance, the State’s Chief Town Planner and Chief Architect and Director, Cultural Affairs as its Member Secretary.

Apart from this, three members of the Board would be co-opted by the State Government for a period of two years which could be extended for a year.

The Cabinet decided to grant Rs 25 crore, in five instalments, to the Board for undertaking the development of the state’s heritage properties and coordinating the cultural activities and various celebrations, an official spokesman said in a statement here. The Punjab Council of Ministers approved to grant the status of Cabinet Minister to Dr S S Johl, the Vice-Chairman of the Punjab State Planning Board. Dr Johl has recently submitted his report to the State Government on how to diversify in the agriculture sector.

In another decision, the State Cabinet constituted an advisory committee to the Chief Minister, headed by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Vice-Chairman S K Mishra, for advising on cultural affairs and tourism matters.

The Council of Ministers also decided to amend the Punjab Recruitment of Ex-servicemen Rules, 1982, thereby enlarging the definition of an ‘ex-serviceman’.

As per the revised definition, the armed forces personnel, retired or released on their own request, but after having earned their pension, would be included in the term ‘ex-serviceman’ as defined for purpose of reservation in Government jobs.

The Council of Ministers also approved the annual administrative reports of the Departments of Industries and Commerce, local Government and soil and water conservation for 1997-98, 1998-99 and 2000-01 respectively. (UNI)

BJP distances itself from PMK’s demand

CHENNAI, July 26: The Bharatiya Janata Party today distanced itself from the demand for a separate state made by its alliance partner the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) headed by Dr S Ramadoss.

The BJP president M Venkiah Naidu told reporters today that no proposal had come to the National Democratic Alliance in this regard. Mr. Naidu pointed out that consideration of such a demand pre-supposed a political consensus and passing a resolution by the respective Assembly. This was the procedure followed when three new states were formed in the north bifurcating existing ones. The demand raised by Dr Ramadoss had not gone through any of these above processes. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa herself had strongly opposed any such move.

On the detention of MDMK general secretary Vaiko under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), Mr Naidu said this was not an appropriate case for invoking POTA which was essentially meant for fighting terrorists. There was nothing in Mr Vaiko’s speech on the LTTE that warranted invoking POTA. But the BJP did not approve of the MDMK’s support for the LTTE, he added

Asked if Vaiko’s arrest would pave the way for amendment of POTA to prevent its misuse, he parried the question saying that "this is the first instance, let us see". Mr Naidu refuted possibilities of the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu aligning with the BJP, and said there was no such proposal at present. "We will examine if there is a proposal. Our alliance with the DMK and other parties in Tamil Nadu stayed. This is not the time for talking about alliances," he added.

He said he had called on DMK president and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi at his house this morning to seek his blessings. Not much politics was discussed at the meeting, he added.

He parried a question on the strained relationship between the DMK and the state unit of his party.

Mr. Naidu, throwing light on future plans of the BJP, said the party general secretaries had been asked to prepare an action plan to rejuvenate the party especially in the states where elections were due this year and the next. The action plan would be put for deliberation at the national council of the party on August three and for approval.

The party also proposed to train a battery of platform speakers on the lines of the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu to effectively convey the programmes and policies of the party and the Government to the people, he added

Mr Naidu is here on a three-day visit to the state and is scheduled to attend the party state executive meeting at Pudukottai tomorrow. (UNI)

| home | state | national | business| editorial | advertisement | sports |
| international | weather | mailbag | suggestions | search | subscribe | send mail |