|
|
Rebel BJD intensify BARIPADA, ORISSA, Nov 15: The famous Jagadhatri mela of Bhanjpur virtually turned into a political platform of rebel BJD leaders who reaffirmed .......more Bofors
trial to NEW DELHI, Nov 15: After a special court today formally framed charges against them in the Rs 64 crore Bofors pay-off case, the Europe-based three .....more One
held, swords, MUMBAI, Nov 15: Twentyfive swords and 10 spears were seized and one person was arrested during a raid on a camp in neighbouring Thane district, .....more A message of love from Kashmiri students NEW DELHI, Nov 15: They come from the Line of Control but refuse to betray any trace of strife or trauma, cautiously..... ..more |
|
India lukewarm to CHANDIGARH, Nov 15: Mr Gurbax Singh Malhi, a Canadian Liberal Party MP of Indian origin, today said though the Candian Government is ready to ........more NEC
washes its hands GUWAHATI, Nov 15: The North Eastern Council (NEC) has washed its hands off the insurgency issue on the plea of inadequate staff, even as its members want it to play a bigger role. ......more Gandhi
relevant as MUMBAI, Nov 15: The relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in modern India, for whom Bharatiya Sanskriti was "Dharma" (righteousness), can never be .....more 8th Sikh regiment for UN NEW DELHI, Nov 15: The eighth battalion of the Sikh regiment Indian army contingent would be relieving shortly,......more |
Rebel BJD intensify campaign to dislodge Naveen BARIPADA, ORISSA, Nov 15: The famous Jagadhatri mela of Bhanjpur virtually turned into a political platform of rebel BJD leaders who reaffirmed their pledge to oust Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik by the end of this year. Addresing the gatherings on the golden jublee celebration of the Mela yesterday, rebel BJD MP Prasanna Patsani came down heavily on Mr Patnaik for pursuing a policy of ‘revenge and arogance’ against all those who had installed him in power. The Chief Minister, he said, believed in expulsion and suspension of the founding members of the party. Mr Patsani praised former union minister Dillip Ray and recollected his contribution in the formation of Biju Janata Dal. Rajya Sabha member Dillip Ray, who has been spearheading the oust Naveen campaign in the State, expressed hope that by 2003 there would be a change of leadership in order to save the party and the State. He alleged that the Chief Minister had thrown 12,000 employees out of their jobs, unemployment was on the rise and the State had been pushed into an economic crisis. Mr Ray said Orissa had been relegated to the brink of economic crisis ever since Mr Patnaik assumed the power. The coalition Government under his leadership had borrowed nearly Rs 6,000 crore during its two-and-half years tenure. Independent MLA Manas Ranjan Mallick said there would be a change of leadfership by the end of December. The meeting, attened by all the MLAs of Mayurbhanj district, was presided over by JMM MLA Sudam Charan Marandi. Baripada MLA Kishore Dash extended his wholehearted support to Mr Dillip Ray and said Mayurbhanj would give him a boost to his efforts to change the leadership in the State. The apprehension of a confrontation between the rebels and the Naveen loyalists over the unveiling of the statue of Biju Patnaik in the heart of the town was, however, diffused with the heavy deployment of police. The district authority had promulgated prohibitory orders in the area and had deployed armed police to prevent the rebel BJD leaders unveil the statue. The rebel leaders led a procession which passed through the main thoroughfare of the town shouting "Naveen Hatao". It finally converged at the meeting venue where the leaders expressed their determination to intensify the "oust Naveen" campaign. (UNI) |
 |
Bofors trial to commence on Dec 4 NEW DELHI, Nov 15: After a special court today formally framed charges against them in the Rs 64 crore Bofors pay-off case, the Europe-based three Hinduja brothers and the now-defunct Swedish arms firm pleaded "not guilty" to the charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption and claimed trial. Special judge Prem Kumar fixed December four for commencement of trial after the Hinduja brothers — Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand — and the Bofors company pleaded "not guilty" to the charges read to them. Hindujas’ counsel U A Rana pleaded "not guilty" to the charges on their behalf, while for bofors its representative Ajit Kishore claimed trial. Kishore, a retired official of the railways, represents the Swedish company as accused during the court proceedings. According to the charges framed, the Hinduja brothers, the then Bofors chief Martin Ardbo, its Indian agent Win Chadha, Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the then Defence Secretary S K Bhatnagar entered into a conspiracy between themselves and cheated the Government of Rs 64 crore by fraudulently getting the Rs 1472.72 crore deal awarded to Bofors in March 1986. On the basis of his 176-page order passed yesterday, the judge framed common charges of criminal conspiracy (section 120b) and cheating (section 420) under IPC and sections 5(1)(d) and 5(2) of prevention of corruption act, 1947 against the accused. Besides, the court framed additional charges against the Hindujas for offences under section 161 read with section 165a (abetting a public servant to take bribe) and section 34 (common intention) of IPC, to which they pleaded "not guilty." Additional charges were also framed against Bofors company under section 161 read with section 165a (abetting a public servant to take bribe) and section 464 (making a false document) and section 465 (forgery) of IPC. The company also pleaded "not guilty" to the affitional charges. As soon as the charges were formally framed, Bofors counsel Alok Sengupta requested the special judge to give at least five weeks time to the accused to prepare themselves for the trial. On the other hand, Hindujas’ counsel U A Rana sought commencement of the trial from Monday next, saying "we want to prove our innocence as soon as possible." However, the court fixed December four for commencement of trial as CBI counsel U S Prasad submitted that the agency would need some time to summon the witnesses for recording of evidence. According to the charges framed, the Hinduja brothers, Bofors, the then Bofors chief Martin Ardbo, its Indian agent Win Chadha, Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the then Defence Secretary S K Bhatnagar entered into a conspiracy amount themselves and cheated the Government of Rs 64 crore by fraudulently getting the Rs 1472.72 crore deal awarded to bofors. Rajiv Gandhi, Bhatnagar and Chadha have since died while the presence of Quattrocchi and Ardbo was yet to be secured. The court charged that the Hindujas, in furtherance of common intention, received nine payments totalling 80.79 million kroner (Rs 16 crore) from Bofors during May 1986 to December 1986. These payments were allegedly received in three coded accounts - Lotus, Mont Blanc and Tulip - of their firm M/S MC Intyre Corporation. According to the court, the accused brothers were not entitled to these payments as no agent was required to be engaged during negotiations in the award of the contract for the supply of 400 155mm howitzer guns to the Indian army by the Swedish arms manufacturer in March 1986. The court said Bofors clinched the deal by use of corrupt means or by abuse of office by Rajiv Gandhi and Bhatnagar and the Hindujas and Bofors abetted the commission of an offence under section 161 read with 165a of IPC. The court charged Bofors with making fraudulent representation that its gun system was the cheapest and the best and that the company had not engaged any middlemen in the deal. The court also charged bofors with forgery as the company allegedly forged certain documents to divert the course of investigation after the scandal broke in April 1987. (PTI) |
|
One held, swords, spears seized from training camp MUMBAI, Nov 15: Twentyfive swords and 10 spears were seized and one person was arrested during a raid on a camp in neighbouring Thane district, run by a retired Colonel allegedly to train youths on a suicide mission to counter terrorism, police said here today. The raid was conducted yesterday, police said adding one Sanjiv Ganesh Atre was arrested for allegedly violating provisions of Bombay Police Act and Indian Arms Act by providing training to youths in use of weapons at the camp. Atre had defied an order of Thane Collector imposing a ban on carrying or possessing swords or lethal weapons in the district between November 12 and 25, they said. Atre had disclosed that the camp was being run under the guidance of Col Jayan Chitale, founder of Maharashtra Military Foundation, police said, adding both Atre and Chitale were residents of Pune. The camp was being conducted at Vasat village near Badlapur in Thane district where about 30 youths were trained for suicide squad "Hindustani Atma Ghataki Pathak" to counter Pak-sponsored terrorism. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh yesterday said the Government has asked police to thoroughly probe media reports about a camp allegedly being run to train "suicide squads" and submit a report in a few days. Chitale had said in Pune that the outfit was formed with an aim to force Pakistan to stop terrorism. He had said the suicide squad was not aimed at any caste, community or religion and that its formation had nothing to do with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s call for such squads. (PTI) |
|
|
|
Gandhi relevant as always: Ramkrishnan MUMBAI, Nov 15: The relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in modern India, for whom Bharatiya Sanskriti was "Dharma" (righteousness), can never be diminished, according to S Ramkrishnan, executive secretary and Director General of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. In an interview to UNI on the occasion of the Bhavan completing 64 years, Mr Ramkrishnan said for Gandhiji, change was the unchanged law of life. "He believed that happiness of giving away something was remarkable. Renounce and enjoy was his philosophy. Gandhiji, who achieved greatness through sacrifice and service, had studied human nature thoroughly," Mr Ramkrishnan pointed out and said that he considers himself fortunate to have been born in the Gandhian era. It was Gandhi who imbibed in K M Munshi, the idea of setting up the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan as he believed that there can be no Swaraj without Sanskriti. "Ever since its inception, the Bhavan has dedicated itself towards the cause of Indian culture and tradition. The Bhavan has sold 25 million copies of its various publications regarding Indian culture, books dedicated to great personalities of India. "When Ramayan and Mahabharat crossed the one million copies sale in 1965, C Rajgopalchari, another founder-member of the Bhavan exclaimed that the soul of India is still sound," Mr Ramkrishnan said. The mega book exhibition of its publications is being held at six various centres in Mumbai. There are over 1600 titles including children’s books and those of history, culture, philosophy, epics, Bhagwatgeeta, classics, biographies, autobiographies. Such exhibitions are being held at the Bhavan’s other centres as well. Apart from India, the Bhavan has centres in Durban, Toronto, London, US, Mexico, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo. Mr Ramkrishnan is now authoring a book on the construction of the Somnath temple, which will be completed in another three months. He said Gandhiji always believed that books are man’s best friend —food for the soul. He said his new book will give details and chronology of events which culminated into the construction of the Somnath temple. He said he will also publish some of the correspondence of Munshi, Sardar Patel, Nehru, Rajendra Prasad and their views on the construction of the temple. However, care will be taken not to sensationalise anything. "Munshi told me before handing over his correspondence regarding the temple that never to make it public in such a way which will defame Nehru or show him as anti-Hindu. Nehru was a great man and he was certainly not anti-Hindu", Mr Ramkrishnan, who was closely associated with the temple said. "The unbroken continuity of Indian culture was amazing and that is why we have survived for civilisations. We have adopted good things from everything", he added. (UNI) |
|
||
8th Sikh regiment for UN peace mission in Lebanon NEW DELHI, Nov 15: The eighth battalion of the Sikh regiment Indian army contingent would be relieving shortly, the first battalion of the eleventh Gorkha Rifles as the Indian battalion for the United Nations peace mission in Lebanon. The Indian army contingent earmarked for this duty were addressed here yesterday by Lt Gen J B S Yadav, Deputy Chief of Army Staff (training coordination), according to a Ministry of Defence release. India has been providing an infantry battalion group and a sizeable number of headquarters staff personnel in unifil since November 1998. "India has a glorious tradition in UN peacekeeping and has taken part in many a difficult and challenging peacekeeping operations all over the world and performed creditably," the release issued yesterday said. "One of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping, India has participated in 36 of the total 55 peacekeeping operations by the UN and has contributed a strong force of 65,000 troops over the years. Indian army troops are preferred by most countries for peacekeeping duties due to their professionalism and impartial conduct in mission areas," it added. Recounting the contributions made by the Indian soldiers the release said " they have provided the healing touch on behalf of the UN to a suffering populace in a conflict zone and brought peace, hope and cheer to the victims of violence. In doing so, many an Indian officers, JCOs and other ranks have made the supreme sacrifice and the roll of honour now reads 108 strengthening the UN and international peace and security." Eight Sikh not only has a checkered history in the wars fought by India in 1965 and 1971 but also more recently participated in operation Vijay and made invaluable contribution in the capture of strategically important Tiger Hill. Since its raising in 1963, the battalion has been awarded a unit citation, three Vir Chakra medals, 14 Sena medals and 12 mentioned-in-despatches in various operations. (UNI) MiG 21 to continue in IAF fleet: Fernandes VIJAYAWADA, Nov 15: Defence Minister George Fernandes today categorically ruled out decommissioning of MiG 21 aircraft of the Indian Airforce saying "it is the mainstay of the fleet." Refferring to suggestions for grounding of MiG 21 aircraft in the wake of the airforce losing 11 of the 16 of these fighters aircraft in crashes this year, he told reporters here that the team of experts from Russia which visited airbases along with HAL and maintenance officials felt that there was nothing wrong in the aircraft as such. The team would shortly submit its report on various aspects, he said adding that all steps would be taken to prevent recurrence of such mishaps. He parried a question on the Election Commission’s order banning the Vishwa Hindu Parishad yatra from Godhra saying "i do not want to be dragged into any controversy involving the ec.EC (UNI) US puts India on friendly country status on arms sales NEW DELHI, Nov 15: Indian military experts are undertaking preliminary trials of the suitability of US-made ground sensors for use in checking infiltration from across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, US officials said. "Indian and US officials are in discussions whether american ground sensors are suitable in mountainous and jungle terrain", officials said following the crucial meeting of the Indo-US security cooperation group. US officials said Washington had sent some ANTPQ-37 weapon-locating radars from the US Army’s inventory to train Indian Army personnel on the use of the system, whose absence was badly felt during the Kargil crises. India and US have signed a deal under which New Delhi will procure eight such fire finding radars to be delivered within nine months. In a major boost to India’s efforts to procure advanced counter-terrorist armaments and systems, Washington also conveyed that congressional approvals for armaments deals of upto 40 million US dollar would not apply to New Delhi. "At the just concluded three-day crucial meeting of the Indo-US security cooperation group, it has been conveyed to New Delhi that armaments sales upto 40 million dollars won’t require mandatory congressional approval", the officials said. The officials said that at the meeting, the second in the series of the group, it had also been conveyed to India that since October 25, US had put India at par with Japan, Singapore and other friendly countries regarding granting of armament export licences. (PTI) India will not subscribe to ballistic missiles document NEW DELHI, Nov 15: India today made it clear that it would not subscribe to the International Code of Conduct (ICOC) against ballistic missiles, saying the document lacked adequate flexibility to accommodate equitably its core concerns. The final ICOC document refers to ballistic missile development and space launch vehicles without a proper distinction. We find it difficult to accept an amalgamation of this nature and the implied questioning of the right to peaceful uses of space technology, an External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters here. Giving India’s reaction to the document ahead of the ICOC conference on November 25-26 at the hague, the spokesman said the ICOC lacks adequate flexibility to accommodate equitably the core concerns of India which is not a party to the existing discrimintary non-proliferation and technology regimes. At the outset, he said India remained firmly opposed to the spread of ballistic missiles technology and was committed to maintaining effective export controls. We also stand for greater transparency and confidence-building measures in this regard. As a first step, India believed there should be greater transparency in the policies and practices of countries in the area of ballistic missile technology. We share the original aim of the ICOC’s sponsors about addressing the question of ballistic missile proliferation through greater transparency and inclusive multilateralism, he added. The spokesman said these regimes had proved ineffective in preventing the acquisition of ballistic missile technology or nuclear weapon development through clandestine transfers and linkages. Deterioration in India’s security environment has taken place despite their existence. However, he stated that India remained pre-disposed to work with like-minded countries towards a more inclusive, balanced and equitable approach to deal with the threat posed by proliferation of ballistic missiles. This position of India, on the ICOC, would in no way detract this country from its resolve to pursue responsible and cooperative policies to curb proliferation of ballistic missile technology. (UNI) Youth bound for Greece lands in Pakistan jails FEROZEPUR, Nov 15: It is yet another sad tale of a group of youth setting off from their homes in search of Eldorado but instead ending up in jail and unscrupulous travel agents vanishing into thin air with their hard-earned cash. For families of twelve such youths from, eight from Haryana and four from Punjab, Diwali remained unlit when they learnt last month that their wards were lodged in a Pakistani jail. When Surjit Singh, 19, of a Haryana village, along with five others, flew to Lebanon on way to Greece from New Delhi in April by shelling out Rs 3.5 lakh to a travel agent, he never knew he would land in the dungeons of a Pakistani jail. Surjit Singh is among the twelve youth who are lodged in Quetta jail after they were pushed into Pakistan by the Iranian Border Police in October. Earlier, they spent 20-day each in jails in Turkey and Iran. Surjit made the disclosure in a letter written home to his father Mann Singh who, along with parents of six other similarly duped youth, came here to seek the help of Harpal Singh Bhullar, president of Bhai Mardana Yadgari Kirtan Darbar Society. Bhullar rang up Pakistan’s Auqaf Board Co-chairman Sham Singh, in journalists’ presence here, to seek their release. He requested Sham Singh to see if it was possible to send the youth back home to India along with the ‘Sikh Jatha’ which has been permitted to travel to Pakistan this month to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The aggrieved families have also sought help of the Haryana, Punjab and Central Governments in securing the release of their wards. Surjit’s father Mann Singh from talli farm near Pehowa in Kurukshetra district of Haryana told reporters that his son managed to write home their sad experience from quetta jail where, Surjit said, two other Indians were already lodged. Surjit further revealed that eleven Punjabi youth were similarly detained in Mach Jail (5) in Baluchistan and Kot Lakhpat Jail (6) in Lahore. Mann said each family made an advance payment of Rs 1.5 lakh to three Pehowa agents — Tarlok Singh, Kashmir Singh and Ladoo —and the youth left New Delhi for Lebanon on April 22. After their arrival in the West Asian country and its confirmation back home, the families paid the remaining Rs two lakh each to the agents, adding Kashmir Singh was reportedly in Lebanon, while the whereabouts of two other agents were not known to them. He said their repeated pleas to police fell on deaf ears. Mann said Surjit, in his letter of October 22, said from Lebanon they were taken to Turkey where they were caught and spent 20 days in jail. The Turkish authorities then pushed them into Iran where police snatched all their cash and valuable, including gold ‘Karas (bangles) and wrist watches, and tore off their passports subsequently, after spending another 20 days in an Iranian jail, they were pushed into Pakistan where rangers, a para-military force guarding border with Iran, caught them and handed over to police who lodged them in wards number four and five of Quetta Jail. Besides Surjit, other unfortunate jailed youths are — Rakesh Singh, Inderjit Singh, Sarbjit Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Surinder Singh, Bachittar Singh and Balwinder Singh — all from Haryana, and Rajwinder Singh, Harmesh Kumar, Satnam Singh and Surjit Lal, all from Punjab, Surjit revealed in his letter. (UNI) |
||
|
||
|
| home | state | national | business| editorial | advertisement | sports | |
