KOTDWARA (GARHWAL), Nov 5: Seven persons have died and fifteen taken ill after consuming spurious liquor at Manjure in Chamba block of Uttar Pradesh’s Tehri district.

The victims drank the illicit liquor at a village gathering yesterday and were immediately taken ill, revenue officials said.

They were rushed to the primary health centre at Chamba, but seven died, while two seriously ill were later admitted to a Dehradun hospital, they said. (PTI)

Army, DRDO developing war games to train cadets

BELGAUM, Nov 5: Keeping pace with the Information Technology (IT) revolution, the Indian Army is developing high-tech PC-based war games to train its officers to tackle real battle-like situations.

The softwares are being jointly developed by the Indian Army and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, army training command.

In an interview to UNI, he said, recently a software, Shatranj to train men at the battalion level was developed and is currently being used for training purposes.

Also, very soon, another software, Sangram, will be at the disposal of the army training command, to train officers and men at division levels. By next near a comprehensive war game at core level will be used by training institutes of the army.

It will help in the army’s cost-cutting exercise as the officers and men can directly learn on computers, and the field exercises and training which involve costly equipments could be reduced.

Lt Gen Oberoi said that the army and DRDO had carried out extensive research in developing these war games, and the software gives the cadet a feel of the real battle-field. Instead of carrying out the exercise at the training field and using weapons, it can be carried out at the click of a mouse.

Tomorrow’s war will be an IT war, he said adding that the army has already undertaken an extensive computerisation programme which is being carried out in a phased manner. He said that the aim for the next millennium is to have all officers and men computer literate. This in one of the aspect of a two-pronged attack to make people it literate, he said.

Another aspect is to have its own intra-net. Since the internet is not fool-proof the army is going for an intra-net to spread its network. In the recent past the army has also acquired several multi-media softwares.

Talking about the satellite technology, he said that the defence services could jointly own a satellite for its own purposes. Recently there has been talks with the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) in this regard.

Lt Gen Oberoi, who is also the colonel of the Maratha Light Infantry (MLI) regiment, was here to attend the 11th post-war region ceremony at the Maratha Light Infantry regimental centre, here, which is the last of this century.

He said in the next millennium all the army establishments and camps will be connected with computers. The army headquarters, command, and divisional headquarters will be connected with the Wide Area Network (WAN), as well as Local Area Network (LAN) for local connectivity.

General Ved Prakash Malik, Chief of Army Staff, has taken keen interest in the computerisation programme and is preparing the army to enter the 21st century, where officers and men will be computer literate. (UNI)

Khalsa sword arm of country: PM

NEW DELHI, Nov 5: Prime Minister A B Vajpayee today said the Khalsa has been the ‘sword arm’ of the country since it is perhaps the only spiritual phenomenon in Indian history whose need arose from a strong patriotic urge.

In every conceivable sense, the Khalsahas be the sword arm of the country, Vajpayee said at the meeting of the National Committee to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Khalsa here.

Stating that the inspiration was provided by Guru Tegh Bahadur, who was aptly called Hind Di Chadar, the Prime Minister said the Khalsa truly represented the pride, the dignity and the sovereign spirit of the country.

This was once again demonstrated during the heroic battle against terrorism in Punjab, when evil attempts to rupture communal harmony and divide the country were foiled, he said

The Khalsa also represented a new stage in the social reform movement in the country, for it once again forcefully asserted the equality of all humanity, irrespective of ase, ceed and gender.

The Guru Granth Sahib contained hymns from Hindu saints and Muslim Sufi poets drawn from different parts of the country, Vajpayee said.

The Prime Minister said the ‘Panj Piaras’ chosen by Guru Gobind Singh conveyed a great message of democracy, social justice and national integration. They came not only from different castes, but also from different states, he said.

All this shows that we are not simply celebrating a great event of the past. In the process, we are rededicating ourselves to the basic principles of the gurus, which are immensely relevant even today, Vajpayee aid.

Stating that the followers of the Khalsa Panth had made an outstanding contribution to the country’s freedom movement and after independence to all spheres of nation building, he said a large number of Sikhs living and working in different parts of the world had earned a name for themselves and their motherland due to their hard work and entrepreneurship. (PTI)

Wholesale dealers import onion to lower prices

AHMEDABAD, Nov 5: To help contain the onion crunch prevailing in the country and lower the soaring price of the commodity, which have skyrocketed to over Rs 50 per kg, several private wholesale onion dealers here have imported a consignment of 130 tonnes of onions.

The consignment landed at the Gujarat Coast and will be marketed at reasonable prices from today, market sources said.

They said another consignment of over 350 tonnes of onions will be arriving here from Dubai and Iran next week. (UNI)

Urban Affairs Ministry issues guidelines for States, UTs

NEW DELHI, Nov 5: Urban Affairs Ministry has asked States and Union Territories to undertake legal reforms like Rent Control Act, amendment to land tenancy laws, reduction in stamp duty and simplification of registration procedure for boosting housing sector.

Guidelines have also been issued to them for single window approach to development clearances, land acquisition and Assembly through land pooling and sharing regiments, official sources said today.

They said states had been asked to identify specific programmes for both rural and urban housing as part of the national housing and habitat policy.

The guidelines call for an integrated programme for land Assembly and infrastructure development, particularly water, power and sanitation, as precursor to taking up housing programme on a priority basis.

States have been advised to amend building bye-laws and regulations of local bodies, construction codes and schedules of specifications and utilise building centres for technology transfer, training and skill upgradation and production of innovative building materials.

They have been asked to evolve innovative schemes for weaker actions and low income group using land as a resource by providing additional floor area ratio and transferable development rights. (PTI)

MP Govt formulates strategy to counter Naxalites

RAIPUR, Nov 5: The Madhya Pradesh Government has formulated a strategy to counter the possibility of Naxalites disturbing polling on November 25 for the Assembly elections.

Chief Secretary K S Sharma and Director General of Police V P Singh, talking to newsmen here after reviewing the poll arrangements in the Chhattisgarh region, said the special steps to counter the Naxal menace included aerial survey and combing of interior areas for land mines. Cooperation of Police in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh had also been sought to keep a watch on the movement of Naxalites.

Mr Sharma said the Home Ministry had agreed to provide a helicopter for the aerial survey and the Centre the security forces for deployment during the poll.

He said despite the Naxalites call for poll boycott in the previous Lok Sabha elections, more or less average polling was recorded in the Naxalite affected districts. This time, during the elections, the state’s borders with Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, where the People’s War Group (PWG) Naxalites were operating, would also be sealed to prevent inter-state movement of the militants during the polls. (UNI)

Different ‘Diwali’

CALCUTTA, Nov 5: As mid-November approaches, astronomers,amateurs and the people in general are looking forward to a veryspecial Diwali — diwali of nature— streaks of fire in the sky fromabout the midnight of November 17 to the small hours the next day.

The celestial event is the well known Leonid Meteor showers.Though this phenomenon is observed every year it is expected to a bedazzling show this time as the orbit of the Comet 55p/temple-tuttle,from which the shower originates, visits the inner solar systemafter 33 years.

"It is expected that the veritable storm of meteors whichoccurred in 1966 will not only be repeated but will be on a muchgrander scale," said Professor R. Subramanian, Director, M P BirlaPlanetarium here.

"Indeed, the minds of many are going back to the night ofraining fire of the 1833 great Leonid Meteor storm which keptAmerica dazed and when many thought the world was coming to anend,"Prof Subramanian said.

For this year’s showers the best areas of observation areEastern Asia, China and Japan. Teams have finalised their travelto China to watch the display.

The space agencies and organisations all over the worldnervously await the possibility of the meteoroids striking andcausing damage to the numerous satellites that orbit the earth andare orienting them suitably to the least vulnerable positions.

The meteors may move at the rate of three per second whichmay even rise upto 40 per second, the zenithal hourly rate beingabout 1,50,000 particles per hour which may last for two/threehours.(UNI)

Andhra prisoners donate to Cyclone Relief Fund

RAJAHMUNDRY, Nov 5: Prisoners and staff of the central prison here have donated Rs 54,397 to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s Cyclone Relief Fund.

Disclosing this to newsmen here yesterday, prison Superintendent G Radha Krishna said of this amount, Rs 40,593 had exclusively been given by the prisoners by foregoing their meal. The balance was netted through a days’ salary of the prison and other staff. (UNI)