AHMEDABAD, Apr 1: The controversy surrounding a private American-made aircraft, grounded at the airport....more

Darjeeling bandh
called off

SILIGURI, Apr 1: The GNLF withdrew its indefinite strike in Darjeeling today as announced but reiterated....more

Ceasefire in Nagaland
extended

GUWAHATI, Apr 1: The unilateral ceasefire by armed forces in Nagaland was today extended for six months....more

Jehanabad residents demand CBI inquiry
into massacre

NEW DELHI, Apr 1: People of Senari village in Jehanabad district of Bihar, where....more

TILFARA (Chamoli), Apr 1: Summer is yet to set in, but the very thought of the havoc that the rainy season could play....more

Gujarat allocates
Rs 27 lakh for
jails modernisation

GANDHINAGAR, Apr 1: Central jails of Surat and Rajkot will soon have close circuit televisions.....more

8 authors selected
for Govind Vallabh
Pant Awards

NEW DELHI, Apr 1: Eight authors have been selected for the Govind Vallabh Pant Awards’ for....more

Crisis in Prasar Bharati
on pay parity unresolved

NEW DELHI, Apr 1: Crisis in the Prasar Bharati on the pay parity issue remained unresolved today ....more

Controversy over landing of private US aircraft ends

AHMEDABAD, Apr 1: The controversy surrounding a private American-made aircraft, grounded at the airport here since March 17, came to an end with the plane leaving for Mumbai, on way to Dubai, via Karachi, last night, airport sources said today.

The much-awaited clearance to the aircraft was given by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), New Delhi, yesterday, to the Airport Authority of India officials here.

After it’s unscheduled landing at the Sardar Patel International Airport here, for refuelling, the authorities did not allow the aircraft to fly, pending clearance from the DGCA. Meanwhile, a number of Government agencies, including the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), were roped in to probe the matter, as a camera was found fitted in the bottom of the aircraft.

The two-member crew, Captain Garry C J Copper, the Pilot, and the Navigator, Ms J M Kondgage, stayed at a posh hotel near the Airport since March 17 and took off yesterday after the DGCA’s clearance. (UNI)

Darjeeling bandh called off

SILIGURI, Apr 1: The GNLF withdrew its indefinite strike in Darjeeling today as announced but reiterated it would ‘relaunch’ the bandh on April 21 if its demand was not met by then.

The party has in a release demanded the arrest of the killers of GNLF leader R K Pradhan, murdered on Sunday, by then.

With the withdrawal of the bandh, life in the tourist hill town, and the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, is gradually returning to normal.

The large number of summer tourists, caught unawares by the bandh which lasted for three days, heaved a sigh of relief.

District SP Vivek Sahay said nearly 5,000 tourists were evacuated to Siliguri from the hills during the past three days.

A large number of tourists, stranded in Sikkim due to picketing by GNLF supporters on NH 31A, were also evacuated with police escort during the last two days. (PTI)

Ceasefire in Nagaland extended

GUWAHATI, Apr 1: The unilateral ceasefire by armed forces in Nagaland was today extended for six months, a defence release here said.

The ceasefire, which was to have expired on April 15 will now be in force till October 15, the release said.

The ceasefire was being extended in deference to the wishes of the esteemed Naga Hoho (tribal apex body), social organisations and people of Nagaland and in the interest of peace in the state, the release said.

The unilateral suspension of operations by armed forces against NSCN (K) has worked quite satisfactorily so far, the release said, adding the ceasefire had gone a long way In the efforts to find a peaceful solution to the political imbroglio in Nagaland. (PTI)

Jehanabad residents demand CBI inquiry into massacre

NEW DELHI, Apr 1: People of Senari village in Jehanabad district of Bihar, where 34 people were massacred on March 18, apprehend more killings by the MCC and have demanded deployment of para-military forces in the village and a CBI inquiry into the massacre.

In a memorandum to President K R Narayanan the villagers said they had lost faith in Bihar police, administration and politicians. When the massacre was on, the nearest police station at Saharsa in Aurangabad, barely one km away, was informed, but the police failed to take action.

The memorandum said officials of the Saharsa Police Station had "misguided" police officials from other stations because of which the massacre could not be prevented and safety measures were not taken up.

"As soon as the officer-in-charge of the police station was informed, he ordered firing in the air. Police station in-charge of saharsa misguided all the police stations by sending wireless messages that MCC extremists attacked police station at Saharsa," the memorandum said adding that immediately after the wireless message, police officials from other stations rushed to Saharasa Police Station.

The residents demanded a CBI inquiry into the police failure alleging that the officials had colluded with the killers.

The memorandum submitted by one Vidyanand Sharma, on behalf of the nearly 2000 population of the affected hamlet, said the local police had registered a case on a complaint by a woman whose husband and the only son were also gunned down. The complainant had named 16 people in the FIR whom she had recognised at the time of the incident. The memorandum alleged that the killers had police patronage because MCC followers were involved in production and sale of illicit liquor at Azad Bigha in Senari village, half a km from Saharsa Police Station, "under the protection of officers from Saharsa and Bansi Police Stations."

Despite the massacre, only 12 police personnel had been deployed by Bihar police for the safety of three villages which was inadequate, it said.

Also, some country-made weapons, including pistols, were being sold to MCC, it added.

The memorandum expressed regret that even after Central Ministers George Fernandez, Nitish Kumar and Yashwant Sinha had visited the site of the massacere, neither the Prime Minister nor the Government had announced any relief to the kin of those killed.

It said Senari village did not have a pacca road which could connect it with other parts of the country and even there were no communication facilities, no post office, no school and no hospital. Some funds had indeed been sanctioned for adult education in the village but the funds were not utilised in fields they were meant for. (UNI)

After quake it is rains which victims fear now

TILFARA (Chamoli), Apr 1: Summer is yet to set in, but the very thought of the havoc that the rainy season could play with the cracked houses and the mountainous terrain, fissured by Sunday’s quake, is causing much concern not only to the victims, but also to environmentalists.

Last year’s landslides in Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts, triggered by heavy rains, which had killed over 600 people apart from blocking the Mandakini river and creating a lake in Chamoli district were still green in people’s memory.

The aftereffects of Sunday’s quake could be even worse in the coming rainy season, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, noted environmentalist and Ramon Magsaysay award winner, said.

Wide and long cracks on mountainous terrain are already visible in Gopeshwar town near here where seepage of water during the rains could trigger heavy landslides, Bhatt told PTI.

Cracks had also developed on the ground in Ukimath village after Sunday’s quake which measured 6.8 on the richter scale.

Bhatt recalled that similar cracks caused by the 1991 tremors around Burwa and Bhanti villages had led to massive landslides that swept away some villages in Rudraprayag district.

Fissures in the fragile mountain terrain can cause natural disasters in the form of landslides, heavy soil erosion and collapse of entire hills anytime within one to ten years of the quake, Bhatt said.

In Gopeshwar and Chamoli the cracked houses have already been rendered unsafe by the quake and staying in the houses during the rains could pose a major danger to life, Bhatt said adding these houses should, therefore, be abandoned and steps taken by the Government to provide seismologically stable, light-weight houses.

The 1300-year old Gopinath temple, however, still stood tall amid the debris of collapsed houses, Bhatt noted, pointing out that traditional stone-and-mud houses made specifically in accordance with the distinct ecological and geographical peculiarities of the region could be counted on to withstand the impact of tremors.

If the administration is serious enough to prevent likely tragedies, they have to build fresh houses and erect embankments at strategic points over the terraces on the hills to curb soil erosion, Dr Mohan Panwar, an ecologist and professor at Garhwal University said.

Panwar pointed out that ecological degradation and deforestation coupled with unsustainable development had further increased the chances of landslides.

Administration has to wake up and launch rehabilitation operations on a war footing to shift people to new houses, Bhatt said.

Sarita Maithana, an M.Sc student of PG College, Gopeshwar, said plywood-and-tin houses would be the best answer to the problems of the region, noting that in the 35-year old Kund Colony, not a single house had been damaged. (PTI)