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3 time device bombs, 20 kg explosives recovered in TN CHENNAI, May 30: Police recovered three time bombs, each weighing five kgs, besides a huge quantity of arms and ammunition, in different parts of....more 6 killed in Punjab KAPURTHALA, May 30: Six people were killed and seven injured when a TATA Sumo collided head-on with ....more No alternative to air NEW DELHI, May 30: India’s decision to resort to air strikes to clear infiltrators from across Pak-occupied Kashmir is considered as ...more 2 killed in police BHUBANESWAR, May 30: Two persons including a woman were killed and four injured when police opened..more |
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Mulayam supports ALLAHABAD, May 30: Samajwadi Party president and former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has...more New package for terrorism affected widows CALCUTTA, May 30: For hundreds of young Indian women who have lost their husbands to terrorist and Naxalite activities, there is now hope for a ....more ‘Life is a
squirrel’ seeks NEW DELHI, May 30: There is a poignant hush, you are in the jungle, invisible beasts lurk in shadows, only the guns keep them at bay, writes....more India should adopt Israeli style of attack on Pak NEW DELHI, May 30: India should adopt the Israeli style of surgical operation to retaliate Pakistan’s shooting down of IAF fighter aircraft and ...more |
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3 time device bombs, 20 kg explosives recovered in TN CHENNAI, May 30: Police recovered three time bombs, each weighing five kgs, besides a huge quantity of arms and ammunition, in different parts of Tamil Nadu early today, and seized 20 kg of explosives from a train in neighbouring Kerala, averting possible tragedies in both the states. The three time device bombs, one each at Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore and Chennai, which were set to explode between 0600 hrs and 0800 hrs today, were timely defused by the police. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told reporters here that a major tragedy had been averted by the timely recovery of the bombs. He said each bomb weighed about five kg and mainly comprised gelatine sticks attached to electronic timing devices. Searches were continuing, he said. Police also recovered 10 detonators, two nine-volt radio batteries, one pen torch cell, few yards of wire, an alarm clock, a pouch containing some explosive substances, suspected to be phosporous and a pannier box in Tamil Nadu. Additional Director General of Police K Kumaraswamy said he had received reports from Kerala that 20 kg of explosive substances were seized from the Kochi-Kurla Express at Kanjancode. Chennai Police Commissioner P Kalimuthu said the bomb, which was kept inside in a bag, was placed about 300 feet away from his office in a small ditch. A Tiruchirappalli report said a soap box type bomb was recovered near the police club at around 0500 hrs. A policeman saw it being thrown by a some motorcycle-borne persons who threw the bag containing the bomb and sped away. In Coimbatore, the box bomb was recovered from the police quarters under construction. Construction workers alerted the police who defused it. Karunanidhi said police had been put on alert during the last few days, following the activities of infiltrators in Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Routine searches had also been continuing in various parts of the state, he said. Some leaflets were recovered from the vicinity of the seizures, purpotedly written by the banned outfit, Al Umma, one of the main organisations allegedly responsible for the Coimbatore serial bomb blasts last year, he said. The leaflets alleged that Al Umma prisoners in various jails in the state were being ‘tortured’ and demanded that they be immediately released, he added. Karunanidhi said the leaflets condemned him, ridiculed the formation of ‘Samathuvapurams’ (housing colonies being set up by the Government to promote an Egalitarian society) and demanded ban on RSS and Hindu Munnani in the state. Denying that Muslim detainees in jails were being tortured, he said they were being treated in accordance with the law. He said people should identify those indulging in such ‘false propaganda’ to incite communal violence. At a time when there were problems on the Indo-Pakistan border, such activities by certain groups ‘amounted to high treason,’ he said. (PTI) |
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6 killed in Punjab road mishap KAPURTHALA, May 30: Six people were killed and seven injured when a TATA Sumo collided head-on with a truck near Subhanpur on GT-Road, 10 km from here, in Punjab, police said. All the victims were passengers of the TATA Sumo which was going from Dera Bassi to Beas. The injured have been hospitalised. Four bodies, including two of women, were brought here while the other two bodies were still awaited. (PTI) |
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No alternative to air raids in Kargil: Experts NEW DELHI, May 30: India’s decision to resort to air strikes to clear infiltrators from across Pak-occupied Kashmir is considered as inescapable and absolutely necessary by defence analysts who, however, do not foresee the situation as turning into another Indo-Pak war in the making. Notwithstanding the loss to air force and human casualties in the five days of ‘Operation Vijay’, they view the Pakistani rhetoric and response as yet another attempt to internationalise the Kashmir issue and a security cover to the mercenaries they have trained for fomenting insurgency in the Valley. If we wouldn’t have done that (air raids), we would have lost control on the road to Leh, which is the lifeline of Ladakh, says Air Marshal (Retd) N L Gupta noting that there should be no quarter for complaint because the raids are well within our territory. It’s not the beginning of a third war over Kashmir, it’s primarily an attempt to internationalise the issue, says former vice-chief of Army Staff Lt Gen (Retd) A M Vohra. According to Gen Vohra the situation is indicative of the fact that Pakistan has still not given up the course of seeking a military solution to the Kashmir problem. Commenting on the Pakistani response, Maj General Gera, Dy Director United Service Institution (USI), a thinktank, says it’s along expected lines. They have after all inducted the men there... They cannot be left to the vagaries of nature or as cannon fodder. It’s unlikely for the conflict to spill along other places on the Indo-Pak border, they say. Commenting on Islamabad’s reaction so far, Maj Gen Gera says there’s been no retaliation from them. It would have been so had they used their aircraft to fire at Indian planes. It’s still not decisively established if the first MiG was downed by the Pakistanis or intruders in the upper reaches of the conflict region straddling a good 120 kms in the Drass-Kargil-Batalik sector, says Maj Gen Gera. Explaining the reasons of resorting to air-attacks, Air Marshal Gupta says, that’s the only way of softening the mercenaries holed in the higher positions of advantage. He is of the view that the air raids should continue till the forces are sure of capturing the heights physically with the least casualties to the ground troops. That’s the most cost-effective way, says the Air Marshal explaining that there’s no chance of pilots straying into enemy air space as they fly with detailed maps of the terrain and all their targets are pre-determined. In similar vein, Gera explains that it would have been very difficult to evict the intruders — who he calls trained mercenaries in civvies — with the help of ground forces only. Defending heights is very advantageous, he notes drawing parallels with Siachen, which the Pakistanis have not been able to capture over the years as Indians are in a commanding position at higher posts. They are however divided on whether there was an intelligence lapse in the intrusion going undetected for long enough to allow the outsiders construct bunkers and stock supplies. While General Vohra sees no intelligence failure in the sparsely inhabited rugged terrain with the Line of Control (LoC) literally dividing the mountains, Maj Gen Vera and Air Marshal Gupta admit that some kind of failure has taken place. Gupta does not hold the forces responsible for it, but Gera says besides physical patrolling there are other ways of keeping tab, like using the local people as informers. Gera describes the loss on account of human lives and the shooting down of aricraft as the cost of the battle but Gupta observes that there’s nothing appalling about it compared to the hundreds of soldiers who have died quelling insurgency in the Valley. It’s only spectacular seeing an aircraft being downed and that makes news. Nonetheless, it’s most unlikely for a conflict to start in other areas, they feel. One, because there are no indicators of the same and second, because the Pakistanis are aware that the most decisive battles are not fought in Kashmir (where there’s little room for manoeuvre) but in the planes of Rajasthan and punjab, says Lt Gen Vohra. (PTI) |
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2 killed in police firing on fishermen BHUBANESWAR, May 30: Two persons including a woman were killed and four injured when police opened fire on irate fishermen at Sorana on the edge of the Chilka lake, about 70 km from here, in the early hours today, Home Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy said. Five rounds were fired by the police after they were cornered by the agitated fishermen who snatched away from their custody 20 people arrested by them earlier, he told newspersons. While the woman died on the spot, the injured person succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, he said, adding the four injured were admitted to capital hospital here. Tension had been brewing in the area for the past several days following the decision of Chilka Matsyajibi Mahasangh, an apex body of traditional fishermen operating in the lake, to physically clean up the lagoon of prawn gherries. The fishermen, opposed to prawn farming within the lake, had served an ultimatum on the Government to remove the prawn gherries spread over 47,000 acres within 24 hours. They had also threatened to take up the job themselves if the Government did not oblige. Police said the DIG of Police (Centeral Range) has rushed to Sorana and the District Collector and Superintendent of Police are camping there. Director General of Police Dilip Kumar Mohapatra said the police were cornered by irate fishermen when they were about to take away 20 persons arrested in connection with the agitation by Chilka Matsyajibi Mahasangh. The policemen came under heavy brickbatting by the fishermen, who forcibly snatched away the arrested persons. This, he said, forced the police to lob teargas shells and then resort to a lathicharge, which failed to control the fishermen. Five rounds were then fired to disperse the mob. In the brickbatting, 20 policemen including the Additional Superintendent of Police were injured and several vehicles badly damaged, he said. Police reinforcement has been rushed to the spot, Mohapatra said, adding that tension prevails in the area. Chilka Matsyajibi Mahasangh sources claimed that the fishermen had cleared about 2,000 acres of prawn gherries yesterday. (PTI) |
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Mulayam supports military action against infiltrators ALLAHABAD, May 30: Samajwadi Party president and former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has supported the military action to flush out Pakistan-backed infiltrators from Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir, even as he criticised the Government for its failure to take prompt action in preventing the infiltration. He told newspersons here yesterday that the Indian armed forces were competent enough to defeat evil designs of any country. Yadav criticised Defence Minister George Fernandes for giving a clean chit to Pakistan Government and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in connection with developments in Kargil and Drass and said I am surprised that such a statement came from the Defence Minister. (PTI) |
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‘Life is a squirrel’ seeks to voice pain of Kashmir NEW DELHI, May 30: There is a poignant hush, you are in the jungle, invisible beasts lurk in shadows, only the guns keep them at bay, writes Maharaj Krishen Kaw in one of his poems ‘Srinagar’, reflecting the pain and tragedy of Kashmir in his new book ‘Life is a squirrel’. But it is not the bureaucrat writing about his troubled state. It is rather the innermost feelings of a human being who has seen his people being uprooted from their own land, the separation and the bitter struggle to rebuild their lives. Through my poems, I have tried to give voice to the reality of Kashmir, the suffering, sense of loss and its poignance, Kaw, who is Secretary (Education) in the Department of Human Resource Development (HRD), told after the book was released here yesterday. Life is a squirrel carries more than 50 poems including 10 on Kashmir. Kashmir has been ravaged for long. The paradise on earth has been made to bleed for years. I have tried to express my grief and pain through these poems, said Kaw, whose earlier publications include the acclaimed satire on bureaucracy titled ‘Bureaucrazy : IAS unmasked’. Launching the book, president of the Poetry Society of India and noted Oriya poet J P Das said, it is really incredible that amidst his busy schedule, Kaw has found time to give shape to his creative urge. He is one of the writers whose poetry is both evocative and moving. Kaw has also written in Hindi and some of his noted Hindi publications include Kehna aasan hai (poetry) and Aasmaan nahin girte (novel). Asked how he manages to engage in creative writing amidst his busy schedule, Kaw said writing is in fact relaxing. It is a very natural act and not at all time consuming or tiring. Writing gives me immense pleasure and re-energises me. Writing is also a release of the mental and spiritual violence that hits you all the time. Although we contribute towards the betterment of society in our official capacity, but one does feel ineffective at times. Thus writing expurgates the negative emotions, Kaw said. The launch of the book, published by the Konark Group, was attended by Sahitya Akademi Secretary K Satchidanandan, noted poet Keshav Malik and Sheila Gujral, wife of former Prime Minister I K Gujral. (PTI) |
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India should adopt Israeli style of attack on Pak NEW DELHI, May 30: India should adopt the Israeli style of surgical operation to retaliate Pakistan’s shooting down of IAF fighter aircraft and counter Islamabad’s military cover to the infiltrators in the Jargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior defence expert said here today. Senior Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) fellow M V Rappai said the loss of two MiGs and a Mi-17 helicopter deserved a better response from the Indian side as they were operating within the country’s territory. The action of the Pakistan Air Defence Units should have been taken seriously and retaliated with surgical strike, as the Israeli practice in their country, he told. Elaborating the surgical strike, the Defence analyst said, finding the exact battery which fired the missile that hit the fighter aircraft is not a difficult job for the IAF, and in a surgical strike we should demobilise that particular missile battery after segregating it from others. However, senior defence analyst K Subrahmanyam said India can not behave that way and should maintain military restraint due to several reasons. We can’t behave like Israel, because it is against Indian policy, he said, calling for military restraint to score over Pakistan in diplomatic war. Senior defence expert P R Chari of the institute of peace and conflict here said, it is not a difficult job to trace and destroy the missile battery but a major point one should look into is its strategic location and how far it is from the border. With the current artillery India possess, it can do this, but the act could further escalate the tension, Chari said. We should put Pakistan politically on a sticky wicket and India’s retaliation would have given them a chance to charge New Delhi with attacking Islamabad. And the world opinion would have gone against us, he said. An Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter was on Friday shot down by a missile fired by Pakistani infiltrators killing four personnels in Drass sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan had claimed the day before that it had shot down two IAF fighter planes — MiG-21 and MiG-27 — near Chorbat-La, claiming that they were seven km inside its territory. Calling the Pakistani action as a hostile and provocative act, India said the planes were operating within the Indian territory close to the Line of Control (LoC). Pointing to the shooting down of the Mi-17 helicopter by a stringer missile fired by Pakistan-backed infiltrators, Chari said the Surface-to-air (SAM) missile could have been provided by Pakistan as the U.S. had given the Afghan militants the stringer missile through Islamabad. It also proves that the Pakistani regular troops are there with the invadors, he said. Expressing serious concern over the loss of lives and machines in the operation, the defence analyst from IDSA said India should evolve better strategy to minimise its casualties while inflicting heavy damage to the enemy. India must fully utilise its air power to soften the militants and the regular troopers from Pakistan before the Army start flushing out operation, he said. While deploying the ground force, we must have a comprehensive strategy to minimise the casualty, Rappai said. (PTI) |
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