Excelsior... Nation

One more killed, shops
gutted as tension in
Agra continues

LUCKNOW, Oct 14: At least one person was reportedly lynched by a mob in Agra today as arson by two communities continued on the second day .....more

Steps to tone up
security system in AP

HYDERABAD, Oct 14: Upgradation of security cover for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who survived....more

3 accused in Gateway
of India bomb blast get
police custody till Oct 28

MUMBAI, Oct 14: Three prime accused in Gateway of India bomb blast of August 25 were today remanded to ......more

Hundreds of Dalits
embrace Buddhism
in Bangalore

BANGALORE, Oct 14: Coinciding with this day in 1956, when the architect of Indian ....more

Global filmfest blunders, fails to enthuse audiences

NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Despite the brouhaha created by the information and broadcasting ministry about promoting Indian cinema, the 34th International .....more

ASI takes over
Archaeological wonder
Langudi hill in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR, Oct 14: Langudi hill in Orissa, considered one of the rarest Buddhist sites in the country by historians and archaeologists, has .....more

Ultra-modern power
project dedicated to nation.

JHAKRI,(HP), Oct 14: Union Power Minister Anant G Geete today dedicated the first 250 Mw unit of the largest ultra-modern 1500 Mw Nathpa Jakhri .......more

New scientific journal challenges establishment

WASHINGTON, Oct 14: A new scientific journal that challenges the expensive heavyweights that have dominated.....more

One more killed, shops gutted as tension in Agra continues

LUCKNOW, Oct 14: At least one person was reportedly lynched by a mob in Agra today as arson by two communities continued on the second day despite deployment of several companies of police force to control the situation.

With this, at least two persons have died since trouble began on Sunday night.

Sources told UNI from Agra that at least one person was killed when a mob using iron bars attacked some people after a clash early today. "All of last night clashes between the warring groups continued using stones and petrol bombs. There are reports of shops and houses being gutted in at least seven places," police sources claimed. Media reports today said at least two shoe and leather goods godowns were also gutted in the Arson last night.

What had erupted as a clash between BSP ansd SP supports had taken a communal colour with the Jatavs and Muslims clashing with each other police said.

Curfew was imposed yesterday in some areas of the district after the clash between the two groups over the reception accorded to a BSP defector who was recently inducted into the Mulayam Singh cabinet.

Reports received here said people from a particular community were annoyed over the defection of BSP MLA Chaudhary Bashir to SP and they attacked his carcade when he was going to attend a felicitation at Kazi Para in Mantola.

SSP, Agra D S Chauhan had told UNI that one person was charred to death when a mob burnt his house. "He failed to come out and died inside while several others were injured," he added.

Curfew was imposed in Mantola and Rakabganj Police Station circles following the clash in which police had to resort to firing in self-defence and to scare away the miscreants.

Three companies of provincial armed constabulary have been deployed in the district besides police force from 40 stations.

Also, the district has been divided into several sectors for better planning, police said. IG, Kanpur zone Babu Lal Yadav was camping in the city to monitor the situation.

Meanwhile, sources here said additional force, including RAF, had been rushed to reinforce efforts of the local police.

The clash reportedly erupted when Mr Bashir had gone to Kazi Para in Mantola to participate in a felictation programme after becoming a minister in the Mulayam ministry.

A group of people belonging to a particular community which had supported him in elections when he fought on a BSP ticket, attacked him with bricks and petrol bombs. For two hours, the minister had to take refuge in the house of a motor mechanic. Police had to use force to rescue the minister.

Meanwhile, locals have alleged that police did not react immediately which led to the flaring up of the situation.

However, senior police officials were monitoring the situation and had directed the district authorities to normalise the situation at the earliest. (UNI)

Steps to tone up security system in AP

HYDERABAD, Oct 14: Upgradation of security cover for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who survived an assassination attempt by Naxalites, acquisition of more bullet-proof vehicles and landmine detection equipment were among measures being contemplated to tone up the security system.

The State Director General of Police S R Sukumara today said in the backdrop of the gaping holes in the security drill that stood exposed in the aftermath of landmine blasts at Tirupati targetting Naidu’s car, plans were on to acquire more sophisticated equipment since the present one was unable to detect the ‘deeply-embedded’ landmines.

Though bomb disposal squads had sanitised the route taken by Naidu on October 1, when extremists triggered powerful landmine explosions on the Ghat road at Tirumala foothills, the equipment that was used, could not indicate presence of landmines, he told reporters here.

"A genuine problem with the present equipment is that they cannot detect deeply-embedded landmines. We want to go for better equipment," Sukumara said.

Asked about the proposal for NSG (National Security Guards) cover for Naidu, who is top on the hit list of the outlawed People’s War Group (PWG), the DGP said, "it is a matter for the Government to decide. As of now, the present security arrangement will continue".

Stating that security for Naidu would be enhanced, the DGP said the scope and nature of upgradation would be decided by the State Government in consultation with the Centre.

On revamping the VVIP security in the backdrop of daring Naxalite attack on Naidu, the first on a Chief Minister in the state, he said there was a need for more bullet-proof vehicles to help VIPs escape from such incidents.

Bullet-proof jackets for ministers and MLAs, facing threat from extremists, was also an option that needed serious consideration, Sukumara said.

Asked about fears over Naidu’s safety during his proposed thanks-giving visit to Tirumala Temple on October 16, he said "from the security point of view, total care has been taken".

On the progress of investigations into the landmine blasts, that had left Naidu, his cabinet collague B Gopalakrishna Reddy, two TDP MLAs and driver injured, the DGP said "we are on the job and following some leads though there is no major breakthrough as yet".

Disagreeing with earlier media reports suggesting that the Naxalites responsible for the October 1 attack were identified, the DGP said "broadly, we have some idea about who could have done this but we are yet to identify the members of the team".

Stating that the investigators were going into all aspects of the case to ferret out names of PWG team which executed the blasts, he said no arrest had been made so far.

To a query, he said Naxalites had killed 510 policemen in last three-and-half decades that included a Deputy Inspector General of Police, two SPs, 2 Additional SPs, 5 DSPs, 14 CIs, 49 SIs, 95 Head Constables and 327 Constables. (PTI)

3 accused in Gateway of India bomb blast get police custody till Oct 28

MUMBAI, Oct 14: Three prime accused in Gateway of India bomb blast of August 25 were today remanded to police custody till October 28 by a Special Court after prosecution claimed that the allegations of police torture and assault on the person of the accused were false and motivated.

Sayed Mohammed Hanif, his wife Fahimida and associate Arshat Shafi Ahmed Ansari were produced before designated Judge A P Bhangale amidst tight security.

They were arrested under POTA yesterday in Gateway of India bomb blast but were not given custody as they alleged police torture and assault. On the orders of the Court, the accused were medically examined by a panel of doctors in a Government hospital and reports were placed before the Judge.

According to Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, the reports revealed that there were no external or internal injury on the person of Arshat or Hanif who had alleged police assault.

The duo had alleged that police had allegedly beat them severely in the jail on September 28 when they were taken into custody in July 28 Ghatkopar bomb blast. However Prosecutor Nikam pointed out that the accused had not informed this to their lawyer who had gone to meet them in jail on October 8.

The Prosecutor said these allegations were afterthought, false and made with an ulterior motive to avoid custody.

In the Gateway of India bomb blast of August 25, these three accused were the first to be arrested. In the Zaveri Bazaar bomb blast which occurred on the same day, no arrests have been made so far although police suspect that it was the handiwork of Hanif, Fahimida and Arshat.

The trio have also been remanded to judicial custody till October 28 in Ghatkopar blast of July 28.

Seeking their custody, Prosecutor Nikam said Arshat’s role was that of a conspirator while Hanif and Fahimida had executed the Gateway of India blast by carrying the explosives in a taxi hired by them on the ill-fated day.

He said their custodial interrogation was necessary to ascertain about absconding accused and the origin of funds procured by them to execute the explosion.

On October 6, Prosecutor Nikam said, witnesses in a police parade had identified Hanif, Fahimida and Arshat for their involvement in the blasts.

According to police, Hanif and his family had hired a taxi from Suburban Andheri and kept explosives in a bag in the boots of the vehicle. They got down at Gateway of India for lunch and asked the driver also to take a break. The taxi exploded soon thereafter, damaging many vehicles parked nearby and killing several persons.

Another blast occurred at Zaveri bazaar area on the same day, August 25. However, no one has been arrested in this case although police suspect that this explosion too was the handiwork of Hanif, his wife Fahimida and associate Arshat.

Police alleged that Hanif and co-accused Nasir were brainwashed by let activists in Dubai. Nasir was killed in a police encounter recently.

Hanif, his family members, Nasir and Arshat assembled explosives at Hanif’s Andheri residence a day prior to the explosions. While Hanif and his family travelled in one taxi to Gateway of India, Arshat and Nasir went by another cab to Zaveri bazaar.

Fiftythree persons were killed and more than 100 injured in August 25 twin blasts. In July 28 bomb blast at Ghatkopar, two persons were killed and 31 injured. (PTI)

Global filmfest blunders, fails to enthuse audiences

NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Despite the brouhaha created by the information and broadcasting ministry about promoting Indian cinema, the 34th International Film Festival of India has left many viewers and critics disappointed even as it crosses the midfest mark.

Promoted as the last fete in Delhi before moving on to a permanent venue at Goa, the fete commenced on October 9 and is slated to close on October 19 with the presentation of the awards. But few in Delhi are even aware that there is a festival on in the capital. Despite the lakhs of rupees that may have gone into publicity, some billboards about the festival can only be seen on the road that leads from the Sirifort auditorium to the ring road, or in the areas around Ashoka hotel.

And with only one multiplex (with three halls) in south Delhi screening the public shows at Rs 60 a ticket, it is perhaps too much to expect people from east, north or west Delhi to turn up. This is contrary to previous practice when at least one theatre in Connaught place or its vicinity was reserved for public shows. Though there were claims of high earnings within the first two days of the commencement of the festival, it turned out that this was primarily because of the high cost of tickets and the halls are seldom filled to capacity.

Unfortunately, even the Siri fort complex is virtually deserted after 1900 Hrs. The eating stalls only have some mediapersons and research students sitting around in the evenings, the delegates preferring to go back to their hotel. It is also interesting that the film bazaar inaugurated with much fanfare has very few visitors. There is the usual round of parties, but while the Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s opening nigh dinner became a free-for-all with no checks on the invitation cards, the director s dinner which is generally open to all delegates and media has been restricted to just fifty mediapersons.

But that is only telling half the story. The organisation of the fete has left much that can be questioned. For example, the competition section has always been chaired by an eminent Indian with one other Indian as member, two other members from Asian countries, and one person from outside the region. This is the first time since the Asian competition began in 1995 that a European, Poland’s Krzysztof Zanussi, is chairing the jury.

The number of countries taking part in the competition is absymal. Just nine countries have sent their films for competition. Both India and Sri Lanka have two films each. In similar manner, the main cinema of the world section has participation from only 36 countries, compared to more than forty (there were 65 films from forty countries last year (the thirtyfirst festival had participation from 45 countries). Even prominent countries like the United Kingdom are conspicuous by their absence in this section.

Though ministry officials and the Director were seen urging the media to write about the films screened at Siri fort complex to ensure people go to the Anupam complex to see these films the next day, it is interesting that there are films like ‘Dogville’ by Lars Von Trier whose retrospective is being held here - which have been screened at the public screening in the first week but will be shown to the media and delegates only in the second week.

While every festival in the world has some good and some bad films, the Indian festival is unique in that it attracts more visitors for the films in the Indian panorama than for the films from abroad, unless these are controversial or highly lauded as happened with ‘Maqbool’ from India or goodbye lenin and ‘swimming pool’ from overseas. The 34th IFFI is no exception, despite claims to the contrary.

The opening film by convention has been one that has won high acclaim in India or abroad. Interestingly, ‘Pinjar’ by Dr Chandra Prakash Dwivedi was not only a new film which has still not been commercially released, but it was a film that showed a black period of Indian history (though the film has been well-made and the filmmaker has attempted to show the humane nature displayed by some people). Similarly, ‘Maqbool’ by Vishal Bhardwaj is a film that is about the underworld though inspired to an extent by William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth.’ the third ‘Premiere’ film ‘Chokher Bali’ by Rituparno Ghosh has already been released in West Bengal. (UNI)

ASI takes over Archaeological wonder Langudi hill in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR, Oct 14: Langudi hill in Orissa, considered one of the rarest Buddhist sites in the country by historians and archaeologists, has been taken over by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for carrying out extensive excavation and conservation work.

ASI Bhubaneswar circle superintending archaeologist D Jitendhra Das said the ASI had already issued notification inviting objection from the public and other organisations on the acquisition of the sites.

He said further excavation of the site would be carried out once the formalities are over.

Spread over 171 acres of land in the undivided Cuttack district and close to the three famous excavated Buddhist sites of Lalitgiri, Udayagiri and Ratnagiri, the Langudi hill till now was being looked after by the Orissa Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies (OIMSEAS) of the state culture department.

The OIMSEAS excavated the hill in 1996 after surface findings from the hilltop revealed the existence of monasteries. The site has assumed significance after the discovery of "Puspagiri Mahavihar" as mentioned by Chinese traveller Hiuen-Tsang during seventh century AD.

OIMSEAS director Debraj Pradhan claimed that the site was an archaeological wonder for the scholars as nowhere in the country were so many Buddhist sites discovered close to the site as in the case of Langudi hill.

He said Ashokan Stupas dating back to the third century BC, two Ashokan images, rock-cut Buddhist architecture and terracotta Buddhist images were discovered from the site in the past during the excavation.

Mr Pradhan said the institute had also discovered seven Buddhist sites, as many stupas and 40 rock cut caves within a radius of ten Km from the site.

Since the 1860s, archaeologists have been searching for "Puspagiri Mahavihar". Even the first Director General of ASI, Sir Alexander Cunninghum tried to locate it and identified the Mahavihar with Khandagiri and Udayagiri.

The Puspagiri Mahavihar was also mentioned in the Nagarjunkunda inscription dating back to the 3rd century AD.

Mr Pradhan said subsequently the discovery of as many as 12 inscriptions during the excavation in Langudi hill, confirmed the existence of the Puspagiri Mahavihar atop the hill. These inscriptions, he said, had mentioned the Puspagiri Mahavihar dating back to the 1st century AD.

However, ASI Bhubaneswar circle sources said all the sculptures discovered by the OIMSAES would be examined further to ascertain the exact date of the site. He said the ASI would take up the excavation of the Langudi hill next year.

Dr Das said the ASI would ask the institute to handover all the Buddhist sculptures, including the image of Ashoka, discovered by it from the site in the past. All these findings would be further examined by ASI’s epigraphy section to clear doubts expressed by some historians and archaeologists on the rare discovery claimed by the institute.

Langudi hill would be the sixth Buddhist site to be taken over by the ASI in the state. The other sites in ASI’s possession are Lalitgiri, Udayagiri, Ratnagiri, Dhauli and Jaugarh.

Mr Pradhan said considering the national importance of the site and the necessity of further intensive excavation to unravel the missing history, the State Government had submitted a proposal to the ASI to take over the site under its custody.

Union Tourism Minister Jagmohan, who had visited Orissa last year and personally inspected various Buddhist sculptures discovered from Langudi hill, had assured that the ASI would take over the site.

According to the OINSEAS director, Langudi hill is the only site connected with the Hinayana sect of Buddhism in Orissa. Similar sites had been discovered in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

He said so far the excavation of the site had led to the discovery of one Buddhist stupa and a monastery besides several Buddhist sculptures dating back to various periods ranging from the 3rd century BC to 7th century AD.

The archaeologist claimed that surface findings and excavation of the site by the institute had also revealed the existence of three more stupas and as many monasteries and is expected to shed light on the site where both the Hinayana and Mahayanna sects had once flourished. (UNI)

Ultra-modern power project dedicated to nation.

JHAKRI,(HP), Oct 14: Union Power Minister Anant G Geete today dedicated the first 250 Mw unit of the largest ultra-modern 1500 Mw Nathpa Jakhri Hydro-Electric Power Project over the Sutlej river near here to the nation.

Union Minister of State for Power Jayawanti Mehta, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, State Power Minister Vidya Stokes and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam chairman Managing Director Y N Apparao besides other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The first unit was put on a 72 hour trial run on October 1 and the run was found successful. Though the commercial generation from the first unit had already begun.

The project being implemented by the public sector Satluj Jal Vidyut Ltd has in all six units of 250 Mw capacity of each and it is the highest capacity hydro-station in the country. Each unit is also the highest rating unit in the country.

The beneficiary states that would receive power supply from this project are Himachal, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh. These states had all signed power purchase agreements with the nigam.

The second 250 Mw unit is also being readied for commercial generation that would begin next month. The remaining four units would become operational by July next year. The total generation from the project would be 6951 million units of power and would meet the power deficit in the country.

The prestigious project had been executed as a joint venture of the Government of India and the State Government both sharing the equity in the ratio of 3:1. As a partner, Himachal will get 12 per cent of the power generated free of cost and 25 per cent of the balance at ‘bus bar’ rates. The state will, in all, get a total share of 547 Mw which is more than one third of the installed capacity.

The project has many features which are unequalled in the world like the largest desilting complex, the longest and largest head race tunnel, the deepest surge shaft and the largest underground power house complex. There are four underground desilting chambers each having a capacity of conducting 100 cubic meter per second silt free water into the 27.4 Km long head race tunnel. The underground power house having six generating units in a single cavern is one of the largest underground structures in the world.

With the available expertise and experience gained in planning, design, construction and project management and financial/commercial management the nigam was now in a position not only to take up many such projects in the near future bust also offer consultancy services for hydro projects and emerging as a global organisation in the hydro power sector.

In all 3.20 lakh tonnes of steel was used which was enough to lay a rail line along the quadrilateral connecting the four metroplies of the country. The 14 million bags of cement used in the project will be sufficient to provide a 75 Cm-wide pavement around the earth. The 27.4 Km-long headrace tunnel and 301 M-deep surge shaft are the other salient features of the project, besides 250 Mw capacity generating units were being installed for the first time in any project in the country.

The execution of the project has been a big challenge for engineers as barring the diversion dam, all other works were underground. The enormity of the task could be judged from the fact that in all 58 lakh cubic metres of earth was excavated for the project which WS equivalent to drilling a hole of 75 Cm diametre across the globe. The excavated material could be spread into a 8 m wide and 12.5 Cm thick carpet on the Great Wall of China.

The engineers also encountered geological constraints in the form of highly unstable strata and gushing hot water with temperature ranging between 40 degree C to 66 degree C during tunneling.

The project is being completed six years behind the original schedule of December 1998 and at more than double the original cost. It was estimated to cost Rs 4,336 crore but it is being completed at Rs 8657 crore. Besides natural calamities like cloudbursts and a landslide, the unending disputes between direct recruits of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and deputationists from the State Electricity Board, which led to frequent strikes, delayed the project. (UNI)