Excelsior... Nation

Pawar was, is, will remain my leader: Datta Meghe ..........

Kothas seek arrest of forest officials for 'misbehaviour'........

Appointment of police heads should be made transparent: Bedi .......

Two killed as car falls into Yamuna river.............

MANGALORE, Jan 26: Eight persons were charred to death and three sufferred burns when their van hit an electric pole and went in flames after coming in contact with a live wire near Jeppinamogaru, about eight kms away from here in the wee hours to today, police said.

Due to the impact of the accident, the live wire that snapped from the electric pole, fell on the car and the vehicle caught fire, police said.

The LPG cyclinder fitted into the vehicle also exploded and fuelled the fire, resulting in the death of eight of its occupants.

The victims were identified as, Sanjay, Rajesh, Pramod, Dhirender, Sudheer, Ravi, Prasad Achar and Devaraj.

Six of the killed hailed from Bihar and all of them were labourers. The were returning to the city from Kondana after a temple construction work.

The injured have been hospitalised, police said. (PTI)

More areas in Murshidabad bird flu-hit, rains hamper culling

KOLKATA, Jan 26: Bird flu, which is now within striking distance of Kolkata and has gripped 11 districts of West Bengal, today spread to two more areas of the affected Murshidabad even as unseasonal rains hampered culling, but raised hopes that the spread of the virus could be stopped.

"The culling operation is being affected in some places due to rains. But scientists say that the rains also prevent spread of the virus," Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rehman said from Murshidabad.

Culling teams in Howrah district neighbouring Kolkata, where samples from the Sankrail block tested positive for bird flu yesterday, could not start work due to heavy rains in the morning.

The authorities have deployed an 11-member team for culling poultry at Howrah’s Manickpur area.

Murshidabad District Magistrate Subir Bhadra told PTI that samples sent from Kandi and Beldanga (II) blocks to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory at Bhopal were tested positive today.

Medical teams have been rushed to Murshidabad for conducting health check-ups of the culling team. So far 3 lakh chicken have been culled in the district, which had set a target of 7 lakh, district administration sources said.

With toady’s count, the outbreak has taken into its grip nine blocks of the district, where samples had first tested positive ten days ago.

Culling was far short of its daily target of 20 lakh birds in Malda district.

Attributing the delay to stiff public resistance, Chachal Sub-divisional Development Officer Debasish Sarkar said while 353 birds could be culled on the first day, 4,765 chicken were killed yesterday. Police force was escorting the teams at Chachal sub-division, he said.

The villagers allowed culling after a great deal of persuasion, he said.

Coochbehar District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar Sinha said 50 Rapid Response Teams continued culling in villages bordering Bangladesh for the second day today.

Hooghly district magistrate Vinod Kumar said culling was over in the district.

Arambagh Block Development Officer Suvanjan Das said a watch was being kept on B K Roy Poultry Farm, the biggest in the country. (PTI)

Pratibha Patil creates history

NEW DELHI, Jan 26: "I felt proud watching a woman receiving salute from soldiers," said Vimla Devi from Haryana as President Pratibha Patil today made history by becoming the first woman to inspect the Republic Day parade here.

As the First Citizen drove to the Rajpath in her motorcade along with her French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, the commentator noted that history was being made and for the first time a woman was receiving salute on the Republic Day.

Her husband Devisingh Shekhawat, who was mistakenly identified as Devisingh ‘Patil’ once by the commentator, was beside her when she took salute.

The wife of a soldier posted in Delhi, Vimla watched the parade, which unfolded at the magnificent 2.5 km Rajpath, for the first time. She said she finds the whole cultural and military extravaganza "interesting".

Patil was seen briefing Sarkozy about the proceedings when the parade began with IAF choppers showering flowers and later when bravery award winning children on caparisoned elephants marched down the Rajpath.

The Rs one lakh car ‘Nano’ making waves across the globe, the feat of environmentalist R K Pachauri whose Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change got Nobel Prize and the Twenty20 cricket victory found mention at the commentary played before the start of the parade.

"The new year has already witnessed the small car, ‘Nano’, making big waves around the world. The year gone by has been singularly marked by acquisition spree by the Indian corporate sector," it said.

The French mediapersons accompanying Sarkozy were stunned by the "amazing and wonderful" display of the cultural heritage and weaponry of the country.

Maria, a 58-year-old woman with the media delegation, could not hold back her tears as the commentator described the heroics of four Ashok Chakra winning soldiers, who laid down their lives while fighting terrorists.

"It’s amazing, its wonderful," said French scribe Veronique Rigolet of Radio France Internationale. "We too celebrate on July 14, but ours is no comparison to the Indian one. Yours is a a huge parade and the regiment parade and dances by children were wonderful," she noted.

Her colleague Simon remarked, "it’s a wonderful experience to watch India’s cultural heritage at the parade."

For Ridet Philipe from ‘Le Monde’, who has been to several countries to cover national day celebrations, today’s parade was a "totally different experience".

"Most of the nations highlight their military might but here there was both military and cultural picture presented in parade," Philipe said.

The tiny tots enjoyed their outing to witness the Republic Day parade to the hilt.

Dressed in colourful clothes, they came in large numbers with their parents to the Rajpath to see the "guns, tanks and aeroplanes".

Many were seen humming and dancing to the tunes of rhythmic military bands and some tried to match the steps of marching soldiers. They were also surprised to see camels and elephants that were part of the parade.

The showering of flower petals and the tricolour balloons that adorned the sky brought smiles on their faces.

The 26 tableaux of states and departments were unique depicting themes varying from natural beauty to traditional arts and crafts and festivals.

The north-eastern states showcased its flora and fauna as also their rich archaeological and cultural heritage.

Meghalaya came with its ‘Butterflies of Meghalaya’ in a bid to create awareness about the "winged delights" while Tripura’s float was Unakoti, the eight century sculptural wonder which is an ancient Shaivite pilgrimage centre.

Indpendence struggle was the theme for a number of states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Railways. Festivals of Onam (Kerala) and Bathukamma (Andhra Pradesh) were also well received by public.

Ministries and Departments came up with government’s flagship programmes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, National Rural Health Mission and Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. (PTI)

Eight JDS men set to join
Congress in Karna tosay

BANGALORE, Jan 26: In the first ever departure from JDS in Karnataka, eight of its former legislators will be joining Congress tomorrow.

The new entrants will be welcomed into the party by AICC General Secretary Prithviraj Chavan in the KPCC office, party state general secretary M Ramachandrappa said here.

Those joining Congress include-H C Mahadevappa, Vaijnath Patil, H Y Meti (all former ministers), B R Patil, Manchanahalli Mahadev, Somasekhar, Venkatesh and Krishna Murthy.

JDS will suffer further jolt in old Mysore area following the quitting of the party by Mahadevappa, Manchanalli Mahadev, Somasekhar and Venkatesh as another former minister G T Devegowda had already been roped in by BJP.

Vaijnath Patil and B R Patil represent Gulbarga in North Karnataka region and Krishnamurthy hails from Chikmagalur.

These formers MLAs, loyalists of former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, had distanced from JDS soon after party supremo H D Devegowda axed their leader from the ministry and removed from party in June 2005.

Siddaramaiah joined Congress in 2006.

At least 12 more JDS former legislators, who have pledged their loyalty to former Deputy Chief Minister M P Prakash, a prominent lingayat community leader, also have plans to join Congress by next month, Ramachandrappa said.

Prakash has been holding parleys with Congress high command in this regard. (PTI)

Official apologises for missing Ambedkar's name in speech

BIJAPUR, Jan 26: D B Naik, Incharge-Deputy Commissioner of the District, today tendered an apology for not mentioning the name of Dr B R Ambedkar during his address at the Republic Day function.

After hoisting the national flag, Nayak recalled the contribution of several freedom fighters to the country, but did not mention the name of Dr Ambedkar.

This sparked off a protest by the Dalit Sangrsha Samithi (DSS) activists.

Expressing his apology in a press statement, Naik said "it was a blunder that I forgot to take the name of Dr Ambedkar in my speech. In future I will not do it". (PTI)

Pondy "rebel" Ministers meet Lt Governor

PUDUCHERRY, Jan 26: Five Puducherry Ministers, who are reported to have revolted against the leadership of Chief Minister N Rangasamy, today met Lt Governor Mukut Mithi here and were closeted with him for nearly an hour.

The nature of discussions between the Lt Governor and the Ministers was not immediately known.

However, Industries Minister V Vaithilingam, the senior most member in the Congress Ministry, told reporters later that they conveyed to Mithi their displeasure over the burning of effigies of Congress General Secretary V Narayanasamy at various places.

Besides Vaithilingam, other ministers who met the Lt Governor were Health Minister E Valsaraj, Welfare Minister M Kandasamy, Tourism Minister Malladi Krishna Rao and Education Minister M O H F Shahjahan.

All the five are considered loyalists of Narayanasamy, who had been of late critical of the style of functioning of Rangasamy, drawing the ire of his (Rangasamy's) suppporters.

The sudden meeting of the Ministers with the Lt Governor bore much significance as it came amid reports that there was lack of cohesiveness in the nearly 20 month-long ministry.

Though Vaithilingam claimed it was a scheduled meeting and they wanted to greet the Lt Governor on the Republic Day, Raj Nivas sources said the ministers had no prior appointment.

Kandasamy and Rao also said they met the Lt Governor only to greet him on the ceremonial occasion.

Vaithilingam also said there was no move on their part to replace Rangasamy.

However, a Congress source termed the meeting as 'a dramatic development' marking the Ministers' 'displeasure' over Rangasamy's style of functioning. (PTI)

ATMs of several nationalized banks fail to generate cash

CHANDIGARH, Jan 26: The one day strike of nationalized bank employees might be over but its affect was still visible here as ATM (Automated Teller Machines) of several public sector banks in Punjab and its adjoining areas today went empty because of insufficient stock of cash.

Several regular customers of public sector banks today complained of not getting cash from their ATMs as bankers did not replenish the cash stock in these money dispensing machines during weekends in view of employees strike and Government holiday today.

With the demand for cash generally increases during Saturday and Sunday, cash dispensing machines of various banks failed to bring out money for their customers. "Majority of banks did not refill the cash in ATMs which resulted into problems for customers," a bank official said.

"I visited ATM to withdraw money for some urgent work but I failed to receive any cash as there was no money in the machine," rued Bhawna Arora, a customer of public sector bank.

The problem has also got compounded with the increased dependence of customers on ATMs for their cash requirements for their day to day expenses, a bank analyst said. "People have become habitual of using ATMs and when these machines do not do their jobs, frustration amongst customers is quite natural," he pointed out. (PTI)

Villagers affected due to water contamination in TN district

TIRUNELVELI, Jan 26: About 200 people of Thenirkulam, Thachanallur and Ramaiyanpatti villages in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu were affected due to suspected drinking water contamination, official sources said today.

Thirty people were admitted to Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital today with complaints of vomiting and dysentry, resulting from tap water. Besides this, several others were reportedly admitted to Government Hospital at Thachanallur and private hospitals, the sources said.

They said health officials have rushed to the villages to find out the exact reason to take precautionary measures. Arrangements were made by the district administration to treat the affected people on their doorsteps.

It was suspected that mixing of garbage dumped near a well may have been the reason for the water contamination. (UNI)

Pawar was, is, will remain my leader: Datta Meghe

WARDHA, Jan 26: Seeking to put to rest speculation that he was quitting the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Rajya Sabha member and the party's former treasurer Datta Meghe said the party president Sharad Pawar ''was, is and will remain'' his leader.

Speaking to a group of newspersons here yesterday, Mr Meghe said reports of his possible exit from the NCP had appeared in a section of the media. ''However, I am with Mr Pawar,'' he said.

Asked about the plans of his son Sagar Meghe, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, the senior Mr Meghe quipped, ''Sagar's statement has already appeared in newspapers. He has said that he will do what his father tells him to do.''

Earlier, addressing a farmers' agitation in Wardha, Mr Meghe asserted that his leader was Mr Pawar.

''However, I will speak out my mind if I think a policy is wrong. No matter if the party expels me for that. I have already told them to expel me if they want to,'' he added. (UNI)

Kothas seek arrest of forest officials for 'misbehaviour'

UDHAGAMANDALAM, Jan 26: Nineteen persons, including six women, belonging to the Kotha tribe, were arrested today for attempting to stage picketing at Charing Cross on Ooty-Coonoor Road.

They were demanding immediate arrest of four forest officials for allegedly misbehaving with Kotha tribal women.

Police said the protesters complained that some of the tribesmen were harassed by the officials alleging that they had encroached forest land at Glenmargan,about 20 KM from here

Alleging that four forest officials--one ranger and three forest guards-- had misbehaved with tribal women, they sought also immediate suspension of these officials, police said.

The tribals, holding placards with portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, 'Periyar,' and Bharati, were arrested, when they tried to move near Gandhi Statue on their knees, police said.

About 20 Kotha tribals, who were selected to perform a dance at the venue of the Republic day celebrations, were asked not to participate in the agitation, police said. (PTI)

Appointment of police heads should
be made transparent: Bedi

NEW DELHI, Jan 25: Appointment of police heads needs to be made more transparent and honest in the country, the first women IPS officer of the country Kiran Bedi said today.

Taking a very dim view of the current police system, Bedi said, "the system is not giving you good policing. It is only individuals who act out of `Junoon’ that work."

She was speaking on a seminar on police reforms and civil society.

"Police reforms are not in the political agenda and there is no impetus from the society too. If we want to save the country and put it right, police reforms are very important", she added.

Bedi felt that poor facilities of the policemen forced them to take bribes. "The Government is worried about the jawan who is at the border while the internal jawan (police) is not cared for.

"Eighty per cent of police men are living in sheer hell. The population of India is young but its police force is aging," she added.

Bedi said that there was great need for internal reforms in the police leadership for without effective leadership the police force was directionless.

"The police leadership is not good as those officers who are honest, hard working and popular are not required by the Government. Their very popularity in public is seen as a threat by those in the Government."

Central Government has not implemented Supreme Court prescribed police reforms which have called for a fixed two year term for police chiefs and selection through a committee.

"It is actually a contempt of court," she added.

She suggested that NGOs should be actively involved in arresting the rising crime rate against women. (PTI)

Two killed as car falls into Yamuna river

NEW DELHI, Jan 26: Two men were killed when the car in which they were travelling fell into the Yamuna river in the national capital.

One of the deceased has been identified as Pradeep Srivastava while police is still ascertaining the identity of the second, a senior police official said today.

It was unclear how the car fell into the ‘chilla’ barrage in east Delhi’s Vasundhara Enclave at around 11:30 pm last night.

Rescuers, who have been working since midnight, recovered the bodies this morning. (PTI)