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Troop mobilisation has paid dividends: Farooq
Srinagar, June 18 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said on Tuesday that troop mobilisation on the border with Pakistan has paid "dividends". Abdullah said the world realised India meant business and pressurised Pakistan to stop infiltration into the disputed Kashmir. "It has given them lot of dividends. The world has realised that India means business and that has brought the world on the forefront to make Pakistan realise that terrorism will not be allowed", Abdullah said after presenting medals to gallant policemen in Srinagar. Both India and Pakistan have about one million troops massed on their borders since the December attack on Parliament. Tensions rose further after an assault on an army camp in Jammu in May. Although tensions have relatively eased after the U.S-led diplomatic missions, war fears have not receded completely. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants and sending them into its territory. Pakistan denies the charge, saying it is a home-grown insurgency to which it provides only moral and diplomatic support. But it has promised to stop militants crossing the line of control to join the 12-year-old rebellion. Indian officials say troops will remain on the border till the completion of state elections in October 2002. Abdullah declined to say whether he would continue as chief minister if his National Conference Party was returned to power in the state. "The president of the party once he takes over will decide who will fight the election, who will be the members. And then it will be the party who will decide who will be the candidate for chief ministership," he said. "It is not going to be that just because I am chief minister therefore I should stay as chief minister. The party at that stage will decide who will be the chief minister. That is democratic set up of the party," Abdullah added. Kashmir's main separatist alliance, All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, has said it would not participate in the elections. Several militant groups have also urged people not to participate in the electoral process.(ANI) New J and K government by October 14, says Farooq
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to top Srinagar, June 18 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir will have a new government by the 14th of October, chief minister Farooq Abdullah said on Tuesday. "The new Assembly and a new government should be in place by October 13 or 14," he told reporters at Raj Bhavan. He wanted that everybody to must participate in the elections, this being a democratic country. According to him, the situation in J and K is not like that in PoK where the contestants must declare accession to Pakistan to qualify for joining the race. Abdullah added that he would convene a week-long session of the House in view of the Presidential polls on July 15. "If Lakshmi Sahgal had not contested, there would have been no need for the election. But now that she has decided to contest, we would convene a session," he explained. (ANI)
Prez candidate Kalam files papers Go to top New Delhi, June 18 (ANI): Eminent missile technologist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Tuesday filed nominations for the July 15 Presidential elections. A host of political leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, accompanied Kalam to Parliament House where he filed his papers. The communist parties have fielded Captain Lakshmi Sehgal for the top post. Sehgal is expected to file her nominations on June 21. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition has named Kalam for the largely ceremonial role of president due next month. Kalam will be India's third Muslim President at a time when India and its Islamic neighbour, Pakistan, are locked in a dangerous military standoff with a million troops lined up along their border. Kalam, 72, was principal scientific adviser to the prime minister until last November when he quit to pursue an academic career. Kalam is a bachelor who was born to illiterate parents on an island in the Bay of Bengal. Kalam, who now heads a technology centre at a southern Indian university, will be India's eleventh President when he moves into Rashtrapati Bhavan next month. While the post of President is mainly ceremonial in India's parliamentary system, it has become more prominent in the last decade as the President decides which party to invite to form a government when elections throw up a hung Parliament. The President is elected by an electoral college of federal and provincial lawmakers but political parties have usually preferred to choose a consensus candidate.(ANI)
40 injured in roof cave-in
Go to top Hyderabad, June 18 (ANI): At least 40 persons were injured, 10 of them critically, when a building under construction at Bharat Dynamics Limited in Kanchanbagh collapsed on Monday. According to the police, about 100 workers were involved in laying of a concrete slab on a 40-foot structure when the centering collapsed leading to the caving-in of the roof that was being laid using readymix concrete. The police added that all construction workers had been rescued. However, eye-witnesses aid that at least half a dozen people were still to be traced. The police have started clearing the debris of the collapsed structure. Cranes could be seen reaching the construction site to facilitate rescue work. The injured have been admitted to the nearby DRDO Apollo hospital. The hospital's wards were a scene of hectic activity. "In the morning when we were working there, we heard a loud blast. The building collapsed on us. We were waiting for more construction material when the buidling collapsed. There were 10 of us at work there, nine more labourers were also there," said an injured eyewitness now receiving medication at the Apollo Hospital. Patients, moaning with pain, are seen to be given medical help.(ANI)
3 terrorists killed in Jammu, weapons recovered
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top Jammu, June 18 (ANI): Security forces killed three terrorists in two separate incidents in Doda district of Jammu division, official sources informed on Tuesday. Moreover, arms and explosives were recovered. Two terrorists, identified as Shahnawaz alias Bilal and Shabir Ahmed of Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit, were killed on Monday evening. Two AK rifles, two handgrenades and one wireless set were recovered from them. Another LeT terrorist was arrested during the operation. In another incident, security forces shot dead a LeT terrorist identified as Abu Yonus in Doda district. A rich haul of weapons were made from a hideout in Rajouri district on Monday evening. These included one kg plastic explosive, 11 M-60 anti-tank rifle grenades, four grenades, one RPG booster, eight pencil timers, 13 remote control units of IEDs, two IED demolition units, one detonator, some pistol rounds and five Pakistani maps. (ANI)
Iftikhar remanded to police custody till June 24
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top New Delhi, June 18 (ANI): A local court on Tuesday remanded Iftikhar Geelani, a New Delhi-based Kashmiri journalist who was arrested on June 9 under the Official Secrets Act, to police custody till June 24. Geelani was found to be in possession of incriminating documents which police said pertained to Indian troop movements in Kashmir. "Today we have moved a release application. The police has sought more time and asked the Home Ministry to enquire about the document published in 1995 by Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad. They want to ascertain whether such a document exists or not. That is why they have sought more time," Geelani's counsel V.K. Ohri said while speaking to reporters. "We have already placed a bail application which will be heard on the 24th of this month along with the release application," Ohri added. Geelani pleaded innocence. "I am innocent. My conscience is clear. It is already a published document. I don't think it is under Official Secrets Act. It has been published in 1993. That's what I would say... My conscience is clear. I'm innocent," Geelani said. Geelani, the New Delhi bureau chief of Jammu-based "Kashmir Times", is the son-in-law of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani who was also detained on June 9 on charges of channelising funds to Kashmiri militants. Geelani is well-known in the media and government circles and he is accredited with Press Information Bureau, which holds a thorough security check before issuing identity cards.(ANI)
"Operation monsoon" launched in Corbett Park
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Dehradun, June 18 (ANI): Security has been tightened in the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttaranchal after forest guards recovered 17 grenades earlier this week. Police officials said the grenades stuffed with potash were laced with a glue of flour and glycerine and were meant to attract wild animals, which die when they try to bite them. Small-time hunters use such grenades to kill animals, mainly for their food. State police have constituted a special operations group to track down the poachers after the recovery of explosives on Saturday. Police suspect villagers from the neighbouring areas. Their combing operations are hampered due to difficult terrain. S.C.Upadhyaya, a forest officer at Corbett National Park, said guards saw three men when a grenade went off accidentally. But they managed to escape. "Poachers normally plant grenades in jungle during evening. Accidentally, one of the grenades blasted while poachers were trying to plant them. Hearing the explosion, patrolling unit rushed towards the site and followed three persons who escaped taking advantage of bad light," Upadhyaya said. "Additional forest staff was rushed to the site and the entire area was cordoned off. After removing the soil at the site, security guards recovered 17 grenades, which are actually not hand grenades and are made by poachers using country made materials," he added. Last year, several male elephants were found dead with their tusks removed which led to the strengthening of security in the park. Most of the guards armed only with sticks are no match to better- organized poacher gangs. Poaching increases during the monsoon season when the park closes for visitors. "Operation monsoon", an annual exercise aimed at apprehending poachers, has been launched after the park was closed on June 16. D.S.Khati, Director, Corbett National Park, said cooperation of locals has been sought for tracking poachers' movements. "When several elephants were killed in the park, a contingency plan was made with the support of villagers. We made a team of 275 villagers alongwith our regular staff equipped with arms and wireless sets. We ambush different areas in the park as during monsoon season monitoring becomes difficult due to grass and flooding of streams," Khati said. "Several temporary and permanent anti- poaching camps have been mended and vigil has been strengthened. Our informers in villages and cities keep us updated about any movement of poachers," he added. Although trafficking of wildlife products is banned in India, poaching of animals for their skin, bones and body parts, continues. Environmentalists say the Indian government is not doing enough to protect its wildlife, particularly the dwindling tiger population, which has decreased to around 3,000 from 50,000 in 1947. Spread over 1,000 square miles on the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, the Corbett national park, named after the famous British hunter-turned-conservator Jim Corbett, is famous for the tigers, elephants, deer and crocodiles. The park is 400 km from Lucknow which neighbours Uttaranchal.(ANI)
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