Committee to probe Godhra train fire
New
Delhi: The Centre government today decided to set up
a high-level committee to probe the Godhra incident. The
committee will investigate into the fire in the Sabarmati
Express in 2002, which was followed by communal violence
that claimed more than a thousand lives over two months.
The Committee will be headed by retired Supreme Court judge
Justice UC Banerjee, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
told reporters after meetings of the Cabinet, Cabinet Committee
on Security and Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. On
July 14 Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had announced
in the Parliament that the Godhra incident would be probed
afresh.
Bilkis
Bano trial deferred till Sept 15
Mumbai:
The trial of the Bilkis Yakub Rasool gangrape-cum-massacre
case was today deferred till September 15 as the accused
were not produced before the court. Today was the first
day of the hearing. The trial, which was shifted to Maharashtra
from Gujarat on the Supreme Court orders, is being conducted
in a newly- made court at Mazgaon here. All the 20 accused,
placed in judicial custody by a Gujarat court, have been
brought here and lodged in central jail. However, the Mumbai
trial court was not informed about the reason for their
absence today. The accused include two DSPs, four other
cops, a doctor couple Arun Prasad and Sangita and two BJP
activists from Dahod district. On March 1, 2002, six-month
pregnant Bilkis Bano was allegedly gangraped and her relatives
were slaughtered by a mob during post-Godhra riots in Dahod
district of Gujarat.
Murli
Manohar Joshi, Kailash Joshi court arrest (Go
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Bangalore:
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi and former Madhya
Pradesh Chief Minister Kailash Joshi courted arrest in Bangalore
today, the second day of the Satyagraha by the BJP demanding
withdrawal of cases against former Madhya Pradesh chief
minister Uma Bharti. Dr Joshi headed the second team of
BJP leaders who were taken into preventive custody by the
city police as they commenced the second day's satyagraha
in front of the Town Hall here. Leader of Opposition L.K.
Advani had launched the agitation yesterday. He had also
courted arrest along with his supporters while demanding
removal of cases against Uma Bharti. Bharti has been remanded
to judicial custody at a University Guest House in Dharwad
till September 17 in connection with the decade old rioting
case when she had led a mob to hoist the national flag at
an Idgah in Hubli.
Afganistan
foreign minister calls on Prime Minister (Go
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New
Delhi: Afghanistan foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah
called on the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Thursday.
India and Afghanistan had on Wednesday signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) on the 400 million dollars reconstruction
package announced by India for the embattled nation.
PM
inaugurates Guru Granth Sahib research centre (Go
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New
Delhi: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh inaugurated
a research centre in the Capital on Thursday to mark 400
years of compilation of Sikh holy book the Guru Granth Sahib.
The research centre has been opened at the Gurudwara Rakabganj.
Singh said the research wing would help provide an indepth
analysis into the holy book relatively less known to the
people of other religion. "Guru Granth Sahab is a great
source of knowledge, whatever research is done on it is
not enough. I congratulate the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak
Committee (SGPC) for taking such a step," Singh told the
gathering. The SGPC is celebrating the installation of Guru
Granth Sahib at Harminder Sahib in the Golden Temple in
Amritsar. Singh, the first Sikh to occupy India's top office,
is leading the five-day event to mark "Parkash Utsav", the
anniversary of the compilation and installation in 1604
of the holy book at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine
of the Sikhs. Hundreds of thousands of Sikhs have gathered
in Amritsar, 450 km from New Delhi, to commemorate the 400th
anniversary. About 3.5 million Sikhs from around the world
are expected to participate in the five-day anniversary
celebrations.
CPM
MPs allege 'police high-handedness' (Go
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by Gautam Ghosh
Kolkata:
The CPM-led Left Front government in West Bengal is
been facing serious administrative problems following complaints
about police high-handedness by a section of party MPs and
a cabinet minister. State Chief Minister Budhadev Bhattacharjee,
who also holds the home portfolio, has so far remained unmoved
by his party colleagues' outbursts against the state police.
The state CPM leadership has obviously been caught on the
wrong foot and is trying their best to find out a face-saving
device to defuse the situation. However, mainline opposition
parties in the state like Trinamool Congress and the BJP
have been quick to exploit the issue to gain political mileage.
The recent arrest of Avatar Singh, husband of CPM MP from
Krishnagar in Nadia district Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, for running
a sleaze racket from his hotel in Salt Lake has caused a
great deal of embarrassment to the ruling Marxists in general
and the chief minister in particular. While Bhattacharjee
took a serious view of Singh's role, a section of state
CPM leaders, including party MP from Dum Dum Amitava Nandi
and transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, came to his defence
and publicly criticised the police administration for taking
him into custody. State CPM secretary and politburo member
Anil Biswas directed North 24 Parganas district committee
secretary Amitava Basu to probe the matter, but gave a clean
chit to Sikdar even before the inquiry began. All this shows
that the issue has sparked off a serious controversy in
the party and given a handle to its political opponents
to initiate a movement against the state government. The
second major issue, which has badly shaken the CPM leadership
in Bengal, is the allegation of arms smuggling levelled
against Sushanta Ghosh, a minister of state, by his former
assistant Debashis Pain. The arrest of a CPM gram panchayat
pradhan Nikhil Pande and Democratic Youth Federation leader
Benoy Chatterjee in connection with the murder of a party
supporter in Hooghly district has also brought to the surface
the CPM's serious infighting. The district police had to
resort to lathi-charge and even open fire to disperse a
violent CPM mob on Tuesday protesting against the leaders'
arrest. Surprisingly, Rupchand Pal, CPM MP from Hooghly,
yesterday issued a statement strongly criticising the police
for arresting the duo.
Twelve
dead in Russian hostage crisis (Go
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Moscow:
Twelve people have died during the seizure of over 350
held captive at a school in the southern Russian province
of North Ossetia, authorities said today, ITAR-TASS newsagency
reported. North Ossetia's interior minister, Kazbek Dzantiev,
also confirmed that 15 elder pupils at the school had managed
to escape so far, three of whom managed to jump out of a
window after the raid took place, while another 12 hid in
an outhouse and fled later. Meanwhile, Russian officials
said talks to end a siege involving 350 hostages at a school
in the south of the country were broken off by terrorists
who seized children, parents and teachers yesterday. The
hostage-takers broke off talks after refusing food, water
and medicine said Lev Dzugayev, a spokesman for the North
Ossetia government . Russian President Vladimir Putin postponed
a planned two-day visit to Turkey.
Curfew
partially lifted in Nepal (Go
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Kathmandu:
Curfew clamped after large-scale violence yesterday
to protest the killing of 12 Nepalese hostages in Iraq was
lifted today for a few hours before being reimposed as army
and para-military forces patrolled the city. The curfew
was lifted for three-and-a-half hours this morning at 0545
IST to allow people to buy food and other essential commodities,
officials said, adding it was reimposed later. At least
two persons were killed and dozens others injured during
the clashes with police during the protests yesterday.
Kerry
a keen admirer of Musharraf (Go
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Islamabad:
US presidential candidate John Kerry has said that he
was in favour of promoting closer ties with Pakistan. He
is said to be a keen admirer of Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf's policies, especially for his co-operation in
the US-led war against global terrorism. This was conveyed
to Islamabad at a meeting between Kerry's campaign manager
Rand Beers and Pakistan acting Ambassador to Washington
Muhammad Sadiq in Washington on Wednesday, The News reported
Thursday.
Natwar
meets Advani ahead of talks with Pakistan (Go
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New
Delhi: Foreign Minister today met former Deputy Prime
Minister Lal Krishna Advani as he continued parleys with
national leaders ahead of the dialogue with his Pakistani
counterpart this weekend. Foreign ministers of the two countries
meet on Sunday aiming to breathe new life into a peace process
which is in danger of dying a slow death, diplomats and
analysts said. Earlier in the day Natwar Singh also held
talks with former foreign minister Yashwant Sinha. The two-day
meeting will be a test of the political will on both sides
to make painful compromises and address each other's concerns
in order to restore the momentum towards peace.
India
favours soft border (Go
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by N Bhadran Nair
New
Delhi: Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan will
meet this weekend for a review of full round of confidence
building measures (CBMs), including the Kashmir issue. A
formal meeting between foreign ministers of the two nations,
taking place after a gap of six years, assumes a sense of
seriousness between the two traditional foes to mend their
differences in a pragmatic manner. Though New Delhi is looking
forward with a positive approach for the talks - mainly
focused on eight important proposals for confidence building
- officials of the External Affairs Ministry admits that
Kashmir is "a complex and complicated issue," which might
not find a resolution in such a short period. New Delhi
has agreed to address the issue in a serious and sustained
manner, as it carries considerable emotional charge on both
side and feels any understanding on it should be acceptable
to the people of both the countries. India, however, has
certain concerns while External Affairs Minister Natwar
Singh and his counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri meet on
Sunday in New Delhi, the main being infiltration of terrorists
from across the border, despite the categorical assurance
given by President Pervez Musharraf in his address to nation
on January 6. Sources said the Indian side is expected to
take up strongly the issue of infiltration and violence
in the valley, as "an atmosphere free from violence and
terrorism is needed" to carry forward the peace initiative.
The Home Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry differ
on the issue of infiltration. Home Minister Shivraj Patil
had indicated that infiltration has indeed come down with
the ceasefire holding, but South Block mandarins feel that
infiltration has gone up. External Affairs Ministry is basing
its assessment on the reports given by intelligence agencies
on the recent spurt in militancy in the state and attempts
to infiltrate into Kashmir. Sources said during the first
half of this year there was a decline, but it went up in
June-July, more than the figures of the corresponding period
last year. Officials of both the countries held a series
of meetings in New Delhi and Islamabad during July-August
this year on six of the eight CBMs - Wullar Barrage / Tulbul
Navigation Project, Promotion of friendly exchanges, Siachen,
Sir Creek, Terrorism and Drug Trafficking and Economic and
Commercial Cooperation. Though nothing substantial came
out of last months official level talks, ministry officials
feel that "incremental process has a much more chances of
success than a dramatic process." While all the eight CBMs
would be on the table, with Natwar Singh and Khurshid Mehmood
Kasuri trying to find the much difficult answer to many
of the issues, South Block officials strongly favour "making
the LoC a softer kind of line, instead of a dividing line,
a bridge between the people to enable them to mix with their
kith and kin on either side." They believe increased people-to-people
contact would put pressure on governments to resolve contentious
issues.
Pak
bought weapons worth 3.8 bln dlrs in 2003: US report (Go
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Washington:
Pakistan bought weapons worth 3.8 billion dollars in
2003 as compared to India's 12.6 billion dollars during
the same year, a US government report has said. Quoting
Congressional Research Service's (CRS) annual report "Conventional
arms transfers to developing nations", the Daily Times reported
today that UAE was the leading arms buyer with the purchases
of 15.7 billion dollars, followed closely by China with
13.7 billion dollars. According to the report, Egypt ranked
third with 13.6 billion dollar purchase, and India fourth.
Prepared by US' national defence specialist Richard Grimmett,
the unclassified study is considered to be the most authoritative
compilation of statistics on global conventional arms sales.
It said that global arms sales fell approximately by 12
percent in 2003 from 29.14 billion dollas in 2002. This
is the third consecutive year total arms sales have fallen,
the report added. "The developing world continues to be
the primary focus of foreign arms sales activity by conventional
weapons suppliers," it said adding that the general trend
among developed nations in recent years is to protect important
elements of their national military industrial bases by
limiting arms purchases from other developed nations.
Pak
conveys its anger to Nepal over attack on airlines, mosque
(Go
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Islamabad:
Pakistan has sharply reacted to Wednesday's attacks
in Kathmandu on its airlines offices and a mosque, and has
requested the Nepal government to ensure security of its
nationals in the Himalayan Kingdom. Pakistan Foreign Secretary
Riaz Khokhar called up his Nepalese counterpart to express
his country's anger over the incidents and demanded protection
for its citizens and property, The News reported Thursday.
"The attack by demonstrators on the PIA offices in Kathmandu
is really regrettable. There is no justification for that.
This is misdirected anger. We have called upon the Nepalese
government to provide full security and protection to Pakistan's
diplomatic, official and private personnel and premises,"
Pakistan FO spokesman Masood Khan quoted Khokhar as telling
the Nepalese government. Khan further advocated a halt to
such acts keeping in mind the friendly relations between
the two countries. "Therefore, it is essential that demonstrators
should be prevented from vandalising Pakistani offices.
The Nepalese foreign secretary has regretted the incident
and assured us that it is taking necessary measures to ensure
safety and security of the Pakistani nationals," he added.
No
claimants for rotting Indian corpses in Pak (Go
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Lahore:
The bodies of two Indians who died in Kotlakhpat Jail
in Pakistan months ago, are reportedly rotting in the city
morgue since no one has lid claim to them. According to
the Daily Times, officials at Kotlakhpat police station
claim that despite sending several reminders to the concerned
Indian authorities, they are still to receive any confirmation
from their end. As a result they cannot be even hold a proper
funeral for the deceased. "We got no response even after
several reminders," the paper quoted Muhammad Nawaz a, Kotlakhpat
police station official as saying. As per the report, while
one has been identified as a Hindu named Gopal Singh, the
other is a Muslim by the name of Muhammad Ali. Gopal was
arrested at the Ganda Singh border on charges of trespassing
without travelling documents. The cause of his death was
reported as tuberculosis. However, Dr. Ramesh Chandar, the
press Secretary at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad,
said that while Gopal's family could not be located, Ali's
family upon being informed of his death has asked the Indian
authorities to arrange for his burial in Pakistan itself.
But, he was not sure whether the Pakistani authorities had
arranged for Ali's burial. "We conveyed the family's message
to the Pakistani jail authorities. Now we don't know whether
they have buried him or not," the paper quoted Dr. Chandar
as saying. Morgue officials, on the other hand say that
despite several missives despatched to both officials at
the Indian High Commission and the concerned Pakistani officials,
they have not received any directions from either of them.
As a result, they are stranded with two rotting bodies in
the morgue, which cannot be disposed without authorisation.
Police officials believe that eventually they may have to
arrange for the burial, as was the case last time when Indian
officials did not respond following the death of one Indian
Muslim. "Another Indian Muslim who died in Kotlakhpat Jail
was eventually buried by Pakistani officials after they
got no response from the Indian officials," Mr Nawaz further
added.
