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Probe 1991 nuke leak: B Raman
by Sudhakar Jagdish

      New Delhi: Indirectly confirming that some leakage of information did take place during the prime ministership of PV Narasimha Rao, former Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat and noted security analyst, B Raman said the Centre should investigate the alleged leak of nuclear secrets to the United States. He said: "I suspect for some reason Narasimha Rao did not make a proper inquiry into the leakage," adding, "It is still not too late". Pointing out to various instances when the country's most important national security secrets got 'leaked', Raman said that the investigation into the whole issue would only make the country's intelligence system effective in countering intelligence infiltration.

    Citing a recent statement made by the former Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, K K Daruwala that he had sent a note to the Cabinet Secretary telling him about country's missile report leak by the US, Raman, who was associated with the Research Analysis Wing (RAW) for nearly two decades said: "The country wants to know of the actions, if any, that were taken to find out how the US got those information". Raman, however, rejected the authenticity of the letter produced by Jaswant Singh that suggested the presence of a mole in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and said that even without this 'letter' there was no doubt that the US was pre-intimated about India's plan to conduct a nuclear test . Terming Jaswant Singh's handling of the entire mole controversy as 'unwise' and 'unprofessional', the former bureaucrat said that Jaswant and his party, the BJP, totally diverted the attention from the core issue of national security. Neither the BJP nor the Congress were making a sincere effort to unravel the truth about the presence of moles in their regimes. Raman also demanded that the government did not do the right thing by repealing the controversial Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA).

Govt was informed of deals: Reliance (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Saturday dismissed allegations of any wrong doing in its 'transactions" in the Oil-for-Food programme and stated that the Government was informed at every stage of their trade and other transactions with foreign countries. RIL statement comes after CPI (M) leader Prakash Karat, demanded a separate probe into RIL's transaction with Iraq under the programme, since the company's name featureD as a non-contractual beneficiary in the Volcker report alongside Congress Party and Natwar Singh. Government had earlier instituted the Pathak Inquiry Authority under Retd. Justice RS Pathak, but the terms of reference were only limited to Natwar Singh's and Congress Party's involvement.

    The Pathak inquiry committee probing the former minister's involvement in the Iraq Oil-for-Food scam since December 2005 found Natwar Singh, Jagat, a MLA from Rajasthan, as having misused their positions in the Congress party to help their kin Andaleeb Sehgal and Aditya Khanna bag three oil contracts from the Saddam Hussain regime. The Congress party, however, was exonerated. In the report, no money has been traced to Natwar Singh, or his son, but Pathak report found Khanna and Sehgal having received commissions amounting to 1,46,000 dollars from foreign companies.

Mumbai blasts: SIMI activist detained (Go To Top)

     Patna: Police have detained Ziauddin Ansari, a suspected Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activist, from Phulwarisharif locality late on Friday night. Ansari is being interrogated here for his alleged involvement in July 11 Mumbai terror acts, Senior Superintendent of Police Kundan Krishnan said on Saturday. The SIMI activist was arrested following an instruction from Anti-Terrorist Squad, Mumbai Police, as they suspected Ansari's involvement in the ghastly act carried out then. Shabbir Ahmed Masiulla, a 32-year-old man from Malegaon in Maharashtra was questioned by the Mumbai Crime Branch here for his alleged links with the banned outfit SIMI on Wednesday night. Investigating agencies suspect SIMI is acting with the support of Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, and that the collaboration is to blame for the blasts in Mumbai. SIMI is a fundamentalist student organisation that was formed at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in 1977. The activists say they want to convert India to an Islamic land. SIMI was outlawed in 2001 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Thought the Act has been scrapped by the United Progressive Alliance government, the ban on SIMI holds.

RJD MP Shahabuddin shifted to AIIMS (Go To Top)

      Siwan: Incarcerated Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Mohammad Shahabuddin was shifted to theAll India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi for special spinal treatment today. Patna High Court Judge V N Sinha had directed the Bihar government to send Shahabuddin for further medical treatment to Delhi on the basis of a confidential report submitted by the state medical board on July 31. The MP was today accompanied to Delhi by an assistant jailor and a few policemen, District Magistrate S K Mal said. The court has asked the AIIMS to submit a report on his condition within two weeks. Shahabuddin was lodged in the Siwan District Jail after prosecutors established that he engineered the kidnapping and murder of CPI (ML) activist Munna Chaudhary.

Mild earthquake in Delhi, Uttaranchal (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Mild tremors jolted the national capital and Uttaranchal on Saturday. The earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook areas along the Indo-Nepal border in Uttaranchal at 1.03 pm, the Meteorological Department said. The quake epicentered at 29.7 degree north latitude and 80.7 degree east longitude was felt in areas like Almora and Pitorgarh in Uttaranchal. There was no report of damage to life or property.

Death toll from flood rises, troops airlift relief

      Vishakhapatnam/Araku/Jajpur(Orissa): Torrential rains and floods ravaged large areas of eastern and southern India on Saturday. In Andhra Pradesh, the death toll from days of monsoon storms rose to 50, with 10 people feared dead after being buried by a landslide in Kodipunjavalasa village, located 590 km. northeast of state-capital Hyderabad. Most of the deaths happened due to house-collapses in rural areas. Over 700 villages were reported to be under water, and three airports had been closed in the state. "Many houses across the state have collapsed due to rains. The state government will get all of them rebuilt. The victims will be given 50,000 rupees by way of compensation. This will come under the Indira Awaas Yojna (Indira Housing Scheme). We will also get the affected areas chlorinated to ward off chances epidemics," Chief Minister Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy said. Thousands of marooned people had been rescued and taken to relief camps, Reddy said. Food and other essential items are being airlifted to the affected areas. Helicopters were searching for 60 fishermen who went to sea on Wednesday despite being warned of expected strong winds. Three people died in Hyderabad and six in Vishakapatnam as their houses collapsed early today. Officials said more than 100,000 people have been left homeless due to the flood and storm.

    Meanwhile in Orissa, heavy rains continued for a fifth day today, killing 36 people by flash floods and lightning. Rivers across the region were at or nearing danger levels, and road and rail networks along the east coast badly hit with heavy downpours expected for at least another 24 hours. As in Andhra Pradesh, rural areas were the worst affected in Orissa. "We have been living in water for a few days now. It is a big problem. We are surrounded by water but no relief has been provided as yet. No official has come to us," said Rabindra Narayan, stranded in floods in Jajpur village. "We have only been giving interviews. Nobody is helping us or our children. Our house has been damaged beyond repair. Only two times have we been given dry food, worth 2.50 rupees each. Our cattles are also dying," said Begum Bibi, another resident of the village. An estimated 30,000 cattle have gone missing and around 1000 hectares of farmland are under water in the state. Across the country, more than 300 people have been died since the start of monsoon in June this year.

Nathpa Jhakri hydel project closed Nathpa

       Jhakri (Himachal Pradesh): Himachal Pradesh has temporarily shut the mammoth 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydel Power Project due to the presence of high silt content. Officials say the silt levels have dramatically risen up to 16,000 part per million (ppm) in the past two weeks at the Nathpa Jhakri facility becuase of heavy rainfall in the upper reaches. "There is a place called Khab, where Sutlej and Spiti rivers meet. There in the Sutlej, the silt level has reached as high as 16,000 ppm because of this we cannot run the power house. At this time, approximately, 13,000 ppm of silt is entering our reservoir whereas; we have kept the limit at 4,000 ppm, so after the level of silt decreases, we will again start it," said G.S.Bhargawa, Executive Director of the Sutlej hydro power plant in Jhakra. The daily shutdown of the project costs 90 million rupees to the exchequer of the provincial and government. Nathpa Jhakri provides power supply to northern states including Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Harayana and Punjab and the shutdown has resulted in power shortage in the states. The mostly barren, fragile mountains surrounding the Sutlej are mainly comprised of sandy soil, and the period of heavy downpour from August to October is also the period of heaviest erosion and consequent silt flooding the river. There has been a net shortfall of 75 million units of power till date. Project authorities are not sure as to when power generation would resume, since maximum quantity of silt came from Sutlej and not from Spiti river, which is a rare occurrence.

SBI ATMs at 68 railway stations (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: The country's largest bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), has signed an agreement with the Railways Ministry to open Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at 681 railway stations across the nation. The agreement signed on Friday also allows the bank to open internet kiosks at 383 major stations. There are over 8,000 stations serving more than 16 million passengers a day. The SBI will also provide ticketing facility through internet ticketing kiosk by installing PCs at 383 major stations in association with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said his ministry was receiving more such offers from other banks to open ATMs in railway stations. "We are going to install 681 ATMs in selected railway stations with the help of SBI. We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and we are getting more such offers from different banks to install ATMs," Yadav said. Various Indian banks have so far opened 150 ATMs in railway stations. Out of 681 Railway stations, 298 stations are small stations where there are no ATMs at present. A Railway Ministry statement said ATMs at 681 stations would be installed within 15 months. Other state-run banks have also been invited for setting up ATMs at railway stations.

Panesar, role model for racial harmony (Go To Top)

     London: The phenomenal rise of Monty Panesar as an international cricketer in England has virtually made him a local hero and a youth icon in Luton town. After his latest haul of eight wickets against Pakistan at Old Trafford, the newspapers say, 'Monty mania' has almost gripped the town, with youngsters imitating his bowling skills. He is a favourite for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, and could even rival the boxer Amir Khan as the most popular British Asian sportsman, reported the Independent. It quoted "The Luton News" as saying: "They've all gone mad for Monty." Sikh community leaders in the area consider Monty a role model for racial integration and welcome his rise to prominence. "A lot of people look up to him, not just from our religion, but other religions. Local kids go round to his house and knock on the door for autographs. These are Muslim kids as well as Sikhs," said Ranjit Singh Dubb, a committee member of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara, one of the two Gurudwaras in Luton. At Monty's local club, the deputy grounds-man and Monty's long- time mentor Hitu Naik said: "Monty is a hero here. There's no denying it. But he's a hero for a whole range of people. We don't really see people's religion, but if we detected any extremism, we would discourage it."

    The Sikh community in Luton began arriving in the 1960s as they found employment at Vauxhall, Electrolux and the SKF ball bearing factory. Many of those are now employed at the town's international airport. The majority live in the Bury Park area, where they are vastly outnumbered by the Muslim population. Monty (24), the oldest of three children of his parents who emigrated from Punjab, India, still lives with his family near the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and commutes to play for England and his county Northamptonshire. Due to the demands of professional cricket, he is not always able to accompany his family to pray at the Sikh temple they frequent in Coventry, said the paper.

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