NewsBriefs
Back to Headlines

Kalam for I-cards for Kashmiris

      Srinagar: President APJ Abdul Kalam today called for the introduction of special identity cards for the people of Jammu and Kashmir "Killing of human being is a great sin' If anyone killed a person it would be as if he slew the whole mankind and if anyone saved a life he will be as if he saved the life of the whole mankind. It is very important for all of us particularly for citizens of India to understand that," he said in a rare address to the state legislature. "Citizens who wish to cooperate with (the government), the state may consider introduction of a national id (identification) card for all -- government to government, government to citizen, business to business and business to citizen. It is essential to create special monitoring methodology for unusual abnormal banking transaction, the judiciary must consider creating a fast judicial process for settling terrorism related case," he said. Kalam also said Kashmir needed a new tourism policy and development of infrastructure. "What is required is the implementation of a new tourism policy and seven key areas which include infrastructure, facilitation and safety," he added. Meanwhile, businesses and schools in Srinagar remained shut down and streets were deserted after a hardline separatist leader called a strike to protest against the Indian president's visit to the region. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who called for the strike, said that rights violations by security forces had increased ahead of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's trip to the region where New Delhi has been struggling to quell a nearly 17-year insurgency.

Kalam's four-point peace plan for J-K (Go To Top)

      Srinagar: In a joint address to the members of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council of Jammu and Kashmir, President A P J Abdul Kalam on Friday spelt out a four- point peace mission to facilitate faster development in the State. "For promoting faster development of the state, it is essential to have a peace mission for development. This mission will have four major components namely: economic zone near the Line of Control, social development in difficult areas, state level movement to eliminate terrorism and citizen security," Kalam said. In his first address to the State Assembly, he suggested that the area close to the Line of Control should not be used for cultivation, but converted into an economic zone. He said: "Citizens must be allowed to participate in large numbers for curbing terrorism. Schools and colleges should promote value based education right from primary education". Terming tourism as a major mission Kalam said, "Tourism has a tremendous potential for growth in this beautiful land. The unique contribution that Jammu and Kashmir has made to tourism is the preservation of pilgrim centres, and architectural and civilisational heritage". He said, "New tourism policy is needed for promoting seven key areas such as Swagat (Welcome), Soochna (Information), Suwidha (Facilitation), Suraksha (Safety), Sahyog (Co-operation), Samrachna (Infrastructure) and Safai (Cleanliness)". Earlier today, Kalam visited Ladakh capital Leh where he launched a national programme for 'Education for All' and also inaugurated a week-long Buddhist festival.

Priyadarshini rape case retrial on Aug 31 (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today set the retrial of the Priyadarshini Mattoo rape case for August 31, following a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for an early hearing. When the CBI assured the court that the documents for the retrial were ready, a two-member bench of the High Court comprising Justices R.S. Sodhi and P.K. Bhasin set the date for hearing. The prime accused, Santosh Singh, the son of a retired IPS officer J.P. Singh, was acquitted in 1999 by a sessions court three years after he was arrested for murdering Priyadarshini due to lack of evidence. Since his acquittal, Santosh has been a practising lawyer. Priyadarshini was allegedly stalked, raped and murdered by Santosh in 1996 at her residence in Vasant Kunj.

PM house trespassers granted bail (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: All three youngsters who were detained for allegedly breaching the security at the Prime Minister's residence on Thursday evening were today granted bail by a local magistrate. Veena, Yogita and Imran were detained by the police on charges of impersonation and criminal trespassing. It is believed that the girls told security personnel that they were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's nieces and had come to meet him. An AIIMS blood test report rejected allegations that the youngsters were inebriated while driving the car into the 7 RCR complex. Both Yogita and Veena, air-hostesses with Air Sahara, had earlier told the media that they had just tried to meet the Prime Minister. Driving a Hyundai Sonata car, the three youngsters created news when they entered the Prime Minister's residential area on Thursday night, which is considered to be the most secured zone with SPG personnel guarding the compound round the clock.

Shiv Sena has new headquarters (Go To Top)

       Mumbai: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray inaugurated the new headquarters of the party in Dadar on Thursday. The event coincided with the birthday of Uddhav Thackeray, Bal Thackeray's son. Present on the occasion were Manohar Joshi, BJP leader Gopinath Munde and several Shiv Sena supporters. Addressing the audience in Marathi, Thackeray spoke against the presence of Muslim slums in the area. He said that he had always tried to raise his voice against the crowding of Mumbai by people coming from outside, but had always been opposed by the Left. He added that like Russia even in Mumbai there should be a permit system. Lashing out at the Muslim community, Thackeray criticized the state government for offering Muslims reservations, and asked the latter to be patriots first.

Rains inundate UP villages (Go To Top)

      Malakpur (Uttar Pradesh): At least two dozen villages in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district have been submerged in floods caused due to incessant rains for the past three days, authorities said on Friday. The River Yamuna has washed away livestock, property and standing crop worth millions of rupees. "Our fields have been inundated with water. If the downpour continues, all the crops will be damaged," said Kaushar Ali, a resident of Malakpur village. Villagers searched for Islam, a 10-year-old child, who had been missing for the past two days since he was washed away by the floodwaters. About 250 houses have collapsed or damaged due to the rains. Authorities say villagers had encroached upon the dried up ponds to construct houses, which led to the maximum damage. "Villagers have constructed their huts in the dried up ponds and other water bodies. Authorities have been asked to make arrangements to solve the water logging problems to provide relief to the villagers," said Rajesh Shrivastava, Additional District Magistrate, Shamli.

Emotional homecoming for Lebanon returnees  
by Ravinder Singh Robin

      Amritsar: It was an emotional homecoming for eighty-nine Punjabis as they landed at Amritsar from New Delhi on Friday and shared their harrowing experiences of war-torn Lebanon. Thirty-two-year old Sukhjeet Singh, who had been working for a Beirut firm for the past nine years, said that the current war in Lebanon had turned his whole life upside down. Singh said that he was happy to meet his family, but also worried about how he would support them now. "Now, problems are increasing there, that is why we had to leave our work and come back. Our bosses have said they will call us when the fighting gets over. Once things improve, we have to go back there. It's just a matter of the war getting over," Singh said. A visibly emotional Simranjeet, Sukhjeet's sister, said the family was relieved to see him safe. "I can't say how relieved we are to see him back. We were very scared, but now, we are very happy that our brother has come back safe and sound," Simranjeet said. The evacuees were part of a bigger batch of 306 Indian nationals who were flown in by a special Air India plane from Larnaca in Cyprus where they reached earlier this morning by an Indian naval ship from Beirut. The batch had 88 Sri Lankans and 16 Nepalese as well. India has evacuated as many as 1800 people from the war- torn region, including nationals from the neighbouring countries of the subcontinent, with four of its warships deployed in the Mediterranean. The government says the 'Operation Sukoon', launched to evacuate Indians from Lebanon, will continue as many are still stuck in the 'danger zone'.

Indian students win NASA competition (Go To Top)

      Jalandhar (Punjab): A team of 13 Indian students returned home to a grand welcome after winning the International Space Settlement Design Competition held recently at National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) in Houston, Texas Three teams from India participated in the competition held in NASA's Johnson's Space Centre on July 27. The Indian team had to come up with a presentation suggesting a settlement on the planet Mars, proposing a design presentation of a colony capable of housing 30,000 people. There were eight teams from all over the world vying for the honour. "In the International Space Settlement Design Competition, three teams from India, four from United States and one from Australia participated. Our team teamed up with Whitney High School, California and we won the competition for which we had been preparing for the past two months," said Harleen Kaur, the group leader.

N-installations on terrorist hit-list: Narayanan

     New Delhi: India's nuclear installations could be the next big target of the terror groups. This was disclosed by National Security Advisor MK Narayanan during the course of an interview given to CNN-IBN. Naryanan told CNN-IBN's Karan Thapar during the Devil's Advocate program, which is to be aired on Saturday, that there was information that one of country's atomic energy installations could be the target of a terrorist attack. Adding that it was Lashkar-e-Toiba men who are targeting country's nuclear plants, Narayanan termed the threat from LeT as a "serious" one. Meanwhile, another private news channel Times Now claimed that perpetrators of the 7/11 Mumbai serial blasts had also planned to target the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Trombay which is very close to Mumbai. Muzammil Shaikh - a software engineer and his brother Faisal Shaikh who were arrested on Thursday in connection with the blasts and has been found as Lashkar operatives were panning to attack BARC, the news channel claimed. India's major nuclear installations include atomic energy plants and reactors at Tarapur, Trombay, Kakrapor, Hazira and Kaiga in and around Maharashtra, apart from the Kalpakkam, Tuticorn, Narora and Kudankulam in the rest of the country.

Chikungunya fever strikes Maharashtra (Go To Top)

      Pune: Nearly 2.25 lakh persons in Maharashtra have been affected by a crippling fever, the state government said on Friday. The fever, known as 'Chikungunya', has spread across 26 districts of Maharashtra, but the State Government is still not willing to declare it as an epidemic. "Around 2.25 lakhs suspected cases of Chikungunya have been registered across 26 districts in Maharashtra. The National Institute of Virology has now certified that. There are two districts, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, where there has been no incidence of the epidemic," Maharashtra's Health Minister Vimal Mundada said here. Though disease was first detected earlier last week, the State Government has formally admitted to its spread today. 'Chikungunya' rarely fatal has claimed nine live so far in the region. The disease is similar to that of dengue and is marked by high fever, severe rashes, body ache, joint pains and nausea. Symptoms can last from seven days to a few months. Transmitted by Ades mosquitoes, the fever is very painful and often causes victims into a stooped posture before they recover. Authorities have also urged local people to protect themselves by using repellent and removing mosquito-breeding sources such as stagnant water pools and rubbish. The tropical virus, which can weaken the immune system, allowing other deadly diseases to set in, was first recognised in Tanzania in 1952 and till date has no known cure or vaccine.

Four railway stations to go international (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: Four railway stations in the country are slated to go in for a major overhaul to bring it on par with international standards. The Railways Ministry has planned to develop New Delhi, Howrah (Kolkata), Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Mumbai) and Chennai Central Railway Station (Chennai) into world class stations. The development of design and plans for these stations, services of consultants as considered necessary are being taken, R. Velu, Minister of State for Railways told members of the Rajya Sabha today. Apart from the four metropolitan stations, the Railways has targeted 578 stations for upgrading with the aim of providing improved passenger amenities. Velu also released a list of 110 stations that have already been developed into model stations.

RBI employees protests outsourcing  (Go To Top)
by Chandrika Jain

      New Delhi: Employees of the Reserve Bank of India on Friday organised a massive march across the heart of the national capital to oppose the reported move to outsource RBI jobs to other agencies. "Reserve Bank officers and employees are here to raise their voice against outsourcing of RBI services, privatization of cheque and RBI pension update. If, the concerned authorities do not come forward and sort out the issues, we will be constrained to go in for a day's token strike in the second half of August," a United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and Employees spokesperson said. "Everyday, around five million cheques worth Rs. 40,000 crores are cleared by the RBI, which gives a handsome earning of approximately Rs. 1 crore per day," a Mumbai based RBI employee said. Employees of public sector understanding, except State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Indian Overseas Bank, have also gone on a day-long strike. The strike, called by AIBEA, Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) and All India Bank Officer's Association (AIBOA), were also opposing outsourcing of services.

Monsoon Session curtailed (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament has been curtailed for three days and would come to an end on August 25. It was earlier scheduled to last till August 30. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee announced this decision in the House here on Friday. "I have to inform the House that I have received requests from several members for the curtailment of the session for three days", Chatterjee told the Lok Sabha. However, to compensate for the loss of time due to the cancellation of Parliament's three sittings, Chatterjee said that the House will sit till 8 p.m. daily from August 1 to August 18.

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top