18 killed as militant violence mars I-Day in J & K
Srinagar,Wednesday, August 15, 2001: Eighteen people, including five Hindus and eight ultras, were killed and 26 injured as militant violence and a general strike called by Hurriyat Conference marred Independence Day celebrations in Jammu and Kashmir today.
Anantnag Deputy Commissioner G A Peer escaped unhurt when militants detonated an Improvised Explosive Device soon after his motorcade passed through Mattan town, some 64 kms from here, official sources said.
Militants raided a remote village in Udhampur district of Jammu region last night killing five Hindus, including two women, and two Muslims and seriously wounding a girl.
The two Muslims were killed when the explosives wired to one of the killed persons went off while they were trying to retrieve the bodies this morning, the sources said.
Eighteen people, including nine securitymen and four school children, were injured when Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) ultras fired a barrage of rifle grenades at an Independence Day function in Kupwara.
The sources said the attack at the heavily-guarded Chinar Park, the venue of the function,took place immediately after unfurling of the national flag.
In another strike, militants detonated an IED blowing up a police vehicle injuring six policemen at Hallian in Doda district.
Militants also set off two more blasts at Noorbagh in Baramulla district's Sopore area but there were no casualties.
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We will crush cross-border terrorism: PM
New Delhi,Wednesday, August 15, 2001: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today bluntly told Pakistan that India would leave no (no) stone unturned to crush cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir but asserted "we will continue our peace process" to improve relations with Islamabad.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of the 55th Independence day, Vajpayee said that Lahore Declaration and Simla Agreement could not be set aside and that these would continue to be the basis for further bilateral dialogue.
Vajpayee said in his efforts to improve ties with Pakistan, he had invited President Pervez Musharraf for talks but he came here with a single point agenda and that was Kashmir.
Taking strong exception to Musharraf's description of what was happening in J and K as as "freedom struggle", he said, "No no efforts would be spared to crush cross-border terrorism."
"There is no no question of accepting his (Musharraf) statement that what is happening in J and K is a freedom struggle," the Prime Minister said.
What kind of 'jehad' is on in J and K where innocent people were being killed, he asked and cited instances of the recent kilings in Doda and Kishtwar.
Stating that India wanted friendly relations with its neighbours, Vajpayee said that Pakistan wanted to begin a new chapter from Agra but this was unacceptable to India. "It is not possible to forget Lahore declaration and Simla agreement," he said.
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Former commissioner remanded to police custody
Former Mumbai joint police commissioner R D Tyagi, held in a 1993 communal riot case, was on Wednesday remanded to police custody till August 23 by a magistrate here.
Tyagi, who was admitted to Bombay hospital following complaint of chest pain on Tuesday, was not produced before the court.
Police filed an FIR against him and 17 other cops for opening fire at a bakery on January 9, 1993, leading to death of nine persons.
Remanding Tyagi to police custody, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate C L Thool directed police to produce him before a regular court if he was discharged from the hospital before August 23.
Tyagi was arrested on Tuesday evening by Special Task Force of Mumbai police. Of the 17 policemen, 15 were arrested on Tuesday. However, they were released on bail of Rs 5000 as they had already secured anticipatory bail from sessions court on August 13.
Tyagi had also urged for anticipatory bail but his plea was turned down by Mumbai high court on July 4. Being aggrieved, he moved the Supreme Court which upheld the high court order and dismissed his appeal on August 13.
In view of the apex court turning down his appeal, Tyagi went to surrender himself at police headquarters on Tuesday but developed chest pain on the way and got himself admitted to Bombay Hospital from where he sent a message to police that he was available to them.
Special Task Force had filed an FIR against Tyagi and others on May 25 alleging that they had opened fire at Suleman Usman bakery on January 9, 1993, in which nine persons belonging to a minority community were killed. At the relevant time, Tyagi was the joint commissioner of police.
Special Task Force had been constituted by Democratic Front government especially to implement the recommendations of Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry into 1993 riots. The commission had indicted Tyagi and other cops for their alleged role in the Suleman Bakery firing.
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Independence day celebrations peaceful
New Delhi,Wednesday, August 15, 2001: Barring an isolated militant strike in Jammu and Kashmir, the 54th Independence Day celebrations passed off peacefully throughout the country amidst unprecendented security and appeals by leaders in the North East to militants to shun violence and enter into dialogue.
Several state governments also announced welfare and developmental projects and employment schemes to mark the occasion.
In the capital, Prime Minsiter Atal Bihari Vajpayee unfurled the tri-colour at the main function at the Red Fort and addressed the nation.
In Uttaranchal, which celebrated its first Independence day along with Chattisgarh and Jharkhand after their creation, 19 prisoners were released by the state goverment as a good will gesture.
Militants fired indiscriminately at an Independence Day function at Chinar Park in Handwara town in Kupwara in J and K injuring 18 persons including nine security personnel and four children.
The celeberations in the state was generally on a subdued note in the wake of a general strike called by Hurriyat Conference forcing people to stay indoors and the public transport staying off the roads in several parts.
The main function was held at Bakshi stadium in Srinagar where Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah unfurled the national flag and inspected a guard of honour with a four-tier security cordon in place.
State governments in the North-East while resolving to contain violence with an iron hand, appealed to militant outfits to give up arms, settle their problems through talks and join the mainstream.
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Bush likely to visit India in first quarter of next year
Washington,Wednesday, August 15, 2001: US President George W Bush is likely to visit India in the first quarter of next year, informed sources here said.
The actual dates will be worked out later, they said.
According to analysts, an early Bush visit is expected to further boost Indo-American relations after it reached a high during former President Bill Clinton's final year in office.
The changes expected to come about in Indo-American relations as Bush policies reach full fruition will change the geo-political picture, they said.
Both sides are working closely to bring about closer economic relations so that the bilateral ties reach their full potential.
Meanwhile, post-1998 nuclear test sanctions against India are expected to be lifted next month after Congress convenes following the summer recess even as Congress has authorised the President to waive sanctions, sources said.
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Devotee donates Rs 600 cr to Sai Baba Trust
A devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba from the U.S. has donated a whopping sum of Rs 600 crore to the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba mentioned this while addressing a large gathering of his devotees on the occasion of Janmasthami at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh, said a press release.
He said this sum will be deposited in the corpus fund of the trust and would be utilised for the running of Sri Sathya Sai institutes of higher medical sciences and educaitonal institutes situated at Puttaparthi, Bangalore and elsewhere. Besides, an institute for mother and child care will also be set up at Bangalore.
The trust incurs an expenditure of Rs 6 crore per month in providing free education and medicare. Since the inception of a super speciality hospital in Puttaparthi in November 1990, over 12,000 surgeries have been performed there. In the Bangalore superspeciality hospital, which was established in January 2001, over 1,500 surgeries have been performed.
In Andhra Pradesh, over Rs 300 crores have been spent by the trust for providing drinking water to 750 villages. An underprivileged family is given a free house and Rs 1 lakh.
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IMF urges India to reform
Washington,Wednesday, August 15, 2001: India must pursue broad structural reforms to cut government deficits and lure private investment, the IMF has said.
International Monetary Fund chiefs also welcomed plans to open the economy further and to address deep-seated structural problems.
But "directors noted the near-term outlook had become somewhat less favourable," IMF leaders said after an annual review of the Indian economy by the fund's staff.
The IMF review said to a foriegn news agency on Thursday India's economy grew 5.2 per cent in the financial year ending March -- a healthy rate compared to many regional neighbours but far slower than previous years.
The growth was achieved despite a massive earthquake that struck Gujarat in January, killing more than 20,000 people and destroying the homes of a million others.
While inflation pressures had eased, economic growth had also decelerated in past years and the global economic slowdown threatened to inflict further damage, the IMF review said.
Reversing the decline in growth and lifting people out of poverty would require a determined pursuit of reforms, it said.
"In particular, ambitious fiscal cosolidation and broad based structural reforms were needed to allow resources to be redirected from servicing public debt toward development and social programmes and to provide room and encouragement for private investment."
The state deficit and debt looked set to remain high in 2001-2002, IMF directors said.
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Functioning of stock markets will be reformed: PM
New Delhi,Wednesday, August 15, 2001: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said the functioning of stock markets and financial institutions would be reformed to protect the interests of small investors.
Referring to recent crises in the stock markets and FIs, Vajpayee said these developments "highlighted some of the weaknesses in our financial and capital matkets. This has made people feel rather worried".
In his Independence Day address to the Nation, he said the Government had taken several steps to remove these weaknesses and would continue to take more steps in future.
Underlining the need to develop a new corporate ethic, the Prime Minister said "profits earned by hook or crook cannot be the sole criterion for judging the success of a business".
Stating that some cases of corruption and scandals had surfaced in recent times, Vajpeyee sought to assure the nation that corrupt elements would be brought to book irrespective of "how high chair they may occupy" and said "we have already acted in some cases".
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PM confident of arresting economic slowdown
New Delhi,Wednesday, August 15, 2001: Asserting that Government would arrest the economic slowdown and check unrestricted imports under the WTO regime, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today unveiled a host of poverty alleviation programmes including a Rs 100 billion rural employment scheme to reorient the liberalisation process to benefit the poor.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort on the 54th Independence Day anniversary, Vajpayee said "it is true that India's economy is currently going through a slowdown. But this is a temporary phenomenon. This is a global phenomenon and not limited to India alone".
There is no need to get too worried over the slowdown as the fundamental indicators of the economy are quite strong, Vajpayee said, asserting that Government would take more steps to increase investment in infrastructure, industries and agriculture to bring the slowdown to an end.
Moreover, due to good monsoon, crops were expected to have a "hopeful impact" on the economy, he said, adding that already prices were stable, inflation under control, forex reserves at a record high and godowns bursting with grains.
Allaying apprehensions of cheap farm imports, he said "we are quite capable, according to our needs, of hiking import duties and check unfair imports".
Stating that fruits of liberalisation had not adequately reached the poor, he said Government would modify the economic policy to remove geographical and social imbalances through a "new pro-poor, pro-village and pro-employment orientation".
Among the schemes announced by Vajpayee was an ambitious Rs 10,000 crore scheme - "Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana"- to provide guaranteed employment in villages.
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No solution in sight to medical admission mess
The medical admission mess is not yet close to a practical solution. The Bombay high court on Tuesday wanted to know if a solution can be arrived at by increasing seats and not cancelling any admissions.
A division bench comprising Justice Hemant Gokhale and Justice Vijaya Kapse Tahilramani adjourned the matter to Thursday after hearing advocate-general Goolam Vahanvati who submitted that the state would apply to the medical council of India (MCI) for increase in seats.
The bench has asked the state to inform on Thursday what were the cut off marks in prime government medical colleges and at which marks was the last admission granted in government medical colleges and where do the affected students stand.
The state would also file an affidavit on Thursday stating the position of the engineering admissions. In the meanwhile, the stay on finalising engineering admissions would continue. The court had observed that if there was any downward flow due to the fresh merit list, some students might opt for engineering seats which later would perhaps not be available. Neither the court nor the state want the engineering admissions to be stayed for a prolonged time though.
The issue before the court was regarding incorrect marks granted to students in a biology paper in the Maharashtra common entrance test (MH-CET) due to sheer negligence by an examiner or paper setter. The examiner had mixed up two blocks of answers in the model answer paper based on which the evaluation was carried out. Reevaluation has resulted in about 350 students benefiting with a rise in the merit list.
While about 80 per cent of the medical admissions is over, the question before the court is how to give justice to the students affected by the evaluation goof up with minimum damage to students already admitted. The court is against cancelling of admissions as proposed earlier by the government.
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Sri Lanka dominate on the second day
Galle,Wednesday, August 15, 2001: India were at the receiving end of a Sri Lankan batting and bowling onslaught on the second day of the first cricket Test match here today which saw the hosts in a commanding position, having taken a 77-run first innings lead with seven wickets remaining.
India could add just 24 runs to their overnight 163 for five before being bundled out for 187 midway through the morning session. The nemesis for the Indians was Dilhara Fernando who bowled a fiery spell and claimed three of the four wickets to fall today - Javagal Srinath was retired hurt - for a five-wicket haul.
Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya then blasted a brilliant century to put his team right on top. The Indian bowling was wayward and gave the Sri Lankan batsmen a lot of room to play their shots.
The hosts had reached 264 for three when stumps were drawn after two balls of the 73rd over of the innings with the batsmen appealing for bad light. Kumar Sangakkara was unbeaten on 54 while Russel Arnold was batting on 19.
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Bradman must have seen something outstanding in Sachin: Borde
Pune,Wednesday, August 15, 2001: "Sir Don Bradman must have observed Tendulkar's game keenly to include him in his dream World XI", Cricket Board Selection Committee chairman Chandu Borde said today while commenting on the Indian maestro's inclusion in the Aussie legend's 'Dream Team'.
"Bradman was a very keen student of the game and knew very well who is good and who is not. He generally did not make comments easily. His opinion definitely carries weight", Borde said.
So when Bradman named Tendulkar in his "Dream Team", there must be very strong reasons for doing so, something which would have convinced him, he added.
On the reported statement of Sunil Gavaskar that the list attributed to Bradman was fake, Borde said "It was the opinion of Gavaskar. Every one is free to have his opinion on such issues".
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