Opposition offers full backing to Govt in combating terrorism
New Delhi,Friday, May 17, 2002: The Opposition today attacked the Government in the Lok Sabha accusing it of failure to effectively combat Pakistan-sponsored terrorism but offered full backing to any of its strategy in dealing with the situation in the wake of Tuesday's attack in Jammu.
Even NDA allies wanted the Government to take tough decisions for concrete action to end cross-border terrorism though Left parties struck a cautious note saying war was not not a solution as Pakistan was also a nuclear state.
Initiating a special discussion on the May 14 terrorist attack on bus passengers and army camp at Kaluchak, Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi assured the Government of support in combating terrorism sponsored from across the border.
She, however, asked the Government to come out with a strategy to deal with the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, saying mere "customary rhetoric" would not help.
The Kaluchak massacre would "tempt the Government to resort to customary rhetoric but it is no no substitute for strategy...If it has any strategy, it should spell it out clearly and once for all. We will continue to stand by the Government on such vital issues," she said.
In an apparent attack on the US, Gandhi said ironically, the perpetrators of terrorism were regarded by some to be their allies in the war against terror.
"We see it otherwise. We see through their double standards, we see clearly their designs on the state of J and K. Their words are loud but their actions speak louder still," she said.
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12 injured in powerful blast near civil secretariat in Srinagar
Srinagar,Friday, May 17, 2002: At least 12 people were injured when militants triggered a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the vicinity of the high security civil secretariat area here today, official sources said.
The massive blast, followed by a few gun shots, occurred outside the fire service headquarters around 3.45 p m in the heavily-guarded area of the city which also houses the police headquarters, the sources said.
The sources said militants had apparently fitted the IED in a plastic container and kept it on the main road outside the fire service headquarters.
The use of RDX in the blast has not been ruled out.
The deafening noise of the blast caused panic in the city and policemen deployed in the area fired several shots in the air in self-defence.
A scooter was extensively damaged in the explosion and windscreens of several other vehicles were smashed under the impact, the sources said.
The whole area was immediately cordoned off by the security forces and the injured were removed to hospital, they said.
The condition of two of the injured persons was stated to be "critical".
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Situation normal in Gujarat for fourth day
Ahmedabad,Friday, May 17, 2002: No untoward incident has been reported from anywhere in the violence-ravaged Gujarat for the fourth day today and life was near normal in many places though night curfew continued in sensitive pockets.
"In Ahmedabad, though no incident has been reported for last few days, night curfew continued as a precautionary measure in few sensitive locations," police said.
Night curfew would continue from 10 pm to 6 am tomorrow in Danilimda, Gaekwaid Haveli, Kalupur, Shahpur, Vazelpur, Gomtipur, Rakhiyal, Bapunagar and Sabarmati, they said.
There has been total relaxation in curfew in Shahibaugh, Delhi Darwaza, Kalupur railway station area and from Geetamandir to Jamalpur circle.
In the rest of the state, night curfew continued in parts of Mehsana district, in few areas in Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district and in Kheda, police said.
In Ahmedabad city, resemblance of normalcy fast returning was felt in the form of severe traffic jams at a number of spots in the trading centres of the state's commercial hub.
Two-wheelers and other private vehicles were seen parked in front of offices and commercial establishments in strength.
Shops, business establishments and auto-rickshaw drivers recorded brisk business.
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Body of Gujarat cop found with stab wounds
Ahmedabad,Friday, May 17, 2002: The body of a police constable, who was missing since yesterday, was found from Makarba area of the minority community dominated Juhuapura locality of Sarkhej in Ahmedabad rural district today.
Police said Parvatsinh Kesaji was attached to Vejalpur police station on the outskirts of the city and he may have become "soft target" of some miscreants while passing through that area.
The body has several wound marks inflicted by some blunt and sharp-edged weapons, police said.
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Seven drown at Kalam beach in Nallasopara
(Express News Service)
On Wednesday, Kalam beach in Nallasopara entered the league of killer beaches of the city along with Aksa and others, after its low tide waters sucked in seven picnic revellers to death.
They may have sauntered into the sea to beat the heat, but hours later, the bodies of six children and one adult were fished out, giving Kalam beach a new notoriety.
The victims have been identified as Farah Shamshad Khan (14), Salim Shamshad Khan (10), Fana Arif Sheikh (15), Nikhit Mansoori (18), Shagufta Mansoori (16) and Kashib Mohammed Mansoori (11). Kuldeep Barot (25), who had accompanied the youngsters, also perished.
The fatal trip began on Wednesday afternoon when a nine-member group from Anant Ashray building at Nallasopara (E) set out to Kalam beach for a picnic. According to the police, the dead had ventured into the boggy seashore in the evening when the waters were receding due to low-tide. The inward pull of waves sucked in the seven persons who entered the sea, they said. Two others, Sameera Khan (16) and Guddu Khan, who did not venture into the water were spectators to the accident as the seven drowned in a matter of minutes.
The Nallasopara police got a call at around 6.30 pm yesterday after which search operations were launched. The bodies were found, 2 or 3 kilometres away, in a creek near Vasai. While four bodies were recovered yesterday, the body of Fana was fished out this morning, followed by that of Salim at 3 pm and Kashib at 5pm.
The incident has sent shock waves through the village as no death has earlier been reported on this beach. Assistant Inspector Bhimrao Tale said the beach is considered safe. The area is being patrolled to check people from venturing into the waters. We will put up a notice warning picnickers, he said.
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Vijay Nambiar takes over as Permanent Representative to UN
United Nations,Friday, May 17, 2002: Vijay Nambiar, former High Commissioner to Pakistan, has taken over as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Nambiar, a career diplomat, succeeds Ambassador Kamalesh Sharma who retired after five-year stint at the world body.
Sharma will be Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy in East Timor after the territory gets independence on May 20 and will be involved in rebuilding the country.
Nambiar had earlier worked as first secretary and counsellor at the as UN from March 1979 to April 1982 during which he dealt with political issues, including decolonisation and struggle against apartheid.
He has held varied diplomatic assignment since he joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1967. He has served as high commissioner to Malaysia and ambassador to Afghanistan and Algeria.
Nambiar has also had assignments in Beijing and Belgrade and was Director (UN, Commonwealth Affairs and Non-Alignment Movement) in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
Besides, he was also Director-General (East Asia) in the ministry and dealt with China, Japan, South and North Korea and Mongolia.
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External indebtedness under control: Govt
New Delhi,Friday, May 17, 2002: The external indebtedness of the country is under control and the overall indice of internal indebtedness since 1990 has improved substantially because of cautious management by Government, Lok Sabha was informed today.
Replying to queries during Question Hour, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said India ranks ninth among the top 15 indebted countries of the world in 2000 in terms of total external debt outstanding and it ranks tenth in terms of the present value of total external debt as per the latest Global Development Finance, 2002.
To a question on states seeking external loans, he said "no state government can under the constitution take loan from outside as it is the Centre which can do so and disburse it according to guidelines."
The external debt of the Government as on March-end, 2002 against multilateral and bilateral sources was 40.58 billion US Dollars, Sinha said.
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Air India to start flights to Chicago, Frankfurt
New Delhi,Friday, May 17, 2002: Air India will start its long- awaited direct flights to Frankfurt and Chicago in the next two months.
Announcing this here, Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain said during a recent meeting, US envoy Robert Blackwill had assured him that he would pursue with Washington the resumption of flights to India by American carriers which had stopped operations in the aftermath of September 11 terror strikes.
Addressing a convention on aviation and tourism, he said the government, which is continuing with the 'open sky' policy since this April, would be finalising bilateral air traffic agreements with several countries in the next few months.
However, he pointed out that over two crore seats, under already signed bilaterals, remained unutilised compared with about 1.5 crore being used by foreign airlines. "While signing the bilaterals, we will definitely keep in mind the interests of our national carriers", Hussain said.
Referring to the problems being faced by Air India in getting convenient time slots at the Heathrow airport, he said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had recently written to his British counterpart Tony Blair to provide suitable slots at the London airport.
Hinting at Virgin Airways' demand for more rights to fly to India, he said if any of the British carriers wanted to operate more flights here, "we should get suitable slots in UK".
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State gets first Sanskrit varsity
(Express News Service)
It's the language of our forefathers, they say, but it is only now, after three decades of follow-up by Somaiya Vidyavihar, that the Maharashtra Government decided to establish a Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in the state. Union Minister for HRD, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi laid the foundation stone for the K J Somaiya Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth at Somaiya Vidyavihar Campus on May 16. The ceremony began with the arrival of Joshi and Justice (retd) P N Bhagwati, President, Somaiya Vidyavihar. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh however cancelled at the last minute. The ceremony is part of the centenary celebration of Pujya Padmabhushan K J Somaiya, the founder of Somaiya Vidyavihar.
The establishment of the Vidyapeeth is part of the initiative taken by the government to promote Sanskrit as a language. Hindi is national, English is international, but Sanskrit is universal. One can lean a lot about Indian culture through the language, said Joshi. The new course will begin in the academic year 2002-2003. But admissions for the same will begin from June-July this year. The Vidyapeeth will offer graduate and post-graduate courses in Sanskrit.
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No subway is needed near Goregaon station: Residents
Residents of Goregaon have debunked the proposal to construct a subway near the railway station, stating that the idea is not worth considering as it is quite easy to cross the road.
They also claimed that the heavy congestion of traffic at the Ratna Hotel junction on S V Road at Goregaon (West) the site of the proposed subway is on account of tour buses parked illegally alongside the road. Adding to this, the road to Goregaon station is also blocked by hawkers, rendering it difficult for pedestrians to move.
Thursday was day four of the public consultations being conducted by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to enable the general public to give their recommendations on the plans to ease pedestrian traffic under the World Bank-aided Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP).
In Zone-4, the MMRDA has planned constructing a subway at Goregaon. At Borivali (W), three foot over-bridges (FOBs) connected to a skywalk on the railway station side are planned. According to the proposal, a subway is required at Ratna Hotel junction at Goregaon, since it is a major road near the station with very high pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Though officials claimed that the subway is required during peak hours and also in order to create traffic discipline among pedestrians, residents asked the authorities to identify an alternative spot.
One resident felt the planners should also consider constructing a subway or a foot overbridge connecting the east and west sides at Kandivli station.
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Asian Athletics: Indian hopes on Shakti Singh
Hyderabad,Friday, May 17, 2002: Top athletes from 23 nations will be taking part in the 15 track and field events in the first leg of Asian Athletics Grand Prix 2002 beginning here tomorrow with Shakti Singh, Bahadur Singh Sagoo and K M Beenamol providing the Indian challenge to the mega meet.
The star attraction of the meet would be Sri Lanka's Damyanti Darsha, 1998 Asian Games gold medalist running her pet 400m and 100m and she would be challenged by Olympic semi-finalist Beenamol who won a silver in the '98 Asian Games.
Record holder Shakti Singh would hog the limelight in shotput along with Bahadur Singh Sagoo while K M Binu and P S Primesh (800m) are also major medal contenders for the hosts.
In the women's section apart from Beenamol (400m), Neelam J Singh and Seema Antil (Discuss) along with C Latha and Madhuri A Singh (800m) are set to hog the limelight at the newly built athletic stadium at Gachibowli on the outskirts.
Nine events for men and six for women will be held in the first leg and the next two legs will be at Bangkok and Manila later in the year.
Renachai Srihoarwong (Thailand) and Umagila K Shyam of Singapore are likely to vie for the prized 100 m dash in the men's section while Saraswati Saha and Poonam Tomar will be carrying Indian colours in the tiff with Supavedee Khawapeag of Thailand and Viktroria Koviyereva of Kazakhastan in the women's event.
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Draw in Antigua more painful for Kumble
Bangalore,Friday, May 17, 2002: What is bothering India's ace leg spinner Anil Kumble more? Is it his fractured lower jaw or that the fourth Test against West Indies ended in a draw? Going by the sentiments expressed by the bowler today, minutes before his discharge from a private hospital, where he was operated upon yesterday, it seems the pain of Antigua Test ending in a draw is haunting Kumble more than the pain in his jaw.
Kumble was modesty personified saying, "If we have 500 plus runs on board, it is a challenging one. If I had stayed on and was able to get more wickets, India would have got the result."
Kumble demonstrated his grit and determination in ignoring his injury and taking to field, bowling 14 overs, his face wrapped up in bandage.
Kumble got the prized wicket of Brian Lara but was unlucky not to have dismissed Carl Hooper who was caught off a no-ball.
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India likely to bid for 2012 Olympics: Govt
New Delhi,Friday, May 17, 2002: India is considering bidding for 2012 Olympics and interactions with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in this regard are on, Rajya Sabha was told today.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Uma Bharti said this demand was raised during a FICCI meeting and discussions with the Indian Olympic Association and the Centre in this regard are gaining momentum.
Bharti said India had received an invitation from China to send a team for witnessing the Olympics to be held in the country in 2008.
Bharti told the House India would send a team to China to study facilities being provided for the Olympic event.
"We want to learn from China how in a short period of time they have emerged as a major sports power", she said.
In reply to another question, she said the government is working on ways to remove interference from non-sporting bodies and persons. The selection of Arjuna Award winners is a case in point, she said.
In reply to the main question, she said it was the Indian Olympic Association and state governments which interact to decide on hosting of National Games.
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Indian media voices World Cup fear
The Indian media has called the national team's participation in the 2003 Cricket World Cup into question.
The Today newspaper believes there is a doubt over whether India will play in South Africa because of the government's hard-line views about playing matches against Pakistan.
India and Pakistan are in the same first round group and due to meet at Centurion next March.
But the two arch-rivals have had no cricketing contact since June 2000 because of political differences.
Those differences have intensified since Tuesday's attack on an Indian army camp in Jammu, which resulted in 34 deaths and has been blamed on Kashmiri separatists.
Although the Pakistan government has denied any involvement, Indian Sports Minister Uma Bharti was quoted as saying: "When they are playing with blood, how can we play cricket with them?"
Today says her current stance could have far-reaching consequences.
"If Uma Bharti has her way, India and Pakistan may never play cricket again - anywhere, any time and in any tournament," the newspaper commented.
"Bharti's latest statement could not only throw the International Cricket Council's ambitious 10-year Test calendar in jeopardy, but also dangled a question mark over India's participation in prestigious tournaments like the World Cup and the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in September."
The loss of the 1983 winners from the competition would be a massive blow to World Cup organisers.
South Africa has a large number of people of Indian descent, with many youngsters taking up the game at junior representative levels.
India's withdrawal would also deprive crowds of seeing some of the world's greatest players, including batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly and spin bowlers Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.
The newspaper says the attack occurred only hours after Bharti approached Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee with a view to discussing a reumpsion of cricketing links with Pakistan, prompting her change of attitude.
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Harbhajan drafted in by India to replace injured Kumble
India will bring in off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for injured Anil Kumble in the only change in the team that take on West Indies in the deciding fifth test starting here on Saturday.
The series is tied 1-1 and the Kingston match could decide if India clinch their first test series win in the Caribbean since 1971 or West Indies bounce back from two straight test series losses.
"There are likely to be hardly any changes in the team," Indian captain Saurav Ganguly told Reuters on Thursday. "Harbhajan Singh will come into the side for Kumble."
The leg-break bowler had to return to India for surgery midway through the fourth test at Antigua after a rising delivery from paceman Mervyn Dillon fractured his jaw.
The 31-year-old from Bangalore bravely bowled 14 overs on Sunday despite being wreathed in bandages but flew back home on Monday due to doctors' advice.
"We really missed Anil in the remainder of the test," Ganguly said. "He was bowling so well and could have certainly made a difference."
Kumble is India's most successful bowler with 319 wickets in 70 tests.
The Antigua test finished in a dreary draw with India piling up 513 for nine in their first innings and West Indies responding with 629 for nine as only 18 wickets fell in five days on a good batting wicket.
"Harbhajan is an excellent bowler, with lots of tricks up his sleeve. We know he can make a difference in the side," Ganguly said.
The 21-year-old bowler from Punjab had shot into the limelight after grabbing 32 Australian wickets to lead India to a stunning 2-1 home series win last year.
India's wicketkeeping problems have also been firmly and finally solved with Ajay Ratra notching up his maiden test century at Antigua after almost being left out of the match for Dasgupta due to his poor form with the bat.
The 20-year-old ended a run of 0, 2, 1, 13 with an unbeaten 115, a hallmark of which was his inclination to play shots freely.
He ended up with the man-of-the-match award in a game that also saw Vangipurappu Laxman, Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul score hundreds.
West Indies, who had bowled India out for 102 while winning the second test at Barbados by 10 wickets, could bring leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine into the side.
Teams:
India - Saurav Ganguly (captain), Shiv Sundar Das, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Ajay Ratra (wicketkeeper), Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra.
West Indies (from) - Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Svivnarine Chanderpaul, Ridley Jacobs (wicketkeeper), Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins, Dinanath Ramnarine, Camron Cuffy, Adam Sanford, Ryan Hinds.
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