Pak calls for talks, vows crackdown on terror
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said Wednesday it was prepared to defend itself against any Indian attack, but called for negotiations and vowed to maintain a crackdown on terrorism.
A statement issued after President Pervez Musharraf met with a joint session of the national security council and the cabinet said "no organisation in Pakistan will be allowed to indulge in terrorism in the name of Kashmir".
It said, however, that Pakistan would continue to extend "moral, political and diplomatic support to the legitimate struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the realisation of their right to self-determination".
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Don't test our patience, PM warns Pak
KUPWARA: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has bluntly told Pakistan that there is a limit to India's tolerance to the proxy war it was waging.
"Nobody should think that the threshold of our tolerance has no limit," he told troops in Kupwara, not far from the Line of Control, on Wednesday.
"India is forced to fight a proxy war thrust on it and we will emerge victorious. Let there be no doubt about it."
Vajpayee said that a challenge has been thrown to India and "we accept it".
"The world understands that we have been wronged but they are not coming out with their views openly. Hence we have to defend ourselves; we are ready for that.
"My arrival here is indicative of something. Whether our neighbour understands it or not, whether the world takes note of it or not, history will record that we will write a new chapter of victory..." he said.
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Lone was killed because he was working for peace: PM
Jammu,Tuesday, May 21, 2002: Condemning the killing of senior Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said here this evening that he was assassinated because he was working for peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
Vajpayee, talking to reporters, said that he wanted to pay homage to the slain Kashmiri leader.
Asked if the killing would be a setback to the peace process, the Prime Minister said he hoped it would not. However, it would have some effect.
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Sajjad blames Farooq for Lone's murder
A day after he blamed Pakistan's ISI for being behind the killing of his father Abdul Ghani Lone, Sajjad Lone on Wednesday held Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah responsible for the assasination saying he reduced the security of the Hurriyat leader despite a threat to his life.
"He died in the convergence between state actors and non-state actors," Sajjad said adding the state actors were led by Abdullah. "As it is there is risk in Kashmir and knowing his bold stand it was more so," he said. "Our house was attacked twice and on both occasions they said it was stage managed", he also said.
Asked about his Tuesday's statement immediatly after the killing of his father that ISI was behind the incident, he said so many agencies both from India and Pakistan work here so it was difficult to say who was behind the attack. "It (statement) was not backed by any factual information," he added.
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Ketan Parekh remanded to police custody
Controversial brokers Ketan Parekh, Kartik Parekh and Jatin Sarvaiya, charged with defrauding a foreign company of Rs 83.22 crore, were on Wednesday further remanded to police custody till Thursday even as co-accused Dharmesh Shah was released on bail by a local court.
Police have charged all the four accused with swindling funds of a Mauritius-based company European Investment by purchasing and selling shares through broking firm M/S Triumph International Finance (India) Ltd, whose registration was cancelled by the Securities and Exchange Board of India last week, of which they were directors.
Shah, a chartered accountant and non-executive director of Triumph International, was arrested on Tuesday and produced on Wednesday before Magistrate B A Shelar who released him on bail in the sum of Rs 10,000.
Prosecutor Harshad Ponda submitted that Shah was not directly concerned with these transactions.
The magistrate had earlier refused to grant bail to Ketan and others. Being aggrieved, they moved a sessions court which also refused to grant them liberty.
The accused were arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by Briyanand Chaturvedi, constituted attorney of European Investments.
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Everest record holder retires
(BBC)
A veteran Sherpa guide holding the record for the most Everest climbs has announced his retirement after completing his 12th ascent to the world's highest mountain last week.
Appa Sherpa, aged 43, said after returning to the Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, that his decision was influenced by family reasons.
"I want to continue climbing, but it is my family who are afraid and have persuaded me to quit climbing."
But he said he would still help co-ordinate expeditions to the mountain.
"I will not leave the mountain though, and will go up to the base camp only."
Expeditions to the 8,850-metre summit involve huge risks, and more than 170 people have died on the mountain since it was first conquered 50 years ago.
Appa, who like most Sherpas uses only one name, was the first to reach the summit when a record 54 climbers scaled Everest on the same day last week.
Appa, who makes his living by guiding expeditions to the top of the world once a year, first climbed Everest in 1989.
He uses the money to feed his family and put his four children through school for the rest of the year.
Last week ascent marked the beginning of celebrations of the first conquest of Everest by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary in 1953.
A total of 1,114 people have reached Everest's summit since it was conquered 50 years ago.
See also:
17 May 02 | South Asia
Record-breaking day on Mount Everest
30 Apr 01 | South Asia
Fastest Everest climber killed
28 Feb 00 | South Asia
Fears over surge in Everest attempts
05 Mar 02 | South Asia
Famous names take on Everest
25 Mar 02 | South Asia
Nepal wants children off Everest
16 Aug 98 | South Asia
Everest bottle ban
06 Jun 98 | S/W Asia
Mount Everest clean-up
10 May 99 | World
So you want to climb Everest...
25 Oct 99 | South Asia
Legendary sherpa gives up mountains
Internet links:
Everest News
Everest Imax film project
National Geographic site on Mount Everest
Mount Everest
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Top South Asia stories now:
Vajpayee rallies Kashmir troops
Britons advised to leave Pakistan
West Indies close to victory
Straw plans Kashmir peace mission
Everest record holder retires
Sri Lanka foes hold direct talks
South Asia border mine fears grow
Kiwi chief boosts Pakistan
Links to more South Asia stories are at the foot of the page.
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Markets recover, but bulls still nervous
(Times News Network)
rally of 54 points by the Sensex, one would be tempted to say yes. However, despite the bargain buying, the overall mood on Dalal Street continues to be cautious.
Bargain buying pushed domestic shares into positive territory early on Wednesday after six straight days of fall. The Sensex - which opened 3,187.54 following its Tuesday's close at 3,186.53 - slipped to 3,144.18 in the opening stages.
It seemed the bourses were in for another bout of mauling by the bear brigade before value-buying by funds helped inject some amount of recovery in sentiment. The Sensex, as a consequence, spurted to 3,198.81, but could not hold on to its gains.
Dealers said the sentiment remained weak on the tense border situation despite selective buying interest in technology, auto and cement stocks. The trading volumes were slightly on the higher side, pointing to a sense of relief among investors.
"It looks a temporary pull back but traders are cautious and watching border developments," the head of research at a domestic brokerage said. The Sensex at 12.18 pm was almost flat at 3,186.54, registering a loss of 0.01 points. The NSE-50 index too was down by 1.36 points at 1,047.85.
The BSE Sensex has shed more than 7 per cent in the past six days, wiping out Rs 50,000 crore in market capitalisation.
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Tendulkar reaches batting landmark
Sachin Tendulkar reached another milestone in his already impressive career as he battled to keep India in the fourth Test with the West Indies on Tuesday.
When he cut off-spinner Carl Hooper for four just before tea, the 29-year-old became only the second Indian batsman and the 10th in history to pass 8,000 Test runs.
It comes only a month after Tendulkar scored 117 at Port of Spain to equal the legendary Don Bradman's record of 29 test centuries.
It also serves as a reminder of why Tendulkar is widely regarded as the world's best batsman.
Bradman has in the past handed out the ultimate compliment of comparing the man from Bombay to himself.
He holds the world record aggregate for one-day runs and one-day centuries.
And in 2001 he made 146 off 132 balls in a world-record opening stand of 258 with Saurav Ganguly against Kenya.
But he still has some way to go before he matches the greatest names in the history of the sport.
Tendulkar is 10th in the all-time list for Test runs scored on 8,004, well behind India's Sunil Gavaskar (10,122) and Australia's Allan Border (11,174).
If any motivation is needed to keep the runs flowing, the fact that Gavaskar has been one his fiercest critics in recent weeks should spur Tendulkar on to greater heights.
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Mob lynchings reflect a city on the edge
xpress News Service
Mumbai, May 21: MASS hysteria, rage or just pent-up frustration. Reasons could be many but fact is that recent incidents in the city where the public decided to act as judge, jury and executioners to kill two persons in separate incidents, has brought into focus the ‘danger of misplaced anger’.
Several city-based psychiatrists and psychologists have expressed concern over the rather frequent displays of public ire, that sometimes lead to extreme situations like death by lynching.
Last week, a 30-year-old unemployed waiter Shakir Nazir, was lynched by the public in Goregaon when Nazir went on a stabbing spree. Just a few kilometres away in Malad, autorickshaw driver Arun Chavan was also clubbed to death last week by two motorists, simply because Chavan was overtaking them.
Doctors say that such incidents of sudden anger, over seemingly trivial issues, are currently on the rise due to various factors. ‘‘Killing someone for overtaking is very silly, but even the lynching of Nazir was not justified. At the most, he should have been disarmed and handed over to the police,’’ said psychiatrist Dr Jayant S Apte. He added that perhaps the mob at Goregaon just wanted to get cheap thrills and so stoned the man to death.
‘‘Hectic city life is contributing to several types of stress by way of noise pollution, congestion, heat, and uncomfortable train and road travel. So there is a low anger threshold, leading to aggression,’’ said psychiatrist Dr Nirmala Rao. Clinical psychologist Archana Samarth added that excessive violence depicted in films also influences the public by desensitising it.
Police say auto driver Chavan was beaten with bamboo sticks and rods, near the Western Expressway.
‘‘It is common for motorists to curse and gesticulate at each other while driving, but an extreme case of road-rage like this is rare,’’ said a traffic official.
In mob psychology people always feel their actions are right and there is a high desire for ‘instant justice’, doctors said. Dr Dilip Chandrawat added that depression and displaced anger can lead to serious consequences. ‘‘In Mumbai, over 99 per cent of people suffer from some form of expressible psychiatric problem, but due to society’s wrong attitude many people shy away from even talking to a psychiatrist,’’ said Dr Chandrawat.
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Gavaskar may lose academy land
vaskar is likely to be at sixes and sevens with the state government over a plot of land leased to him in 1988 to open an indoor cricket academy.
Fourteen years later, the plot still stands barren, with no foundation stones. Gavaskar was unavailable for comment.
Under its recently-devised policy for sports development, the Maharashtra government plans to use the available grounds to establish sports academies and coaching centres in Mumbai. The state plans to approach civic bodies for land, but will start with plots it already owns. ‘‘If Gavaskar has no plans to use the plot, we can develop it under our new policy,’’ said sports department under-secretary Pradeep Indulkar.
The Maharashtra government had given Gavaskar the 2,000-square-metre plot at Bandra Reclamation in recognition for his contribution to cricket. The master blaster had planned to start an indoor cricket academy equipped with a squash court, a swimming pool, a yoga room, in- house trainers and fitness instructors.
The blueprint was impressive, but it was never implemented.
Gavaskar has blamed the delay on a lack of sponsors to fund the project. He had reportedly approached companies in Malaysia and England after an Indian firm backed out at the last moment. The state government hadn’t specified a time limit for Gavaskar to complete the project. ‘‘Cricket is not the only sport,’’ said Indulkar. ‘‘There are people waiting to set up tennis and badminton academies. We need to ensure that every kind of sport receives equal attention.’’
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Siemens builds hi-tech lab at VJTI
A sophisticated 800 KV High Voltage Laboratory (HVL) built at a cost of Rs 60 lakh was inaugurated on Tuesday at the campus of the Veermata Jijabai Technical Institute (VJTI). The laboratory was built with funds donated by the heavy engineering multi-national giant Siemens.
The newly created facility — inaugurated by Dr Anil Kakodkar, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission — has quickly notched up many significant distinctions. The is the first such facility in the state that can test insulation strength of high voltage apparatus/ equipments up to 800 KV.
If an insulator device can withstand shots of such high voltages, it can then also withstand the impact of a lightning strike, in principle thereby protecting those who come in contact with it and also the equipment.
The VJTI already had such a facility since 1949, whose services Siemens had been availing since 1982. However, as most of the equipments had outgrown their utility, the test facility has been almost unoperational since 1995.
The VJTI needed large funding to carry out the necessary modernisation and upgradation of the facility.
Siemens, endeavouring to upgrade its long technical association with the institute, decided to pump in Rs 50 lakh for the modernisation of its key research and development wing.
‘‘Around three years ago, we made the first offer to the institute and later, began working with the staff. Actual work began on the project in last June. We immediately donated to the HVL the Impulse Generator worth Rs 45 lakh and other measurement equipments,’’ says Anil Nadkarni, Director, Siemens Ltd, Personnel Division.
The HVL will be utilised by industry and government agencies for third party testing and validation of insulators in electrical equipments like Potential Transformers and Current Transformers, Circuit Breakers and also a range of smaller, rubber goods like fire-fighting gear, including rubber boots and gloves.
It also promises to benefit the VJTI’s faculty and engineering students.
It will also provide valuable revenue generation to cash-strapped VJTI.
The Delhi-based All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has approved of the VJTI-Siemens joint endeavour and has committed to grant to VJTI an equal grant as what the German company has given — Rs 50 lakh.
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Mahalaxmi station will be a train-stopper from June
Express News Service
Mumbai, May 21: Seventy-four years of ambience, stained with the footprints of time, is yielding to polycarbonated sheets and adhesive films as Mahalakshmi railway station reinvents itself. Poking, prodding, stripping, renovating and painting the premises, workers have been busying themselves shaping a blueprint into a concrete-and-glass reality that will merge both aesthetics and practicality.
The Western Railway, which flagged off the Rs 6 lakh project in April, hopes to complete it in June, burying a look that went out with the British Raj. Old cement walls erected 74 years ago and opaque windows are being replaced by special floral translucent sheets. At the main entrance, whose features are yet to take final shape, the station now announces its name in bold white lettering against a navy blue backdrop. Here, new tiles greet the 30,000 commuters who pass through its portals every day while a polycarbonate arch is being fashioned on the west side.
The roof is being fashioned from printed perplex sheets to improve lighting and to lend a touch of the aesthetic. And yes, a fresh coat of paint will alter the colour of the station. But no, the railway hasn’t yet decided on the hue.
Built in 1928, Mahalakshmi station was an important stop on the Western Railway due to the hub-bub of the racecourse. At the time, racehorses were not only a draw at the Derby but were the darlings of hundreds of fans. To please the pining proletariat, the then British administration built a special siding on platform 1, where the thoroughbreds were loaded on to wagons en route to Pune and unloaded on the return journey.
The siding is redundant today, not only because fans of the game are on the decline thanks to alternative forms of entertainment but also because racehorses are now transported by road.
Singh says that 60 per cent of the renovation is complete and adds that platforms are also being extended to accommodate 12-car rakes.
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Windies scent series victory
Final Test, Jamaica, day five (plays starts 1605 BST): India 212 & 237-7 v West Indies 422 & 197
On what will be a tense final day at Sabina Park, the West Indies are three wickets away from clinching a series victory with underdogs India requiring 172 to do the same.
Sachin Tendulkar had looked capable of guiding India to a dramatic win, but he was out for 86 on Tuesday when Pedro Collins slanted one through his defences.
Ajay Ratra was left unbeaten on 16 and Zaheer Khan on 4 at the close of play, but Collins and Adam Sanford will expect to add to their three wickets apiece on Wednesday.
After India took a 1-0 lead in the series, things looked bleak for the home side but victory on Wednesday would be a major feather in the cap for Carl Hooper's men.
India made a terrible start to their second innings as Windies left-arm pace man Collins claimed wickets in his first two overs.
Wasim Jaffer was caught at short leg, and Shiv Sunder Das went lbw soon after.
Rahul Dravid fought back to take the tourists to lunch at 57 for two, before falling lbw to Adam Sanford with the score on 77.
But when Tendulkar came to the crease the match looked to be turning and by tea India were mounting a comeback at 166 for 3.
Undoubtedly his dismissal was the most significant moment of the day, Collins beating him for pace to leave India struggling once again on 170 for 4.
Ganguly fell moments later, while VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh could only add 23 and 17 respectively.
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