India

J’khand: Cong, BJP chiefs battle it out

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:10:06 GMT

ANAND S.T. DAS

Patna

Nov. 20: Both the Congress and the BJP, the two important parties heading major divergent coalitions contesting in Jharkhand’s Assembly polls, put their national presidents to address crowded campaign rallies the same day on Friday in a bid to woo voters for their respective candidates.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who addressed two rallies in Dumka and Dhanbad for her party and its ally Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) of Babulal Marandi, stressed Jharkhand’s paramount need for stability, saying only Congress can provide it and ensure the state’s sustained development. BJP chief Rajnath Singh, addressing four rallies for the BJP-JD(U) coalition, singled out corruption as the state’s biggest bane and promised clean governance.

Competitive rhetoric and oblique attacks on each other marked the speeches of both leaders a day after their party manifestos were released. Madhu Koda’s corruption saga remained a leitmotif in their speeches, becoming an irresistible reference point for them to speak about corruption. Maoist violence was the other dominant issue they spoke about.

In her impassioned speeches, Mrs Gandhi slammed Jharkhand’s successive governments for their failure to use Central funds for the state’s development. "It is a sad fact that funds sanctioned by us (the Congress-led Central government) for the welfare of Jharkhand’s women, children and farmers were not used in the right direction. Those ruling here were concerned only for themselves and their families," she said in Dumka.

Mrs Gandhi urged Maoists to shun the path of violence, saying there was no problem that could not be solved through dialogue in a peaceful atmosphere.

She also promised that there would be no displacement of people for development projects without their rehabilitation measures considered first. She said only the Congress could provide a stable government in Jharkhand and called on voters to elect the Congress and the JVM.

Suman will meet Mamata

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:10:00 GMT

AGE CORRESPONDENT

Kolkata

Nov. 20: The stalemate over Trinamul Congress MP Kabir Suman’s anti-party statements on Friday appeared to have been partly resolved following the intervention of pro-Mamata intellectuals and leader of Opposition Partha Chatterjee. "I may go to Delhi on Monday or Tuesday and will meet Mamata Banerjee," Mr Suman said after a marathon meeting at noted writer Mahasweta Devi’s south Kolkata residence.

Expressing his happiness, Mr Suman, who had been insisting that Ms Banerjee talked to him, said that Mr Chatterjee came to meet him as her representative. "We had a very cordial dialogue on the points I had raised. I have handed over my grievances in writing to him to be sent to Mamata. He has assured me that they will be sympathetically looked into," he said. The two leaders even hugged each other.

Sources said that this development came after Mr Chatterjee assured Mr Suman that henceforth no one would interfere in his work and he would be given a free hand to use the ML LAD fund.

Earlier, deeply embarrassed by the open display of discontent by Mr Suman, Ms Banerjee on Friday embarked on a fire-fighting exercise and sent Mr Chatterjee as her emissary to meet him. "I came to meet our MP and heard what he had to say. I will not speak more than this. Whatever I have to say I will inform our leader Mamata Banerjee," Mr Chatterjee said.

In reply to a question if the stalemate would be resolved, he said, "Where is the need for a resolution when there is no problem."

Students on voters’ list on entering college: EC

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:09:47 GMT

RAJIB CHOWDHURI

Kolkata

Nov. 20: In a bid to remove the cynicism of the young generation towards the electoral process and inspire them to cast their votes, the Election Commission (EC) is mooting a new initiative. The students will be enrolled in the voters’ list as soon as they join college or university, said Chief Election Commissioner Navin B. Chawla on Friday.

According to him, the young brigade is not much interested in participating in the electoral process. "Young guys and girls often come to me asking why should they vote and for what. I have asked the officials to devise a process of enrolling the students at the university level. If we can do this in every campus, a student above 18 years of age will get the EPIC and can cast his or her vote," Mr Chawla said.

The entire plan is in nascent stage, he added. Mr Chawla was speaking at an interactive session on "Strong Election Commission, Strong Democracy" organised by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce.

The EC has also plans for allowing the students, who live in hostels in cities to join as assistants to the booth-level officers near their hostels, Mr Chawla said.

On the question of the achievement of 100 per cent EPIC distribution in the country, Mr Chawla said that the target has been achieved in some states, including Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

West Bengal has EPIC coverage at 97 per cent, he said.

***

Bypolls in 3 states on Dec. 19

AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI

Nov. 20: Polling for the bypolls in four Assembly constituencies in three states — Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur — will be held on December 19. This was announced by the Election Commission on Friday.

Among the Assembly seats for which polling will be held next month is Pulivendula, the constituency of the late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S.R. Reddy.

Rahul, Priyanka woo villagers in Amethi

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:09:40 GMT

AMIT AGNIHOTRI

AMETHI

Nov. 20: It was a day when the brother and sister decided to spend time teaching and telling women ways to become self reliant. AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who visited his constituency on Friday along with her sister Priyanka, spent most of the day holding meetings with the members of the women’s self-help groups (SHGs). The SHG is being run in the area under the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna scheme.

The scheme, supported by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, is close to the heart of both Mr Gandhi and Ms Priyanka Vadra, who encouraged the members of the SHG in Agraon village and asked them to make other women in the area self-reliant through financial independence.

At village Pande Ka Purva, the two sat on the ground along with the SHG members and discussed the ongoing projects with them. These included dairy farming, making candles and other such cottage industry projects.

Ashok, a village elder, who stood watching them said that the "Scheme has helped many women start small businesses and add to their family income."

Something else also caught the eye of the people in Amethi. It was the sister driving around her brother. Priyanka took to the wheels of a Toyota Qualis with the Amethi MP seated beside her as their cavalcade started off from the Fursatganj airport. "I have seen her drive for the first time," said Kishan, a tea vendor in Fursatganj. As Priyanka drove further, stopping briefly at small intersections to accept the greetings of the locals, Ram Keval of Nigohan village quickly listed his woes.

"I told Rahulji about the condition of road in my village and the acute power shortage. He has promised to help," said Ram Keval.

Keeping politics out of the itinerary, Mr Gandhi and Ms Vadra spent time with the people listening to their problems. But as the evening drew closer, it was the brother’s turn to drive his sister around.

He stopped occasionally waving at people.

‘Ram temple sign of Sena sacrifice’

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:03:29 GMT

Mumbai, Nov. 20: The Ram temple at Ayodhya is a symbol of the Sena’s sacrifice for Hindutva and the party would fulfil the promise of constructing it fully, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has said.

"The Ram temple is a symbol of Sena’s sacrifice for Hindutva," an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna said on Thursday. Mr Thackeray is the newspaper’s editor.

Crediting the Sena for bringing down the mosque, Mr Thackeray said, "The Kothari brothers, who demolished the domes of the Masjid and hosted a saffron flag there, were Shiv Sainiks and I am proud of them." Referring to SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi’s announcement to rebuild the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, Mr Thackeray said, "if someone is dreaming of rebuilding the Babri Masjid, the Sena has the power to shatter those dreams." Mr Thackeray described the assault on Mr Azmi in the Maharashtra Assembly by MLAs belonging to the MNS as a "mild slap". Mr Azmi was attacked for taking oath in Hindi, ignoring a warning by Raj to take the oath in Marathi. —PTI

BSP, Cong set for Bundelkhand faceoff

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:01:59 GMT

Amita Verma

Lucknow

Nov. 20: The Bundelkhand package announced by the Centre will, in all likelihood, trigger off a fresh bout of war between the Congress and the BSP in Uttar Pradesh. The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party in the state apparently sees the Central package as a "deliberate move to belittle the Mayawati government".

"When we asked for a package for Bundelkhand, the UPA government did not even bother to respond and they are now announcing a package so that Mr Rahul Gandhi can be seen as walking away with the credit," said a senior BSP functionary. The state government spokesman also termed the package as highly insufficient keeping in mind the needs of the drought-hit region.

"UP will get around Rs 4,000 crores for seven districts for a period of three years while the rest will be shared by Madhya Pradesh. Any major development, including infrastructural development, is not possible in this amount," the spokesman added.

The BSP clearly sees a political motive in the Bundelkhand package but the party functionary adds that "The people of Bundelkhand are intelligent enough to see through such games. Had it not been so, the Congress would not have lost its sitting seat in Jhansi in the byelections held earlier this month. The Mayawati government has been repeatedly seeking funds for the region’s development but the Centre now wants to take all the credit for it."

The Congress, on the other hand, said the package — "if properly implemented by the state" — will change the face of Bundelkhand.

Not in race for new BJP chief: Naidu

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:01:29 GMT

AGE CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi

Nov. 20: Senior BJP leader and former party chief M. Venkaiah Naidu had clarified that he is not in the race for the next party chief. Mr Naidu, on Friday, issued a statement claiming that he was neither in the race nor interested in becoming the party chief again. Mr Naidu also said that no name has been finalised for the next party chief and the "consultation is on". Speculations are rife within the party that BJP Maharashtra unit chief Nitin Gadkari is the front-runner for the post and even RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had favoured his name.

However, a section within the party is viewing Mr Naidu statement as a retaliation to Ms Sushma Swaraj’s Thursday remark.

Ms Swaraj had indicated that Mr Naidu’s name was also considered by the party for next party chief but was later ruled out as he had held the post earlier.

Trying to make his position clear, Mr Naidu said, "I would like to state that I have already conveyed to my colleagues that I am neither in the race nor interested to become the president once again as I had been the party president once."

Amar: SP, BJP agree on many issues

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:01:20 GMT

Age Correspondent

New Delhi

Nov. 20: Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh on Friday met the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani and claimed that the two parties agree on several matters except for the communal issues.

The SP leader met Mr Advani on Friday and discussed issues, including Babri Masjid demolition and sugarcane pricing. Mr Singh said that the SP and the BJP agreed on many issues and could work together.

"On communal issues, BJP and SP have differences but on several other matters like Chinese incursions into India, diverting of Brahmputra water or building a dam by China, or on issues of internal security, we have similar views," he said. "Mr Advani even agrees with me that there should be speedy trial of the Babri mosque demolition case. It has been 17 years since the demolition and yet the case is pending," he said.

‘Headley stayed at Oberoi too’

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:00:23 GMT

Mumbai, Nov. 20: American terror suspect David Headley had also stayed at the Oberoi besides the Taj — the two hotels attacked on 26/11 — before the Mumbai carnage reinforcing suspicion of his link with the audacious strike, according to investigators on Friday.

Sources privy to the investigations said Headley stayed at the Oberoi for four days in April last year after which he left India reportedly for Pakistan through a Gulf country. The exact dates of Headley’s stay were, however, not given. The CCTV footage of the period mentioned as his stay in the hotel could not be retrieved from the machines installed at the hotel because of the time gap of nearly 19 months. Thirty people were killed in the terror strikes at Oberoi and Trident hotel.

—PTI

Cuban cigar crisis is raised in India

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:59:46 GMT

Age Correspondent

New Delhi

Nov. 20: The Communist government of Cuba wants US President Barack Obama to lift the economic blockade on Cuba. At present, not even Cuban cigars are allowed in America which a Communist leader termed "ridiculous". The Communist leader said that American citizens should be allowed to visit Cuba, which would help the country’s "economy’’ grow and also help the Communist country develop "friendly relations’’ with America.

"Americans are not even allowed to smoke Cuban cigars in America. It is part of the US economic blockade on Cuba. It is ridiculous," said Oscar Israel Martinez Cordeves, deputy head of international relations of the Communist Party of Cuba.

The party, which is participating in the 11th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, said, "We are ready to talk about everything (with the US), but ... not to negotiate our political and social system."

***

Mamata hits out at Left

AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI

Nov. 20: As the Indian Communists rubbed shoulders with those from abroad at the 11th Communist and Workers Parties’ International Meeting that began here on Friday, Trinamul Congress chief and railway minister Mamata Banerjee took a swipe at the Marxists.

Asked about the ongoing Left conference in the capital by reporters in Parliament, Ms Banerjee remarked: "In 32 years of rule (in West Bengal), the state is bankrupt. They should do something there. Instead, they are now taking care of the entire world."

Describing the conference as a "joke", the Trinamul leader said that the Left cannot be trusted and that it is a party of opportunists and not communists".

NIA to visit UAE in search of Headley female contact

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:59:25 GMT

Syed Asim Ali

NEW DELHI

Nov. 20: A special team of NIA officers will now visit the United Arab Emirates in search of a woman who was allegedly in touch with American LeT operative David Coleman Headley in Delhi. This woman is believed to have given inputs to Headley while he stayed in Delhi. The NIA team is leaving for the UAE this week, claimed the investigating officers.

Sources in the Delhi police’s special cell have said that the identity of this woman was established through the transcripts of the phone calls made from the phone number which Headley was using. However, despite repeated attempts, the DCP, special cell, Mr Alok Kumar, refused to give details of the woman.

Sources in the Delhi police’s special cell have confirmed that the alleged woman terrorist was in touch with ISI agents based in Nepal and Bangladesh. Police officers added that this woman also sorted out hideouts in Nepal in Bangladesh where terrorists operating in India could escape and regroup.

It is believed that Headley was asked to stay in Paharganj after specific tip-offs given by this woman. "Headley’s last trip to Delhi was of a short duration and there is a possibility that after doing a recee of the city, Headley was asked by this woman to move to Mumbai," said a senior police officer.

This woman is also believed to be a close associate of Amir Raza Khan, who helped set up the Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the country and is one of the prime accused in the Delhi serial blasts on September 13, 2008. It is believed that this woman is a native of Kolkata but later shifted to New Delhi.

Communists are losing appeal

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:58:54 GMT

Namrata Biji Ahuja

New Delhi

Nov. 20: As if the Left parties’ humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and the recent bypolls in West Bengal and Kerala was not enough, the Communist outfits seem to be getting isolated worlwide.

The Communist party of Norway confesses that many people agree with their "principles but seldom vote for the party". Fredrick Roe Brevig, who is representing the Communist Party of Norway at the 11th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, being jointly hosted by the CPI(M) and the CPI, said, "There is an image building problem. It is difficult to talk about Socialism especially when the global order is being dominated by Capitalism. Many people appreciate our principles when we talk about them. But in Europe, Communism does not appeal any more."

Facing a survival battle, the Communists have now embarked on a common issues to make their so called imprint on the people. These issues include impact of price rise, global economic recession struggle for the rights of workers and trade unions.

"But unless you are voted to power, it is very difficult to revive Socialism in a way that can impact people’s lives," Mr Brevig pointed out.

Accepting that there is a need for the CPI(M) and CPI to stem the erosion of the mass base of the parties in India, especially at the Red Citadels of West Bengal and Kerala, CPI national secretary D. Raja said, "The gap between ideological political influence of the Communist movement and the electoral performance will have to be reviewed by each Communist party in their respective countries.’’

TDP wants special Telangana package

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:56:15 GMT

AGE CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi

Nov. 20: Telangana MPs from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Friday demanded a special package for the region from the Centre on the same lines as Bundelkhand.

Addressing mediapersons outside the Parliament premises, TDP MP from Narasaraopet M. Venugopal Reddy accused the Congress members of Parliament of not speaking for the people of Telangana.

"If Rahul Gandhi could get the Union government to announce a package for Bundelkhand, why can’t Congress leaders make a similar demand for Telangana? There are 20 Congress MPs from Telangana but all of them have failed to get a financial package for the region," Mr Venugopal Reddy said.

After intense campaigning by the Congress MP from Amethi, the Union government had announced a Rs 7,000-crore package for the backward region on Thursday.

Congress convenor of MPs from Andhra Pradesh Ponnam Prabhakar lashed out at the Telugu Desam Party, accusing it of double standards. The MPs asked the TDP to make its stand clear on the issue of Telangana.

"Just before the elections the TDP changed its stand on Telangana and passed a resolution that it was favourable towards the formation of a separate state. Now they are saying they want a separate package. They should first make their stand clear on whether they want a separate state or a special package," he said.

Centre rules out military action against Maoists

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:55:41 GMT

Rabindra Nath Choudhury

Bhubaneswar

Nov. 20: Union home secretary G.K. Pillai on Friday ruled out military action against the Maoists in the country. "No military action is being planned against the Maoists. Coordinated operations by different states with help from the Centre could be beneficial for fighting the Left-wing ultras," Mr pillai, who was here on a day’s visit to Orissa to review the state police preparedness to tackle the Maoist menace, told reporters here.

Asked if the operation against the Maoists would be supported by aerial attacks, he said, "We do not need to go for aerial attack on the extremists to destroy their bases in the forests and hilly terrain."

Mr Pillai, who held a discussion with senior officials of the Orissa government, including chief secretary T.K. Mishra, state home secretary A.P. Padhi and director-general of police Manmohan Praharaj on the issue, termed the Maoists "terrorists who do not deserve sympathy". "There is no difference between terrorists and Maoists. They are making railway stations, trains, mobile towers and schools their soft targets," he said.

***

Mamata to meet PC

Age Correspondent

New Delhi

Nov. 20: Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to speak to Union home minister P. Chidambaram on the issue of rail safety.

The Maoist attack on a train on Thursday left one person dead and 55 injured. Of the injured, the condition of three is reported to be critical.

Officials race to fix N-deal for PM visit

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:55:36 GMT

Age Correspondent

New Delhi

Nov. 20: US and Indian off-icials are racing to put the finishing touches to a nu-clear reprocessing deal that, if completed, will be the big ticket agreement that both sides would like to see at the heart of this state visit, alr-eady marred by the US President’s unexpected nod to China’s role in resolving the India-Pakistan issue and be-reft of the drama and excitement that marked the Bush-Manmohan bonhomie.

With less than 24 hours to go before the PM departs for Washington, via Geneva, however, officials here have indicated that the deal has stalled and are downplaying expectations that any agreement is possible during the PM’s four-day visit.

They are well aware that a rush to reprocess spent fuel in a safeguarded facility ov-erseen by the US could be seen as a concession to the Obama administration, whi-ch is not completely behind the India-US nuclear agreement as the previous Bush administration had been.

While the contrast betw-een the high-octane Bush visit to Delhi and Dr Singh’s reciprocal visit to Washington in 2005 and the decidedly cooler Obama-Singh che-mistry has already been re-marked on, officials here said that President Obama’s enormous respect for Dr Singh’s management of the economy, his tackling of a rough neighbourhood in the aftermath of 26/11, and In-dia’s emerging power status are part of the reason that Dr Singh is being accorded the rare honour of a first state visit. India has announced two nuclear park sites — in Gu-jarat and AP — for American companies. The US is unable to move forward with the nuclear agreement unless it can agree to allow New Delhi to repr-ocess spent nuclear fuel, but the Obama administration is insisting that New Delhi give it an assurance that it will not divert reprocessed fuel to its weapons programme or unsafeguarded civil nuclear facilities.

India is also being asked to pass a civil nuclear liability legislation in Parliament that will limit the damages to be borne by US nuclear companies that invest in India in case of a nuclear accident.

CabSec pulls up ministries

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:55:23 GMT

MUKESH RANJAN

New Delhi

Nov. 20: Admonishing ministries and department of the Central government for their casual approach in preparing proposals for the approval of the Union Cabinet and other committees, Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar has shot off a letter to all the secretaries asking them to pull up their socks.

Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has noticed the trend that ministries and departments rush till last minute with their respective Cabinet notes to be listed on the agenda of the meetings and is squarely upset that despite repeated reminders by Cabinet Secretariat, they are not mending their approach, Mr Chandrasekhar claimed in the letter, a copy of which is with this news paper.

"The Prime Minister has recently observed that ministries and departments are continuing to send last-minute requests for inclusion of their notes in the agenda of the Cabinet/Cabinet committee meetings even in respect of proposal that could have been planned for, well in advance, rather than rushing it at the last moment. The Prime Minister has expressed his displeasure at this approach," Mr Chandrasekhar wrote in the letter.

In his letter, the Cabinet Secretary also reminded the secretaries of the Union government that his office had on November 3, 2008 issued an order containing directions of the Prime Minister that they should "plan their activities in such a manner as to obviate the necessity for last minute requests for inclusion of their notes" in the agenda for consideration of the Cabinet and its other committees.

When contacted by this newspaper, sources in the Cabinet Secretariat though declined to pinpoint any ministry or department for failing to send their note in advance. They said the recent examples could be the "comprehensive package for Bundelkhand" and "Civil Nuclear Liability Bill". "The two items came at the last minute for inclusion in the agenda. The Bundelkhand proposal was sent to the Cabinet Secretariat on Wednesday and the other one came only on Thursday morning," they said.

Rana stayed at hotel in Ahmedabad

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:55:04 GMT

Ahmedabad, Nov. 20: Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistan origin arrested by FBI for his role in a terror plot to carry out attacks in India, had stayed at a hotel in the city last year along with a woman.

"He (Rana) had stayed at our hotel in Ahmedabad last year," said Rahul Pandit, vice-president (operations) of "Lemon Tree" chain of hotels, over telephone from the group's corporate office in New Delhi. Mr Pandit said Rana was accompanied by a woman during his stay in the hotel last November.

He, however, declined from divulging more details saying, "The National Investigation Agency has already contacted us and we have supplied all the details regarding him (Rana) to them."

Following investigations into the pan-India visits by Rana and US citizen David Headley, also arrested FBI, sleuths learned about the presence of a woman, suspected to be his wife, during his trips to a number of Indian cities.

The woman, according to investigating agencies has been identified as Samraz Rana, a Canadian national born in Bahawalpur of Pakistan. The NIA has registered a case against Headley and Rana under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and for conspiring to wage war against the country. -PTI

Arrest warrant against Koda associate

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:51:24 GMT

Age Correspondent

New Delhi

Nov. 20: An arrest warrant was issued against Binod Sinha, a close associate of former Jharkhand CM Ma-dhu Koda, by a Ranchi court on Friday. The Enforcement Directorate has been on the lookout for him ever since it registered the money-laundering case against him.

Binod had been evading the ED, which had issued a number of summons as part of its probe in the case. According to sources, the arrest warrant was issued by the PMLA court after the ED moved an application for the same in Ranchi on Friday. Mr Koda’s another associate Sanjay Chaudhary has also failed to appear before the ED despite repeated summons so far. Former Jharkhand CM has also been booked by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Besides, the former Jharkhand chief minister and MP from Singhbhum (Jharkhand) failed to appear before the investigating agency in Ranchi on Thursday claiming that he did not receive any summons. He also cited his pre-occupation with the Jharkhand Assembly polls as one of the reasons for not appearing. Now the ED is likely to approach Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to get the permission for questioning Mr Koda in connection with the money laundering case.

According to sources, close associates of Madhu Koda include Binod Sinha, Sanjay Choudhary, Manoj Punamiya and Vikas Sinha. Binod Sinha allegedly acq-uired properties, worth over Rs 200 crores, in Jharkahnd as well as in other parts of the country. Besides, Mr Sinha and Mr Choudhary jointly invested several hundred crores in industrial units in Jharkhand as well abroad also, said the source.

No N-material in docked Malta ship

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:51:06 GMT

AGE CORRESPONDENT

Chennai

Nov. 20: Nuclear scientists have found no "apparent radioactivity" on board a Malta-registered ship, MV Garland. The police said that the ship, which had been docked in waters off Chennai port, had been cleared after checks. The checks were conducted on Friday after customs authorities received an anonymous call stating that Singapore-bound vessel MV Garland was carrying some radioactive material.

"Preliminary checks by scientists from the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, have found no apparent radioactivity in the ship. MV Garland reached Chennai port on November 17 without any cargo. Suspicion increased wh-en they did not file any entry documents with the port for the past three days," said Capt. Subhash Kumar, chairman, Chennai Port Trust.

Following the alert, a group of Navy, intelligence, port security forces and radiation experts from Kalpakkam rushed to the vessel, which was docked about 2 nautical miles away from the port. "No suspected elements were found in the search and the vessel reached Chennai waters for loading 5,000 tonnes of cement," said Captain Subhash Kumar in his statement on Friday evening. The vessel, which visited other Indian ports, including New Mangalore and Visakhapatnam, is about to go to Singapore carrying cargo from Chennai.

The incident has beco-me a challenge for the Chennai Port Trust to pr-ove its disaster management plan, which was st-rengthened after the 26/11 terror attacks.

Around 3,675 monuments across nation untraceable

Asian Age — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:50:49 GMT

AGE CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi

Nov. 20: Over 3,675 monuments across the country are found to be untraceable. In a reply to the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for planning and parliamentary aff-airs V. Narayanasamy said that the main factors responsible for it are, rapid urbanisation, pressure of developmental projects, in-adequate staff with the ASI for protecting the monuments.

In Delhi alone, over 12 monuments are in the untr-aceable category: the Moti Gate of Sher Shah’s Delhi, Mauza Babarpur Bazidpur, district New Delhi, Pool Chadar, Mauza Chaukri Mubarakabad, Alipur Cem-etery, Bara Khamba Cemetery, tomb with three domes near railway station, Nizamuddin, Inchla Wali Gumti, village Mubarakpur Kotla, Shamsi Tallab together with both the platform entrance gates, Mehrauli, Nicholson Statue etc.

The pre-historic site of Kittur in Mysore and a 12th-century temple in Baran, Rajasthan, are missing. In Uttar Pradesh, over eight monuments are missing. The list includes Closed Cemetery, Katra Naka, Teh-sil Banda, district Banda, a large ruined site called Sandi Khera in Hardoi, Cemetery, Jalaun Gunner Burkill’s Tomb, in Lalitpur, Imambara Amin-ud Daula in Lucknow, Three Tombs, Lucknow-Faizabad Road at miles 3, 4 & 5, in Lucknow, Cemeteries at miles 6 & 7 at Jahraila Road in Lucknow and Cemetery at Gaughat also in Lucknow.

In Utarakhand, Kutumbari Temple in Dwarahat, in Almora, Khera Ki Bandi, Old Cemetery in Roorkee. Remains of ancient buildings locally identified with Vairatapattana, Dhikuli, in Nainital.

Apart from that some monunents in Assam, Arunachal, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir are also missing.

Meanwhile, he also said in Rajya Sabha yesterday, he said presently 3463 monument attendants are posted at the centrally protected monuments for their round the clock maintenance, safety and security. As against the requirement of 13,230 monument attendants, only 3463 of them are in position. Creation of 10,000 more posts of monument attendants is under consideration of the Government.