Andhranews

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy on Sunday announced the setting up of one more university and a couple of professional colleges in the Telangana region. This is apart from the recently-announced Telangana University which is slated to come up in Nizamabad with focus on job-oriented courses such as e-commerce and mass communications.

The newly announced university will be a conventional one and will be set up in Nalgonda. It will have a jurisdiction over Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar districts. Defending the decision, the Chief Minister said that it would balance the ratio of universities in Andhra and Telangana regions. “Besides, there has been a demand for a university from Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar as Osmania University is burdened with institutions in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts,” he added.

The government also decided to set up three medical colleges each in Srikakulam, Prakasam and Adilabad districts and two engineering colleges under the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Karimnagar and Vizianagaram. “This is the government’s Dasara gift to students of the State,” the Chief Minister told mediapersons.

The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting attended by health minister K. Rosaiah and higher education minister P. Venkateswara Rao, apart from top officials. Dr Reddy said that though there were 32 medical colleges in the State, Srikakulam, Prakasam and Adilabad were left without a medical college in either government or private sector.

Steps would be taken to create infrastructure and appoint faculty to enable these medical colleges to start admissions from the next academic year itself, he said. Admitting shortage of faculty, the Chief Minister added that there was a proposal to accord autonomous status to all the medical colleges in the government sector to find a solution to this.

Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Kadapa had already been allowed by the government to go in for recruitment of faculty on its own to sort out this problem, he said. Dr Reddy said a detailed project reports for each new institution would be prepared soon.

Chennai, Oct. 1: The top brass of the Tamil Nadu police is seriously contemplating deploying men from the Special Task Force (ATF) along the entire stretch of the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border to check Naxal infiltration and eradicate its modules. The proposal comes after the police discovered that Srinvasa Reddy, alias “Rocket Raghu”, the head of the technology wing of the Naxal group from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, had remained undetected in Chennai for more than three years,

The State is also planning to strengthen the Q branch wing of the police, which monitors militant activity, by recruiting more men besides giving a technological push to its operations by providing new software and other gadgets. According to police sources, nearly 750 members of the Special Task Force of the Tamil Nadu police, lying low after its much-publicised encounter with forest bandit Veerappan in October 2004, will get the task of monitoring the Tamil Nadu–Andhra Pradesh border from Thiruvallur district, near Chennai, to Hosur in Krishnagiri district through Vellore, against possible Naxal infiltration.

“Yes, there is a proposal for deploying STF men along the border,” said a senior STF official when contacted. According to the STF top brass, the task force has already been deployed in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts to keep a vigil on the activities of members of the outfit People’s War who may have sneaked into the state from Andhra Pradesh. According to sources, the STF has its own intelligence gathering set-up, which it used to trap and kill Veerappan. “Such an intelligence gathering system can be effectively used in checking Naxal infiltration as well,” he said.

“Militants seem to be more technologically advanced than the police. So it is important to invest a few crores of rupees in technology upgradation for the police department,” one officer noted when asked about the strengthening of the police’s Q branch. Senior officials were keen on stationing the STF along the length of the border immediately after they came to know two weeks ago that rockets and rocket launchers had been manufactured by “Rocket Raghu”, who also goes by the aliases “Tech Madhu” and Srinvasa Reddy, and is a mechanical engineer who headed the technology wing of the Naxals in different units in Ambathur, a Chennai suburb, and its surroundings.

The Andhra police had tipped off their counterparts about the existence of the arms manufacturing units in Chennai after the former seized large quantities of arms, including rocket launchers and missiles, in Mehboob Nagar in the first week of September. Though the Q branch arrested seven manufacturers a week later, Rocket Raghu managed to escape with his female companion Sudahrani, alias Vasantha.

The state police has formed special teams to hunt down the couple. “Till now there is not much information about them. We are continuing the hunt within the state as well as outside,” a senior officer said. According to police sources, the presence of more Naxals in the state cannot be ruled out. “The border areas with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are certainly a comfort zone for Andhra Naxals. They think these areas can provide them logistic support,” he added.

Lucknow, Oct. 1: The coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will definitely witness a battle of the Gandhis. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and his cousin, BJP leader Varun Gandhi, will be actively campaigning for their respective parties in the Assembly elections. Though the two Gandhis have campaigned in Uttar Pradesh earlier too, they had confined themselves to selected constituencies. This time, however, they will be campaigning across the State.

According to BJP sources, Mr Varun Gandhi will represent the “youthful” face of the party in the UP campaign and will be projected as a youth icon. He will come in as a “whiff of fresh air”, the sources said, in a party that has a State leadership mostly over the 65 years of age. “We plan to make Varun campaign extensively in the urban constituencies where he can give direction to the youth. Through his speeches he will counter the efforts being made by the ruling Samajwadi Party to win over young voters,” says a senior party functionary.

The Congress, on the other hand, insists that Mr Rahul Gandhi will campaign in rural as well as urban constituencies. “Mr Rahul Gandhi has national appeal and is equally acceptable in urban and in rural constituencies. He is the face of tomorrow and will campaign across the State,” says a party strategist. Interestingly, the cousins, despite their family differences, have made it clear that they will not target each other.

The Congress and the BJP have accepted this condition and the cousins will now target a common enemy — the SP. “These are Assembly elections and there is no need for Mr Varun Gandhi to target the Congress or the UPA. It is the Samajwadi Party which has to be thrown out of power and he will focus on the failures of the Mulayam Singh government,” explains the BJP functionary. For Mr Rahul Gandhi, the campaign has already been drafted out.

“In fact, he has already been talking about the lack of development in the Mulayam Singh regime and he will continue with this line in the campaign. Mr Rahul Gandhi will talk about issues related to development, youth, minorities and the failure of the non-Congress governments to address these issues,” says a party leader. Mr Rahul Gandhi’s campaign, meanwhile, will be marked by a sense of sobriety and dignity, again a style that was typical of his father, the late Rajiv Gandhi.

“He is not the kind who will make uncalled for utterances. He measures each word that he speaks and stays well within the realms of rationality and dignity. You cannot expect ‘mai ke laal’ type of speeches from him,” says a veteran Congress leader.

New Delhi, Oct. 1: Foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, who assumed charge on Sunday, said India wants Pakistan to not only talk, but take action against terrorism on the ground, as Pakistan would be judged by its actions and not words. Rubbishing Pakistani denial of involvement of the ISI and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in Mumbai train blasts on July 11, Mr Menon said, “This involvement of ISI and LeT in the blasts is something we will certainly take up with the government of Pakistan, in view of the new evidence. We will judge Pakistan not by immediate reaction or verbal statements, but by what actually they do about terrorism.”

The foreign secretary said India was ready to present the evidence, but at the right time and at the right place. Possibly, Mr Menon could put that proof on table when he meets his Pakistani counterpart in New Delhi next month, when the foreign secretary-level talks resume. Mr Menon said, “We will see what Pakistan does about the evidence and see what their reaction is.” Success, or otherwise, of the joint mechanism would be judged by how Pakistan deals with terrorism.

Terrorism has always been a big issue with Pakistan, he said. For most analysts, and even the principal Opposition party, the BJP, the new joint anti-terror mechanism is a gamble. The new foreign secretary said, “Success or failure of this mechanism will depend on what action Pakistan will take.” Referring to Mumbai police commissioner A.K. Roy’s statement over the weekend, Mr Menon said, “You have heard what is the evidence that has been found in Mumbai and it seems to me logical that the joint mechanism has to deal with this kind of evidence.”

Mr Roy over the weekend said the Pakistani ISI involvement had clearly emerged in the investigations. Nearly 180 people were killed and over 800 injured in the serial blasts on July 11 in Mumbai. Mr Roy said terrorists, who had carried out the blasts included Pakistanis sent here in batches via Nepal, Bangladesh and Gujarat, especially to carry out the nefarious task.

Visakhapatnam, Oct. 1: The first War for Independence occurred not at Meerut in 1857, but in Visakhapatnam way back in 1780. In those days, it was known as Vizagpatam. The sepoys of the East India Company army stationed here rose in rebellion protesting against the oppressive attitude of the English officers.

Noted Historian Dr Kolluru Suryanarayana said that there were actually three sepoy mutinies prior to the famous revolt of 1857. “The first occurred in Vizagpatam on October 3, 1780, the second at Vellore in Tamil Nadu in 1806 and the third at Gorakhpur in 1824,” he said. Shaik Mohammed, subedar of the brigadiers, was the chief mutineer and hero of the first sepoy mutiny in Vizagpatam. “Unfortunately people know only about Mangal Pandey,” said Dr Suryanarayana, who heads the history department of Andhra University.

It was oppression and maltreatment which triggered the revolt. Native sepoys enlisted for local duty were sent all over the State for revenue collection. But they were given no extra pay and were treated like dirt by Englishmen. This caused much discontent. What triggered the revolt was the order given to the sepoys to embark a frigate to Madras to meet the impending threat from Hyder Ali of Mysore.
This order exasperated the native sepoys in general. Muslim soldiers in particular were angry at being asked to take up arms against a fellow Muslim.

But the East India Company officials were hell bent on implementing the order since war with Hyder Ali in the Carnatic had weakened them and they needed to reinforce the army urgently. The then Governor of Madras, John Whitehall, addressed a letter on September 14, 1780, to the then chief of Vizagapatam and Masulipatam settlements, James Henry Casamajor, asking him to keep sepoy grenadiers ready for embarkation.

The sepoys of Masulipatam obeyed the order without a murmur, but at Vizagapatam the English were in for a shock. The Sartine frigate had arrived and the sepoys had given no indication of the impending revolt. They were armed and even conducted a parade on October 3. However, just before 3 pm they all refused to go on board the Sartine. When the officers insisted that their order should be obeyed, the sepoys took up their guns and fired at them indiscriminately. Lt Crisps, Kingsford Venner, a cadet, and Robert Rutherford, the paymaster, died on the spot. Seeing the fury of the rebels the British panicked and ran helter skelter.

A few like Lt. Brown, Ellis and Collins swum the backwaters to reach the Sartine. Others hid themselves in different parts of the town. It did not end there. The rebels were determined to join the forces of Hyder Ali and liberate the district from the East India Company. They took several officers into custody and freed a French spy who had been imprisoned.

Shaik Mohammed assumed control of the rebels. He questioned Casamajor and learnt details of the company’s property. The mutineers then went on a looting spree and took away cash amounting to Rs 21,999. The revolt had left the English in shambles in the area. They were without men or money and did not even get the support of local zamindars.

On the morning of October 4, the mutineers marched out of the town with Casamajor and the other captured men to join the forces of Hyder Ali. But a local zamindar Gajapathi Narain Deo intervened and the officers were freed. This proved to be a costly error. Casamajor returned quickly to the frigate and ordered Captain Ensign Butler to gather loyal sepoys and go after the rebels.

He also instructed neigbouring zamindars not to support the rebels. Zamindars obeyed this and did not allow the rebels to pass through their territories. The mutineers were then ambushed and mercilessly slaughtered by Butler’s men in the gorge of Gudderallywanka on the night of October 8. A few, including Mohammed, escaped, but were caught and executed a few months later. Though the revolt was a short-lived one, it was certainly the first major shock to the British.

“The revolt of the grenadiers was in all respects an event that might have led to dangerous consequences,” wrote Casamajor in his testimony. “It annihilated our power and influence in a great measure”. Though the incident is not as well known as the 1857 revolt, it was referred to in the ‘History of the Madras Army’ by W.J. Wilson and in several letters between John White Hall-Casamajor-Brown. It was also reported in Hickey’s “Bengal Gazette”, India’s first newspaper, couple of days later.

Mohammed Faisuddin, founder president of the Shahide Watan Ashfaqullah Khan Memorial Trust, said it was unfortunate that no ceremony is held to mark the anniversary of the revolt. “Tamil Nadu government had celebrated the centenary of the Sepoy Revolt at Vellore, but the AP government has done no such thing,” he said.

“These are the incidents of national importance. The State should construct a memorial monument and commemorate the incident every year”. There are no remnants of this mutiny in the area except for the grave of Kingsford Venner in the Old Town cemetery.

State to auction assigned lands

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: Defending the auction of government land, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy said it is the best way of raising funds for developmental activities in a “transparent” manner. Reacting to the doubts of the Opposition parties over the government’s intention to take back the assigned lands, the Chief Minister on Sunday told mediapersons that there was nothing wrong in the government’s intention to utilise the assigned lands for public purpose or raise funds by auctioning them for developmental activities. “What is wrong if we auction the government land? Since we cannot burden the people by levying additional taxes, selling government lands through auction is a good alternative,” he said. Clarifying that there was a ban on assigning lands in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts, Dr Reddy said the government would utilise the assigned lands for public purposes after taking them back from those who violated the purpose of assignment. He asked CPI(M) secretary B.V. Raghavulu to come to him if he wanted clarity on the issue. The Chief Minister also hinted that the government would come out with a scheme to waive power arrears in SC-ST colonies. Earlier, the government had waived surcharge but the consumers in some areas expressed their in-ability to pay arrears also. “We have been considering a mechanism in which the arrears would be adjusted in the current month payment,” he said. Criticising Opposition parties for levelling baseless allegations, Dr Reddy sought to know whether the then Telugu Desam government had constructed more than two lakh houses for the weaker sections in two years. “We are constructing 20 lakh houses for the weaker sections, which nobody would have dreamt of,” he said adding that the government’s effort was appreciated all over except by Opposition parties in the State. Reacting to the TD’s criticism that the government’s farmer package did not cover the interest on previous arrears on farm loans, Dr Reddy said the government had already made it clear that the arrears was adjusted to the principal when the UPA government announced moratorium soon after coming to power. “With the present package, the interest of Rs 1,400 crores could be waived,” Dr Reddy said.

Collision halts Dasara trains

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: More than one lakh train passengers heading for home to celebrate Dasara were stranded at railway stations after a goods trains collided with another stationary goods train near Aler railway station in Nalgonda district on Saturday night. Officials expect normalcy would be restored by Monday morning. The accident, which killed two railway employees — identified as N. Johnson, 34, a resident of Kadapa and K. Srinivas, 29, of Amalapuram — in the busy route, have halted the movement of several trains on Secunderabad-Howrah route. According to SCR offici-als 66 trains that pass through the route every day were effected by the accident. The trains which were heading for Secunderabad, Warangal, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar and Howrah were either cancelled or diverted or dela-yed. SCR had cancelled eight trains, partially cancelled four and diverted four more trains to Nadikudi-Guntur route. Godavari, Visakha Express, Goutami were running between three to six hours late. The passenger trains Kazipet-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Warangal, Secunderabad-Sirpur Kagaznagar, Telangana Express have been cancelled. Satavahana, Golconda, Bhagyanagar were partially cancelled. They returned from Kazipet to their starting station. The stranded passengers near smaller stations suffered because of non-availability of water, milk and food. Secunderabad Government Railway Police booked a case of rash and negligent act leading to death against the driver and assistant driver of the moving goods train launched hunt for them. Meanwhile, the SCR will run a special train between Kakinada and Secunderabad to clear the Dasara festival rush.

State bans employee transfers till May

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: The State government has ord-ered a ban on transfers and postings of its employees till next year. In a detailed transfer policy, which came into effect immediately, the government has decided to avoid large-scale transfers of its staff in the middle of the academic year. The new transfer policy aims at avoiding disruption of academic career of the children of government employees. The general transfers will be und-ertaken only during school vacation period between May 1 and 31 next year. The government, however, has exempted posting on promotion without shi-fting any other employee and posting orders to the employees due to disbandment of posts, reversions, repatriation, deputation, disciplinary proceeding and returning from long leave more than three months from the transfer policy. In another GO issued by the finance department, the government lifted the existing ban on transfers in panchayat raj department, where transfers could not be made in April, due to local body elections.

TRS plans to move HC on non-locals in water board

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekh-ara Rao on Sunday charged the State government with recruiting non-Telangana officials in Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board in violation of the AP High Court’s directive. Accusing the Rajasekhar Reddy government of wo-rking against the interests of Telangana employees, Mr Rao demanded the government to repatriate non-Tela-ngana employees working in the city in violation of GO 610. Addressing a mediapersons, Mr Rao alleged that recruitment in the water board was done in violation of the High Court directive. “We will file a contempt petition against the government for its failure to implement the High Court’s dire-ctive to repatriate 27 water board employees,” he said. He demanded that the government implement GO 610, which envisages repatriation of non-local emp-loyees to their native zones. He called upon Telangana Employees’ Joint Action Committee and his party activists to wage direct action against recruitment of non-Telangana employees in the region.

OU students earn and learn

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: Dozens of students in Osmania and Andhra Universities are doing jobs and earning good money while pursuing their studies.The ‘earning while learning’ concept has benefited not only students but also industrial institutions which employ them. Students get money and hands-on experience in jobs, industries can use their talents and studies are not disrupted. About 60 B.Com students of Andhra University have been roped in by HSBC as part of the programme. It had signed a memorandum of understanding with the university for this. The selected students work in the bank for three days a week and get aro-und Rs 3,000 every month. They attend classes on the other three days. Besides, they are being given ‘live customer service management training in the bank. Similarly, Osmania University had signed a MoU with the Genpact, a subsidiary of the multinational GE Capital. About 200 students are now working for the company and earning Rs 8,000 per month even while pursing higher studies. Special arrangements have been made for these students. “We have state-of-the-art infrastructure in a building in Ram Reddy Distance Education Centre for the 200 students who are working with Genpact,” said Prof. Purushotham Rao, head of the commerce department in Osmania University. A committee comprising experts from the university and the institution selected the students who have completed plus two. They work for three days a week and attend classes on the other three days. Sri Venkateshwara University and Nagarjuna University are also planning to introduce the scheme from next year. The Council of Higher Education has prescribed the concept for other universities too. Vice-Chairman of the Council Jayarama Rao said the scheme was very useful to students.

CS to carry on fighting Baglihar dispute

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: Andhra Pradesh chief secretary J. Harinarayana left for Paris on Sunday to negotiate arbitration proceedings with Pakistan on the Baglihar dam dispute. Mr Harinarayana is a former secretary in the ministry of water resources. The arbitration proceedings are scheduled for later this week. Earlier, the Centre had requested the State government to allow Mr Harinarayana to continue as member-secretary for the Baglihar Water Dispute Tribunal, as he was well-versed in handling the sensitive dispute between India and Pakistan. Pakistan had objected to the construction of the Baglihar project on the Chenab river, which flows between the two countries. Pakistan fears submergence of villages and overutilisation of river water by the project. According to the Indus Water Treaty signed in 1960, India can construct a hydroelectric project on the Chenab. Jammu and Kashmir in 2003 passed a resolution asking the Centre to safeguard its interests. With Pakistan objecting, the issue went to arbitration to the World Bank, which is a signatory to Indus Water Treaty. Both countries agreed for mediation to resolve the dispute.Now, a Switzerland engineer is heading the arbitration. Mr Harinarayana is representing India along with the secretary, water resources ministry.

Rules hit Umrah pilgrims

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: With the Saudi authorities tightening visa rules for Umrah (minor pilgrimage), thousands of Indian Muslims could not visit the holy shrines in Mecca and Medina this Ramzan. Muslims make a beeline for Umrah during Ramzan as Islamic traditions hold that an Umrah during this holy month is equal to a Haj (major pilgrimage). Those who fail to get Haj permits in the draw of lots (Qurrah) conducted by the Haj Committee prefer Umrah during Ramzan. Around 50,000 Indian Muslims perform Umrah every year. About 8,000 Hyderabadis usually visit the holy cities. This year only a few hundred could make it. Travel agency sources point out that about 40,000 Umrah aspirants from different parts of the country could not secure the visas. The Saudi authorities closed the Umrah counter on September 20 and this will open only after the completion of the Haj. “The Saudi government has launched a drive against overstayers. An estimated 50,000 people who went on Umrah visas are overstaying in the kingdom. The stringent new laws has brought down the Umrah quota for Muslim-dominant cities like Hyderabad. Only a few hundred people performed Umrah from the city this time,” a representative of a major travel agency. Zakaullah Siddiqui of Zahereen Travels, Mumbai, told this correspondent on telephone that the early closure of Umrah counter had affected Indians and Muslims from other countries. “Those below 40 are denied visas. Even those above 40 are barred from performing Umrah if they are travelling individually. Those travelling in groups or with family members are given visas,” he said. While September 20 was the last date for submission of application forms, the last date of visas will be issued on October 8. Umrah visa holders should leave the Saudi kingdom on or before October 28 as the Haj session will start. Anyone found with Umrah visa in the country after October 28 will be declared as “illegal alien”.

Naveed remanded

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: Call centre manager Naveed Hussain, who was arrested by Mumbai police in connection with July 11 train blasts, was produced in the court in Mumbai. He was remanded to police custody till October 13. Naveed will be questioned by police who expect him to give information on the terror network in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Naveed allegedly planted the bomb at Khar. He was a friend of prime accused Faizal Sheikh. Police are questioning the friends and relatives of Naveed in Hyderabad for further leads on terror sleeper cells. Cyberabad police said that they would start an awareness campaign on renting apartments and houses.Police asked the house owners to verify the antecedents of tenants before giving the house or flat for rent.

Prisoners not to be released

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: The State government has not issued any order to release prisoners on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2. As many as 280 prisoners of from Cherlapally jail alone had sought premature release or remission of their sentence on good behaviour. The practice is called clemency or remission. The sentences of certain categories of prisoners are commuted to mark significant celebrations like Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti and State Formation Day. The government’s refusal to free prisoners on national holidays, as is usually the practice, stems from the goofed up release of prisoners in 2004. On Independence Day that year, the Congress government ordered the large-scale release of prisoners. The government faced embarrassment when it emerged that it had released Gouru Venkat Reddy, husband of Congress legislator Charita Reddy, who had been convicted for life for the murder of Epuru Ramasubbaiah. Epuru Sudhakar, son of the victim, and P. Raghurami Reddy, whose father Tirupathi Reddy was murdered in a separate case, petitioned the Supreme Court against the commutation of the punishment. There was further embarrassment when another freed prisoner, Hijbul Mujahideen commander Mujeeb Ahmed, lapsed back into crime.

City doc denies harassing wife

Hyderabad, Oct. 1: City-based doctor B. Isaac Bhas-kar Rao denied the allegations of Bollywood actress Pooja Bhatt that he had harassed his wife Surekha Sumitran, lecturer in Mumbai, and lodged false complaints with the police. He alleged that the Pooja Bhatt, Surekha and her supporters were deliberately trying to influence investigative agencies which itself was a crime under sections 186, 189, 192, 223, 353 of the IPC. He said the Punjagutta police took up investigation only after they were directed by the XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Hyderabad, who had gone through his case and relevant information. “Ms Pooja is questioning the integrity and authority of the courts by demanding my arrest,” he said, adding that the law should be allowed to take its own course. Unfazed BJP sees Sangh unity in future New Delhi, Oct. 1: Unfazed by internal turmoil and hostile attitude of the RSS, the BJP has suddenly become buoyant due to developments in the last few months. These new developments will consolidate Hindus just like in the pre-Shah Bano days, the BJP feels. The Congress might be predicting disintegration of the BJP-led NDA, but the saffron party is closely watching the reaction of Muslims to the controversy over cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, Pope’s comments against Islam, demand for clemency to Mohammed Afzal Guru, prime convict in the 2001 Parliament terror strike, and Muslim opposition to singing Vande Mataram. “The situation is in our favour, like the pre-Shah Bano days. However, whether it will end caste politics within the Hindutva brigade... one has to wait and watch,” a BJP leader said. The BJP is not worried if Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee leaves the NDA and if JD(U) leader George Fernandes joins the Samajwadi Party. “The Biju Janata Dal, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena will remain with us because they do not depend on the Muslim constituency for political power in Orissa, Punjab and Maharashtra. The Janata Dal(U) will have no option but to remain with us because of the numerical compulsions in Bihar,” said BJP insiders. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar can save his government by allying with the RJD, but will it help his politics? they asked. According to them, the BJP will not attack Muslims openly, but will try to consolidate Hindus by raising the issue of growing menace of terrorism. The recent bomb blasts in Mumbai and Malegaon and the activities of the ISI and LeT have already compelled the majority community to think twice about terrorism, they added.The Congress, the RJD, Samajwadi Party and few others depend on caste politics and their support base among the Muslim minorities. They have already played the quota card. Jhakhar asks MP to clarify its order Bhopal, Oct. 1: Madhya Pradesh governor Balram Jhakhar has sought clarifications from the BJP government in the State on lifting of ban on its employees from taking part in RSS activities, Raj Bhavan sources said here on Sunday. “The government has been asked to clarify its position on lifting of the ban. Queries raised by Leader of the Opposition Jamuna Devi on the issue in memoranda to the governor were forwarded to the general administration department,” they said. The communication sent from the governor’s secretariat has sought clarifications on Congress leader’s query that if RSS is a cultural organisation, how can its leaders hold key positions in the BJP. 3 more cases of Jain death fasts Jaipur, Oct. 1: Three more cases of Santhara, the Jain tradition of attaining salvation by starving to death when a person feels his or her earthly life has served its purpose, have been reported in Rajasthan after Jaipur’s Vimla Devi gave up her life last week after fasting for 13 days. A Jain organisation, Jain Samta Vahini, meanwhile, has claimed that Santhara is normal among the Jains and approximately 100 people follow the tradition every year. Kela Devi, an old Jain woman, has been observing Santhara for the last one month in Jaipur. According to her family members, she is fit and has no health problems. In Ajmer, another Jain, Amarchand Jain, started observing Santhara as he had been unwell for the last one month. Amarchand is surrounded by his family and groups of young girls and boys who chant Jain mantras. “My grandfather decided to observe Santhara as he was not responding to treatment,” said Ama-rchand’s grandson Girish. The Amarchand family resented the way a section of the media has been presenting the tradition of Santhara. IMA cadet commits suicide Dehradun, Oct. 1: A cadet of Indian Military Academy allegedly committed suicide on its 74th raising day, police said on Sunday. The body of 23-year-old Davendra Kumar, who hailed from Kandaghat area in Solan district of Himachal, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room this morning. He was member of Siachen batallion of the IMA. Police has launched investigations to ascertain reason for his death. Kumar, inducted into the IMA in July 2004, was slated to be commissioned into the Army on completion of training next year. Unite in terror fight, says Somnath New Delhi, Oct. 1: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has asked the world community to fight the menace of terrorism jointly. Citing recent terror atta-cks in India and various pa-rts of the world, Mr Chatterjee said at a meeting with an European Parliament delegation in the capital that there should be no compromise in fighting terrorism. He hoped that friendly relations between India and the EU would deepen further with greater interaction at different levels and cooperation between the two sides in various areas, including trade and commerce. He added that benefits of globalisation must reach the common people.European Parliament president Josep Borrell Fontelles regretted that the investment made by the European Union in India constituted merely one per cent of their investment across the globe. “This imbalance needs to be corrected,” said Mr Chatterjee. More AC coaches to beat heat New Delhi, Oct. 1: Till recently, the Indian Railways manufactured one air-conditioned (AC) coach for every four non-AC coaches that rolled out its factories. Today, that figure has improved but railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav believes the Indian Railways can do better. He wants his ministry to “shift to high-end coaches” and for good reason. Mr Yadav’s aides cite a study of the reservation lists to suggest that the AC 3-tier has become popular with frequent travellers. They insist on introducing more AC coaches will make good economic sense too. One, the Indian Railways will be able to meet the aspirations of those who want upward mobility in terms of how they commute and two, the railways will be able to retain the passengers who may otherwise drift to the low-cost air carriers. “The trend and shift is towards AC coaches,” Mr Pratap Srivastava, general manager of Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala, recently told a group of mediapersons who visited the factory. The RCF is one of two public sector units engaged in the manufacture of coaches. The other is Integral Coach Factory, Chennai. Mr Srivastava says the RCF has stepped up the production of AC coaches and 37 per cent of the total targeted production (of 1,312 coaches) in the current financial year will be AC coaches, up from 27 per cent in 2005-2006. AC coaches from Kapurthala Year AC Coaches Non-AC Coaches 2006-2007 (Target) 486 826 2005-2006 340 923 2004-2005 322 879 Man tramples 1-yr-old daughter Bhubaneswar, Oct. 1: A disgruntled father trampled his one-year-old daughter to death and buried her body in a pit to evade arrest in Jaymal village in Orissa’s Angul district on Friday night. He was, however, arrested after the girl’s mother lodged a complaint with the police. The accused has been identified as Ramesh Gochhayat, 27. While his eldest daughter Pratima, 8, lived along with her grandparents in the village home, Ramesh stayed at Rourkela in western Orissa with his wife, Kiran, and two daughters, police said. Angul SP S.K.Singh said that Ramesh was arrested on the basis of Pratima’s statement, who was an eyewitness. In her statement, Pratima said she saw her father standing on her sister’s chest till she died. “Ramesh buried the body and told villagers that she had died of fever,” the SP added. Later, Ramesh brought his wife to the village from Rourkela and told her that the baby had died of fever. The mother was, however, given a blow-by-blow account of the incident by Pratima, the SP said. Ramesh admitted that he took the drastic step to reduce the number of daughters in the family, the SP said. ‘Put Omar in Honda ad’ New Delhi, Oct. 1: After Taliban leader Mullah Omar escaped from US forces on a Honda motorcycle, Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf had jokingly advised the Japanese Prime Minister that the terrorist should be made a brand ambassador for the automobile major. Giving details about Omar and Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in his book In the Line of Fire: A Memoir, Gen. Musharraf wrote that the US started carpet-bombing Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 and the Northern Alliance simu-ltaneously launched a land offensive. This led to Taliban fleeing into the mountains. “In the first week of December 2001, Mullah Omar escaped on a Honda motorcycle and went into hiding,” Gen. Musharraf writes. “Once when Japanese Prime Minister (Junichiro) Koizumi asked me about Mullah Omar, I told him that he had escaped on a Honda,” he wrote. Gen. Musharraf then suggested that the “best advertisement for Honda would be an advertising campaign showing Mullah Omar fleeing on its motorcycles with his robes and beard flowing in the wind”. ‘Dirty bombs’ hold a real threat in India New Delhi, Oct. 1: Airports in India could be targeted by terrorist using “dirty bombs,” a lethal cocktail of conventional explosives and low-grade radioactive material, designed to spread radiation over a wide area. A recent threat assessment survey conducted by the CISF, which guards 54 airports, has listed chemical and biological attacks as one of the threats apprehended by the force. Senior CISF officials are of the view that procuring radioactive substances has become relatively easy since the break up of the Soviet Union, and terrorists laying their hands on such materials could not be ruled out. “Now that reports emanating from various quarters speak about Al Qaeda’s presence in India, dirty bomb attacks can be a possibility, though it is still a futuristic projection,” an officer told PTI. The force has favoured the procurement of an array of gadgets, including decontamination kits, multi-gas detectors, battery-operated samplers and anti-gas respirators to deal with such attacks. The survey, conducted once in two years, was aimed at identifying various threats faced by airports, nuclear establishments, government buildings and other vital installations guarded by the CISF. The report assumes significance in the wake of the unearthing of a terror plot in Britain to blow up flights by using explosives that could be made by mixing easily available substances like gels. Other threats identified by the CISF are armed attacks, sabotage, hijacking, suicide bombing and blasts triggered by IEDs. UP refuses to reveal details of Dadri deal Lucknow, Oct. 1: The Uttar Pradesh government has refused to make public the agreement signed with the Reliance Energy Generation Limited regarding the Dadri power project. Responding to a petition filed by the Congress under the right to information, the state government has clearly stated that the provisions of the agreement cannot be made public according to a clause which categorically rule out the possibility of sharing the contents of the state support agreement signed between the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh and the Reliance Energy Generation Limited on June 16, 2004. Mr Rajkamal Gupta, special secretary and information officer of the energy department, in a letter dated September 27 and addressed to Mr Akhilesh Pratap Singh, UP Congress Committee chief spokesperson, has quoted a section of the agreement to categorically rule out the possibility of sharing the contents of the agreement. Nations should not be influenced: Tharoor New Delhi, Oct. 1: A day ahead of the last “straw poll” for the UN Secretary-General’s post, Indian nominee Mr Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said “independent countries” should not be influenced by any considerations amidst reports that South Korea has offered inducements to gain backing for its candidate. Mr Tharoor, a runner-up in three straw polls, said he was “not disheartened.” “We have a strong case.” He said from New York that he was talking to all the countries that would take part in the vote and hoped they would “give full consideration to our message”. Monday’s poll is “going to be quite determinant. We have to see whether countries are prepared to make this into a horse race or whether to go ahead with the person who is leading,” the determined UN under secretary-general for communications said. “At this stage, we are doing everything we can,” he said. Mr Tharoor continues to stand at second position after South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon in three straw polls. His task got tougher on Saturday after he failed in the third straw poll to get the requisite nine votes needed for selection for the top post. On reports that South Korea had been trying to induce countries to support Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Mr Tharoor offered no direct comment but said, “I would like to believe that independent countries would not be influenced by any considerations other than their own national foreign policy priorities.” In its aggressive campaign on behalf of Mr Ban, South Korea has offered “inducements ranging from tens of millions of pounds of extra funding for African countries to lucrative trade agreements in Europe — and even the gift of a grand piano to Peru,” the Times newspaper of London has reported. “I am running on my own credentials for office and not on the basis of anybody else’s campaign,” Mr Tharoor said