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Cauvery tribunal urged not to enforce order
The April 21 order should not be given effect to as it will indefinitely delay proceedings, they say `That would indefinitely delay the proceedings'

Confirm ground position line on Siachen: BJP
Jaswant Singh voices concern to Pranab on `settlement'

Basu gives credit to Government
"Left Front will do better than last elections"

Congress to discuss Natwar's remarks
NEW DELHI: : Taking note of former External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh's statements against the policies of the Manmohan Singh Government, including Nepal, Iran and the Volcker report probe, the Congress on Friday announced that the matter ...

Scorpene deal: court issues notices to Centre, CBI
Petition seeks probe into alleged payment of kickbacks

Other Stories

Plea against nomination to Rajya Sabha rejected

Human development indices differ considerably for all-India, STs

Naval chief: vigil to be stepped up

States cannot levy ST on lotteries: court

U.S. declares JUD, IKK as terrorist organisations

IAF shows interest in Saras civilian aircraft

India, Pakistan plan hotline on maritime security

Kaavya's novel being withdrawn

Nepal: BJP softens stand

Manmohan greets Koirala

Quota: Sharad Yadav seeks Sibal's dismissal

Shunglu panel to meet again on May 9

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Nine naxals killed in Kadapa forests

Staff Reporter

Women among the dead in the biggest anti-naxal offensive in Kadapa district

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Some naxalites have fled the scene of encounter Major offensive planned in YSR's native district Bodies of the encounter victims yet to be identified Arms, ammunition and Rs. 3.50 lakhs in cash recovered KADAPA: In the biggest-ever offensive against naxalites in Kadapa district, nine members of the CPI (Maoist), including some women, were shot dead by a combined team of Greyhounds and special police parties deep inside a forest on the border of Kadapa and Chittoor districts on Friday. Some 19 other Maoists were said to have fled the scene of the encounter at Pulusukunta, near Pincha in Tsundupalle mandal. Additional police forces were rushed to trace them. In the 90-minute-long exchange of fire, nine naxalites were killed on the spot. Three other naxalites were injured. The police said more than 30 armed Maoists had camped at Pulusukunta, possibly for a meeting of naxals of Kadapa and Anantapur districts, known as Madduleti Platoon, to plan a major offensive in Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's native district. On receiving information, about 50 policemen surrounded the camp and exchanged fire for about an hour and a half. Superintendent of Police Y. Nagi Reddy, OSD (Operations) A.S.C. Wesley and senior police officials visited the encounter site situated in Seshachalam hill range deep in dense Rayavaram forests, after trekking five to six km from Mudumpadu. Recovered Although the bodies were yet to be identified or shifted to hospital till late in the evening, the police suspect that the dead may include key Maoist leaders. The police recovered from the scene of the encounter Rs. 3.50 lakhs in cash and a large cache of arms and ammunition-- including two self-loading rifles, one sten gun, one .303 rifle, one pistol, three single barrel guns, three Claymore mines and a tin bomb. As many as 30 kit bags, one night vision camera, two electric wire bundles, six water drums, revolutionary literature and provisions were also recovered. This is the biggest strike against naxalites in the district. In 1993, six naxalites were killed in Kutalamarri in Chitvel mandal. In 1996, four naxals were shot dead in the Guttapalle encounter in Sambepalle mandal.

Medicos announce nationwide protest

Staff Reporter

Peaceful agitation to step up pressure on the Government to roll back quota

"NO RESERVATION": Medical students demonstrating at India Gate in New Delhi on Friday. — PHOTO: V. V. KRISHNAN.

NEW DELHI : Protesting medical students have called for a peaceful nationwide protest this coming Tuesday to keep up the pressure on the Government to roll back the proposed move to provide 27 per cent reservation to Other Backward Classes in admission to Central universities and other institutions of higher learning.

Announcing this here on Friday, a student representative under the Youth for Equality banner, Sasmit Sarangi of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said the students want the Government to know that they would step up the agitation in case their demands are not met.

"We have called upon students all over the country to join the agitation and we are getting a positive response from the educational institutions. So far as many as 20 medial colleges have extended their support to our agitation including those in Kolkata, Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.''

Expressing their displeasure at "a total lack of commitment from the Government to resolve the matter'', Lady Hardinge Medical College student representative Amitasha Sinha said: "Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh on Thursday refused to commit and we were disappointed with the meeting, hence the need to continue our agitation. Undergraduate medical students will continue to boycott classes till our demands don't get a positive response.'' While work at all five Delhi hospitals affected by the medicos' agitation earlier this week returned to normal on Friday with resident doctors and interns resuming duty, undergraduate medical students continued to boycott classes and held a protest dharna at India Gate.

Students of AIIMS took out a protest march on Friday evening supported by over a dozen faculty members and student representatives from Maulana Azad Medical College, Lady Hardinge Medical College, University College of Medical Sciences and Vardhaman Mahavir Medical Colleges.

Extending their support to the protesting students, a senior AIIMS faculty member, Dr. B. K. Mohanty, said: "We condemn the manner in which the students were treated by the police and extend our support to their cause. The country needs students who come in with merit and not through reservations. We have to learn to respect merit. Youth is power and this movement by the students will bring positive results.''

CPI(M) will not withdraw support: Chennithala

Staff Reporter

Ramesh Chennithala alleges that the CPI(M) is encouraging extremist and communal groups.

THRISSUR: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala has said that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) will not have the courage to withdraw support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre, notwithstanding the frequent threats of the leaders of that party.

Replying to questions at a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Chennithala said if the CPI(M) leaders decided to withdraw support to the UPA Government, it would become clear that they were trying to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said the CPI(M) was already helping the BJP by frequently trying to discredit and destabilise the UPA Government with unwarranted criticisms.

Mr. Chennithala alleged that the CPI(M) was encouraging extremist and communal groups such as the PDP and Jamaat-e-Islami. The CPI(M) leaders had described such groups as fundamentalists and communal extremists. Therefore, the party should explain on what basis they had decided to tie up with such groups, Mr. Chennithala said. He said the CPI(M) should clarify on the reports of party leader T. K. Hamsa meeting PDP leader Abdul Nasir Maudany in Coimbatore jail. The party should make public what transpired between Mr. Hamsa and Mr. Maudany.

UDF win essential: Antony

The former Chief Minister and Congress Working Committee member A.K. Antony has said that the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Assembly elections alone will guarantee stability of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre.

Addressing a meet-the-press programme organised by the Kannur Press Club on Friday, Mr. Antony said that CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and Polit Bureau member S. Ramachandran Pillai had now refuted any move to destabilise the UPA Government in response to his query whether the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) would withdraw, as suggested by a section of its senior leaders, the support to the UPA Government if the Left coalition won the Assembly elections in Kerala and West Bengal.

Though he welcomed the response of Mr. Karat and Mr. Pillai which struck a note different from some other CPI(M) leaders who had predicted doom for the UPA Government in the event of the Left winning the two States, Mr. Antony said that the CPI(M) leadership did not appear to be steadfast in its support to the UPA Government.

The UDF would turn Kerala into the number one State in south India if elected, he added.

Maharashtra groups pressing for Central rule in parts of Belgaum?

Special Correspondent

Dharam Singh, Kharge urge Chief Minister to call all-party meet

ALARM BELLS: Congress leaders N. Dharam Singh and M Mallikarjun Kharge addressing the press on Belgaum issue at party office in Bangalore on Friday. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

Bangalore: The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has said the Government should take serious note of the moves made in Maharashtra to bring certain major border towns in Karnataka under Central rule.

KPCC president M. Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Dharam Singh told presspersons here on Friday that a few organisations in Maharashtra were pressuring the Centre to bring Nippani and Khanapur in Belgaum district and parts of Bidar district under Central rule. These organisations were planning to move the Supreme Court. A few Marathi organisations, apparently with the support of some political leaders, had made this proposal, they said.

The two leaders said the proposal was part of a long drawn plan to include those towns in Maharashtra. Political leaders in Karnataka should come together and fight for safeguarding the interests of the State, they said.

Mr. Dharam Singh said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy should immediately call for an all-party meeting and take an all-party delegation to New Delhi to bring the matter to the notice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other key Central leaders.

As a Chief Minister of the State "I had led several delegations to the Prime Minister. In connection with the border issue, a meeting with MPs of the State was held in New Delhi and it was decided at that meeting to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court," he said. Mr. Dharam Singh said nothing had been done in that matter and that had emboldened the Marathi organisations and a section of political leaders in Maharashtra to go ahead with their plans.

Mr. Kharge said it was improper on part of leaders in Maharasthra to time and again raise the border issue irrespective of the fact that the dispute had been settled several decades ago.

The report of the Mahajan Commission, which went into the border dispute, was final and Karnataka had taken the stand all along that there could be no modification.

Metro project

Mr. Kharge and Mr. Dharam Singh said the credit for clearing the Rs. 6,395-crore Bangalore Metral Rail Project should go to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and some of the State Congress leaders who strove to get approval for the project.

Mahajan's condition remains the same

Staff Reporter

CT scan done on the BJP leader

MUMBAI: Nearly a week after he was shot and injured by his younger brother, BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan remains critical and on life support systems at the Hinduja Hospital here.

A CT scan was done on him to assess injuries and any fluid collection, said the afternoon medical bulletin.

Anupam Verma, Director (Administration) of the hospital, told the media that his dependence on medication for blood pressure had gone up "marginally" and he continued to be on ventilators.

The scan showed that "the injuries are same as were assessed during surgery with one bullet being in the muscle of the back (left paraspinal muscle L2), one in the subcutaneous tissue of the back and the third bullet in the body of T12 vertebra but had not crossed to the spinal canal."

Dr. Verma said the removal of bullets from his body was not the main concern now and Mr. Mahajan's condition continued to be critical. He had earlier said that any surgery could be done only after his general condition improved.

Statements recorded

Police recorded the statements of Rekha, Mr. Mahajan's wife, and other family members. Pravin Mahajan, who fired three shots from close range at Pramod, will be produced before a city court on Saturday.

PM, Hurriyat leaders meet on May 3

Special Correspondent

New Delhi: The Hurriyat leaders, led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 3 here, official sources said. This comes three weeks before the second round-table on Jammu and Kashmir, planned by the Centre in May third week in Srinagar. The moderate Hurriyat camp, including the Democratic Freedom Party, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and the People's Conference, kept away from the first round-table meet in New Delhi on February 25, 2006.

At their meeting with the Prime Minister next week, the Hurriyat leaders are expected to spell out their terms and conditions to attend the Srinagar round of talks.

PMO reviews facilities at Attari, Wagah

Special Correspondent

Security fencing, laying of roads underway

NEW DELHI: A high-level meeting was held at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Friday to discuss improvement to infrastructure at the Attari Railway Station and the Wagah international border in Punjab.

Attended by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, Home Secretary V. K. Duggal and the Punjab Chief Secretary, the meeting decided that Cabinet approval would be obtained for four-laning of the road from Attari to Wagah.

Security fencing and construction of roads along the railway track and from Attari to the international border have already begun. The timings of trains at Attari have been revised to bring down waiting time. Widening of the road leading to the Attari railway station would be completed by June 30. The Trade and Economic Relations Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, has approved several initiatives for improving trade with Pakistan.

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Tamil Nadu Jananayaka Congress candidate found dead in Karur

L. Renganathan

Election process in the constituency will continue: Collector

KARUR: The body of Tamil Nadu Jananayaka Congress candidate C. Ponnusamy (30), for the Krishnarayapuram (reserved) constituency in Karur district, was found on a dry channel bed off the Thaliapatti branch road under the Velliyanai police station limits on Friday.

The Manavadi Village Administrative Officer reported to the police that the body bore more than 20 stab and cut injuries. The arms and limbs were broken. It was removed to the Karur Government Hospital.

Ponnusamy was reported missing since Thursday night. When his relatives approached the Karur town police station to know his whereabouts, they were taken to the Karur General Hospital where they identified the body. His motorcycle and mobile phone could not be traced.

Estranged from wife

Superintendent of Police K. Shankar told The Hindu that Ponnusamy's estranged wife Mohana alias Usharani had been living separately.

District Collector A. Karthik said the election process in the Krishnarayapuram constituency would continue, as Ponnusamy represented a registered but unrecognised party.

Ballots for service voters, bearing the candidate's name, had been despatched.

Those for postal ballots were yet to be sent. A preliminary report was sent to the Election Commission.

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Teheran defies U.N. deadline

VIENNA: U.N. Security Council resolutions will not make Iran give up uranium enrichment, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday, adding that the world would enjoy peace if it were not for U.S. bullying.

The President spoke in two northwestern towns shortly before the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report that said Iran had ignored a 30-day deadline from the Security Council to suspend enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for power generators or material for nuclear warheads.

The U.N. agency's report also found Iran had failed to answer questions intended to ascertain whether it was attempting to build nuclear weapons.

``After more than three years of agency efforts to seek clarity about all aspects of Iran's nuclear program, the existing gaps in knowledge continue to be a matter of concern,'' said the report.

The deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammed Saeedi, ignored the criticism, saying the IAEA report ''does not contain negative points.''

Speaking from Vienna, where the IAEA is based, Saeedi played down the unanswered questions posed by the agency. ''From our point of view, these few questions are not important. The main questions have been settled,'' he told Iranian state television in a phone interview.

The report's findings pave the way for the Security Council to pass a resolution on Iran, although the United States, Britain and France appear to favor much more aggressive wording than fellow veto powers Russia and China.

``The Iranian nation won't give a damn about such useless resolutions,'' Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Khorramdareh on Friday.

``Those who resort to the language of coercion should know that nuclear energy is a national demand and, by the grace of God, Iran is today a nuclear country,'' state television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

The crowd responded with chants of ``Down With America!'' and ``Nuclear energy is our definite right!''

In the United States, President George W. Bush the world was concerned about Iran's ``desire to have not only a nuclear weapon but the capacity to make a nuclear weapon.''

Bush added he was not discouraged by Iran's vow to defy world pressure, saying: ``I think the diplomatic options are just beginning.''

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said he hoped the Security Council would soon act against Iran. - AP

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Narmada: Union Ministry report nails claims on rehabilitation

Gargi Parsai

36,921 families will be affected in 226 villages in Gujarat, M.P. and Maharashtra

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Centre sought to put the burden of proving the numbers on the NBA Gujarat has spent only Rs. 10,918 crore till December 2005 on rehabilitation NEW DELHI: A Sardar Sarovar Project Status Report submitted by the Union Water Resources Ministry to the Prime Minister's Office on March 22 — after Narmada Bachao Andolan activists went on an indefinite dharna here — nails the claims of the States concerned on rehabilitation of dam-displaced families. The report reveals that 36,921 families in 226 villages in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra will be affected consequent to the raising of the height of the Narmada dam. Even at the existing height of 110.64 metres, 27,934 families were affected in 186 villages in the three States. The Hindu has obtained the report exclusively. Even when the Centre was armed with this crucial, authentic information, it sought to put the burden of proving the number of displaced families on the NBA. The NBA protested against raising the height of the dam, saying about 35,000 displaced families between the heights of 110.64 and 121.92 metres remained to be rehabilitated. The Narmada Control Authority on March 8 permitted the Gujarat Government to raise the height to 121.92 metres, based on the rehabilitation reports submitted by the States concerned. The Status Report reveals that of the 27,934 families affected at the height of 110.64 metres, 3,578 were in Gujarat, 2,663 in Maharashtra and 21,693 in Madhya Pradesh. At 121.92 metres, 4,726 families in Gujarat, 3,453 in Maharashtra and 28,742 in Madhya Pradesh will be affected. It clearly shows that 13,233 families remained to be resettled in Madhya Pradesh at 110.64 metres. The number of families who will be affected at the proposed height of 121.92 metres is 11,638. However, the Centre in its application filed in the Supreme Court on April 17, claimed that all the affected families up to the height of 121.92 metres were resettled in the three States. The Narmada tribunal award and the Supreme Court held that families facing submergence should be rehabilitated at least six months ahead of raising the dam height, by December 31, 2005. The report says that of Rs. 20,546 crore spent on the project by December 2005, the Centre provided Rs. 4,302.75 crore, including Rs. 226.50 crore as grant, to Gujarat under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme . The other beneficiary States, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, together contributed Rs. 5,240 crore. In effect, Gujarat spent only Rs. 10,918 crore till December 2005. The NBA has demanded suspension of construction of the dam until the rehabilitation of the displaced families is completed as per the law and not with cash compensation. Printer friendly page Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Breaking News and Updates

From the Print Edition Parliament reconvenes in Nepal
Resolution on constituent assembly tabled; debate, vote on Sunday

Narmada: Union Ministry report nails claims on rehabilitation
36,921 families will be affected in 226 villages in Gujarat, M.P. and Maharashtra

Teheran defies U.N. deadline
VIENNA: U.N. Security Council resolutions will not make Iran give up uranium enrichment, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday, adding that the world would enjoy peace if it were not for U.S. bullying. The President spoke in two ...

Tamil Nadu Jananayaka Congress candidate found dead in Karur
Election process in the constituency will continue: Collector

PMO reviews facilities at Attari, Wagah
Security fencing, laying of roads underway

Dravidian parties on an even keel
CHENNAI: All that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) promised in its election manifesto is now on offer from the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), barring colour television sets for eligible families. Otherwise, the major ...

PM, Hurriyat leaders meet on May 3
NEW DELHI: The Hurriyat leaders, led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 3 here, official sources said. This comes three weeks before the second round-table on Jammu and Kashmir, planned by the Centre in May ...

Mahajan's condition remains the same
CT scan done on the BJP leader

Taliban kidnaps Indian
KANDAHAR: Taliban militants kidnapped an Indian mobile phone contractor in southern Afghanistan on Friday, according to a provincial official and the Taliban's purported spokesman. — ...

Maharashtra groups pressing for Central rule in parts of Belgaum?
Dharam Singh, Kharge urge Chief Minister to call all-party meet

CPI(M) will not withdraw support: Chennithala
THRISSUR: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala has said that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) will not have the courage to withdraw support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ...

Medicos announce nationwide protest
Peaceful agitation to step up pressure on the Government to roll back quota

Nine naxals killed in Kadapa forests
Women among the dead in the biggest anti-naxal offensive in Kadapa district

Other Stories

Supreme Court refuses to stay sealing drive in Capital

Metro project work to begin this year

Chandy diverting people's attention from real issues: Achuthanandan

Model villages in 202 Assembly segments

Six policemen injured in landmine blast

Bus blast in Punjab

Charge sheet filed

Ban imposed

Students skip classes

Quake hits Taiwan

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/29/stories/2006042914630500.htm

Karunanidhi assures people-friendly rule

Special Correspondent

`AIADMK failed to keep its 2001 promise'

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Jayalalithaa Government introduced a ban on recruitment to Government service No protection for employees; 13,000 road workers dismissed She withdrew schemes; `took revenge' on teachers, workers Only panacea is to change the present regime VELLORE: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi has appealed to people to strengthen the hands of the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance to unseat the Jayalalithaa Government and usher in a people-friendly one. Jobs assured Campaigning for the DMK candidate for the Ranipet constituency, R. Gandhi, on Thursday night in Walajapet, Mr. Karunanidhi alleged that the AIADMK Government did not keep the promises it made during the 2001 elections. Contrary to her promise of providing jobs to five lakh persons, the Jayalalithaa Government introduced a ban on recruitment to government service. Recruitment The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, which was supposed to recruit thousands of clerical staff, did not meet even once in the last five years and therefore did not recruit anyone. What was worse was that the committee did not have any member , he charged. The DMK president said that employees in service did not have any protection during the AIADMK rule, as reflected in the dismissal of the 13,000 road workers, merely because he appointed them during the DMK regime. As soon as she came to power, Ms. Jayalalithaa withdrew the schemes of the DMK regime and "took revenge" on government officials, teachers, transport workers, Opposition party leaders and workers. "The only panacea for all this is to change the present regime which has to go", he said. Candidates introduced Mr. Karunanidhi came to the Fort maidan here at 9.55 p.m. He introduced the DPA candidates and said: "I am meeting you now in the Vellore `kottai' (Vellore Fort). Let us meet later in `Kottai' (Fort St. George). Printer friendly page Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

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