| Manmohan Singh extends ’open invitation’ to rebel groups |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday extended an open invitation to insurgent groups for talks in the restive northeastern region and said his government was willing to meet any outfit that shunned violence.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday extended an open invitation to insurgent groups for talks in the restive northeastern region and said his government was willing to meet any outfit that shunned violence.
This is an open invitation to all those who have taken to arms to give up the path and to work with us to bring about peace and prosperity in all the northeastern states, the prime minister said while winding up a 24-hour visit to Manipur with a press conference at Raj Bhavan here.
The government is willing to talk to any group which shuns the path of violence and seeks a peaceful resolution of all outstanding problems.
Manmohan Singh was responsive to the concern of people here over the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that gives sweeping powers to security forces to search, arrest and even shoot suspected militants.
But at the same time, he urged pressure groups not to set deadlines for the withdrawal of the anti-terror law, saying that is not how a democracy and a diverse country like India works.
I realise the depth of feeling in Manipur about the act, he said and recalled that he had assured Manipuri groups, which called on him in Delhi, about my sincere desire to find credible ways and means of ensuring that while we protect the interests of national security we also safeguard the fundamental human rights of our citizens.
Manipur has witnessed violent protests since July for the repeal of the anti-terror law, with Apunba Lup, a conglomerate of 32 civil society groups, setting Dec 10 as the deadline for withdrawing the act that gives sweeping powers for arrest and use of force to security forces.
Manmohan Singh appealed to the Apunba Lup, which has threatened to intensify protests over the law, not to get restless.
We are a country of great complexity, diversity. We have to look at the welfare of more than a billion people, he said, noting a committee set up by his government to review the law might submit its recommendations before the stipulated six months.
Six months is the outer limit and I hope they will complete the work earlier, the prime minister said and appealed to the people to cooperate with us and test our sincerity and not to insist on rigid dates, to work with us to strengthen the cause of peace.
I appeal to the people of Manipur not to set deadlines and not to adopt a rigid stand. I assure you that we will come with some checks and balances, maybe before the stipulated six months period.
I invite all sections of civil society in Manipur and the political parties to create a climate where it would not be necessary to have recourse to the act, he said.
The Apunba Lup has called a boycott of teaching of Hindi in schools and colleges as part of its protest until the Dec 10 deadline.
Referring to efforts to bring militant groups to the negotiating table, Manmohan Singh said there were positive overtures from the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), an influential group fighting for an independent homeland in Assam.
But he indicated that his government would continue to work with neighbouring nations to crack down on anti-India rebels that had bases on their soil.
Manmohan Singh said Myanmar had given an assurance that it would not allow its territory to be used for activities directed against India, while the government had taken up with Bangladesh the presence of anti-India rebels in that country.
Myanmar’s Gen. Than Shwe has assured us of his country’s pledge not to allow his country to be used by insurgents for any attacks directed against India, he said.
The prime minister said his visit to the northeast was aimed at beginning a new process of hope and peace.
We are very serious to work with the people of the northeast to solve their various problems like underdevelopment and unemployment, besides promoting peace and accelerating development in the region, he said.
Asked why there was no announcement of an economic pac
kage for Manipur during his visit like he did for Jammu and Kashmir while in that state earlier this week, Manmohan Singh said his announcement in Srinagar was in response to certain projects the state government had proposed for accelerating the tempo of development.
He had received similar proposals from the Manipur government and would act on them. We are alive to the needs of Manipur, he asserted.
I am not here to invite the loyalty of people on the basis of packages. I have come here to appeal to the hearts and minds of the people of this very sensitive state and restore peace, the prime minister added.
--Indo-Asian News Service
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| Fears of split in Reliance group premature - Nov 22, 2004 13:21 IST |
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As millions of Indians are held in thrall by reports of a family feud in Reliance Industries, the country’s largest company, experts say it would be premature to talk about a split as yet.
India’s stock markets were badly wrecked on reports of ownership differences between the two brothers who control Reliance Industries, which logs about nearly $23 billion in annual revenues and has significant weightage in the benchmark share index.
At this point of time, no one is rushing to press the panic button or thinking of a split in the management of the company, said Sudhir Rao, a senior equity market analyst with Pranav Securities, a leading brokerage firm here.
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| India, China to dominate world economy: Manmohan - Nov 22, 2004 13:19 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday said the 21st century belongs to Asia and that India and China would dominate the global economy.
This century is going to be Asia’s century and China and India are going to be major economies of this century and this is based on studies and forecasts, the prime minister said.
He was speaking at a rally organised in Assam’s main city Guwahati to inaugurate the new capital complex building.
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| Heart patients on the rise in India - Nov 22, 2004 13:19 IST |
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Heart-related ailments could become India’s biggest killer as genetic factors contribute to the country having one of the largest number of heart patients in the world, experts said Sunday.
High cholesterol, mental stress, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and emotional turmoil due to break up of families are some of the reasons attributed to growing number of heart patients, said Ganesh K. Mani, chairman of the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute in New Delhi.
In a recent study carried out in 16 large countries, India has bagged the dubious distinction of having the most number of heart patients, said K.K. Sethi, the institute’s vice chairman.
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| Strike call in West Bengal by Naxalite outfit - Nov 22, 2004 13:18 IST |
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The communist-ruled government of West Bengal is bracing to face a strike called Monday by a Naxalite outfit to protest the fuel price hike.
The strike called by the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (Liberation) comes within a few days of the Nov 17 strike by the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI).
The state, struggling for industrial resurgence, will face another strike on Dec 3 called by the opposition Trinamool Congress.
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| Northeast will be India’s gateway to the East: PM - Nov 22, 2004 13:17 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday said India’s northeast could be the springboard for closer economic ties with neighbouring countries.
Assam and the northeast can be the springboard from which we launch into intense economic integration with our neighbours, he told a rally in Assam’s main city Guwahati organised to inaugurate the new capital complex building.
Assam can become an entry spot, a centre of commerce and trade, where goods, ideas and people from many lands meet and interact, both economically and intellectually.
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| Survivor Hall mauls Indian bowling (PROFILE) - Nov 22, 2004 13:16 IST |
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Makeshift South African opener Andrew James Hall, who scored a valiant 163 against India here Sunday, has survived five gunshots, one of them passing through his left hand, and a car hijacking in his home town of Johannesburg.
Hall, who was thrust into the opening spot for the ongoing first Test at the
Green Park after Herschelle Gibbs opted out of the tour, grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he frustrated the Indian bowlers while carving a dogged 163, his highest first-class score.
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| Manmohan moots US-type body to tackle northeast floods - Nov 22, 2004 13:15 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday mooted the setting up of an institution on the lines of a body in the United States to tackle the annual scourge of flooding in India’s northeast.
He said the problem of floods in the northeast was not only a national issue but had international dimensions with some rivers originating in neighbouring countries and flowing into the region.
The time has come for a great leap forward in handling the gigantic task ahead of us in approaching the problem of floods that have been the scourge of Assam for centuries, Manmohan Singh told a rally in Assam’s main city Guwahati.
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| No leaks, no glitches, CAT goes off smoothly - Nov 22, 2004 13:14 IST |
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Many complained of tough questions and changed format, as over 150,000 students appeared for the Common Admission Test (CAT) across the country Sunday to gain admission to some of the top B-schools.
Both aspirants and the authorities heaved a sigh of relief, as there was no repeat of last year’s paper leak.
The anxiety surrounding the smooth conduct of exams turned out to be without basis as the exam, held in 24 cities, passed off smoothly amidst tight security. The number of aspirants registered an increase of 20 per cent over last year.
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| India inches closer to eradicating polio - Nov 22, 2004 13:12 IST |
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Over 168 million children across the country were administered polio drops Sunday - including by Congress president Sonia Gandhi - as India enters the final lap of the race to rid itself of the crippling disease.
Armed with around 170 million doses of polio vaccine, over 100,000 volunteers and government officials vaccinated children under the age of five in a bid to make the country polio-free by 2005.
Gandhi, in her capacity as chairperson of the National Advisory Council on major policy issues, including health, gave polio drops to infants at her 10, Janpath residence. It was her way of demonstrating the importance the governing coalition was giving to health issues.
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| Indian, Russian firms to jointly develop gas projects - Nov 22, 2004 13:11 IST |
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Infrastructure major GAIL (India) Limited and Russian energy giant Gazprom have entered into an agreement to jointly develop gas projects in India and overseas.
GAIL and Gazprom of Russia are in talks for cooperation to develop projects in the gas sector in India and abroad. Both companies have initialled an agreement for strategic cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector in India, Russia and other countries, an official statement said Sunday.
GAIL chairman and managing director Proshanto Banerjee and Gazprom deputy managing director A.G. Ananenkov signed the agreement during the meeting here of the Indo-Russian Joint Working Group for cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector.
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| Andrew Hall’s wife cheers as he scores ton - Nov 22, 2004 13:9 IST |
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Leanie Hall was the luckiest of the wives of South African cricketers who arrived here Sunday, as she watched her husband, opener Andrew Hall, crack his maiden Test century at the Green Park Stadium.
Others who watched the action on the second day of the first Test against India were Cindy Nel, the fiancée of Jacques Kallis, Minki van der Westhuizen, the girlfriend of captain Graeme Smith, Jill Bracewell, fiancée of Martin van Jaarsveld and Jacques Rudolph’s wife Elna.
Also here are Alison, the wife of South African team coach Ray Jennings, team manager Goolam Rajah’s spouse Poppy and Honey, wife of Gerald Majola, the chief executive officer of the United Cricket Board of South Africa.
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| Manmohan lowers rhetoric tempo ahead of Aziz’s visit - Nov 22, 2004 13:8 IST |
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Ahead of Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s visit to India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday sought to lower the tempo of rhetoric between the two countries and asked Pakistan not to be swayed by stray words.
On the basis of stray words we can’t say there is no flexibility, the prime minister said while chatting to journalists after a press conference at the Raj Bhavan here.
He was responding to a question about Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s charge of non-flexibility against India, and his threat that if India adopted a maximalist position on Kashmir, Islamabad too would revert to its old stand.
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| South Africa 398 for six against India - Nov 22, 2004 13:7 IST |
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South Africa were 398 for six wickets at tea on the second day of the first Test against India at the Green Park Stadium here Sunday.
Z. Bruyn was batting on 54 and Shaun Pollock on 12.
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| Rajesh debuts as actor in ’Santhosha’ - Nov 22, 2004 13:5 IST |
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Film: Santhosha; Cast: Rajesh, Sidhdharth, Pranathi, Anitha, Anat Nag, Chithra Shenoy, Sadhu Kokila; Director: Ramesh; Music: Prayog; Camera: Krishna Kumar; Producers: Indumathi Ramesh
Playback singer Rajesh makes his debut as an actor in Santhosha, which also introduces Sidhdharth, a Kashmiri Pandit settled in Mumbai, as the hero.
Pranathi, who has made a name from her first Malayalam film 4 the people is the heroine.
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| No breakthrough in engineers’ abduction - Nov 22, 2004 13:5 IST |
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More than two days after the abduction of two engineers in Bihar, police is yet to make a breakthrough.
The houses of several controversial figures, including Lok Jantantrik Party legislator Munna Shukla, were raided Saturday, police sources said.
Police stations all over the state had been alerted and all routes leading to Nepal had been sealed, said Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) Neelmani, who uses only one name.
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| ’Ban on music cost Mughals their empire’ - Nov 22, 2004 13:4 IST |
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A ban on music by controversial 17th century Indian emperor Aurangzeb led to the fall of his Mughal empire, a Cambridge University researcher has claimed.
Katherine Brown, a research fellow from the famed British university, said here the ban caused widespread anger and led to the collapse of the centuries-old empire.
Discussing her research paper ’Did Aurangzeb Ban Music?’ at the Khuda Baksh Khan library, Brown said the ban, imposed in 1668-69, was an important event in the history of India and Indian music.
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| Dileep’s performance in ’Kathavaseshan’ praised - Nov 22, 2004 13:3 IST |
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Dileep’s acting in his latest film Kathavaseshan was one of Malayalam cinema’s best ever performances, ace filmmaker T.V. Chandran has said.
Without doubt, I would rate Dileep’s character Gopinathan Menon as one of the best ever in Malayalam films and it is worth an award, Chandran told reporters here Sunday.
The film explores the issue of suicide, which has a high incidence rate in Kerala.
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| ’Gadar’ director, Rajasthan distributor in money dispute - Nov 22, 2004 13:2 IST |
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A film distributor from Rajasthan has sought help from police here to recover money that is allegedly owed to him by well-known director and producer Anil Sharma.
Film distributor Sanjay Suchanti came to Mumbai Saturday with police officials from Rajasthan who had an arrest warrant for the Gadar director.
Speaking from his office in Oshiwara, Suchanti said he was cheated by Anil Sharma, who had reportedly promised him that he would be given the rights to distribute the film Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon in Rajathan.
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| Kanpur, where four cricket captains met their ’Waterloo’ - Nov 22, 2004 13:1 IST |
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When Atul Wassan invited Bishan Singh Bedi for his marriage with Kanpur girl Sonu, the legendary Test spinner spontaneously remarked: You know, three Indian captains have met their Waterloo in Kanpur!
Bedi, a former India captain, was referring to his own marriage as well as those of the late Lala Amarnath and Sunil Gavaskar with brides from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh’s biggest industrial town.
What Bedi did not take into account was that former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas too has married a woman from this city.
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| Give up arms, prime minister appeals to separatists - Nov 22, 2004 13:1 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday appealed to separatist groups in the troubled northeast to give up arms and come for peace talks.
I am giving an open invitation to all young men and women who have taken to arms to come for talks with us so that we can usher in peace and prosperity in the northeast, the prime minister told journalists in Imphal at the end of his two-day visit to state of Manipur.
Our government is willing to talk to anybody who shuns the path of violence.
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