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Back to Today's Headlines Taliban Shifts Centre to Pak, Says Advani NEW DELHI: Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani on Saturday asked the international community to seriously take into account the fact that the Taliban has shifted its base to Pakistan. Addressing the 63rd anniversary of the CRPF Raising Day here, Advani said, "The centre of Taliban has shifted from Afghanistan to Pakistan and if the international community does not take note of this development, it will cost dearly to the world." The Deputy Prime Minister said that terrorist camps have started functioning again across the border and infiltration has also increased. Jethmalani, Shanti Bhushan to Defend Dec 13 Convicts NEW DELHI: Ram Jethmalani and Shanti Bhushan, both legal heavyweights, will fight the cases of Mohammed Afzal, Shaukat Hussain Guru and Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani, who have been awarded the death sentence by a special POTA court for the December 13 attack on Parliament House. The two lawyers, who reportedly, won't charge fees, were approached by Shabir Shah, leader of the People's Freedom Party of Jammu and Kashmir, to appear on behalf of the three convicts in the High Court. The three convicts had decided to file an appeal against the death sentences. Kelkar Panel's Suggestions Unacceptable, Says BJP (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: The BJP has ruled out the possibility of official acceptance of the Kelkar committee's key recommendations, including those on income tax on agriculture, elimination of standard deduction and incentives for savings. "The panel has recommended that tax rebate on savings should end, but our Government would like to encourage savings and cannot agree to anything that would hurt the salaried class. Our Government would also in all probability continue with standard deduction," BJP general secretary Rajnath Singh, who chaired a party panel appointed to study the report, said on Saturday. Rajnath added the Government will never accept the suggestion of bringing agricultural income within the tax net. Cong Not Worried, Will Make Up in Next Year's Polls: Sonia (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: The leader of the Congress party called the results of the recent elections in riot-scarred Gujarat a setback to its strategy but hoped to revive fortunes in next year's string of provincial polls.
Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in the December 12 polls in Gujarat on the basis of a hardline Hindu campaign and a vow to fight Islamic militancy. Led by chief minister Narendra Modi, it won a two-thirds majority, grabbing 126 of the 181 seats that went to polls. The Congress, which banked largely on minority Muslims and a rejection by majority Hindus of prolonged riot situation affecting the economy, could manage to win only 51. The result abruptly halted the Congress party's winning streak in provincial polls. The party is in power in at least 15 States, either as the ruling party or as an ally. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, in her first public reaction on Saturday since the polls, hoped for a revival of fortune. "Not at all, we are not at all worried. We are disappointed but we are not worried and we are ready to face the challenges ahead," she said in reply to a query after attending the party's 117th foundation day celebration in New Delhi. Several States, including Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, are due to go to the polls next year ahead of national elections in 2004. Analysts said that the BJP would find it hard to replicate its hardline Hindu tactics elsewhere. Four Killed in Delhi Factory Fire (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: At least four persons were burnt to death and 12 injured when a major fire broke out in a glass factory in the Samaypur Badli industrial area of north Delhi on Saturday. According to fire department sources, the blaze, which started after a boiler burst around 8 am, also damaged the adjoining buildings in the area. Thirteen fire tenders were used to bring the flames under control. 10 Die in Rajasthan Road Accident(Go To Top) MUKTSAR: Ten people, including two women, were killed and 21 injured when a Rajasthan Roadways bus collided with a vehicle coming from the opposite direction near Kabbarwala village this morning. The bus from Sri Ganganagar depot was on a return journey from Amritsar. Six passengers died on the spot while four succumbed to their injuries while being taken to civil hospitals at Kutsar and Malout. The injured have been admitted to different hospitals. Rs 28.7 Lakh Indian Aid to Nepal for River Embankment (Go To Top) KATHMANDU: India has given an additional fund of Rs 28.7 lakh to Nepal for the construction of Lalbakeya embankment project. The latest amount takes the total assistance for the project to over Rs 2 crore. According to an Indian embassy statement here on Saturday, the country has also agreed to provide financial assistance to Nepal for the construction of embankments along Bagmati, Kamala and Khando rivers. Spotlight on Ancient Musical Instruments (Go To Top) BHOPAL: Musical instruments which were used by the royal families in a bygone era have long been part of forgotten history, something the modern generations never took interest in. But now an effort was made to "resurrect" their importance through an exhibition held here recently. The youths were genuinely curious about the way they functioned and several of them even tried their hands in playing them. Musical performers from all over the country participated in this rare event. They are concerned that their art will die with them as neither there are any people who are willing to learn to play these instruments nor there are any means to manufacture these rare instruments. Ranjit Kumar Benerji, who plays an instrument called 'Chandrasarang', said, "This instrument is not available anywhere. I have gone up to America in search of Chandrasagar, but couldn't find any. This is made out of a wood plank. It needs to be seasoned and if it develops any crack, then the whole thing becomes useless." Bhighanand Chidanand Jadav, who plays an instrument called 'Sundari', said, "We organise classes to teach this art to the people. In Sholapur, about 10-12 people are learning to play this musical instrument. Last year also we had a batch of 25 people, but now we are left with only five". The programme was first organised in 1980 by the Sangeet Academy of Bhopal. According to Pandit Om Prakash Chaurasia, secretary of the institute, this programme is the only one of its kind. Every year the academy showcases some unique musical instruments and invite people who know how to play them. This year the progamme showcased Sarangi, Pakhavat, Sundari, Vichitra Veena, Sur Bahar and Sur Shringar. The organisers of the programme feel that such kinds of events play an important role in promoting the art. Pandit Chaurasia said, "When we organised this programme for the first time, there was a lot of enthusiasm among the people. We used to think that instrumnets like Sarangi, Santoor and Veena are disappearing. But when such programmes are organised, people get encouraged and start learning to play them." Some music lovers felt that it's a shame that these musical instruments, which are the part of our rich cultural heritage, are on the verge of extinction. However, after the successful completion of the event, it seems that if a little effort is put in, then not only we can save this heritage but also promote it. Markets in NWFP Awash With Indian Drugs (Go To Top) ISLAMABAD:Owing to the increasing prices of drugs, manufactured by multinational pharmaceutical companies, smuggled madicines from India have flooded the local market in Peshawar and are doing a roaring business, inflicting heavy losses to the national exchequer, doctors and chemists have told Dawn. Chemists, specially in rural areas, are making huge profits by selling all sorts of preparations smuggled from India due to their low prices. Antibiotics, analgesics, sedatives, tranquillisers and other medicines have been pumped into the market on such a large scale that the MNCs, local companies or their agents are finding it difficult to cope with the situation. Doctors argue that the rising cost of the drugs produced locally or marketed by the MNCs had paved the way for the Indian products. In some cases, the smuggled drugs are being sold at prices ten times lower than those marketed by the local companies or the MNCs, containing the same ingredients, the newspaper reported. Most of the drugs are those which are manufactured by the same MNCs in both Pakistan and India, but due to a huge difference in their prices, chemists prefer to sell India-made drugs to earn more profit. Patients also prefer to buy the India-made ones due to their low rates, thereby giving a boost to the trade. In the rural parts of the NWFP, chemists deal only in smuggled drugs, some of which do not carry any literature and other necessary details, like manufacturing and expiry dates and price. These find their way to Pakistani markets via Afghanistan which, according to an agreement, imports drugs worth millions of rupees from India. A drug analyst at the Federal Quality Control Board, Islamabad, informed Dawn that they found most of the drugs smuggled from India were safe and chaep and, therefore, they didn't harass the sellers. He, however, added that some of the drugs smuggled from India were marketed by unnamed companies which was cause of immense concern. The issue of Indian drugs is not a new one. It has been debated several times in the National Assembly but without any tangible outcome. It has also been argued that the MNCs were selling their products on higher prices in Pakistan than they did in India. -ANI |
