‘BJP will support bill for separate Telangana state’

Hyderabad, June 6 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Sunday said his party was ready to support a bill for the formation of a separate Telangana state if the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government brings it in parliament.

Asserting that BJP was ’100 percent’ for separate statehood to the Telangana region, he told reporters here that the Congress party was playing with the sentiments of Telangana people.

‘If Congress party is sincere on Telangana issue, let them bring a bill in Parliament. BJP will support it,’ he said.

Gadkari, who arrived here on a three-day visit — the first since he took over as party chief, blamed the Congress for complicating the Telangana issue.

‘The Congress party declared that it will carve out a separate Telangana state but later backtracked. It is playing vote-bank politics on the issue,’ he alleged.

‘This is not the way to solve a problem. The Congress party is, in fact, creating more problems. The present confusion is because of its policies,’ Gadkari said.

He also said that the Srikrishna committee formed by the central government to look into the Telangana issue was a waste of time. ‘This is just a time-pass,’ he remarked.

The BJP president blamed the policies of the UPA government for the miseries of farmers in the country. He alleged that farmers’ suicides were continuing due to the ‘anti-farmer’ policies of the government.

He said that the BJP, for the last four months, has been demanding a halt to future and forward trading in essential commodities. ‘The government is exploiting farmers. Neither the farmers are getting remunerative prices nor the consumers are being benefited,’ he said.

UN silent on Sir Creek issue after expiry of deadline

Karachi, Sep 7 (ANI): The United Nations (UN) is keeping mum on the protracted dispute between Pakistan and India over the ownership of Sir Creek even after the expiry of the deadline May 2009 deadline set by the world body to resolve this issue.

The UN had set the deadline for both the archrival countries to resolve this dispute amicably with a warning that after the expiry of the deadline the disputed area of sea would convert into the international waters.

The UN fixed this deadline in 1982, but after a lapse of 26 years, Pakistan and India have failed to settle this issue as a result of which the fishermen of both the countries are in serious trouble as they are being detained frequently and put into jails in violation of the UN laws while their boats and catch are being impounded.

Chairman Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Muhammad Ali Shah said that at present about 800 fishermen belonging to Pakistan and India are languishing in jails of the two countries. A majority of them were nabbed from the disputed sea waters of Sir Creek, he added.

The United Nations law does not allow the arrest of fishermen and seizing of their boats, Shah said, adding that both the countries are violating the UN laws and adding insult to the fishermen miseries, who belong to the most poor segment of the society.

Why Maritime Securities of Pakistan and India were capturing fishermen from Sir Creek now when the disputed part of the sea has now become the part of International Waters from May 2009, after the expiry of the deadline given by the UN, Shah argued.

He pointed out that some of the Pakistani fishermen were languishing in the Indian jails for many months although they have completed their tenure, The Nation reported.

Both Pakistan and India share the water and the resources of the Arabian Sea. Pakistan has its coastline of 1050 km while the India has a longer coastline of 7417 km. Due to dispute over the ownership of Sir Creek, no permanent and visible demarcation of sea has been made by the two countries, Shah said.

Since its inception in 1998, the PFF is struggling against such arrests of the fishermen of both countries. (ANI)

Muslim saints perform acrobatics in Ajmer ahead of ‘Urs’

Ajmer, June 24 (ANI): Ahead of ‘Urs’, the death anniversary of Sufi saint Khwaja Moin-ud-Din Chishti, thousands of Muslim saints or Qalandars performed acrobatics at Ajmer Sharif shrine in Rajasthan.

As part of procession, the Qalandars from various dargahs come and assemble in Mehrauli (New Delhi) where the disciples of Khwaja Moin-ud-Din Chishti have been living for centuries.

From here, they proceed towards the shrine of Sufi saint, Khwaja Moin-ud-Din Chishti, signalling the beginning of the ‘Urs’.

During the procession they perform various tricks with “chimta” (iron tongs), swords and fire tricks.

“We pray that there should be peace and tranquillity across the world. Whosoever comes here by the blessings of Khwaja Moin-ud-Din Chishti, his miseries should vanish,” said Ali Shah, a Qalandar from Pune.

S.H. Hussain Chishti, an official at the shrine of Khwaja Moin-Ud-Din Chishti said the people of all faiths welcome the Qalandars.

“They come here from all the dargahs. All through the way the langars (free food) are organised for them. If they wait even for two hours anywhere they get free food, shelter and everything. People of all the faiths welcome them,” said Chishti.

“Urs”, as the congregation is called in Urdu, is popularly called “Garib Nawaz”, or the “messiah of the poor”.

Devotees queue up in front of the hundreds of small shops selling the “chadar” or holy sheet that is spread over the mausoleum of the dead saint as an offering.

The shrine is a symbol of religious convergence as both Hindus and Muslims throng the shrine in large numbers with the belief that all their wishes would be fulfilled once they offer prayers at the shrine.

The annual gathering is considered to be the second largest congregation of Muslims at one place after Mecca. (ANI)

Prolonged strike by doctors in Lucknow Medical Institute

Lucknow, May 30 (ANI): Hundreds of patients in Lucknow have been forced to suffer as the authorities of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) have shut down the institute due to the prolonged strike by the doctors.

The doctors have gone on a strike to register their protest against non-payment of their arrears as per the Sixth Pay Commission, which they claim to be their rightful dues.

Another demand by the doctors is that be their hospital should be assigned the same status as that of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

“Our demand is that the status given to AIIMS and the facilities provided to AIIMS should be given to this hospital as well. The status of a Referral Centre should be maintained,” said Dr. nurag Gupta of Sanjay Gandhi, SGPGIMS

Amidst these claims and demands by the doctors, the patients have had to bear the brunt. They said that the concerned doctors have turned a blind eye and deaf ears to their miseries by not attending to the ailing persons.

Even emergency services had been terminated at the hospital, they said.I have got a transplant done. I am here to meet the concerned doctor but the nurses, staff and police are not letting me meet him. They are saying that the hospital is closed in spite of the fact that the doctor is sitting inside,” said Kamini, a patient.

Meanwhile, Rita Bahugana Joshi who heads the Uttar Pradesh unit of Congress party came out in support of the doctors and other staff members.

She slammed the state government for not paying heed to the genuine demands of the doctors.

“The Uttar Pradesh government has got money to erect elephant statues, build structures, make a park worth 45 thousand millions but it does not have money to pay arrears to 25000 employees. This is unbelievable,” said Joshi.

Doctors said that it was the administration, which was to be blamed for shutting down the hospital by pointing out that they are ready to provide treatment to the people by running parallel emergency services. (ANI)

Sharif says Taliban militants do not deserve sympathy

Mardan (Pakistan), May 12 (ANI): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif has said the Taliban insurgent, who are responsible for the displacement of thousands from the war-torn Swat region, do not deserve any sympathy.

Urging everyone to come forward and support internally displaced persons (IDPs), Sharif stated that a handful elements could not destabilize Swat.

During his visit to the IDPs camps in Mardan, including Sheikh Yasin Town, Sheikh Shehzad Town and others, Sharif warned that the situation could become worse soon.

The Nation quoted the former Pakistan Prime Minister as saying that his party was committed to provide all possible assistance to the displaced people, and said the PML-N had already sent relief goods to for the displaced brethren from Buner, Dir and Swat.

During his stay, PML-N chief met migrant persons and inquired about their miseries. Local officials also briefed him about the facilities being provided in the camps.

He asked the federal government to announce funds for the dislocated people and also appealed to overseas Pakistanis to come forward for tackling the crisis.

Terming the Swat peace deal as a dead issue, Sharif declined to comment on it.

Addressing the press, his wife Kulsoom Nawaz said it was a high time for the whole nation to join hands in compensating the displaced families, adding that it was moral duty of the people to utilize their energies for the betterment of their brethren Muslims.

Replying to a question she expressed the view that some enemies of Pakistan were involved in the chaos and said the elements fighting and killing the Muslims were maligning the image of Islam. (ANI)

KNP leaders to visit Pakistani Administered Kashmir

London, Apr.14 (ANI): The Kashmir National Party which champion policy of liberal democracy and oppose forces of communalism, terrorism and hatred; has decided to send two senior leaders to Pakistani Administered Kashmir.

KNP is a true nationalist party and wants independence from both India and Pakistan. KNP leaders sincerely believe that united and independent Jammu and Kashmir is the only viable and acceptable solution to the Kashmir dispute. This is the only solution which could bring lasting peace in the Sub Continent.

Those people who promote accession of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir to either India or Pakistan have their wisdom and judgement misplaced on this issue. Similarly those who are presenting the Kashmir dispute as a religious problem are perpetuating our miseries. There could be no viable solution to the Kashmir dispute on the basis of religion. Those who are espousing a religious politics are preparing grounds for the division of the State, hence promoting religious extremism and hatred in the region.

Abbas Butt and Dr Shabir Choudhry will leave London on 17th April and stay in Dubai before proceeding to Islamabad on 19th. They will have a KNP meeting on the evening of 19th April in Rawalpindi; and have a press conference in Islamabad the next day. They will have some meetings in Islamabad in the afternoon before proceeding to Mirpur to attend an evening meeting with various Kashmiri leaders there.

KNP Zone of PAK and other friends and colleagues have been requesting a visit for more than a year, but due to other commitments the KNP leaders could not visit the area. Although weather and political environment in Pakistan and PAK is not appropriate, but the KNP leaders have decided in favour of the visit, and will hold meetings in various cities.

During their visit the KNP leaders will meet senior Pakistani leaders, ministers, Senators, member of Think Tanks and media men. They will also hold meetings with Prime Minister and President of PAK; and other senior Kashmiri leaders.

KNP team in PAK, other friends and like minded people are making arrangements that the visiting KNP leaders could also have meetings with nationalist Kashmiri leadership and leaders from Gilgit and Baltistan.

They will have some meetings with diplomats, including diplomats from the Western countries to discuss the problems of the region, especially terrorism, extremism and the Kashmir dispute.

KNP leaders will also address bar councils in various cities and hold press conferences and public meetings in various cities, including Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli, Muzaffarabad, Hajeera, Nelam Valley, Chakothi and Bagh.

Apart from that they will launch a new book of Dr Shabir Choudhry in Kotli. The new book, Struggle for independence, ‘Jihad’ or a ‘Proxy war’ is published by a famous Kashmiri publisher – Kasher Publishers.

KNP leaders will also hold meetings with NSF leaders and other nationalists to discuss with them the proposed unity march to Gilgit and Baltistan in August; and how it could be supported, and how mistakes of the past could be avoided.

The KNP leaders will travel to the Neelam Valley, Chakothi and other areas near the LOC to listen to the miseries of the people who have been subject to human rights abuse. They want to investigate human rights abuse, political harassment and intimidation there by meeting the victims and their relatives.

KNP leaders will be back in the UK on May 4. (ANI)

Home Ministry says Chidambaram did not avoid journalist’s query

New Delhi, Apr 7 (ANI): The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday refuted media reports of Home Minister P. Chidambaram refusing to answer a question put to him by journalist Jarnail Singh on the “clean chit” given to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in connection with the 1984 Sikh riots case.

According to a Home Ministry statement, the videotape is there and the Minister answered the question.

“The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) does not come under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Neither the Ministry of Home Affairs nor any other Ministry put of pressure on the CBI. The CBI has only given a report to the Court. It is for the Court to accept the report or reject the report or order the CBI to do further investigation. Let us wait for the Court to take a decision on the report,” Chidambaram is reported to have said.

Earlier, it was reported that Chidambaram had refused to answer and said that he did not want to make any political statement at a platform not meant for it.

Jarnail Singh, an accredited correspondent, then flung his shoes in Chidambaram’s direction.

Later, Singh told NDTV: ” My method (of throwing a shoe) could be wrong, but not my cause. There is no question of apologising for what I did.”

The journalist was perturbed over no action being taken by the government to alleviate the miseries of Sikh riot victims, who had been waiting for 25 years for justice.

In a similar incident, last December, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist with Egypt-based al-Baghdadia television network, had thrown shoes at former President George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad. (ANI)

‘Tit-for-tat’ attitude towards life leads to unhappiness

London, Mar 25 (ANI): If you’re one of those who live by the motto “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, then chances are that your life will be full of miseries, a new study has found.

According to the study, published in the Economic Journal, people who apply a “tit-for-tat” attitude to life are more likely to be unemployed, have a smaller circle of friends and be less happy.

However, those individuals who have the habit of repaying good turns from others are likely to earn higher salaries, have more friends and enjoy life more.o reach the conclusion, researchers used data from 20,000 people in Germany, who are regularly polled on their socio-economic attitudes, to examine the effects of so-called “negative reciprocity” in the workplace.

Most of those polled admitted repaying other people in kind, either by returning favours or exacting revenge for past unkind acts.

They then divided the group up into those with more of a tendency towards taking revenge and those who were more preoccupied with responding to good deeds.

Those in the first category had fewer friends and were more likely to voice dissatisfaction with life.

“Positively reciprocal people tend on average to put in more overtime – but only when they find the remuneration fair,” The Telegraph quoted Prof Thomas Dohmen of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, one of the researchers, as saying.

“As they are very sensitive to incentives, they also tend to earn more money,” he added. (ANI)

CPI-Maoist calls for boycott of general elections, warns people not to vote

Patna/Ranchi, Mar 18 (ANI): The Bihar-Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh special area committee of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has called for a boycott of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday.

The Maoists issued a press release, which said that the coming Lok Sabha elections would give an opportunity to the political parties to misrule the country for another five years.

The banned outfit predicted that the next political mandate would promote hunger and repression and increase unemployment, causing miseries to the common people.

The Maoists have gone to the extent of painting the walls in some parts of Jharkhand warning people not to vote in the polls.

CPI-Maoist spokesman Gopal stated that they would give a befitting reply to the state government, which has deployed paramilitary forces in large numbers to suppress the boycott call.

The Maoist rebels had used pressure tactics in the 2004 general elections in Jharkhand by hitting the voters. However, the voting percentage in the state’s rural areas was calculated to be more than 55 per cent.

In impoverished Jharkhand, where insurgents say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, over 1,350 people have been killed in Maoist-related violence over the last seven years.(ANI)