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India may remove roadblock to
Muzaffarabad bus service

What is India News Service, Friday, 29 October 2004, 2000 hrs IST

India is not averse to the idea of an "additional" document, along with the passport, being used for passengers of the proposed Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service.

The problem of what type of travel document is to be used has, so far, prevented the cross-Line of Control (LoC) bus service from being launched. Technical-level talks on "all issues" relating to the bus service have been scheduled for December 7-8 in New Delhi.

According to South Block officials, India is willing to consider the idea of not stamping the passport and, if Pakistan insists, the bus passengers could use a separate document. However, the document has to be used "along with" the passport.

It has been just over a year since India proposed the idea of a Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service as part of a series of confidence-building measures. The then External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, made the rather dramatic proposal on October 22, 2003 to break the logjam in relations.

Govt not to send observers for Iraq elections: Under pressure from the Left, the UPA Government may not send observers for the forthcoming elections in Iraq. The issue figured prominently at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources said.

PM takes up turban issue with French Foreign Minister: Manmohan Singh has personally taken up the issue of the Sikh community’s turban issue in France with visiting Foreign Minister Michel Barnier. Dr Manmohan Singh informed Mr Barnier that wearing turbans was a religious symbol for the Sikhs and not an item of display.

President accepts Khurana’s resignation: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has accepted the resignation of Madan Lal Khurana as Governor of Rajasthan.

After SC rebuff, TN Governor Rao resigns: Tamil Nadu Governor PS Ramamohan Rao sent in his resignation to the President on Friday after the Home Ministry made it clear that it wanted him out and the Supreme Court declined to stay his removal or transfer. 

SC seeks reports on corridor project impact on Taj: The Supreme Court, apart from monitoring the progress of the CBI investigation into the Taj corridor scam, has sought reports from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and two other government agencies about the impact of the “ill-conceived” plan on the world famous Mughal period monument.

PM and Left breakfast over foreign issues: Over breakfast at his residence on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh preferred to engage his guests from the Left parties in discussing foreign affairs instead of domestic ones.
 
 States

Maratha lobby averse to Shinde as CM: Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is facing a tough battle from the powerful Maratha lobby which is seeking to deny him another term. Hours after it was decided that the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra would be from the Congress Party, several prominent MLAs, including members of Mr Shinde’s outgoing Cabinet, began pressing for a ‘leadership change’ in the state.

Farmers set ablaze police station: Agitating farmers today set ablaze a police station and staged protests in Sriganganagar district where four persons were killed in police firing yesterday, prompting authorities to extend curfew to more areas.

Yesterday's report: 4 farmers die in firing

Mystery disease hits Western UP districts: Ali Mohammed, a 37-year-old casual labour of Khekhra in Baghpath district of western UP is a grief stricken man. Already deep down in debt as jobs were hard to come by in the last few months, Ali lost his two young daughters at the tender age of six and eight, couple of days ago in a mysterious illness, suspected to be Japanese encephalitis.

Karnataka colleges await state govt okay for autonomy: Though granted by the UGC, autonomy will not be operative from 2004-05 if the State does not approve it before mid-November. 




Neighbours

Pak Human Rights Commission’s damning report on PoK: The 15-year-old militancy in Jammu and Kashmir was an indigenous movement until 1989 when intelligence agencies took control, according to a just-published report of a fact-finding mission of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.


View from abroad



Overall:

India said it could ease travel rules: That step might clear roadblocks on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus route.

Shinde receded to the background: The Congress will get the CM's post in Maharasthra, but not its leader Shinde.

Pakistan report blamed intelligence agencies: It said the Kashmir movement had been indigenous until the Pakistan authorities stepped in.