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Top Stories
India turns down world
aid
for Andaman Nicobar
What is India News Service,
Tuesday, 4 January 2005, 1700 hrs IST
India turned
down offers of help from international aid organisations in the tsunami-hit
Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Minister of State for Home Prakash Jaiswal said
the Indian government believed it could handle the catastrophe on the badly hit
southern islands, which are home to military airbases and considered a strategic
zone by New Delhi.
"We are very grateful to foreign
governments, agencies, and all others who have offered to help at this moment.
But the government of India has enough assets at its disposal. We believe we can
handle this calamity," Jaiswal told reporters.
He
said domestic volunteer groups were already operating in the tsunami-hit areas,
where bodies of hundreds of people lie and harbour jetties and roads have been
washed away.
Islands out of foreign reach:
The Centre is unlikely to agree to allow international aid agencies to join in the relief effort in the \93sensitive\94 Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
7,000
tsunami victims buried in Nagapattinam:
Huge amounts of cooked food and heaps of
old clothes are now posing a big problem for relief workers in the
tsunami-ravaged coastal districts of Nagapattinam and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu.
Port
Blair citizens complain of dizziness:
Many Port Blair residents have been
trooping to their local clinics complaining of a mysterious dizziness and
nausea.
India
set to retain southernmost tip: The sun may rise again on Indira
Point. Contradicting reports, defence officials believe the lighthouse at Indira
Point in Great Nicobar can be made operational once the water recedes from the
marooned island.
Hugging Saint\92 offers Rs 100 cr:
Mata Amritananda Mayi, popularly known as the Hugging Saint, has offered Rs 100 crore for tsunami relief, the highest by any person in the country.
More
relief sent to Andamans: A week after tsunami \97 the earthquake-triggered
tidal waves \97 struck the coastal States in the south, the Centre has continued
to pump in more relief material today in the worst-hit Andaman and Nicobar
Islands. ...
Ancestral
warning systems saved Andaman tribes:
The five aboriginal tribes inhabiting the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, our last missing link with early civilisation, have
emerged unscathed from the tsunamis because of their age old \93warning
systems\94.
3
held for rumour-mongering: Three persons were arrested for trying to
spread rumours about impending tsunami waves at the city's Marina Beach area on
Monday, police said.
Scientists
can\92t sit and watch disasters happen, says PM:
Observing that scientists cannot remain
\93silent witnesses\94 to disasters like tsunami, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
said the country must enhance the predictive capability and preparedness for
meeting emergencies arising from natural calamities.
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Pilgrim triggers hunt for Assam\92s 19:
When the waves struck Kanyakumari, Suraj Sharma was waiting with his friends and relatives for a boat that would take them to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial.
Laloo
announces free travel for tsunami victims:
Railway Minister Laloo Prasad announced
that the Indian Railways would provide free travel facilities to quake victims
from the tsunami-affected areas to any destination in India.
UPSC
extends deadline: The Union Public Service Commission has extended the last
date for receipt of applications for the Civil Services Examination, 2005 in the
wake of the tsunami.
Rs
38 crore claims in, insurers await more: Information
technology has come to the rescue of at least some survivors of the tsunami
tragedy. The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is checking the policies issued by
it earlier in the affected areas, and is seeking out survivors to speed up
financial help.
Other headlines
Kashmiris
to hold rallies on Jan 5:
Hectic preparations are being made by the Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of
Control and in the rest of the world to observe the right to self-determination
day on January 5.
Indo-Pak talks on Baglihar project
begin: Prior to the two-day talks, the nine-member Pakistani delegation led by Ashfaq Mahmood, Secretary, called on
the Water Resources Minister.
Army
sacks soldier for rape of 60-year-old: The
Army dismissed another soldier for breach of discipline in the alleged rape of a
60-year-old woman in Kashmir.
Special
investigation team withdraws summons to Junior seer: The
investigating team officials informed the mutt last night that the Junior
Acharya need not appear before them in connection with the investigations today.
India's
'imperial' visionary laid to rest: In his lifetime J N Dixit was
referred to as the jewel in the crown of Indian diplomacy. In his death he will
be remembered as one of India's greatest strategic visionaries, a man who
presided over some of the most defining moments of the subcontinent's modern
history.
States
MP
decides to wind up road transport corpn:
The BJP Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr Babulal Gaur, has announced his
government\92s decision to close down the MP State Road Transport Corporation (MPSRTC)
\97 a task that the former Congress Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, had tried
but could not complete..
Was
it TN STF, not Veerappan?: The mystery over the killing of former
Karnataka Minister H Nagappa in brigand Veerappan's custody two years ago has
deepened with forensic evidence suggesting that Mr Nagappa was killed in an
encounter between the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) and the brigand.
IMA back on warpath:
The Bihar unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) today threatened to launch a statewide agitation if the government failed to rescue abducted surgeon U.K. Raja.
Neighbours
Pakistan
fines Indian envoy for traffic offence: The Indian high commissioner in
Islamabad, Shiv Shankar Menon, has been fined by Pakistani traffic police for
speeding.
'Balochistan issue to be settled soon':
Former prime minister and president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Monday that Balochistan's provincial autonomy
issue would be addressed and resolved soon.
Probe
into soldier's death sought:
Pakistan
has asked US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan to investigate a border
skirmish in which one of its soldiers died and three others were wounded, a
military spokesman said on Monday.
2
American soldiers killed in Afghanistan:
Violence marred the start of Afghanistan's New Year with a second US soldier
killed in as many days and authorities hunting gunmen who tried to kidnap an
elderly American aid worker in Kabul.
Overall
India declined international aid: The country is afraid foreign relief
workers could compromise security in Andaman Nicobar.
Police withdrew summons to junior seer: They said Vijayendra Saraswati
need not appear for questioning in the Sankararaman case.
Madhya Pradesh shut down bus service: It said its road transportation
service was not able to work profitably.
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