Al-Qaeda threat to S India airports

Al-Qaeda threat to S India airports
CNN-IBN -Karma Paljor

Posted Thursday , November 09, 2006 at 14:26

ALL SYSTEMS GO: Airports in the region have been asked to enhance security.

New Delhi: Security at airports in South India has been heightened after the Trichy Airport Director received a letter threatening bomb blasts.

The letter, which was in Tamil says, “al-Qaeda terrorists are going to bomb Chennai airport. It added that suicide squads have penetrated airports in Chennai, Trichy, Madurai, Coimbatore and airports in Kerala.”


However, the Tamil Nadu police says there are no specific intelligence inputs to corroborate the contents of the letter but they are taking no chances and will increasingly monitor vehicle entry inside the Chennai Airport.


Authorities at other airports are also taking the threat seriously. They have put in place additional security measures. There is an increased checking of passengers and their baggage is being randomly checked.


Even in the Bangalore airport, which is not is mentioned in the letter has been put on high alert.


An anti-hijacking squad has been alerted in Karnataka and Mangalore, Bangalore and Hubli airports have been put on high alert.


The police have also said that they are going to ask passengers to come in well in advance to the airports to allow security checks to be finished on time.


Along with other precautionary measures, more armed personnel have been deployed at airports and the authorities have increased surveillance inside and outside airports.


Meanwhile as investigating agencies are investigating the letter, the authorities are leaving nothing to chance because the airlines today are the favourite targets of the terrorists.


(With Inputs from Roshni Menon and Veeraraghav)

BJP holds protests in twin-cities

BJP holds protests in twin-cities
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

10 Nov, 2006 0017hrs IST

HUBLI/DHARWAD: Activists of the city unit of BJP burnt an effigy of AICC chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday to lodge their protest against the noninclusion of Hubli-Dharwad under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Nearly 50 BJP leaders and workers held a rally near Kittur Chennama Circle in Hubli and Alur Venkat Rao Circle in Dharwad and raised slogans against Sonia Gandhi for failing to keep her promise on including the twin cities under the JNNURM scheme.

Earlier, they held a procession, carrying flags and placards, which passed through the main roads. The BJP workers demanded the resignation of Sonia Gandhi in this regard.

In Dharwad, BJP leaders met officials of the district administration and handed over a memorandum to be forwarded to President Abdul Kalam. The memorandum demanded his intervention in the matter.

Addressing protesters, BJP leaders said Hubli-Dharwad lost the chance of being included under the scheme during the tenure of the previous government led by Congress. The Centre had earlier selected the twin cities for the project.

But former CM Dharam Singh spoiled the show by including Mysore, Gulbarga and Hassan.

The leaders said the mega project would have ensured a whopping grant of Rs 500-700 crore for the development of the twin cities over the next five years. Injustice meted out to north Karnataka had to be addressed immediately by including the twin cities under the JNNURM, otherwise the BJP will launch a major agitation, they said.

Building owners will get one last chance

Building owners will get one last chance
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

10 Nov, 2006 0018hrs IST

HUBLI: The Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation is all set to do a Delhi as regards regularising illegal commercial buildings. But before that, it is giving one final chance for building owners to fall in line.

If owners of commercial buildings having built-up area of over 2,000 sqft fail to obtain the completion certificate (CC) or building permission before November 30, the corporation will proceed to take strict action, which will involve eviction of tenants and sealing the building in three phases HDMC commissioner P Manivannan cautioned.

The HDMC has also come out with a series of measures aimed at simplifying the procedures of getting the completion certificate as part of its endeavour to regularise 407 illegal commercial buildings in the twin cities.

In the first phase, Manivannan said the municipal corporation will take up regularisation of about 120 buildings that have already been listed in the HDMC website www.hdmc.gov.in. Occupants or those doing business in major complexes have been asked to log on to the website to ensure whether their building is listed in the website. If it is, then such owners should apply for CC by submitting an application in a prescribed form that is available at the concerned zonal office.

Manivannan said if the HDMC is satisfied that there are no major deviations or violations of building bylaws, it will ensure that one gets the CC within a week. Otherwise, the owners will be liable to pay penalty, he added.

And those who have already submitted applications and awaiting a CC need not panic as the corporation will not take action, provided they produce proof of such application by collecting an extract of the application.

To avail the extract of the application, they should approach the concerned zonal offices and make an application. If such extract is not given within seven days of making application, they can directly lodge their complaint with the commissioner through email (mani300bc@gmail.com).

Where occupants of such buildings have already obtained CC, they still need to produce a photostat copy of the CC before the concerned zonal office for deletion of their name from the list before November 30.

To eliminate any kind of nepotism and discrepancies, Manivannan said they have constituted three task forces headed by the concerned division executive engineers and NGOs.

In case of buildings built without valid building permission, the commissioner said such builders should immediately submit a revised building plan to the office of the deputy director of town planning (HDMC) before November 21.

If the building has been built before 1976, HDMC will not take any action unless it has other reasons, he said adding that owners of such buildings have to declare the details with necessary proof before the concerned zonal office before November 30.

Explaining the significance of such a drive, Manivannan said under Section 310 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, occupation of any building without a valid CC from the municipal corporation is illegal and punishable offence. Also, such buildings are liable to be sealed by the Corporation after evicting the occupants.

Such an action is necessary in the interest of citizens as buildings,which are occupied without CC will generally not be certified by HDMC, fire department or electrical inspectorate and hence they are prone to cause problems like traffic bottlenecks, fire tragedies, among other nuisance, he asserted.