The Hindu : National : Nanavati panel tenure extended

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004

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National

Nanavati panel tenure extended

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 26. The Union Cabinet today approved the further extension of the tenure of the Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry up to November 2, 2004. The one-man Commission was set up by the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government to look into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the Capital and other parts of the country after the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.

The extension tenure will help bring out the sequence of events and all the facts relating to such large-scale violence and riots and the probe will infuse a sense of security and confidence in the public in general and the Sikh community in particular, an official release said.

Freight train services

At the Cabinet meeting here, presided over by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, ex post facto approval was also given to the signing of the India-Nepal rail services agreement for the introduction of freight train services between the two countries to and from Birgunj in Nepal via Raxaul in India. A rail link between Raxaul and Sirsiya was conceived in the context of the rail-cum-road inland container depot at Birgunj.

At present, the freight traffic to Nepal moves by road from different Indian ports. It is proposed to improve the services by moving this traffic on the railways system from the Kolkata/Haldia port to the newly-created terminal at Birgunj which is linked to the Raxaul station of the East Central Railway. Some bilateral traffic also originating from loading stations on the Indian Railways will be sent to Birgunj. This will reduce the transit time and provide better customer services. It will also prevent the diversion of Nepal-bound transit traffic to the Indian market, thereby curbing smuggling.

ASTROSAT project

The Cabinet has approved the Astronomy Satellite (ASTROSAT) project at an estimated cost of Rs. 177.85 crores with a foreign exchange component of Rs. 106.59 crores. This is an approved programme under the Tenth Plan.

The project envisages the design, development, fabrication and launch of a multi-wavelength astronomical observatory satellite for studies of cosmic sources.

The satellite will enable studies of stellar objects, simultaneously covering a range of high-energy radiations. The ASTROSAT will be developed and launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

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