The Hindu : Create urban facilities in rural areas: Kalam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 30, 2003

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Create urban facilities in rural areas: Kalam

By Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD MARCH 29. The President, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, today regretted the "mixture" of economic conflicts with the conflicts of the past, and asked management experts to devise means to handle the complex issue.

Dr. Kalam said humanity was driven by religious and ideological conflicts till 1990 and his belief that the post-1990 scenario would see only "economic warfare", based on technology, had proved wrong.

He was delivering the 38th annual convocation address at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. During his day-long visit to Gujarat, Dr. Kalam also delivered the convocation address at the South Gujarat University in Surat, and visited some voluntary organisations, including the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Sabarmati Ashram.

He asked management experts to go to the rural areas and create "urban facilities", where 70 per cent of the population lived. Development, he said, should not be confined to mere construction of roads and such other facilities as was normally thought of. The rural areas also need to get "electronic connectivity and knowledge connectivity." Dr. Kalam pointed out that the economic scenario in the country was poised for a change.

Explosives seized

PTI reports:

Police recovered two bombs and a huge quantity of explosives in Surat today. Four persons have been arrested, including three from Tamil Nadu in this connection.

The police had launched a combing operation last night in view of Dr. Kalam's visit today.

The City Police Commissioner, V. K. Gupta, said the three youths were holed up in a posh flat on Goddaud Road. The bombs, with timer devices, besides six gelatine sticks and electric detonators, fuse wire and a sharp-edged dagger, were found in the apartment.

Two of the accused hailed from Ammapettai village in Erode and one from Samrajnagar district in Salem. The local contact, Sandip Ganesh Solanki, had also provided them shelter in his flat.

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