Friday, August 28, 1998
|
N A T I O N |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
 |
|
|
Advani accuses USA of double standards AHMEDABAD, Aug 27 — The Vajpayee government today rejected the US contention that it had the right to attack terrorists in any country but India could not take similar action in Kashmir. Swamy's charge: Jethmalani seeks CBI probe NEW DELHI, Aug 27 — Union Minister for Urban Affairs and Employment Ram Jethmalani, who has been accused of corruption by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, today said he suspects that certain officers were passing on official papers to Dr Swamy, and demanded a CBI probe in this regard. |
 |
CPM hints at joining hands
with Cong
|
|
Pickering's reference to Kashmir annoys BJP NEW DELHI, Aug 27 — Taking a strong exception to the US official’s reference to Kashmir as a separate entity, the Bharatiya Janata Party today described the American stand as "unacceptable". While Washington strikes at terrorists in any country, New Delhi should not exercise the similar option in Kashmir as that can set off a wider conflict". PM to leave
for Oman tomorrow Fernandes
sets up panel of 4 Secretaries SC
dismisses Swamy’s plea Karunanidhi
ready to face probe No
change in ATR: Advani Over
600 affected by dropsy Sudden
spurt in crime 90
per cent novices ‘involved’ in Delhi crime |
|||||
|
||||||
Terrorism: Advani accuses USA of AHMEDABAD, Aug 27 (PTI) — The Vajpayee government today rejected the US contention that it had the right to attack terrorists in any country but India could not take similar action in Kashmir. Accusing the USA of pursuing "double standards" on the issue of combating terrorists, Union Home Minister L.K. Advani and the ruling BJP said it was unacceptable to India. "How is it that you can do something and we cannot do that. Is it not double standards?" Mr Advani said referring to the statement of US Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering that Washington reserved the right to attack terrorists in any country but India could not take similar action in Kashmir as that could "run the risk of setting off a wider conflict". "The USA has been time and again telling us what to do and what not to do on containing terrorism," he said here after inaugurating an overbridge named after Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. "For you, American citizens anywhere are not expendable. Are Indians expendable? We do not need your help. We are victims of terrorism and proxy war waged by Pakistan. Are we not expected to take any steps for the security of the nation and its citizens?" he wondered. Party general secretary K.L. Sharma said in Delhi "just as the USA is concerned about the welfare of its citizens, so is India. If the USA feels that they have the right to protect their citizens and not India, such double standards are unacceptable to us. "America is trying to assert its authority and we disagree." Mr Advani said "how
the USA could have two views on combating terrorism and
on its theory that the Americans are not expendable but
others, including Indians, are." |
CPM hints at joining hands
with Cong NEW DELHI, Aug 27 — The CPM leadership has initiated first steps for enabling the party to cooperate with the Congress and jointly oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party. Though a formal change of line is only possible after the 16th party congress of CPM scheduled to be held in Calcutta in the second week of October, today while inaugurating the state conference of the party’s West Bengal unit, which is numerically the largest and organisationally the strongest state committee of the party, CPM General Secretary, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, said at Howrah, located across the river Hooghly, near Calcutta, that in the party’s new formulation the BJP has emerged as the "main enemy" and that the party needs to cooperate with the Congress for removing the BJP government led by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. Since the results of the last general election were out, in March, 1998, Mr Surjeet and the party’s octogenarian strongman, West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, have been working strenuously towards getting this new line approved by the rank and file of the party. It may be recalled that in the 15th party congress held at Chandigarh in 1995, the CPM decided to adopt a policy of equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP. This despite the fact that in 1995 the growth of BJP and the erosion of the Congress vote bank was all too evident. Thereafter, the good showing of United Front parties, with whom CPM and the Left Front led by it were aligned in the 1996 general election, perhaps had a tranquilising effect which prevented the party, which was wary of the BJP even at that stage, from moving away from its line of equidistance. The 1998 election results showed that in the 139 Lok Sabha seats from UP and Bihar alone, the lack of political understanding between the Left, the Congress and other forces which prefer to be branded as "secular", resulted in catapulting the BJP into power in New Delhi. Mr Surjeet and Mr Basu started convincing their colleagues in the party’s Politburo on the need to review the party line soon after the formation of the Vajpayee government. According to sources, the draft political resolution of the party for the 16th congress in October has a paragraph which in effect says that the coming to power of the BJP at the Centre "is not an ordinary change of government from one bourgeois party to another". This is because, unlike other political parties, "the BJP is the political wing of the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh which has fascist ideology". Mr Surjeet’s speech
at Howrah today was a curtain raiser for this line. It
remains to be seen if Mr Surjeet and Mr Basu will be able
to steer their line through the politically volatile West
Bengal state committee over the next few days and
ultimately convince the all-India forum, the 16th party
congress in October. |
Swamy's graft charge: Jethmalani
seeks NEW DELHI, Aug 27 — The Union Minister for Urban Affairs and Employment, Mr Ram Jethmalani, who has been accused of corruption by the Janata Party President, Dr Subramanian Swamy, today said he suspects that some "disgruntled" officers in his department were passing on official papers to Dr Swamy, and demanded a CBI probe in this aspect and the allegation. In a letter to the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Dr Trinath Mishra, the minister said he should take cognizance of the charge of corruption levelled by Dr Swamy at a press conference here yesterday. Dr Swamy has demanded the prosecution of Mr Jethmalani, who, he alleged, was directly involved in the reallotment of prime land to the owners of M S Shoes by "defaulting" the original allottee. Mr Swamy claimed that Mr Jethmalani had committed an error of commission in the M S Shoes landscam which necessitated a detailed CBI probe. "I am inviting you and earnestly requesting you to take cognizance of the charge of corruption levelled by Mr Swamy. If there are any legal obstacles which protect ministers against inquiry, I hereby, waive them all. You can exercise all your statutory powers, including search, seizure and arrest", Mr Jethmalani said in his letter to the CBI Director. The minister asked the CBI to invite Dr Swamy to file a first information report and added if it turns out that he was indulging in one of his "usual" canards, he should be dealt with under Section 182 and/or Section 211 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 182 relates to false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person. Section 211 deals with false charge of offence made with intent to injury. Mr Jethmalani told the CBI director that he and his officers were free to interrogate him at any time of the day or night. The minister said he had
reason to suspect that some disgruntled officers of his
department were passing on stolen official papers to Mr
Swamy and requested the CBI to investigate this aspect of
the matter. |
Landslide tragedy: Forgotten lie local victims DHARCHULA (UP), Aug 27 (PTI) — As the media focus on the tragedy of the pilgrims to Kailash-Mansarovar and on their distraught relatives, forgotten lie the porters and the local populace who were killed in the landslide disaster at Malpa in the hills of Uttar Pradesh. “No one thinks of us”, says Guman Singh, bewailing the loss of his two sons who had accompanied the pilgrims as porters. The disaster has struck the 50-year-old shopkeeper from Simkhola village hard as cruel fate snatched away his younger son. “My elder son was engaged by a couple as a porter and on seeing my younger son they insisted he too should accompany them as he resembled their son and now I have lost both my sons”, Guman Singh says. Poverty had forced Singh to allow his younger son to go with the couple. “With no agricultural work possible in the difficult hilly terrain which remains snow-bound for over four months a year, it is only during the yatra from June to September that the local people earn some money that sees them through the year,” says Dr Pushkin Parthiyal, a freelance journalist, who has just returned from Malpa. A porter earns Rs 125-150 per day, while they charge Rs 225-250 for each horse or mule, he says. It will never be exactly known how many porters died on that eventful night of August 18 when the landslide hit the ill-fated Malpa village at a height of 2018 metres. “The porters are not registered and no list is maintained making their identification in times of natural calamities next to impossible”, Dr Parthiyal says. But perhaps there is not a single household in the villages of Pangu, Sosa, Samri, Budhi, Kuti, Gunji, Garba or Simkhola in the Darma, Vyass and Chaudus valleys which has not lost a father, a son, a brother or a husband. The number of porters accompanying the 12th batch was more, 45 according to official estimate, since there were 60 pilgrims in that batch, while on an average each group consists of 30 persons. Nor will it be known how many beasts of burden perished that day. “The loss of the animals is as bad as losing our dear and near ones. The horses and mules were our bread earners, our only means of sustenance”, says Amar Singh of Sirkhar village. A mule or a horse starts working when it attains the age of three and continues till it is 30 years old. After the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra resumed in 1981, the number of pilgrims is increasing every year, providing the local people a steady source of income for a limited period every year. “Whatever little they can save, they spend on animals”, says Kalyan Singh, a shopkeeper from Samri. A horse costs around Rs 10,000 and a mule Rs 12,000. Kalyan Singh is a desolate man these days as the poor shopkeeper has incurred a huge loss. The poverty-stricken villagers had taken cereals, food materials and other items on loan to repay from the earnings they make during the yatra. But the disaster has claimed many a wage earner and Singh does not know how the affected families would repay the loan. Most of the porters were students at Pithoragarh colleges, says Hoshiar Singh of Sirkha village. “On their way home during the post-exam vacation, the students took the porter’s job to make some money. In the yatras, the porters do not have to carry much weight. The yatris prefer local people to accompany them to lend them psychological support while covering the difficult route”, Hoshiar Singh, former vice-president of Pithoragarh Degree College Students Union, says. He claims there could have been more survivors had the authorities tapped local expertise and provided the villagers with necessary equipment. The villagers had reached near Malpa by August 18 itself but could not reach the site as they did not have strong rope to cross the Kali river, he says. The landslide has rendered
access to Malpa difficult, says Dr Parthiyal. The road
from Gala to Budhi is blocked just before the
disaster-hit village and one has to take a detour to
Lakhanpur from Gala where the road exists only in name
and then climb for 3 km to Bauladhar top before making it
to Malpa. |
Pickering's reference to Kashmir
annoys BJP NEW DELHI, Aug 27 — Taking a strong exception to the US official’s reference to Kashmir as a separate entity, the Bharatiya Janata Party today described the American stand as "unacceptable". While Washington strikes at terrorists in any country, New Delhi should not exercise the similar option in Kashmir as that can set off a wider conflict". Reacting to the statement of the US Under Secretary of State, Mr Thomas Pickering, on the issue, the BJP vice-president, acting as the spokesman for the party, told the mediapersons that "just as the USA is concerned about welfare of its citizens so is India". "If the USA feels that they have the right to protect their citizens and not India, then such double standards are not acceptable to us," he stressed. "Whether a country exercises its right or not, is a different issue", Mr Sharma said adding that every country has the right to be concerned over the security and safety of its citizens. On the remarks of Mr Pickering that "India, Pakistan and Kashmir present a very, very different case than many places around the world", Mr Sharma said "it was uncalled for and inappropriate". Jammu and Kashmir is the integral part of India, he said. He said that India’s stand was that all nations have to jointly fight terrorism and the protection of lives and property of citizens is the right of every country. Mr Sharma asked the Election Commission to make the electoral rolls available to the political parties at least a week before the announcement of the elections for ensuring free and fair poll. The model code of conduct,
though it does not have a legal sanction, should be
implemented from the day of notification of elections, he
said. |
PM to leave for Oman tomorrow NEW DELHI, Aug 27 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, will leave for Oman on Saturday morning to attend the Non- Aligned Movement summit beginning from September 2. Mr Vajpayee, who will also pay official visits to Namibia and Mauritius before returning to the capital on September 4, will have talks with the Sultan of Oman Qaboos for strengthening bilateral relations. The Prime Minister’s delegation, which includes the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertiliser, Mr S.S. Barnala and the Union Minister for Petroleum, Mr K. Ramamurthy, will have separate discussions with the Oman’s Minister of Commerce, Mr Maqbool Sultan, on two important projects namely the Oman India Fertiliser project and the Central India Refinery project at Bina in Madhya Pradesh. Mr Barnala and Mr Ramamurthy are expected to stay back in Oman’s capital Salalah for further negotiations. During his one day stay in Salalah, Mr Vajpayee will have one to one talks with Sultan Qaboos. The talks are expected to cover bilateral, regional and international issues. India and Oman are negotiating two agreements on Extradition Treaty and drug trafficking. Drafts of these two agreements, which are with Oman’s government, are expected to get clearance from the host government during the Prime Minister’s stay in the Salalah. Mr Vajpayee will leave Oman on Sunday for one day official visit to Namibia where the Prime Minister will have talks with the Namibian President, Dr Sam Nujoma. The next day, the Prime Minister will leave for Durban, South Africa, to attend the NAM summit. On September 3 evening,
the Prime Minister will leave for Mauritius and return to
the capital on September 4. |
Fernandes sets up panel of 4 Secretaries NEW DELHI, Aug 27 (PTI) — Defence Minister George Fernandes tonight set up four-member group of secretaries to prepare a note for the Cabinet to introduce the new system of 'proxy' voting for the armed forces personnel and firm up a draft for amending the Representation of People’s act. Announcing this after chairing a meeting attended by top officials including Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, Mr Fernandes said the Cabinet note was expected to be readied in 15 days along with the draft legislative amendment. The group of secretaries would comprise Defence Secretary Ajit Kumar, Home Secretary B.P. Singh, Legislative Affairs Secretary Raghubir Singh and Personnel Secretary Arvind Verma. Today’s meeting was also attended by Deputy Election Commissioner Subas Pani. Mr Fernandes said he was keen that the facility of proxy voting, proposed by the Election Commission, would be available during the coming Assembly elections in four states in November this year. The Defence Minister had
earlier written to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
for the introduction of proxy voting for Defence
personnel by making amendments in the electoral law as
the practice of postal ballot had not worked
satisfactorily. |
SC dismisses Swamy’s plea NEW DELHI, Aug 27 (PTI) — The Supreme Court today dismissed Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s petition seeking deletion of the Jain Commission’s remarks against him consequent to which the government has directed the multi-disciplinary monitoring agency (MDMA) to further probe his role. A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice A.S. Anand and Mr Justice D.P. Wadhwa, after hearing Dr Swamy’s counsel G. Ramaswamy for over 20 minutes, dismissed the petition, saying, “The petition at best can be said to be premature at this stage.” The court also declined permission to former Attorney-General Ramaswamy to withdraw the petition. Mr Ramaswamy said the commission probing into the conspiracy aspect of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination without giving Dr Swamy an opportunity to present his view has remarked that he was an “unreliable witness”, causing grave injury to his reputation. Dr Swamy in his petition said: “The action taken report by the government in requiring the MDMA to undertake a roving and fishing inquiry against the petitioners is only designed to harass the petitioner for his well-known opposition to the government of this day”. Dr Swamy had prayed that as the findings were arrived at by the Jain Commission without following the procedure prescribed in the Commission of Inquiry Act these should be deleted from the final report of the commission. He had further sought a directive from the court to the Home Ministry and the CBI, which is the nodal agency in the MDMA, not to “take any action based upon the said report so far as it pertains to Dr Swamy”. The action taken report by the government said: “According to the commission, Dr Swamy had been an unreliable witness who by his ‘consistent and persistent effort.... not to answer the questions which are most relevant has thwarted the commission from finding out the truth”. “The MDMA, therefore, would be required to make further inquiries about Dr Swamy’s role, his visit etc to London along with Chandraswami which the commission has described as mysterious”, the ATR said. The Jain Commission in its final report had said “from the tenor of statement of Dr Swamy it would appear that a consistent and persistent effort is there on his part not to answer the questions which are most relevant in order to find out the truth or otherwise of the statement which he has made”. “There has been
refusal on his part to answer the questions on several
occasions. From such a conduct of the witness, it can be
taken the witness wants to withhold or conceal the
necessary information”, it said. |
Over 600 affected by dropsy NEW DELHI, Aug 27 — Despite steady increase in the number of persons falling ill due to dropsy, the Delhi Health Minister today said that the situation would be normal in a few days. Unconfirmed reports put the number of those who fell ill after consuming adulterated mustard oil above 600. The Health Minister, Dr Harshvardhan said that cases have now been reported from East Delhi also. “The majority of the cases are from West Delhi and border areas,” he said. No further deaths due to dropsy caused by the consumption of contaminated mustard oil, were not been reported last night. However, it is feared that the number of epidemic dropsy cases will continue to rise for a couple of days before the trend declines, as more and more persons become aware of the hazards of consuming mustard oil. Eighty-three fresh cases of dropsy had been reported from the Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital since last night as the number of victims in various city hospitals rose during the night. The DDU Hospital, which is closest to the worst affected areas in West Delhi, now has over 135 patients with dropsy symptoms. Dr Harshvardhan said that eight teams have been set up consisting of officials from the Department of Prevention of Food Adulteration, SDMs and the police who have been authorised to make raids to locate manufacturers and sellers of the adulterated mustard oil. Tankers carrying mustard oil were not allowed today to enter the capital following the Delhi Government’s ban on sale and import of mustard oil in the Capital. Oil tankers were stopped at the border check posts. A senior Delhi Government official said that only those oil tankers which are bound for units/factories having adequate testing facilities will be allowed to enter the Capital. On well-known brands being found adulterated, he said that additional samples have been collected to confirm whether the packaging had been re-used on a large scale. He added that Agmark brand
oils are tested for quality before being bottled or
canned. However, the chances of adulterated mustard oil
being used cannot be ruled out at the moment. |
Karunanidhi ready to face probe CHENNAI, Aug 27 (PTI) — Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M. Karunanidhi today said that he was prepared to face any probe in the conspiracy aspect of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination as it would help “expose” those who backed the LTTE. He told reporters here that the probe by the multi-disciplinary monitoring agency, as suggested in the ATR on the Jain Panel findings, would help bring to light those who funded the LTTE and who received money from it. He asserted that Justice Jain had never recommended any probe against him in his report. The Centre’s action was “politically motivated and done under political pressure from AIADMK general secretary Jayalalitha,” he alleged. He said the BJP government should have removed his name from the ATR if they were really sincere about adhering to the “political dharma” it preached. The BJP and the Congress had no moral right to speak about the inquiry commission reports, he said, adding that the nation had condemned the Maharashtra Government’s decision to reject the Srikrishna panel report. Mr Karunanidhi said the Congress also did not have any right to speak about the Jain Commission recommendations as it had rejected the Thakkar Commission report, which probed the Indira Gandhi assassination case. The persons named in that report were now occupying high positions in the party, he alleged. If Justice Jain had recommended an inquiry, the wordings in his report should have read ‘Karunanidhi’s interrogation is necessary’ or ‘is required’ or ‘would have been relevant’, he said. In the final report,
Justice Jain had made it clear that he had not indicted
any individual, organisation or party in his interim
report. |
No change in ATR: Advani NEW DELHI, Aug 27 — The Home Minister, Mr Lal Krishan Advani, has assured the Congress that the Government will spare no efforts in reaching the bottom of the truth and there is no change in the Action Taken Report on the Jain Commission of Inquiry. In a letter to the Congress leader, Mr Arjun Singh, the home minister said the reference to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M Karunanidhi, continues but only under a different title ‘Stand of SIT on theories beyond the LTTE’’. The Home Minister’s letter was in reply to a clarification sought by Mr Arjun Singh, in the wake of claims by the DMK leader, Mr Murasoli Maran, that Mr Karunanidhi had been exonerated. Mr Advani said in his reply to Mr Maran that he had informed that letters of correction sent by his ministry to the Secretaries-General of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha was limited to inserting the title “Stand of the SIT on theories beyond the LTTE’’ as in the ATR’’. In the ATR presented to
Parliament, the reference to Mr Karunanidhi the
above-mentioned caption was inadvertently omitted with
the result the reference came under ‘’Role of
suspects in the assassination,’’ Mr Advani said
quoting the letter he wrote to Mr Maran. |
Sudden spurt in crime SRIGANGANAGAR: The staggering — more than 100 per cent — increase in cases of murder, theft, kidnapping and dacoity, between January and June 1998, in this border district vividly portrays the deplorable state of law and order. According to figures given by be district Police Department, there has been a spurt of 100 per cent in the number of murders, 134 per cent in the number of kidnapping cases and around 100 per cent increase in the number of thefts, dacoities and robberies over the past six months as compared to the corresponding period last year. The ordinary man in this district knows that criminals had been having a virtually free run here and the law and order had reached its nadir. The fact that the registered number of incidents with the police has further lent credence to it. What has shown a positively alarming lack of concern for lawlessness in this “economically most prosperous” district of the desert state is that between January and June 1998 the total number of thefts was an alarming 443 as against 427 registered incidents of theft during the whole of last year. While the figure of murders during 1997 stood as 45, it was 45 in the first six months of the current year. The spurt in the rate of
kidnappings during these months reveals that kidnapping
was by far the maximum. The number of incidents is 55 in
six months as against 42 incidents during 1997. |
90 per cent novices
‘involved’ in Delhi crime NEW DELHI, Aug 27 - The Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range), Mr Amod Kanth said 90 per cent of those involved in criminal activities are first-timers. They had no involvement in criminal cases earlier, according to the records of the Delhi Police, he said. A total of 700 cases of robbery were registered in Capital from July 15 onwards. Of them, 630 cases were committed by the novices, Mr Amod Kanth, said. Besides robbery cases, 59 snatching and 185 arms act cases were registered, he said. In 125 cases physical force was used, in 200 cases sharp edged weapons, in eight cases chilli powder and arms were used in 14 cases. The reason of the novices involvement in the crime cases are their aspiration to enjoy everything in life. A majority of these youths belong to middle and upper middle classes, Mr Kanth said. The Commissioner of police, Mr V.N. Singh is planning to meet the parents of youths to prevent them from getting involved in crime. An example of the involvement of first timers is reflected in yesterday case itself where four youths from the West Delhi who had no crime record earlier were arrested. They belonged to middle classes. They were involved in chain-snatching and vehicle theft cases. The suspects have been identified as Rajeev (20), Nishan (19), Vikramjeet Singh (18) and Avtar Singh (26). A total of 63 crime cases were registered against them. According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, West Delhi, Mr Rajesh Malik, the suspects used to take away motor cycle, scooters and Maruti cars. They used to sell the stolen vehicles to their customers in Sohna and Hodal districts in Haryana. A few days back four
novice criminals were arrested in a double murder case at
Rajauri Garden. They were in the age group of 20. Robbery
had been their motive. |
| In
brief Maharashtra Cong cells dissolved Broadcasting
museum Emission standards
for gensets 500 persons
‘liquidated’ |
 |
 |
 |
| Punjab
| Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Stocks | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
