Friday, October 2, 1998
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Karunanidhi rules out ties with BJP TIRUCHIRAPPALPLI — The DMK will not have any "friendly ties" with the BJP so long as it remains "communal", Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has said. Kukis,
Zaomis sign |
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Only Ministry can clear senior naval
postings NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — The controversy prevailing in the Navy as a result of discontentment among officers, specially Vice-Admirals and Rear-Admirals, over postings has prompted the government to come out with the orders that it was the only competent authority to clear the senior postings.
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Barnala:
Uttaranchal Bill will be opposed Give
more importance to NCC: George Hand-grenade
found in Delhi temple HC
stays transfer of CRPF SI Laloo
denies charge Panel
reviews Railways' services in Ambala division |
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Karunanidhi rules out ties with BJP TIRUCHIRAPPALPLI (PTI, UNI) — The DMK will not have any "friendly ties" with the BJP so long as it remains "communal", Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has said. Addressing a public meeting here late last night, he said the Babri Masjid demolition was an example of the BJP’s "hardline communal affiliations". Referring to the Centre’s recommendation to impose President’s rule in Bihar, he said Article 356 should be scrapped from the Constitution. The provision had been "misused" several times and it was a threat to democratically elected state governments, he added. On AIADMK chief Jayalalitha’s remarks criticising his government, Mr Karunanidhi advised his partymen to ignore her statements. Apparently referring to the Tamil Maanila Congress, he said his party would never sever links with its allies. If anyone wanted to part ways, the DMK had no objection to it, he added. The DMK would not compromise on its demands for deletion of Article 356 from the Constitution and greater autonomy to the state governments. Mr Karunanidhi said the Article had been used 97 times against various state governments. The BJP-led coalition at the Centre was prevented in time from using it against the Bihar Government, he added. No state government should be toppled unless it was found involved in anti-national activities, he said. Refuting the reported remark of former Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta that no Chief Minister had made the demand for deletion of the Article, Mr Karunanidhi said he himself had made such a plea during the inter-state Chief Ministers’ conference on October 15, 1996 at New Delhi. The Inter-State Council, kept in abeyance till 1996, was activated when Mr V.P. Singh became the Prime Minister, sidelined during the Narasimha Rao regime and reactivated during the previous United Front regime, he recalled. The Tamil Nadu police had done a commendable job in investigating the serial bomb blasts cases and there was no need for seeking CBI help in the matter, Mr Karunanidhi said. Several persons had been
arrested in connection with the blast cases from various
places including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, he
said after presenting the Anna police medals to 97
policemen here yesterday. |
Police dances to CM's tune: Jaya CHENNAI, Oct 1 (PTI) — The AIADMK chief, Ms Jayalalitha, today charged that the Crime Branch-CID (CB-CID) of the Tamil Nadu police with "functioning as a protector of the Karunanidhi regime rather than the people." In a statement here, Ms Jayalalitha said the recent Madras High Court order directing a CBI probe into the suspected custodial death of Mohan, an AIADMK functionary, at Cheyyar police station some months ago showed the CB-CID had 'failed' to carry out an 'honest' investigation. The magisterial inquiry and the CB-CID probe into the death had yielded contradictory finding with the former saying there were 16 injuries on Mohan's body and the agency concluding that he had consumed poison, she said. Apart from this case, the CB-CID 'failed' to convince the Madras High Court about its conclusion that a DMK MLA was not involved in sandalwood smuggling, leading to the court ordering a CBI investigation, she said. "These two orders of the Madras High Court only reveal that the CB-CID succumbed to the Chief Minister's dictates," Ms Jayalalitha said and alleged the police had been turned into "puppets in the ruling party's hands". The AIADMK chief recalled that she had demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of Mohan and that there was a 'road roko' by the people of Cheyyar when they came to know that his body was thrown into the street soon after he was detained for interrogation. However, the Karunanidhi regime did not take the agitation and the people's feelings seriously and also slighted her demand, she said. She referred to the death
of Forest Ranger Vijayan said to be a witness in the
sandalwood smuggling case against DMK legislator, and
said the CB-CID had held he had died in a road accident.
He had died "under mysterious circumstances"
within hours of giving a statement to the CBI which had
taken over the sandalwood case based on the court order
she said. |
Only Ministry can clear senior
naval postings NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — The controversy prevailing in the Navy as a result of the discontentment among senior officers, specially Vice-Admirals and Rear-Admirals, over their postings has prompted the government to come out with the orders that it was the only competent authority to clear the senior postings. The notification issued late last evening by the Ministry of Defence in this regard also ensured that Naval Headquarters would not be able to have its way on the issue of postings to key positions in the force. The Ministry and the Navy were on a collision course on the issue of transfers and postings of senior Admirals of the Navy. The Ministry was not in favour of a number of postings made by the Navy in the recent past, specially the PSO postings. Their were allegations from senior Admirals that they had been ignored for these highly sensitive and key posts and officers much junior to them had been selected by Naval Headquarters to fill these posts. A senior Vice-Admiral had even gone to the High Court, alleging mala fide and victimisation. A number of senior Admirals have also filed statutory complaints with the Ministry about they being sidelined without any cogent reasons. Naval Headquarters was of the opinion that since these posts were very important operational posts, it had the right to select officers for them. However, the Ministry felt that senior officers with excellent operational records could not be overlooked for whimsical reasons. This in fact has now prompted the government to come out with the directive on the issue of postings. A statement issued here said, the government had seen recent press reports about the issues relating to postings and appointments proposals of senior Naval officers. “This is to clarify that all proposals of postings and appointments of senior defence officials are made by the government, as per well established norms, rules and regulations, after due approval by the competent authority.” The statement further said that any misinformation in this regard was unwarranted and not in the national interest. As per the established norms, rules and regulations the appointments of senior level Naval officers specially after the level of Commanders was cleared by the government. The postings of senior officers at key posts were either cleared by the Ministry or by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC). The discontentment among senior Naval officers had been on the rise especially as several key posts had been lying vacant or were being occupied by junior officers on ad hoc basis for the past several months. Naval Headquarters had picked officers who were junior to several Vice-Admirals and Rear-Admirals to fill these posts, which included that of the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (DCNS), Assistant Chief of Naval Staff(ACNS), and Chief of Logistics. While there were reports that a large number of senior Admirals of the Navy had filed statutory complaints with Naval Headquarters for either being ignored for key postings or for promotions, only three of them had as yet been referred to the Ministry of Defence after being rejected by the Navy. Sources disclosed that the Ministry had received statutory complaints of Vice-Admiral Harinder Singh, Vice-Admiral Raman Puri and Rear-Admiral Sampat Gopal. While the first two, who were senior level Vice-Admirals and in line for the PSO postings, had complained that they had been sidelined for the key posts, the complaint from the Rear-Admiral said that he was purposely being ignored for promotion. According to sources the senior most Vice-Admiral in the Navy who was now in line for being the next Chief of Naval Staff and who till recently was the Vice-Chief of Naval Staff had also written letters to the Ministry seeking an appropriate posting. While being the senior most Vice-Admiral Sushil Kumar had been posted to take charge of the Southern Command, which besides being the training command was also kept for the junior most Vice-Admiral to take charge. Sources said the Vice-Admiral had written letters to the Ministry on three occasions pointing out that he was posted in a training command and that he might be given a posting as per his stature of being the senior most Vice-Admiral. While he was due for retirement later this year, but after the notification raising the retirement age of Central Government employees and that of the armed forces by two years, he had come in line to be the next Chief of Naval Staff. The next Vice-Admiral in line was at least two years his junior. The officials at the
Ministry were now hoping that as a result of these
orders, the stand-off with Naval Headquarters would end
and the grievances of senior Admirals would be taken care
of. |
Kukis, Zaomis sign peace pact IMPHAL, Oct 1 (UNI) — A historic final peace accord was signed today between the Kukis and Zaomis of violence-prone Churachandpur district before a high-level state committee headed by Manipur Chief Minister W. Nipamacha Singh. After signing the accord at Churachandpur, the Chief Minister announced that the accord brought an end to over a year old ethnic crisis in the district. The agreement was signed between Kuki INPI and Zaomi Council, an apex body of Paite, besides Zou and some other sub-tribes. The agreement was reached in four points. The first point stated that the nomenclatures of Kukis and Zaomis shall be mutually respected by all Zaomis and Kukis while every individual or group of persons shall be at liberty to call himself or themselves by any name. The nomenclature of Kukis and Zomis shall not in any way be imposed upon any person against their will. The second point stated that any person, who has occupied or has physical possession of any land or private building or house and quarters wrongfully and illegally during the period of clashes shall restore the same to the rightful owners. The third point asked the Kuki and Zaomi militants not to indulge in any forcible collection of funds or taxes against their counterpart nomenclature. The memorandum of
understanding between the Kuki INPI and Zaomi Council
shall be operative and binding to all concerned, the
fourth point stated. |
70-member panel for Khalsa tercentenary NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (PTI) — The government has constituted a 70-member national committee under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to celebrate in a befitting manner the 300th anniversary of the Khalsa Panth. The committee includes former Prime Ministers, Mr Chandra Shekhar and Mr I.K. Gujral, the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, the Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, the Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism Minister, Mr M.L. Khurana and the Commerce Minister, Mr R.K. Hegde. April 13, 1999 would mark the completion of 300 years of the birth of Khalsa. The committee will meet shortly to finalise the programmes for tercentenary celebration. At the international level, on the government’s initiative to get 1999 declared as the year of ‘human faith’, UNESCO has adopted the resolution for including ‘human spirit’ as a theme in the international year for the culture of peace, an official release said here today. Several proposals received from the Punjab Government, including assistance for establishment of a multi-faceted Khalsa complex, release of commemorative stamp and commemorative coin and declaration of 1999 as ‘the year of human spirit’, would be placed before the national committee along with other proposals, it said. The committee also includes the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. A number of eminent personalities, including former Union Minister Sharad Pawar, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha, former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, CPM General Secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet and SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra have also been included in the committee. Film director Gulzar,
actress Shabana Azmi, noted writers Amrita Pritam and
Khushwant Singh are also in the committee. |
Crackdown on old vehicles from today NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (PTI) — Phasing out of old commercial vehicles in the Capital begins tomorrow with 20-year old automobiles being shown the door in a bid to clean up the fourth most polluted city. The Transport Department and the traffic police are planning a major crackdown to ensure that owners of over 9000 such vehicles surrender their registration certificates, permits and fitness certificates to the government. All the vehicles entering Delhi from other states will also face the axe, say Transport Department officials. The ban covers the good old "phatphati" and motor cycle taxis with vintage Harley Davidson engines, a common sight in congested bylanes. City traffic police chief Mukund Upadhye says they have been given a list of the series (of vehicles) that have to be phased out. "A total of 9,349 registered commercial vehicles have to be phased out by tomorrow and we have been asked to carry out checks in this regard," he says. Traffic cops have been instructed to be on the look out for such vehicles and impound them if seen plying on the roads and hand them over to the Transport Department. The ban follows a Supreme Court direction ordering ban of 20-year old vehicles from October 2 and 17-year old vehicles from November 15. Earlier, the court had directed phasing out of 15-year old commercial vehicles from tomorrow but later relaxed the deadline till December 31. Environmentalist MC Mehta, on whose petition the apex court order came, says even the Motor Vehicles Act bans the plying of vehicles of over 15 years but regrets that it was never enforced. However Mr Jaswant Arora,
president of the federation of Transport Unions Congress,
agrees that air pollution is the major problem in the
city but says the government never showed its seriousness
to tackle the problem. |
Barnala: Uttaranchal Bill will be opposed NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI) — Union Minister and senior Akali leader Surjit Singh Barnala has expressed strong resentment against the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed hill state of Uttaranchal saying his party will oppose the related Bill if it is introduced in Parliament. Talking to UNI here last evening, Mr Barnala, whose party is a coalition partner in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government, said people of the district should not be forced to join the new state since it violated the very spirit of creating a new state for the welfare and benefit of the people. Asked whether his party would withdraw from the BJP-led coalition if the district was not excluded from the proposed state, Mr Barnala was non-committal and said, “This is up to the party high command to decide.” The Uttar Pradesh Assembly has already cleared the Bill for the creation of Uttaranchal with Udham Singh Nagar as its part. Mr Barnala reiterated that the Akali demand for the exclusion of Udham Singh Nagar was not an issue projected by the Sikh landlord as suggested in some sections of the media, but was based on the fact that 90 per cent inhabitants of this plains districts did not want to go with the hills people who had a different culture and way of life. Meanwhile, another senior
Akali leader Prem Singh Chandumajra, MP, dismissed as
“humbug” the suggestion that refugees who
settled in the district were given the cultivable land by
the hill people. In fact, he said, the land earlier
belonged to the tribesmen living in the area who later
sold it off to the settlers. The hill people were not
remotely connected with the land which was developed by
the settlers through their sweat and blood, he said. |
Give more importance to NCC:
George NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — Defence Minister George Fernandes has called for giving more importance to NCC activities and said finance would not come in the way. The minister while addressing the Central Advisory Committee meeting of NCC here yesterday, said the committee should meet at least once in a year instead of once in two years. Mr Fernandes opined that participation of NCC cadets in community development programmes should be given greater importance. He promised to initiate dialogue with Chief Ministers and Governors of different states for contributing more towards financial assistance to NCC programmes. He called on NCC cadets to become disciplined youth, good citizens and good human beings. Earlier in the meeting Lt-Gen B S Malik, Director General, NCC, read out the report on NCC activities. On his suggestion for replacing the old equipments to the NCC with new ones from the three wings of the armed forces, the three service chiefs promised maximum cooperation to NCC. The Chief of Army Staff, General VP Malik suggested more involvement of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in NCC programmes while the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, said the aims and objectives of the NCC should be broadened and the Navy should provide a guiding document to the Directorate-General of the NCC in the near future. The Air Chief Marshal S K Sareen said the NCC cadets could do much in relief and rescue operations during national calamities. Defence Secretary Ajit
Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Mr M C Satyawadi, Dr Shaqueel Ahamad and Mr
Suresh Pachauri, both members of Parliament, and Mr P R
Subrahamanyam, Financial Adviser, Defence Services, were
amongst those present. |
Hand-grenade found in Delhi
temple NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — Barely 18 hours after the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, visited a temple in Jhandewalan in Central Delhi, an explosive was detected on the temple premises. The Commissioner of Delhi Police, Mr V.N. Singh, said he had no information regarding this and directed this correspondent to the DCP (Central district) instead. The hand-grenade concealed in a coconut was part of an offering in Mata Bhagwati Temple. It was found in the complex last evening, the police said. The explosive, wrapped in a newspaper had been put in a polythene bag. It was then kept in a bag of flour by a person who had reportedly performed pooja in the morning in the temple at Jhandewalan. A senior Delhi Police officer said the hand-grenade found is used exclusively by the Army. The explosive was detected by a sevadar of the temple while putting the offerings in another room in the temple complex. When he touched the coconut kept in the bag of flour he felt something unusual. He informed the poojari of the temple, Mr Arun Kumar, who informed the police at 6.15 p.m. The local police examined the explosive which was found to be a hand-grenade. The bomb disposal squad team of Central District defused the hand-grenade. The SHO of Paharganj police station said a probe was on. Police teams had also been sent out of the Capital, he said. He said the temple was housed in a multi-storeyed structure. The hand-grenade was recovered from the first floor of the temple where offerings like chunnis, and saris are kept. The hand-grenade is called
HE-36 and was reportedly manufactured in a factory run by
the Army. The police is trying to find out names of the
sevadars who entered the room of the temple, he said. |
HC stays transfer of CRPF SI NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — In a significant order, the Delhi High Court has directed the Central Reserve Police Force to permanently post a Sub-Inspector in the Capital so that his disabled son could get constant medical attention. Mr Justice K. Ramamoorthy also directed the Estate Officer of the CRPF to allot a ground floor flat to SI, M.I. Khan. The CRPF “shall issue appropriate orders posting the SI on a permanent basis at the headquarters instead of posting him somewhere on paper and issuing an attachment order,” the judge said. They shall “consider the case of allotment of a ground floor flat to Mr Khan whenever such a flat falls vacant,” the order added. Mr Khan was allotted a government quarter in 1993 and was permitted to retain the house till February, 1997, as a special case. The SI again sought an extension but was informed by the Estate Branch that if Mr Khan failed to vacate the premises before May last, he would be declared as an “unauthorised occupant” and the “damage charge” recovery of Rs 2,500 per month would be ordered against him. Later, he was transferred to Tripura, but that order was withdrawn by the authorities on the grounds of illness of Mr Khan’s son. The judge said that the order of the Estate Office was “arbitrary” and “cannot be sustained.” The CRPF had allowed Mr
Khan to work at the headquarters even though his transfer
order was executed on paper. |
Laloo denies charge PATNA, Oct 1 (PTI) — RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav today denied Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's charge that Bihar was being ruled by the 'mafia' saying law and order in the state was much better than in the BJP-ruled Maharashtra and Rajasthan. "The situation in Maharashtra and Rajasthan is worse than Bihar. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others", Mr Yadav told reporters here. Asked whether the Centre was keeping its option open on imposition of President's rule in Bihar, the RJD chief said: "We are prepared for any eventuality, but feel the chapter is closed now". Stating the BJP-led
coalition was sharply divided on the question of the use
of Article 356, Mr Yadav said there was no need for any
national debate on the issue as suggested by Union Home
Minister L.K. Advani. |
Panel reviews Railways' services NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — The plan for the second entry at Chandigarh railway station and work on the Chandigarh-Morinda railway line were some of the issues which came up for discussion during the review of the passenger services in Ambala division at Chandigarh by a five-member team of the Passenger Services Committee of the Indian Railways. The Divisional railway manager, Mr R S Grover, along with other senior officers made a presentation before the committee giving details of the steps taken by the Ambala division regarding the upgradation of passenger services, a Northern Railway release said. The committee members, who visited Chandigarh early last month, were also given a demonstration of the coach cleaning equipments. The committee was also informed about new works pertaining to passenger facilities which have been completed or are being taken up by the division. The facilities include extension of platforms at Bhuchchu, Tapa, Nabha, Sangrur, Barnala, Ambala city and cantonment, provision of new retiring rooms at Abohar, Solan, Dharampur and Summerhill and raising of passenger platforms at Bathinda and Ambala cantonment. The construction of a new
station building at Anandpur Sahib, provision of new NG
passenger terminal at The Mall, Shimla and amenities
being provided to the tourist passengers in the
Kalka-Shimla section were some of the other subjects on
which the committee members were briefed. |
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| Catheterisation success
rate 95 pc CHENNAI: The success rate of catheterisation using amplatzer device for closure of arterial septal defects (ASD) is about 95 per cent, according to an internationally acclaimed cardiac interventionist, Dr Ziyad Hijazi. According to him, three to four years is the ideal age for applying the process for closing holes in the septum (wall) separating the two upper chambers of the heart. The procedure does not require surgery, blood transfusion, prolonged anaesthesia and ventilation, stopping of the heart and using a heart-lung bypass machine. — PTI NTS scholarship for 750
students AIIMS alumni
conference Pratul Chandra
Rakshit dead 300 cr damage in
Surat flood 5 die of
encephalitis in UP |
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