Sunday, October 18, 1998
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BJP’s stand on Bihar
vindicated: Naidu NEW DELHI, Oct 17 — The Bharatiya Janata Party today asserted that the Patna High Court’s censure of the state government for defying judicial orders had vindicated its stand and demanded the resignation of the Rabri Devi Government in view of the court’s observation. PM to
survey flood-hit areas |
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EC transfers 17 MP officials NEW DELHI, Oct 17 — The Election Commission has transferred 17 officials from Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa and Vidisha districts, allegedly on grounds of partisan behaviour during past elections and asked Delhi Police Commissioner not to allow two senior police officials to supervise areas for the November 25 poll where their permanent homes were located.
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NATO
playing negative role, alleges Belarus Stress
on legal ethics must: CJI Fake-certificate
racket unearthed Wreaths
laid on Army officer’s body Sonia
to campaign for Assembly poll RLM
to hold rally on Oct 23 CPM
efforts to form third alternative 192
fishermen missing after boats capsize |
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BJP’s stand on Bihar
vindicated: Naidu NEW DELHI, Oct 17 — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today asserted that the Patna High Court’s censure of the state government for defying judicial orders had vindicated its stand and demanded the resignation of the Rabri Devi Government in view of the court’s observation. In a statement, the BJP General Secretary, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, said it was not for the first time that the state government had been pulled up for defying court orders. There were more than 2,000 cases pending against the Bihar Government, he pointed out. Asserting that there was no governance in Bihar, Mr Naidu said there was a complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery. The same observation had also been underlined by the High Court, he said. In another statement, the BJP’s ally, the Samata Party, also took a similar stand saying that "The condition of Bihar should be a matter of concern overriding political affiliations had been vindicated by the observations of the Division Bench of the high court of Patna on October 16". The Samata Party General Secretary, Ms Jaya Jaitley, said the high court had highlighted that by making people "live like animals", criminals being allowed to run loose, and the entire state machinery flouting court orders, the constitutional machinery had indeed broken down. "This is precisely what the Samata Party has been saying since 1994 and reiterated even at the time of the recommendation for the use of Article 356 in Bihar by the Cabinet", Ms Jaitley said. "The Constitution
cannot be merely a decorative accessory of democracy. It
is the fundamental guide to governance in the interests
of the people. If the people are made victims of
misgovernance of the extreme kind as described by the
high court, all those who have sworn to uphold the
Constitution or practice politics for the benefit of the
people must fulfil their responsibility to the spirit of
all laws flowing out of the Constitution rather than
resort to partisan politics", Ms Jaitley said
demanding action in Bihar. |
EC transfers 17 MP officials NEW DELHI, Oct 17 (PTI) — The Election Commission has transferred 17 officials from Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa and Vidisha districts, allegedly on grounds of partisan behaviour during past elections and asked Delhi Police Commissioner not to allow two senior police officials to supervise areas for the November 25 poll where their permanent homes were located. A commission spokesperson said today that 16 officials in Rewa district, who had been transferred during the February general elections, had found their way back into the district. The state government had confirmed that the 16 officials had been moved out of the district again in view of the Assembly elections, he said. In another order, the commission asked Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary to immediately transfer Mr Sabhajit Yadav, Sub-Divisional Officer, Sironj in Vidisha district following complaints alleging partisan behaviour on his part, particularly during poll. Noting that the compliance report should reach it by October 21, the commission said Mr Yadav should be given an assignment "which is in no way related to elections". Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill has directed Delhi Police Commissioner VN Singh not to assign supervision work in Karol Bagh in central district to the Additional Commissioner and in Najafgarh in south-west district to Deputy Commissioner of Police Pradeep Bhardwaj as their permanent homes were located in these areas. Mr Gill asked Mr Singh, who called on him, to pass similar directives in case of any other officer falling in such category. Meanwhile the commission barred Madhya Pradesh ministers from coordinating activities of different departments in the districts assigned to them as their visits "are bound to be construed by other parties as essentially disguised electioneering". In another directive to the Rajasthan Government, the commission asked ministers not to avail of official cars to visit different districts to supervise relief works. The commission issued these directives in the wake of clarifications sought by the state governments. In a letter to Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary KS Sharma, the commission said it was entirely the prerogative of the state government to put in whatever model of administration that it so wished, but with the announcement of the November 25 Assembly poll, coordination activities of various departments in a district should be carried out by the District Collector and other senior officials. While the model code of
conduct was already in force in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Mizoram, where the Assembly elections were
scheduled for November 25, the respective poll
notifications would be issued on October 30. |
PM to survey flood-hit areas HYDERABAD, Oct 17 (UNI) — Prime Minister AB Vajpayee will make an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of Andhra Pradesh tomorrow, even as the toll in the current spell of rains in three southern states rose to 385 today. Official sources said Mr Vajpayee accompanied by, among others, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu would leave for the affected areas by a helicopter on his arrival here at 1000 hrs. Mr Vajpayee was also likely to make an aerial survey of the affected areas in Gulbarga and Bidar districts in Karnataka. The toll rose to 206 in Karnataka with three more deaths, 139 in Andhra Pradesh with 13 deaths and 40 in Kerala with four deaths. More than 73,000 persons from the low-lying areas in Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts have been shifted to about 300 relief camps. The flood situation improved in Kerala and the northern parts of Karnataka following a respite in rains. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, accompanied by Karnataka Backward Classes Minister Maliukayya Guttedar, visited some of the flood-hit villages in Gulbarga district. In Kerala, more than 300
families today left relief camps and about 70 relief
camps at various places were closed down. However, more
than 14,000 families were still lodged in 407 relief
camps, official sources said. |
Shah Rukh Khan is best actor NEW DELHI, Oct 17 (UNI) —Shah Rukh Khan continued his dominance over the film awards winning the best actor’s crown for his performance in “Dil to Pagal Hai” while Madhuri Dixit was adjudged best actress for her role in “Mrityudand” at the Sansui Movie Awards function here late last evening. Yash Chopra’s “Dil to Pagal Hai” bagged the Best Film Award while J.P. Dutta won the best director’s slot for his film ‘Border’, which won the majority of votes in the popular film category. The six-member jury selected Shah Rukh Khan as best actor from among the five nominations, that included Kamal Hassan (Chachi 420), Aamir Khan (Ishq), Sunny Deol (Border) and Anil Kapoor (Virasat). Similarly, Madhuri Dixit emerged victorious with Juhi Chawla (Yes Boss), Sridevi (Judai), Tabu (Virasat) and Mahima Chowdhury (Pardes) as her competitors. Senior filmmaker B.R. Chopra and thespian Dilip Kumar were honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the award ceremony, the first edition of the Sansui Movie Award which was devoted to “Sahas” (courage). Prakash Jha’s “Mrityudand”, a film based on the story of rebellion by residents of a village who were led by two women, got the Best Critics’ Choice Award. Akshay Khanna bagged two awards — the best debutant (Himalay Putra) and the Best Supporting Actor Awards for “Border”, for the latter his competitors were Amrish Puri (Virasat), Om Puri (Gupt), Sunil Shetty (Border) and Shayaji Shinde (Darmiyan). Sonu Nigam and Roop Kumar Rathore shared the Best Male Playback Singer’s Award for the popular number “Sandeshe atein hein” from “Border”. Javed Akhtar was given the Best Lyricist Award for the same song. “Border” bagged
a total of seven awards as it also won the Best Script
Award for O.P. Dutta, best dialogue for J.P. Dutta and
best action for Bhiku Verma and Tinu Verma. |
Amartya’s first wife reminisces CALCUTTA, Oct 17 (PTI) — There is a method in Amartya Sen’s scholarly madness otherwise he would not have been able to achieve so much within such a little time, says the Nobel Prize winner’s first wife Nabanita Debsen. “But now that he is approaching 65, he should take it easy,” Debsen told PTI. “He has a great deal to contribute to the well-being of humanity,” Debsen, who is a Professor of Comparative Literature at the Jadavpur University and has authored about 36 books, said. She recalled that Sen’s scholarliness made him “a bit unmindful of everyday matters on running of houses, .... but as a husband Amartya was responsible, warm and loving.” Debsen who married Sen in 1960 and formally separated in 1976 said, “Although our marriage did not last for ever, we had a long and happy married life. We are still very good friends.” She has two daughters from the marriage — Antara and Nandana. “Whenever he went outside India, he used to send us cards everyday for the three of us. And before marriage during our courtship one letter everyday to me,” she said. Debsen replied she had a lot of respect, warmth and goodwill for him, but declined to comment when asked if she still loved him. Debsen who met Sen at Jadavpur University where he was head of Department of Economics and she a student of Comparative Literature said, “We came close as I was a debater and he the chairperson of the debating society of the university. He formally proposed to me at Cambridge in 1959”. “Amartya was quite lost with the babies as he did not know how to handle them. But he later developed perfect communication with all his children as they grew up,” she said. “There was, however, no lack of affection and concern.” “Amartya tried to contact our daughters once a week and surely twice a month despite his busy schedule,” said Debsen, who is also the executive committee member of the International Semiotic Studies Association. To a question, Debsen said, initially Sen worked on ‘choice of techniques’ and ‘collective choice’. His campaign for health, education and empowerment of women as envisaged in welfare economics developed later. “But the seed was sown very early in his life”, said Debsen who delivered the ‘Radhakrishnan memorial lectures at Oxford University in 1996-97. Talking about Rabindranath Tagore’s influence on Sen’s life, she said: “His interest in working with villages falls in line with Tagore’s tradition”. Incidentally, both Amartya and Nabanita were christened by Tagore. The Bengal famine of 1943 and the communal riots of 1946 known as the ‘great Calcutta killings’ left an indelible impression on Sen, his first wife said. “Sen also had a great passion for working in India. He joined the Delhi School of Economics at the persuasion of Prof V.K.R.V. Rao and also for his patriotic zeal,” she said. Sen who loves ‘Bengali dishes’ enjoys indulging in ‘Bengali adda’. “When he visits Santiniketan every December, Sen indulges in ‘adda’ at famous ‘Kalo’s tea shop in Santiniketan,” she said. Referring to Sen’s mother Amita Sen, she said: “I am glad that Amartya’s 85-year-old mother had time to see his son’s success. I am missing my father-in-law Asutosh Sen as also my parents Narendra Deb and Radharani Devi, both poets, at this glorious moment.” She also said that she was very close to Sen’s only sister Supurna and even closer to her children who regard her almost as their ‘mother’. “If they face
problems they regularly call me up from the USA,”
she said. |
NATO playing negative role,
alleges Belarus NEW DELHI, Oct 17 — Belarus has condemned the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for its efforts to influence the world in a negative way. Showing an understanding for India’s nuclear tests in May this year, the visiting Belarus Foreign Minister, Mr Ivan Antonovich, told TNS in an interview here yesterday that “NATO pretends to influence the world in a negative way”. “It is participating in a military aggression which is not sanctioned by an international organisation”, Mr Antonovich pointed out. Mr Antonovich said that NATO was on the brink of interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign countries and for nations outside the Group of Seven countries (G-7), it “is impossible to survive.” The only recourse open for the rest of the countries was to organise in a non-block and nonaligned way, the Foreign Minister said. Belarus, which became the 114th member of NAM, is determined to strengthen the movement, he said. Criticising the western powers for leaving the countries of the former Soviet Union, particularly Russia, in a lurch, he said Russia was going through “an agonising time”. “This is the price Russia has to pay for accepting reforms on the western standards forced from outside”, he said expressing apprehensions on the state of polity and economy of Russia. First the western powers forced the Soviet Union and then the rest of countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including Russia, to go in for reforms and then abandoned them, Mr Antonovich said, adding that “it was a treacherous policy”. When asked about his country’s stand on India’s nuclear tests, Mr Antonovich said that Belarus had no moral right to object to these tests as they were conducted in the context of New Delhi’s security concerns. “India has not violated any international treaty by conducting these tests”, he said. However, he hastened to add that Belarus would like India to sign the CTBT and the NPT. Expressing satisfaction over his talks with the Indian leaders during his five day stay in the country, the Foreign Minister said: “India has been our traditional friend and the two countries are keen on strengthening the economic and commercial ties. We have also discussed defence cooperation,” he said. Mr Antonovich met Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Vice President, Krishan
Kant, Industry Minister, Sikander Bakht, and Minister of
State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje during his
stay in the Capital. The two countries signed an
agreement on bilateral cooperation in the field of
science and technology. |
Stress on legal ethics must: CJI New Delhi, Oct 17 — Chief Justice of India A S Anand said here today that the judiciary needs to be made financially independent for the speedy disposal of cases and better administration of justice. “Judiciary has been a low priority item so far as the executive is concerned....as it has been placed as a non-plan item. It should be placed in the list of plan items,” Mr Justice Anand said. “Make it (judiciary) financially independent to clear the backlog of cases,” the newly-appointed Chief Justice said at a function organised by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to felicitate his appointment. Giving an example of the time taken by the executive to appoint new judicial officers on the recommendations of the high court, he said, “By the time they are appointed so much time is elapsed that they become insignificant.” He said in Delhi alone, the high court had appointed several subordinate judicial officers and several litigants had brought their cases before them. However, the judicial officers could not deliver justice as they did not have any courtroom or chamber. Mr Justice Anand stated that the situation in other parts of the country was even worse. Stating that the figures prepared by the Law Ministry a year ago, he said there were only 11 judicial officers in the subordinate courts per million persons compared to about 150 judicial officers in some other countries. On the question of increasing “interference” by the judiciary on the functions of the executive, Mr Justice Anand said the Constitution had clearly defined the roles of the legislature, executive and judiciary. “The judiciary only reminds the executive of its role, but it cannot take over or act as its substitute,” he said while acknowledging some aberrations. Highlighting the important role the BCI had to play in the training of lawyers, Mr Justice Anand said any effort to raise the standard of the judiciary should commence from the legal education and suggested the need to make legal ethics a compulsory subject. Earlier, Mr Ram
Jethmalani, Union Urban Development Minister, addressing
the gathering said there was need to set up a judicial
commission so that the appointment of judges could be
made less controversial. |
Fake-certificate racket
unearthed NEW DELHI, Oct 17 — The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police today claimed to have unearthed a racket of forged certificates on the basis of which a large number of students took admission to various colleges of Delhi University this year. The EOW received a tip off that large number of students had taken admission in various courses in different colleges of Delhi University on the basis of forged certificates. Sleuths of the wing scrutinised 1,100 forms of first year students of Shivaji College, of which the documents of 82 boys and 11 girls were found forged. Besides, 26 students were admitted on the basis of forged sports certificates, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Karnal Singh said. He said the CBSE authorities reportedly asked principals of the colleges affiliated to Delhi University to check the certificates of the candidates. However, it was apparently not done. When it was confirmed that more than 1,000 students had taken admissions to different colleges, the Crime Branch had started investigations during which it was found that Jai Prakash alias J.P., of Tughlakabad Extension was reportedly involved in this racket. The suspect allegedly runs a private college. A decoy was sent to the suspect and a deal was fixed for Rs 10,000 for a set of mark sheet, character and school leaving certificates. The decoy paid Rs 3,500 in advance against a receipt issued by the suspect. On the decided day the suspect handed over the certificates and the mark sheet following which personnel of the Crime Branch arrested him. During interrogation, he disclosed that he got the forged documents from Neeraj Gulati who runs Sachida Nand Education Centre in Uttam Nagar in South-West Delhi. A raid was conducted on the centre and several forged documents were seized. It was also disclosed that
Jai Prakash was also allegedly involved in the admission
to correspondence courses of CBSE and Delhi University.
He reportedly charged Rs 2,000 per certificate and Rs
17,000 for admission to a public school. |
Wreaths laid on Army
officer’s body NEW DELHI, Oct 17 — The mortal remains of Lieut Atul Katarya, who died fighting militants in the forests of Pir Panjal ranges in Jammu and Kashmir on October 14, were received by Major-Gen S K Awasthy, General-Officer Commanding, Delhi Area and Colonel of the Punjab Regiment at a ceremony at Delhi cantonment this morning. He was killed on Wednesday when in hot pursuit of militants. The patrol led by the young officer came under heavy fire. The officer immediately turned around and charged at the militants to protect his men. In the process, he was injured but he continued to engage the militants and forced them to withdraw. Later he succumbed to his injuries. Major-Gen Awasthy and a
large number of other senior officers laid wreaths on the
body of the young officer. |
Sonia to campaign for Assembly
poll NEW DELHI, Oct 17 — The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, will campaign here for the forthcoming Assembly election to be held on November 25. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president, Ms Sheila Dikshit, said here today that although Mrs Sonia Gandhi would campaign in the Capital, the modalities of the campaign strategy were still being worked out. "The election campaign will start by the release of the party manifesto in the first week of November," she said. "The names of the candidates being fielded by the party will be announced well before the last date of filing of nominations," she added. On being asked whether the election manifesto was similar to the manifesto prepared for the 1993 elections, she said there were going to be differences. "The circumstances then and now are much different," she stated. Ms Dikshit pointed out that the latest statistics issued by the Central Statistical Organisation had put New Delhi as the costliest city in the Country. "During the past one year, the average price rise in Delhi has been to the tune of 21.3 per cent, the highest in the country," she said, adding that things had come to such a pass "because of the BJP rule in Delhi." She observed that the high price of a commonly available vegetable such as onion was a "man-made creation". In spite of the failure of the onion crop earlier this year, the BJP government had been exporting it at Rs 10 per kg till July. And after the Assembly elections were announced, the government had woken up, she said. During the election
campaign, the DPCC was going to attack the BJP on various
fronts including the deaths due to consumption of
adulterated mustard oil, power and water crisis, steep
hike in essential commodities and the deteriorating law
and order situation in Delhi. |
RLM to hold rally on Oct 23 NEW DELHI, Oct 17 — The Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM), which has virtually decided to go it alone in the forthcoming Assembly elections in four states, will launch its campaign by holding a rally here on October 23. Talking to newspersons here, the RLM spokesman, Mr Amar Singh, said although it had good relations with the Left parties, no talks were under way about having an alliance for the elections. He said the RLM had also had no talks with the Congress in this regard. Mr Amar Singh, however, ruled out any talks with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and said the RLM had decided to field 50 candidates in Madhya Pradesh. The RLM would also field candidates in Delhi and had so far identified 17 seats. It was however still to finalise a strategy for Rajasthan. The RLM, consisting of the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party, will hold a rally in the Capital, in which top leaders of the RLM, including Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mr Shankar Sinh Vaghela would participate. He said the RLM would
finalise its electoral strategy a day before the rally
when it would also decide about its symbol. |
CPM efforts to form third alternative NEW DELHI, Oct 17 (PTI) — The CPM today said it had initiated efforts for forming a third alternative to the BJP and the Congress and does not rule out the inclusion of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM) in it. "We have started to rally all democratic, secular and Left forces to form the third alternative to defend national unity and secular fabric of our polity," CPM General Secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet told a press conference here, the first since the 16th party Congress in Calcutta. Stating that he had held discussions with leaders of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Tamil Maanila Congress, Asom Gana Parishad, Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party, Mr Surjeet said: "It is not difficult to bring these forces together as they all agree on forming a third alternative." He said the new alternative would take a common approach on various policy matters, especially secularism and the federal structure. Replying to a question on the inclusion of RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav in the third alternative, Mr Surjeet said: "We will carry on discussions to gather all forces. We have made our point on Mr Laloo Prasad and it is not a position taken now. We took a stand two years ago against corruption and backwardness in Bihar." Meanwhile, Mr Surjeet said: "I would like to retire and make place for the young," "I should have
retired by now, but I have to continue as the party feels
so," he said. |
192 fishermen missing after boats capsize MUMBAI, Oct 17 (PTI) — At least 192 fishermen, who had ventured into the choppy sea in cyclonic weather yesterday, were feared missing after their boats capsized off the Bombay harbour last night. However, 12 fishermen were rescued from a sinking boat, Maharashtra Fishermen’s Action Committee president Vijay Bandarkar told newsmen here today. He said two of the eight fishing boats from Versova in north-west Mumbai capsized while the remaining six were still missing. Of the capsized boats, eight fishermen on board "Akshata" were safe while one fisherman aboard "Gangadhar" swam ashore. The remaining seven fishermen on board the ship were missing, he said. The six boats, each carrying eight fishermen, which were still missing were Shivranjani, Saiprasad, Savita, Shivneri, Arati and Jallakshmi, Mr Bandarkar said. One fishing boat "Hemlata" from Satpadi village in Palghar tehsil of the neighbouring Thane district capsized but all 12 fishermen on board were rescued by boatmen. Besides, 11 more boats
with an average of 10 fishermen on board, were still
missing from the same place. Another fishing boat
"Darbar" from Vasai with 20 fishermen on board
was yet to report back since yesterday, Mr Bandarkar
added. |
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| AIDS and ignorance NEW DELHI: Ignorance that spawns discrimination of AIDS patients is more killing than the fatal syndrome itself. Espousing the cause for more awareness about HIV AIDS and love and care for those inflicted with it, Member of Parliament and noted film actress Shabana Azmi said dearth of adequate information about the scourge had remained a stigma which should be addressed more sternly as social discrimination against such patients force them to resign hopelessly to their fate than leading a normal life till they can. Speaking on the stone laying ceremony of the first ever dedicated hospice for HIV AIDS patients at the National Chest Institute here on Friday, Ms Azmi said many educated people, even doctors and nurses, had a lot of wrong notions about the syndrome which could cause real harm to the patients. — UNI 9 devotees buried alive Governor’s
effigy burnt HC notice to
ministry Out-of-turn
allotments 28 lakh rotten
eggs destroyed Water position
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