Friday, October 23, 1998
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Karnataka
crisis Bommai begins mission BANGALORE, Oct 22 — The crisis in the ruling Janata Dal in Karnataka remained, even as former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda held consultations with dissident legislators and senior party leader S.R. Bommai began his "trouble-shooting mission." Bid to
disturb website |
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16 killed in bus mishap KOTTAYAM, Oct 22 — Sixteen persons were burnt alive and 22 injured, five of them seriously, in a ghastly bus accident this morning at Pizhaku, 40 km from here, the police said.
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Expert warns of water shortage NEW DELHI, Oct 22 — A peek into the world five decades hence may not be pretty, according to reports which predict floods, acute water shortage, diseases, food scarcity and loss of biodiversity, as the emerging facets of the next century. ‘Shift statues of caste
leaders’ Buta
Singh to float regional party Jagdambika
Pal joins Cong Cong
to go it alone in Rajasthan Central
team report today |
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Karnataka
crisis BANGALORE, Oct 22 (UNI) — The crisis in the ruling Janata Dal in Karnataka remained unresolved tonight, even as former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda held consultations with the dissident legislators on the leadership issue and senior party leader S.R. Bommai began his "trouble-shooting mission." Earlier in the day, Chief Minister J.H. Patel, whose leadership was being challenged by the dissidents, announced the postponement of the Janata Dal Legislature Party (JDLP) meeting scheduled for October 28, in view of the Cauvery river authority meeting convened by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee on that day. Mr Gowda declined to comment on the postponement. Mr Deve Gowda’s consultations with the legislators, who were exerting pressure on him to play an active role in state politics, continued till late in the night. Emerging from the talks, Mr Gowda said no significance need be attached to his meetings. He would hold talks with Mr Bommai and Mr Patel after eliciting the views of all legislators wishing to speak to him. He declined to comment on the leadership issue. Mr Gowda also spoke at length with Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.C. Nanaiah who intervened to defuse the crisis. Mr Nanaiah later told newspersons that he had not come as an emissary of any leader but wanted to find a solution to the crisis. Mr Nanaiah said since his party believed in internal democracy such developments were bound to happen and he was confident the crisis would blow over very soon. He said the leadership issue did not figure during his more than an hour discussions with Mr Gowda. The major grouse of the legislators appeared to be over implementation of certain developmental works and functioning of various departments, he added. Mr Nanaiah said he would meet Mr Patel tomorrow and brief him on the discussions. Mr Gowda has claimed to
have met 46 legislators and nine ministers. |
16 killed in bus mishap KOTTAYAM, Oct 22 (PTI) — Sixteen persons were burnt alive and 22 injured, five of them seriously, in a ghastly bus accident this morning at Pizhaku, 40 km from here, the police said. Initial police reports had put the toll at 25. The 16 passengers, most of them women, were charred beyond recognition, the police said. The seriously injured were admitted to the medical college hospital with third degree burns. The private bus, plying between Pala and Thodupuzha, was carrying about 48 passengers and a crew of four, a trainee conductor, Tomy, who survived the accident with minor injuries, told a PTI correspondent who visited the spot. Tomy said the bus was coming at normal speed when it skidded, hit a wall, overturned and caught fire. It was assumed that most of the dead were women as the blaze consumed the front portion of the bus usually reserved for women. There were hardly any eyewitnesses to the accident as the area was deserted when the mishap occurred around 11 a.m. Police, fire brigade and the local people worked for about five hours to rip open the ill-fated bus and extricate the bodies. The 22 injured, most of
them men, have been admitted to the hospital. |
Bid to disturb website on J&K BHOPAL, Oct 22 (UNI) — A hacker made three unsuccessful attempts this week to disturb ‘Kashmir - a Paradise,’ an online programme on Internet which is aimed at presenting truth about Kashmir. According to India’s programme now available on www.nivall.com, the hacker made three attempts in three days with the last one at 8 p.m. on the Divali night. Earlier, a United Kingdom based Pakistani had hacked India’s website and forced India to change the website location as well as rename the programme as ‘Kashmir — a paradise.’ The site on Kashmir gives a daily update of events about developments in Kashmir valley and the Army’s role in restoration of normalcy and harmony in the region. It was noticed on October 13 that a disinformation campaign about Kashmir was being carried out on an Army website, which was apparently aimed at creating fear among the foreign tourists visiting Kashmir valley. The Union Government
admitted that the hackers had managed to change the
parameters of the site so that the website visitors could
be diverted to a different service. Later, necessary
locking systems were introduced to eliminate the changes
of recurrence of such incidents in the future. |
NHRC project to sensitise jail staff NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (UNI) — The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has launched a project on ‘human rights and prison management’ to bring about prison reforms by sensitising jail officials about human rights. According to the NHRC sources, the project launched in collaboration with the British Council, the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and the Penal Reforms and Justice Association (Praja) would be aimed at raising awareness on human rights among prison officials and improve jail management systems with special reference to promote good management practices, gender sensitivity and self-financing of jail managements. The Human Rights Project Fund of the foreign and commonwealth office of the United Kingdom would provide $ 85,000 for the project. Under this project India would seek to gain from the experience of the UK in prison management through a training visit of a group of 16 Indian prison officials to that country and using this group as a resource for designing, developing and implementing a training programme for 320 jail officials in India. The sources said that the project would be implemented through state human rights commissions in Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The BPRD, which has an outreach through the state police and prison officials and jail training institutions in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi, would work in these states on the project, they added. Praja, an NGO with international links would produce a training video that will be used as a part of the in-country training while the International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS), Kings College, London University would impart training to Indian prison officials in jail management, the sources said. Chairing a meeting of project partners, secretary-general of the NHRC N Gopalaswami said yesterday that though the prisoners lose some rights by virtue of becoming prisoners but they were entitled to some basic human rights even within the restriction of jails. Mr Andy Barclay, representing the ICPS, said that international models of good prisons need to be made available to develop appropriate policies on prisons. He said that human rights of prisoners could be achieved only when the prison managers have the support of the government and well trained officials to do the work. “Professionalism is required amongst the prison staff,” he said according to sources. Mr Barclay said some of the most important themes for training in human rights of prisoners ought to be maintenance of human dignity and of health rights of prisoners, making jails a safer place, making the best use of prisoners, maintenance of prisoners contacts with the outside world, proper complaints and inspection procedures, categorisation of prisons into special schemes and prison management and training of staff. He said training which was being given by the ICPS to jail officials in a number of European countries have brought about considerable changes in the management of prisons. The sources said that the
meeting was attended by representatives of the
commission, the BPRD, the Delhi School of Social Work,
the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, the Indian
Medical Association and several senior prison officials
of various states who made many important suggestions
regarding reforms. |
Expert warns of water shortage NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (PTI) — A peek into the world five decades hence may not be pretty, according to reports which predict floods, acute water shortage, diseases, food scarcity and loss of biodiversity, as the emerging facets of the next century. Countries fighting over water, sinking land forcing evacuation of millions of people, spiralling health diseases, changing pattern of crop growth, and animals fighting for survival is certainly not a figment of imagination but a fact. And the monster to blame for all these evils is familiar — global warming, says an expert who has pooled latest findings of about 1,000 leading scientists to bring out the alarming scenario. “While the history of global warming is short, its implications for the future are long, whichever way the world chooses to deal with it,” says Paul Brown in his book “Global Warming - Can Civilisation Survive ?”, published by the Universities Press Limited. While the scientific consensus on climate change is unprecedented, the book says by waffling about the uncertainties of ‘’scientific predictions’’, the scientists have failed to hammer home the magnitude of problem confronting humanity. This coupled with conflicting interests among countries and a weak political will has watered down any hard proposals made during climate conferences to tackle the change. The book traces the evolution of life on earth from the beginning and co-relates the shifts in climate to disasters and advantages. It says while heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide, chlorofluoro carbons and methane aid natural global warming to keep our planet warmer by 33°C, the last two centuries have seen a steep enhancement of these gases, which has upset the fine ecological balance. Citing the latest 1996 report from scientists, Brown says pumping of green house gases due to human activities have already altered the composition of the atmosphere. “This has made temperature climb more rapidly at any time in the past 10,000 years”, he says adding that a two degrees rise is not a far cry now. The book portends the
changes that will follow suit, some of which are already
affecting humanity. |
‘Shift statues of caste leaders’ CHENNAI, Oct 22 (PTI) — Shifting of statues of caste leaders to safer places and a legislation to prevent caste-based associations from involving in politics have been recommended by a committee appointed by the Tamil Nadu Government to suggest ways to prevent recurrence of caste and communal violence in the state. The committee, headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice S. Mohan, suggested that the government and individuals desist from installing statues in public places to avoid their desecration which trigger caste violence. The committee, appointed in the wake of caste violence which claimed 11 lives in Ramanathapuram district last month, recommended that statues installed in several parts of the state be removed to safer places saying most incidents broke out because of desecration of statues. It also suggested amendments to the electoral laws for rotation of constituencies reserved for scheduled castes and backward classes. The committee, whose recommendations were placed at an all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi today, said community certificates should be demanded only for admission to professional colleges and for joining service. The committee also recommended rapid industrialisation of the southern districts and more schemes on the lines of Samathuvapuram (equality habitats) where people belonging to all castes and communities could live together in harmony. Setting up of separate schools and hostels for particular communities and demanding of caste certificates at every stage of one’s life, except at the time of admission to educational institutions and employment, should be avoided. Stressing the need for educating the police force on social issues in an unbiased manner, filling of existing vacancies in the police force and strengthening the police intelligence network in sensitive areas, the committee suggested that the state government establish a grassroots level network to gather information to quickly avert caste clashes. It wanted statutory powers to be granted to the peace committees at the village level. The committee wanted proper implementation of the acts relating to protection of civil rights of Dalits and quick disposal of cases relating to caste clashes through special courts and summary trials. Also, laws should be amended to ensure rotation of reserved constituencies. The district collectors should be vested with more powers to take stern action against those indulging in provocative speeches and resorting to printing of posters and pamphlets to instil casteist feelings, it added. Other important recommendations made by the committee included banning of scenes instigating casteist feelings and violence in films, overhauling of the education system, encouragement of intercaste marriages as suggested by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and bunching of existing statues. The committee also
suggested that the state government consider enacting an
appropriate legislation to directly or indirectly ban the
entry of casteist outfits into politics. Efforts were
being taken to enact a law to separate religion from
politics in Japan, it pointed out. |
Buta Singh to float regional party JODHPUR, Oct 22 (PTI) — Former Union Minister Buta Singh has decided to float a regional political party in Rajasthan and not to rejoin the Congress. “The talks with the Congress about my rejoining it have not yielded any result and I have now decided to launch a new regional political party in Rajasthan”, Mr Buta Singh, an independent member of the Lok Sabha from Jalore, told reporters here yesterday. The name and symbol of the party would be decided within a week and the new organisation would field candidates in the coming Assembly elections in the state, Mr Buta Singh said. He said he had already toured western Rajasthan to have views of his supporters and well-wishers about the proposed party. Mr Buta Singh said he
would launch the new party after his visit to Udaipur,
Kota and Jaipur divisions this week. |
Jagdambika Pal joins Cong NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (UNI) — The Congress today received a boost in UP with former state Chief Minister Jagdambika Pal returning to the party, along with a majority of his Loktantrik Congress followers. Those who joined the party along with Mr Pal included Puran Singh Bundel, MLA from Lalitpur, and former MPs Puran Chand and Oscar Shankayawar. Samajwadi Party leader and former legislator O.P. Jindal and BSP leader Sukhbir Singh Gehlot also joined the party. Making the announcement in
the presence of UPCC President Salman Khursheed at the
AICC headquarters, party general secretary Tariq Anwar
said these leaders had been admitted into the party by
Congress President Sonia Gandhi. |
Cong to go it alone in Rajasthan NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (PTI) — The Congress declared today that it would go it alone in the assembly elections in Rajasthan next month. "We are capable enough to contest the elections on our own," party spokesperson Girija Vyas said when asked whether the Congress would forge any alliances for the Rajasthan elections. Meanwhile, senior party
leader Natwar Singh told a private TV programme that the
Congress would not project anybody as its Chief
Ministerial candidate in the assembly elections in the
state. |
Central team report today NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (UNI) — The Union Food Ministry team which yesterday left for Punjab to assess the damage to unsold paddy stocks lying in markets because of recent unseasonal rain will submit its report to the Centre tomorrow, official reports said. The team, headed by Mr B.B. Patnaik, Joint Commissioner, Storage and Research, Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs, and comprising officials from the FCI, will give its recommendations on the Punjab Government's demand for relaxation in procurement norms. The Central team was
despatched to the state yesterday in response to Punjab
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's request to Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee seeking help for the state
farmers whose matured paddy crop and harvested stocks
were badly damaged by incessant rain during the first
half of the current month. |
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| Teachers’ attendance
high: survey NEW DELHI: In a surprise finding, a new study on teacher absenteeism in primary schools in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh shows that a majority of 83 per cent teachers regularly attend school. But at the same time, primary teachers are frequently involved in a variety of non-academic activities like the poverty line survey, economic survey and literacy activities which affect their school participation and motivation, says the study conducted by Development and Research Services for the District Primary Education Programme Bureau, Department of Education, Government of India. The study observes that there is a demand from teachers, education administrators and community representatives that this practice be stopped forthwith to improve the functioning of primary schools. — UNI 15 killed in bus mishap Tripura CM ready
for talks 17 held for group
clash Former Samajwadi
MP arrested 23 UP districts
ISI affected: DGP |
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