Thursday, September 10, 1998

Judge to probe dropsy cases
NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — A sitting Judge of the Delhi High Court would probe the entire gamut of the dropsy tragedy which has so far claimed 52 lives and left more than 2,000 ill.

DRDO system to fight N-fallout
NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — India has joined a select band of military powers by indigenously developing protective systems which not only combat contamination caused by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons but also functions as a nuclear shelter.

Pachmarhi camp ‘helped Cong’
BHOPAL, Sept 9 — Congress Working Committee member Arjun Singh today said the party’s recent three-day brainstorming camp at Pachmarhi had helped in “demolishing the unseen wall that existed between Congressmen and the party President”.

Former Cong leaders rejoin party
NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — Four former Congress members from Bihar — former Union Minister Krishna Sahi, former CWC member D.P. Yadav, Mr Vijay Shanker Dubey and Mr Muizur Rehman, both former ministers in the Bihar Government, returned to the partyfold.

CERC to finalise guidelines
NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — Central Electricity Regulatory Commission today said it would finalise its guidelines and place it before Parliament by this year end.

Dam experts’ visit opposed
NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — Gujarat has strongly opposed the proposed visit of the World Commission of Dams to India and urged the Centre to ban its entry saying the commission’s visit at this juncture could affect early construction of the Sardar Sarovar Project on Narmada.

No rule of law in Bihar, says Thakre

GIRIDH (Bihar), Sept 9 (PTI) — The BJP president, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, today said, "The rule of law in Bihar has ended" and he has already apprised the Centre of his party’s view that the Rabri Devi government must be dismissed.

Terming the Bihar Government as "corrupt and incompetent", he told reporters at Madhuban near here "rule of law in Bihar has ended... Anybody can fall prey to bullets any time... No one is safe".

He said there was no option other than invoking Article 356 in the state.

Denying reports on his recent statement from Amritsar ruling out imposition of President’s rule in Bihar, Mr Thakre said, "My statement was distorted....The BJP has only one opinion on Bihar, that the state government be dismissed."

Asked why the Centre was delaying action against the state government, Mr Thakre said, "The coalition government has its compulsions despite the fact that the BJP is the key constituent of the coalition."

He said being BJP national president he had already apprised the Centre of his party’s view on the matter.

Mr Thakre said he would call on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on his return to Delhi to "submit a report on the situation in the state."

Mr Thakre today ruled out mediation by India to settle the "ethnic conflicts" in Sri Lanka.

Referring to a demand by his party’s Tamil Nadu unit for such mediation by the Prime Minister, Mr Thakre told reporters the step taken by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to settle the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka had "created lots of difficulties...And we will not like to repeat the same mistake".

"We neither favour division of Sri Lanka nor do we like to play a mediatory role to resolve the conflict there," he said, adding that Sri Lanka should settle such problems on its own.

He also said the BJP-led government would not sign the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) in its present "discriminatory" form.

Mr Thakre expressed confidence that India and Pakistan would be able to find a solution to the vexed Kashmir problem during the proposed bilateral talks when the Prime Ministers of the two countries meet during the UN General Assembly session next month.

He, however, said India would not accept "any third-party intervention" on Kashmir.

Spurned RLM leaders attack Congress
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — With the possibility of coming back to power receding after the Samajwadi Party and its partner in the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM), Rashtriya Janata Dal, were spurned at the Pachmarhi session, the morcha today launched a scathing attack on the Congress.

Morcha spokesman Amar Singh, addressing a press conference here along with Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, said the Congress had strayed from its path of fighting communal parties and was making the secular parties like the SP and the RJD as its target. The two leaders threatened to "open the Pandora's box" if the Congress did not stop targeting their parties.

While pointing out that the RLM would not falter from its path of fighting the communal forces in the country, Mr Amar Singh said the morcha had taken exception to the Congress describing its leaders, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav as "unreliable". The morcha described the Congress perception of bi-polar politics as wrong.

The Congress at its recent "vichar manthan shivir" at Pachmarhi had assessed that "coalition politics was a temporary phase" and its president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, had given a call to rejuvenate the party with the aim to regain its social and political base in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Mr Amar Singh said the comment that Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav were "unreliable was an insult to the morcha and the Congress should clarify the charges levelled against the morcha leaders. He said if this was not done, the morcha would be compelled to ask various questions, including why minorities had got disenchanted with the Congress. "At present we don't want to add fuel to the fire," the morcha spokesman observed.

Mr Amar Singh said if the Congress was not ready to bring down the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre, the RLM would not put an end to its fight against the communal forces. He also asked the Congress to specify which party was casteist. He said only one party — BSP — was casteist and the Congress had a poll alliance with it.

While pointing out that the Congress was fast turning into a regional party, Mr Amar Singh said: "We are still reserving our last comments on the issue". He, however, said the morcha was still not averse to lending support to the Congress if it wanted to form the government. "But now the Congress would have to seek our support".

He also said the morcha was considering to go it alone in the November assembly elections in four states, diminishing prospects of a poll alliance with the Congress.

BJP criticises Natwar Singh
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — The political battle between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the principal opposition party — Congress — took an ugly turn today with the former charging the latter with "losing sight of national interest".

The BJP general secretary Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, chose to single out the former minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Natwar Singh, taking exception to his "unwarranted and ill-tempered comments".

Reacting to Mr Natwar Singh’s sharp comments on the country’s foreign policy lapses at the NAM summit in Durban and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s reference to Kashmir in his annual report, Mr Naidu said: "We are not surprised that the Congress has chosen to denigrate the Prime Minister of India even while singing praises of the head of a foreign government. Anything to the contrary would have been surprising."

"In its cynical attempt to politicise all issues, including those of national interest, the Congress has lost sight of right and wrong. Neither are we surprised that special teams are being dispatched to South Africa and China. Such activity is in harmony with the thinking of the likes of Mr Natwar Singh who have a worm’s view of the world", Mr Naidu said in a written statement.

Taking objection to the Congress description of the South African President, Dr Nelson Mandela, as a "living Gandhi", Mr Naidu said Mr Natwar Singh obviously was "ignorant of what transpired at Durban and the real reasons behind the unfortunate reference to Jammu and Kashmir by Mr Nelson Mandela in his inaugural address to the NAM summit".

"The issue is not one who is greater than who: Mr Vajpayee dealt with Mr Mandela as the Prime Minister of a sovereign country with the President of another sovereign country", he said.

"If there was any diplomatic lapse in South Africa, it was during the years when Mr Natwar Singh’s party, and later the United Front, were in power. Mahatma Gandhi may provide an emotional link between India and South Africa, but chanting the Mahatma’s name and describing Mr Mandela as ‘living Gandhi’ cannot be substitute for diplomacy", the BJP leader said.

Mr Natwar Singh reacted sharply to Mr Naidu’s charges saying that "the Congress does not need lessons of patriotism and nationalism from the BJP". He said "we were completely isolated at the NAM summit and not a single country responded to India".

Mr Natwar Singh, a former officer of the Indian Foreign Service having served as country’s envoy in many world capitals, suggested that a senior political leader of the BJP-led coalition government should have visited South Africa ahead of the summit and met Dr Mandela .

"It is the BJP which has brought Jammu and Kashmir to the centrestage of world attention", Mr Natwar Singh said. Two years ago Kashmir was being removed from the UN Security Council agenda as it had become a non-issue, he said.

"Had we handled it with wisdom and sobriety in Durban, we would have had different results", he said adding that "between 1965 and this year, the Security Council did not discuss the Kashmir issue".

17 rhinos killed in Kaziranga flood

GUWAHATI, Sept 9 (PTI) — The scene at Kaziranga National Park, the famed one-horn rhino safari in Assam, presents a desolate sight with carcasses of animals floating in flood waters which have submerged 95 per cent of the park.

Park officials say at least 162 animals, including 17 rhinos, have perished in this season’s devastating floods in Kaziranga.

However, the exact number of dead animals will be known only after the water dries as it is impossible to conduct any search now, they said.

The stench of carcasses hangs heavy as the silence of death pervades the sprawling area.

Among the 17 rhinos, three were killed by poachers outside the national park in neighbouring Nagaon and Karbi Anglong districts when the animals ventured out of the protected area to escape the floods.

One rhino was killed last night, while the other two were killed on September 2 and 7, sources added.

Other animals which perished in the calamity are deer, buffaloes and elephants, most of them after being hit by trucks on the adjoining national highway, where they had taken shelter.

CVC ordinance challenged in SC

NEW DELHI, Sept 9 (PTI) — The validity of the recent Central Vigilance Commission ordinance was challenged in the Supreme Court today on the ground that it limited the appointment of the CVC only to civil servants disregarding both law commission guidelines and the apex court’s directive in the Jain-Hawala case.

During the hearing on the multi-crore Indian Bank scam case, amicus curiae Anil Divan contended before a three-Judge Bench headed by Mr Justice S.P. Bharucha the ordinance confined the choice of the Vigilance Commissioner to the IAS though the apex court judgement as well as the Law Commission’s draft clearly contemplated "others" being considered for the post.

Solicitor-General Sontosh Hegde sought two weeks time to apprise the court about the legality of the ordinance and the matter was adjourned till September 22.

Mr Divan said the Jain-Hawala judgement "clearly mentioned that the panel could be from civil servants and others. The Law Commission draft also clearly contemplated ‘others’ being considered. Yet the ordinance confines the choice to civil servants."

He said the authority of the CVC was wholly diluted by giving coordinate powers to several other Vigilance Commissioners who would again be from the category of civil servants.

The ordinance has conferred on the CVC original powers for investigation, Mr Divan said and added that the commission would start "interfering with the normal powers of investigation by the normal investigating agencies".

"What was clearly contemplated by the judgement was that the role of the CVC was superintendence by a single CVC of impeccable integrity. This idea was discarded and jettisoned," the amicus lamented.

The amicus curiae sought stay on any further appointments of Vigilance Commissioners or others under the ordinance and pleaded that Mr Arvind Varma, who has been made the ex-officio member of the commission, be restrained from serving in the commission.

Mr Divan said "Secretary in the Ministry of Personnel (Varma) has been made ex-officio member of the CVC. This is the department which controls the CBI and is under the PMO".

"Unlike the other Vigilance Commissioners, he (Varma) does not have to take oath of office, does not go through the selection process and is a member of the commission though not a Vigilance Commissioner," Mr Divan said expressing surprise.

The amicus contended that "this provision is not only contrary to the recommendations of the Law Commission but is entirely subversive of the directions given in the judgement."

Judge to probe dropsy cases
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — A sitting Judge of the Delhi High Court would probe the entire gamut of the dropsy tragedy which has so far claimed 52 lives and left more than 2,000 ill.

A judicial probe by the sitting high court Judge, Mr Justice Anil Dev Singh, would conduct the inquiry, the standing counsel for the Delhi Government, Mr Arvind Nigam, informed the Delhi High Court today.

The Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court on a request from the state government appointed the sitting Judge for a one-man judicial commission to probe the incident.

The commission has been instituted taking into consideration the gravity of the situation where the authorities have failed to detect the sources of adulteration of mustard oil in the Capital. Cases of dropsy have also been reported from other parts of the country.

The CBI was earlier asked by the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to probe the reasons and circumstances which led to the sudden outbreak of dropsy nationwide.

The Delhi police is also probing cases of dropsy death in the Capital and has been conducting raids in different parts of Delhi to seize adulterated oil.

The police has so far registered 305 cases. The CBI has decided to probe 34 cases where deaths were reported.

The Prevention of Food Adulteration Department of the Delhi Government has collected 561 samples so far of which 422 were analysed. As many as 203 of them were found to be adulterated. Even popular brands — Panghat and Rath — were found to be contaminated. Of the 22 vanaspati samples collected, 20 were found to be adulterated with argemone oil, the Delhi Government standing counsel submitted to the court.

Till Tuesday, 55 persons, including manufacturers, vendors and distributors of Dhara, Kanodia, Scooter, Hathi, Parivar, Jumbo and Elephant had been prosecuted under Section 17 (4) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. Non-bailable warrants have been issued against all these accused.

The standing counsel informed a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice K.S. Gupta that nine mobile vans had been stationed near the offices of the Deputy Commissioner and other prominent places in the nine districts of Delhi to get mustard oil tested free of cost.

The Bench expressed concern over the Centre and state governments’ failure to establish how large quantities of adulterated oil suddenly came to the city market causing dropsy.

“The officials are unable to throw any light on this aspect and it is not clear whether this angle is being investigated or not”, the Bench observed.

Appreciating the efforts of legal activist B.L. Wadhera to bring before the court a PIL on such an important issue, the Bench said the authorities only worked after some instructions were issued by the court even though dropsy cases were reported much earlier.

DRDO system to fight N-fallout

NEW DELHI, Sept 9 (PTI) — India has joined a select band of military powers by indigenously developing protective systems which not only combat contamination caused by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons but also functions as a nuclear shelter.

“The nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) systems, successfully designed and developed by the scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) can function effectively in a contaminated area and remove the deadly effects of weapons of mass destruction,” says a Defence Ministry official.

Following the nuclear tests by both India and Pakistan, the NBC systems were the need of the hour, according to Mr Rajiv Nayan of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

With the indigenously-built systems, India joins the select band of countries like the USA, Russia, China, Israel and the NATO members who possess similar protective mechanisms.

Apart from causing large-scale destruction of life and property, a nuclear bomb regardless of its tonnage emits deadly radiation.

Radiation, coupled with release of extreme heat and rise in air pressure, due to the blast of a 20-kilo tonne nuclear bomb can prevent entry of any man or vehicle within a radius of 1.5 km.

The NBC systems overcome the problem by working from a distance facilitating the soldiers’ entry to the contaminated area to carry out decontamination process, say DRDO sources.

For protection against biological arms, special systems have been evolved which can guard respiratory tracts and filter the contaminated air besides immunising the troops against disease causing organisms.

There is also a system to combat chemical weapons efficiently by clearing a contaminated zone of toxic chemicals, the sources say, adding the system can prevent entry of harmful materials through the skin or by inhalation.

The NBC collective protective system (CPS) can provide protection even against a nuclear blast, Defence sources say.

The CPS is a pre-fabricated galvanised steel structure with two main living modules that can shelter 60 people for 96 hours and a utility module all connected by vestibules.

Pachmarhi camp ‘helped Cong’

BHOPAL, Sept 9 (PTI) — Congress Working Committee member Arjun Singh today said the party’s recent three-day brainstorming camp at Pachmarhi had helped in “demolishing the unseen wall that existed between Congressmen and the party President”.

The camp offered the Congress an occasion to look at all issues in detail and thus avoid a lopsided approach to problems, Arjun Singh told PTI in an interview here.

He said the comments made against the camp only displayed the latent anti-Congressism of some political parties and individuals. These comments were being made by many including those who wanted to write off the Congress.

The BJP, which had described the camp as a failure, belonged to this category since it did not want the Congress to exist anymore, he added.

He said it was wrong to presume that the party had taken a hardline stand against alliances with political parties opposed to the BJP.

Asked if the camp had in some way led to strengthening of Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, he said for the rank and file Sonia had always been their undisputed leader.

“Right from the day Sonia assumed the leadership of the party, all types of Congressmen have been with her and this did not change with the passage of time,” he added.

Although some people continued to cast doubts on her leadership, such expressions should be seen as part of normal political life, Arjun Singh felt.

He expressed confidence that following the Pachmarhi camp, the party was better placed than before in the four states — Delhi, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — where assembly elections were slated for November this year.

The elections would also provide the first major test for the BJP after a government led by it was formed at the Centre in March this year, he said.

Former Cong leaders rejoin party
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — Four former Congress members from Bihar — former Union Minister Krishna Sahi, former CWC member D.P. Yadav, Mr Vijay Shanker Dubey and Mr Muizur Rehman, both former ministers in the Bihar Government, returned to the partyfold.

Their “homecoming” was announced at the AICC headquarters by AICC general secretary Madhavrao Scindia, who is in charge of party affairs in the state.

Ms Sahi had quit the Congress ahead of the 1998 Lok Sabha elections after being denied the party ticket. She contested from Begusarai as the Samata Party candidate and lost. She had held several portfolios at the Centre.

Mr Yadav, too, had left under similar circumstances and joined the Samajwadi Party. Mr Dubey was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party while Mr Rehman was with the Janata Dal.

CERC to finalise guidelines

NEW DELHI, Sept 9 (PTI) — Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) today said it would finalise its guidelines and place it before Parliament by this year end.

“We are now in the process of framing the regulations and guidelines on the functioning of CERC and I hope to table the same in Parliament by the end of December,” Chairman of the newly constituted CERC Dr S.L. Rao told PTI.

“Before placing the regulations in Parliament, CERC will publicise its guidelines and invite public debate and also incorporate views of various experts,” he said.

The CERC Act stipulates that every regulation made by the Central Commission shall be laid as soon as possible before both Houses of Parliament when in session for a total period of 30 days, Rao said.

Legal procedures to be followed by the independent regulatory commission have been worked out and CERC is now preparing the basic tariff structure to be adopted by the generating companies, the CERC chairman said.

The CERC Act stipulates that energy tariffs of generating units and transmission entities should be such that while earning adequate returns they should at the same time not exploit their dominant position in generation sales of electricity or in the inter-state power transmission.

Dam experts’ visit opposed

NEW DELHI, Sept 9 (PTI) — Gujarat has strongly opposed the proposed visit of the World Commission of Dams (WCD) to India and urged the Centre to ban its entry saying the commission’s visit at this juncture could affect early construction of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) on Narmada.

The Chief Minister Mr Keshubhai Patel and the Narmada Development Minister, Jaynarayan Vyas, told mediapersons that the state government was especially against the commission holding public hearings at Bhopal and at the SSP site later this month.

They said the commission had “no official locus standi” and it was only a body of some experts. They also expressed doubts about the commission as two of its “commissioners” in India — Ms Medha Patkar and Mr L.C. Jain, were known for their anti-dam views.

Ms Patkar, who leads the Narmada Bachao Andolan, is a party to the petition pending before the Supreme Court on the advisability of construction of the Narmada Dam, they said. So far, Rs 7500 crore has been spent on the SSP.

The Chief Minister has already written to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission on the issue and will be meeting the Prime Minister later today.

86 die of diarrhoea in Bihar
PATNA: Diarrhoea has, so far, claimed 86 lives in Bihar’s Katihar, Sheikhpura and Vaishali districts. Reports from Katihar quoting civil surgeon J.P. Singh said here on Tuesday that 45 deaths were reported from the district due to the disease which had spread in an epidemic form in the flood-affected Kursaila, Manihari and Amdabad blocks. Over 1300 people had been affected by the disease. District Magistrate Harjot Kaur said only five of 20 medical officers specially deputed by the state government had reported on duty so far. — UNI

“Probe Naxalite leader’s death”
CALCUTTA: Twentysix years after the death of his rebel father, a son still seeks “impartial investigations” into his death. Mr Abhijit Mazumdar, son of CPI (ML) leader Charu Mazumdar who once led famous Naxalite movement in West Bengal, and the Association of Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) have decided to file a writ petition in Calcutta High Court urging it to make impartial investigation’’ into the leader’s death. Briefing mediapersons here on Tuesday APDR president Gachidananda Banerjee said the writ petition would be in nature of public interest litigation. The petition would also urge the High Court to investigate into “disappearance and execution” of another prominent CPI (ML) leader Saroj Dutta, he added. — UNI

Open university at Allahabad
LUCKNOW: An open university, on the lines of IGNOU, will be set up at Allahabad by the UP Government. This decision was taken here on Tuesday at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Kalyan Singh. The university would be named “Rajarshi Tandon Open University”. Regional sub-centres of the proposed university would provide teaching and research facilities through correspondence, and other courses for the students living in the far-flung areas. The university will start functioning in about a year.—UNI

Plea for phased poll in Rajasthan
JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Government has requested the Election Commission to hold the coming State Assembly elections in two phases. State government officials told Deputy Election Commissioner Subhash Pani at a high-level meeting on Tuesday that the two-phased election programme would facilitate redeployment of security personnel from one place to another for ensuring peaceful and smooth polling. They also requested the Commission that the gap between the two phases should be at least three days in view of the state’s vast geographical area. — UNI

NLFT demands Rs 70 lakh ransom
AGARTALA: The banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) has demanded Rs 70 lakh as ransom for releasing the 10 bus passengers abducted from Aloycherra in South Tripura on Monday, the police said on Wednesday. The ransom note was recovered by a security party combing the area on Tuesday. They said the security forces had nabbed three militants and recovered olive green outfits and other commodities from them. — PTI

Three of a family hacked
VIJAYAWADA: A 52-year old man, his wife and adopted son were hacked to death by some unidentified persons at Kammaturu here, on Tuesday. The SP of Krishna district, Mr Harish Gupta said the victims were identified as Gutta Chandrasekhar Prasad, his wife Lakshmi Nancharanma (48) and adopted son Kranti Kiran (10). A dispute between Prasad and his relatives over the adoption of Kranti Kiran, allegedly led to the murders. — UNI

Businessman kidnapped
SAHARANRUR: Mr Satpal, a cloth merchant was kidnapped from near the police station when he was returning from Roorkie on Saturday. The search for the kidnapped man is on. — FOC

Heart check-up camp
SAHARANPUR: A heart check-up camp free of cost will be organised jointly by the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, Delhi and Saharanpur Jaycees on September 15 at Hotel Suryalok. — FOC