Friday, September 11, 1998
|
N A T I O N |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
 |
|
|
60 protesters hurt in lathi charge NEW DELHI, Sept 10 — The Delhi police today lathi-charged SC and ST members, who were holding a demonstration against the Delhi Government’s alleged cancellation of reservation for the SC and ST candidates in government services.
USA
denies meddling |
 |
Akalis ‘not doing enough’ NEW DELHI, Sept 10 — Former Union minister and leader of the Punjabi Bhalai Manch, Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, today charged the Shiromani Akali Dal with not doing enough for the exclusion of Udham Singh Nagar district from the proposed Uttaranchal state. Rao's son admits taking
'loan'
from
Karsan agent
|
|
RI
in murder cases challenged in HC Tributes
paid to G.B. Pant First
nuclear power project HLD
(R) delegation calls on Advani Vajpayee
sees no danger to govt Bezbaruah
rejoins as ED chief Laloo
dares Centre to sack Rabri PM
ridicules opposition parties Sonia
to meet kin of suicide victims |
||||||
 |
|||||||
60 protesters hurt in lathi
charge NEW DELHI, Sept 10 — The Delhi police today lathi-charged members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and the Scheduled Tribe (ST), who were holding a demonstration at the ITO crossing near the Police Headquarters against the Delhi Government’s alleged cancellation of reservation for the SC and ST candidates in government services. The demonstrators were led by the Akhil Bharatiya Parisangh (ABP).The president of the ABP, Mr D.C. Kapil, said at least 60 protesters were injured when the police cane-charged them. He said that 625 constables had been recruited in the Delhi police recently and no candidate from the SC and ST was appointed.Mr Kapil alleged that the police misbehaved with their organisation’s chairman, Mr Ram Raj, and added that the demonstrators objected to it.The police said it had to resort to lathi charge and use tear gas to control the mob. The DCP (central
district), Mr Ajay Kashyap, said there were about 1000
protesters and they had blocked the traffic for more than
an hour.When the protesters were requested to lift the
blockade they reportedly attacked the police personnel.
He said seven police personnel, including the ACP of
Darya Ganj, Mr Ram Narayan, were injured.A case of
rioting has been registered and 21 persons arrested, the
DCP said. |
RI in murder cases challenged
in HC NEW DELHI, Sept 10 — The award of rigorous imprisonment in murder cases has been challenged in the Delhi High Court. The high court has issued notice to the Delhi Government to file reply in an appeal by a convict challenging awarding of rigorous imprisonment in a murder case “without any provision in law”. The notice was issued by a division Bench headed by Justice Devinder Gupta on a review petition by convict Rampal against the lower court judgement, sentencing him to “rigorous” life imprisonment under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC. The petition filed through advocate Parmanand Katara challenged the “rigorous” imprisonment on the ground that there was no provision of the same under Section 302 or Clause 27 of Section 53 of the IPC, defining the nature of imprisonments. “Since the word rigorous does not specifically appear within the definition of Section 302 of the IPC, it cannot be awarded as punishment,” Katara told the court, adding a convict could only be awarded “simple” imprisonment under the provisions of the Section. “In Section 53 of the IPC also, the word rigorous has been excluded from the word imprisonment for life,” Katara claimed. Under rigorous imprisonment the convicts have to do hard labour which includes breaking stones, lifting weights up to 80 kg, grinding grains up to 45 kg and cooking food for about 50 prisoners daily, he said. Such hard work was not
possible for old people, women and patients, especially
those suffering from TB, blood pressure, heart and other
serious ailments, the petitioner said. |
Tributes paid to G.B. Pant NEW DELHI, Sept 10 (UNI) — The President, the Vice-President and Prime Minister today led the nation in paying tributes to Bharat Ratna Govind Ballabh Pant on his 111th birth anniversary. In his message, President
K.R. Narayanan lauded the former Union Home Minister as a
titan among the architects of modern India, who regarded
the duty of nation-building as sacrosanct.Vice-President
Krishan Kant said that with his practical vision and deep
knowledge, Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant accomplished great
tasks for the country. |
Akalis ‘not doing
enough’ NEW DELHI, Sept 10 — Former Union minister and leader of the Punjabi Bhalai Manch, Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, today charged the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with not doing enough for the exclusion of Udham Singh Nagar district from the proposed Uttaranchal state. Addressing a press conference here today, he claimed that as per information, some important BJP and RSS leaders had taken a decision earlier this week at a secret conclave to exclude Hardwar from the proposed state but retain Udham Singh Nagar district in it. Mr Ramoowalia claimed that at the meeting, a BJP leader also sought to underplay the threat of the SAD to withdraw support to the Vajpayee Government. He said the Punjabi Bhalai Manch demanded that the Akalis should not “deceive the Punjabis and should take a decision on withdrawing their representatives from the Centre before the UP Assembly passes the Bill on Uttaranchal. The Bill, he said, was due
to be passed on September 18, and asked the Akalis not
only to withdraw its ministers from the Union Council of
Ministers but also withdraw support to the government. |
3 more dropsy deaths in
Delhi NEW DELHI, Sept 10 — The toll in the dropsy epidemic mounted to 57 today after three more deaths were reported from city hospitals. Meanwhile, the Delhi Government is evolving a strategy to make available safe mustard oil at designated points in the city. The Minister for Health in the Delhi Government, Dr Harsh Vardhan, told newspersons here today that while two deaths were reported from Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital, the third was reported from Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital. He said while two persons had been under medication for about a fortnight, the third had been under treatment for nine days. Dr Vardhan said 50 persons with symptoms of dropsy had been admitted to various hospitals in the past 24 hours and 49 had been discharged after treatment. The Health Minister said
the Prevention of Food Adulteration Department of the
Delhi Government had collected 586 samples of mustard oil
of which 472 had been tested and 214 found to be
adulterated. |
First nuclear power project NEW DELHI, Sept 10 (PTI) — India’s first 500-MW nuclear power project is coming up at Tarapur near Mumbai, which was the launching pad of nuclear power in India with the commissioning of the first nuclear power plant in 1969.So far India is operating 220-MW nuclear power plants. The new Tarapur project
comprises two units — Tarapur Atomic Power Project
(TAPP) 3 and 4 —based on pressurised heavy water
reactors (PHWRs).These would be on a par with nuclear
power plants built elsewhere in the world, says Mr A.
Sanatkumar, Director (engineering), Nuclear Power
Corporation India Limited. |
English a short cut to fame? NEW DELHI, Sept 10 (PTI) — With coveted international awards and prizes coming its way, Indian writing in English has suddenly shot into global prominence raising a question whether writing in English is a quicker route to global recognition and media attention? Indeed yes, says Shishir Kumar Das, who writes in both Bengali and English, "writing in English always gets instant popularity for the simple reason that it has emerged as the lingua franca, the global language," says Das. Then why the translated works of Spanish poet Pablo Neruda and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who writes in French, are so popular the world over? "There is a hierarchy even in language. While English is the most widely-spoken, German, French and Spanish also enjoy international status. And in this linguistic hierarchy translations from Spanish stands a greater chance of being read than a work, for instance, in Hungarian." By the same token, Indian translations are not picked up by the buyer, says Das as this hierarchy exists within the country as well and a Hindi or Bengali translation gains popularity much faster than a minority language like Tulu. But Namita Gokhale, who writes in English herself, attributes it to how well the language fares in translation. "Spanish lends itself to translation very beautifully whereas the same flexibility is not seen in Punjabi or Tamil. Moreover, Spanish writers' scope of experience is so wide that the works carry a universality of appeal. "Indian writings are very much steeped in their particular cultural and regional context which the international reader finds it difficult to relate to or empathise with," says Gokhale. "French or Spanish works are popular because they have a pan-European culture that the western reader understands," she says. But author Urvashi Butalia of publishers kali for Women does not agree with the argument that predominant regional element is responsible for limited popularity. While in the international market, works of Indian languages are being sidelined, the national media, which routinely carries excerpts and interviews of writers in English, seem to be following suit. Geeta Hariharan, English fiction writer, blames the media and the 'attitude of the upper middle class' for this frenzy for works in English. "This is a highly complicated issue. To understand it we have to understand the power equation which lie outside the literary arena," she says. In this age of neo-colonialism, English has become the global language of power, "and if you are recognised outside, the people and the Press eulogise you. This difference will exist as long as we continue to see literature in such crude dichotomies," says Hariharan. The quality of translation in India leaves a lot to be desired, which is why these works don't find many takers, says Assamese writer Indira Goswami. The translation of some of the Russian works are carried out so well that the originality of the works remains intact, she says. Das agrees with this view.
Translation in Europe has evolved over the past 100 years
whereas in India we are yet to take the translation
mechanism as an integral part of the whole literary
exercise. |
HLD (R) delegation calls on
Advani NEW DELHI, Sept 10 — The Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) today demanded dismissal of the Bansi Lal government, alleging deterioration in law and order and large-scale corruption in the state. A delegation led by the HLD (R) leader, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, including party MPs and MLAs, today called on the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and presented a memorandum. The party sought a CBI probe into alleged malpractices in the recent police recruitments and a judicial probe into the involvement of Chief Minister’s relatives in various scams. “Lawlessness and corruption have reached such a level that Haryana has become worse than Bihar’’, Mr Chautala told mediapersons. He said the Home Minister had assured the delegation he would look into the matter personally. In a five-paged memorandum, the party quoted figures from newspapers indicating the rise in the crime graph between April and July this year. The party claimed that as per the reports, this period witnessed 510 murders, 259 attempts to murder, 261 incidents of rape, 344 cases of ransom, 252 robberies, 5,000 thefts and 2095 cases of thefts of vehicles. When asked if the demand for dismissal of the Haryana Government was a “pressure tactic”, the HLD (R) leader said: “We do not believe in the politics of pressure” and clarified that the party’s support was unconditional”. Another demand was to resolve the SYL canal issue. He said early construction of the canal would prevent the waters from flowing to Pakistan and would be a boon for the farmers of the region. The party also demanded
immediate implementation of interim report of Eradi
tribunal. |
Vajpayee sees no danger to govt LUCKNOW, Sept 10 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said there was no danger to his government and it would complete its full term as the people were satisfied with "our performance.’’ The Prime Minister, who arrived here on a two-day visit, said the people of the country were happy and satisfied with the performance of his government and all the opposition propaganda of a quick fall of the bjp-led government was just their "wishful thinking.’’ Addressing a gathering after dedicating to the people a community centre, Mr Vajpayee said the people of the country were aware of the fact that the problems pending for the past 50 years could not be solved within six months. "But our government
has been able to resolve the long standing dispute over
the Cauvery waters,’’ he said adding that if
honest efforts and initiatives were taken more such
problems could be solved amicably. |
Bezbaruah rejoins as ED chief NEW DELHI, Sept 10 — Mr M.K.Bezbaruah today rejoined as Enforcement Director after the appointments committee of the Cabinet last night approved the revocation of the earlier decision to transfer him to his parent cadre and cleared his reappointment in the Enforcement Directorate with immediate effect and until further orders. The reappointment of Mr Bezbaruah follows the Supreme Court’s criticism of the government for transferring the Enforcement Director abruptly. For Mr Bezbaruah it was "back to work as usual" when he went to the Directorate headquarters at Loknayak Bhavan and took over charge from the acting Enforcement Director, Mr M.C.Joshi. Mr Bezbaruah, who rejoined the post he had held for nearly three years before he was transferred to the Delhi Government on August 13, expressed the hope that all law enforcement officers would take right lessons from his episode. Initially Mr Bezbaruah was hesitant to make any comments and simply said it was back to work as usual for him in the ED and there was nothing to comment upon. Mr Bezbaruah was appointed as Director, Enforcement, on November 3, 1995, for a tenure of five years. The government, however, shifted him out of the ED on the plea that the Delhi Government had requested for the services of a competent officer to handle the Transport Department. Mr Bezbaruah, however, did not take up his new posting in the Delhi Government and requested that he be allowed to serve the Centre. The Supreme Court termed the transfer order as arbitrary and not in consonance with the apex court’s earlier judgement in the Jain hawala case detailing guidelines on insulating honest officers handling sensitive posts from the hazard of frequent transfers. The court also termed the
government’s affidavit justifying Mr
Bezbaruah’s transfer as "misleading". The
government later agreed to reinstate Mr Bezbaruah as
Director, Enforcement. |
MTV agrees to withdraw logo NEW DELHI, Sept 10 (UNI) — Following a meeting of its senior officers with Home Minister L.K. Advani, satellite TV channel MTV today agreed to withdraw the logo adopted by it in August, 1997, showing the colours of the Indian flag to join the celebration of 50 years of Indian Independence. However, a statement issued by MTV this evening said that it had been determined that the channel had not violated any law relating to the Indian flag, but was taking the action in a spirit of cooperation and goodwill. The statement said MTV was
proud of India and the Indian spirit and the use of the
colours of the Indian flag on its logo was its way of
"celebrating, saluting and commemorating 50 years of
Indian Independence" and not meant to show any
disrespect to the Tricolour. The channel also emphasised
that it had always attempted to abide by the regulatory
requirements of the country in which it operates. |
USA denies meddling NEW DELHI, Sept 10 (PTI) — The USA today denied that President Bill Clinton had asked Russia to suspend military cooperation with India during his recent visit to Moscow. During his meeting with President Boris Yeltsin, Mr Clinton said they had renewed their commitment to persuade India and Pakistan to reverse their arms race, the US Embassy here said in response to questions. Asked if President Clinton wanted a halt to Indo-Russian military ties, it said: "There was no such discussion". "Neither the President nor other senior officials asked any country to suspend its military relationship with either India or Pakistan although several have taken steps in the area of economic or security cooperation to signal their concern and to provide incentives to India and Pakistan to move in the direction favoured by the international community," it said. Reports from Moscow following the Clinton-Yeltsin summit had claimed that Washington had put pressure on Moscow to scrap its defence cooperation with New Delhi unless the latter signed the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) unconditionally. Moscow had also clarified that Indo-Russian defence cooperation was not part of the agenda of the summit. The American Embassy said Washington and Moscow had joined together at meetings of the five nuclear powers, group of eight industrialised nations and the United Nations Security Council in agreeing that India and Pakistan needed to adhere to global non-proliferation goals and to reduce tensions through renewal of dialogue. It said the May nuclear tests by India and Pakistan had heightened global concerns about the two countries continuing rivalry, cross-border tensions and prospects of a nuclear and missile race in South Asia. "We are seeking to discourage any steps which could aggravate tensions between the two countries", it added.
|
Laloo dares Centre to sack Rabri PATNA, Sept 10 (PTI) — RJD President Laloo Prasad Yadav today dared the Centre to dismiss the Rabri Devi government and called for immediate sacking of Union Ministers George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar for their statement that the state government "may be dismissed any moment". "Who are they (Nitish and George) to dismiss a democratically elected government. We are not on the mercy of anyone," Mr Yadav told reporters here. "We are not a
constable or daroga (sub-inspector) being placed under
suspension any moment. It is the government which enjoys
majority of the state assembly and President K.R.
Narayanan should take note of it," he said. |
PM ridicules opposition parties LUCKNOW, Sept 10 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today ridiculed opposition parties trying to cobble together an alternative government saying they would end up fighting among themselves and asserted there was no threat to his ministry. "Our political opponents are busy predicting our downfall. They are trying to cobble together an alternative government. But I am sure they will end up fighting among themselves", Mr Vajpayee said in an apparent reference to cracks between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party on firming up an alliance in future elections. Mr Vajpayee, who was addressing a series of public meetings here, said opposition parties were not playing a constructive role "as we had been doing in the past 40 years, always backing the government's decisions in larger national interests". CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said on Thursday his party would support the Vajpayee ministry at the Centre as his government did not want confrontation with the Union Government. "At the same time, it will not hesitate to raise its voice for the state's rights", he told reporters here. However, he stressed, the support of the DMK to the BJP as a political party was altogether a different issue. "We do not want any confrontation between the state government and the Centre", he added. On the reinstatement of Mr M.K. Bezbaruah as Enforcement Director, Mr Karunanidhi said he could not understand why the issue was raked up at all. AIADMK general secretary
Jayalalitha had demanded a CBI inquiry into the shifting
of Mr Bezbaruah from the post, but at the same time,
there were reports that he was shifted due to pressure
from her. |
Sonia to meet kin of suicide
victims CHANDIGARH, Sept 10 — The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, will visit Haryana and Punjab soon to share the grief of the families of those farmers who had allegedly committed suicide due to financial constraints during the past two years. Announcing this here today, the President of the Haryana Krishak Samaj, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, told newsmen here today that during her visit Mrs Gandhi would not address public meetings or party workers but only call on the families of the victims. She would apprise herself about the plight of the farmers. Mr Surjewala, who has raised the issue of alleged suicides by farmers in Haryana through his organisation, evaded a direct reply when asked if Mrs Gandhi would visit the area of Narwana, his home constituency, from where the Samaj had tabulated a large number of suicides. He welcomed the adoption of the economic programme of the Samaj for farmers and labourers by the Congress Party. Mr Surjewala expressed fears that the incidents of suicides by farmers would increase in the wake of "total failure" of commercial crops, particularly the cotton crop, for the third successive year in the State. He said under the circumstances the government should impose a three-year moratorium on recovery of all types of loans. He said interest for the moratorium period should be waived. The recovery of electricity bills of farmers should also be postponed for three years. To highlight the plight of
the farmers, the Samaj would stage a dharna outside the
regional office of the Punjab National Bank, which is the
lead bank of Haryana, at Rohtak on September 14. |
Rao's son admits taking 'loan' NEW DELHI, Sept 10 (PTI) — Former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s kin Sanjeeva Rao, a key accused in the Rs 133 crore urea scam case, today admitted before a city court that he had received Rs 32 lakh from Karsan’s Indian agent Sambasiva Rao in 1996 but claimed "it was a personal loan." "Actually I had received three cheques — two of Rs 10 lakh each and the third for Rs 12 lakh, from Sambasiva Rao. But the money was borrowed from him to make certain personal arrangements," Sanjeeva Rao told Special Judge V.B. Gupta through counsel Satish Tamta. The CBI had alleged in its charge sheet that Sanjeeva Rao received the amount from the Turkish firm Karsan’s Indian agent as his "share" in the urea deal. Dubai-based Indian businessman Rajendra Babbani in his confessional statement before a Delhi court in November 1997 said Sambasiva Rao had paid Rs 17 lakh to Sanjeeva Rao. Arguing that the charges
were baseless Tamta said: "The CBI knows that I
received the cheques on February 20, March 23 and April
11, 1996, and repaid the whole amount to him (Sambasiva)
with interest. But still they (CBI) have come out with
the charge sheet." |
| H |
|
||
| Mumbai corporator shot dead MUMBAI: An Independent Corporator of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. The motor cycle-borne assailants fired at Pradip, alias Pappu Sawant at close range while he was standing at Airoli Chowk, the police said, adding that no arrests have been made so far. —PTI Four kidnapped in Tripura Krishnaswamy to
represent India ASI to relocate
Rahilya temple Service rules
amendment 2 PWG workers
killed Sukhjinder Singh Pickle found
contaminated |
 |
 |
 |
| Punjab
| Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Stocks | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
