 |
| Thursday, February 3, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
Graft case against top IPS officer
VP: statute review undemocratic “Water” cleared after
certain deletions Mass rape by ultras: probe ordered Orissa BJP leaders quit |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Speilberg to open short
films’ festival Dental association president
elected ‘Karnataka trying to usurp
Krishna water’
|
Graft case
against top IPS officer NEW DELHI, Feb 2 — The raids by the CBI on the office and residence of a senior Indian Police Service officer, Mr J.K. Sharma, now posted as Additional Commissioner of Delhi Police (PCR), has brought to light possession of assets worth Rs 1.17 crore by him. The agency has registered a case against the senior official as the assets were allegedly disproportionate to his known source of income. Besides his office and residence, various places linked to Mr Sharma were also raided, which resulted in the detection of huge assets in the name of the officer and his family members, a CBI official said. The CBI uncovered a DDA flat in Dwarka, one showroom of gold jewellery in Hauz Khas village market, one industrial plot with a building at Patparganj industrial area in North-East Delhi, one plot at Greater Noida, one plot at Sushant Lok, one plot at Najafgarh in South-West Delhi and one plot measuring 11 acres at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, the CBI recovered jewellery worth about Rs 7 lakh, $ 8000, one AC Maruti Esteem car, investment in shares, debentures and other securities including chit funds and household items worth Rs 13 lakh. Balance in savings bank accounts in different banks was Rs 14.7 lakh. The official said Mr Sharma and his family members also had six credit cards in their names. Documents pertaining to property and others seized during the raid would be scrutinised for further investigation. Mr J.K. Sharma, who was posted as Additional Commissioner of Police (Police Control Room), was not available for comments. The Commissioner of Delhi Police, Mr Ajai Raj Sharma, said that the raid conducted by the CBI on the office and residence of Mr J.K. Sharma had tarnished the image of the police force. The corruption case against Mr Sharma was under investigation for a long time. The raid was conducted after the CBI would have collected some concrete evidence. He expressed helplessness to take action against Mr Sharma as it was the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which could take action against IPS officers. He said the CBI would submit report to the ministry. The Commissioner said, “If he is found involved in corruption, he will not be given sensitive postings. He will be kept under strict watch. If proofs of his involvement in corruption are available, he will be asked for explanation. “ The Commissioner said that the CBI had not yet informed him about the recovery of the assets and documents seized during the raid. He said that preliminary investigation was also going on against the Deputy Commissioner of Police (10th Battalion, Armed Police), Mr B.S. Bola. The case against Mr
Sharma had tarnished the image of the Delhi police though
it was the first case in the history of the City Police,
the Commissioner reiterated. |
Indian
Navy begins major exercise NEW DELHI, Feb 2 — India’s most sophisticated fighter jet, Sukhoi-30 would for the first time be seen in action in a manoeuvre over the Indian seas along with IAF’s Jaguar combat planes and the Indian Navy’s Sea Harrier jumpjets in one of the biggest-ever exercises in the Arabian Sea which got underway today. The exercise “Springex” would continue till April and would involve 40 warships and 45 combat aircraft drawn from the Navy and the Air Force. The Navy also announced its decision to hold the first international fleet review in Mumbai harbour next year. The Coast Guard would also participate in the manoeuvres which will have warships and submarines both from the western and eastern fleet of the Navy. This would be the biggest exercise after the Kargil conflict and would culminate in Andaman and Nicobar Islands with Navy, Air Force and Army taking part, Navy Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar told reporters here. “The exercise is aimed at validating existing and future tactical doctrines and new weapons and sensors,” the Admiral said noting that India would be shortly getting Russian-made submarine Sindhushastra equipped with highly-accurate weapon systems and commission INS Bramhaputra, a frigate being manufactured by Garden Reach in Calcutta. Admiral Sushil Kumar said that Brahmaputra, which would be fitted with Trishul missiles, should be with the Indian Navy in early March. Sindhushastra, which will carry the 300-km range Klub missile, would be arriving from Russia and join the Navy in July. The naval chief said the third of the Delhi class destroyer, INS Mumbai, which will be better equipped than INS Delhi and INS Mysore, will be inducted into the Navy later this year along with another Kora class ship and the highly capable tanker Aditya. The Admiral said India’s first international fleet review named “Bridges of Friendship” had received positive response from the USA, Britain, France and South Africa and the five-day event to be held from February 14, 2001 would witness nearly 40 foreign warships participating. President K.R. Narayanan would take the salute. Western Command Chief Vice-Admiral Madhvendra Singh said several chiefs of foreign navies were expected to attend. He flew in here today to brief the navy chief on the exercises. The Indian Navy would also carry out two-phased joint exercises with the French Navy in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal later this month. In the first phase, French aircraft carrier “Foch”, with a displacement of 32780 tonnes and a range of 7500 nautical miles, escort destroyer “Duquesue” and logistic ship “Jules Verne” along with fighter jets and helicopters would participate in a three-day exercise from February 24. It would be the first joint exercise with the navy of a big country in the post-Pokhran era. India’s Rajput class destroyers, Godavari class frigates, various types of submarines, Sea Harrier and Jaguar planes would also exercise. Rear Admiral S.C.S. Bangara told reporters that the French ships would not carry any nuclear weapons, a condition made clear by India. He made it clear that
merchant shipping lines would not be disturbed but areas
would be cleared before firing of live missiles and other
weapons. |
China’s
intrusion: Malik refuses to comment NEW DELHI, Feb 2 — “No comment”, was all that the Chief of Army Staff, Gen V.P. Malik, preferred to say when reporters today asked him about reports regarding the intelligence that the People’s Liberation Army of China had built metalled roads and dug in bunkers on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Aksai Chin region of Ladakh. The interaction took place at the United Services Institute where the Army Chief had gone to release a coffee table book prepared by the Regiment of Artillery, “Kargil 99 — Blood, Guts and Fire Power”. “Please do not ask me anything about China. I have nothing to say”, Gen Malik politely replied when his attention was drawn to the news reports that according to air reconnaissance near Trijunction, strategic location in Aksai Chin, the Chinese army had constructed a network of metalled roads from the LAC leading to grid references 5459 and 5495. These roads and bunkers are located behind a point called “K.Hill”, northeast of Trijunction near the Chip Chap river. According to these reports, between January and July last year, the Chinese Army made 72 incursions, not just in Aksai Chin but also in areas in Arunachal Pradesh. Apart from roads and bunkers on the Indian side of the LAC, the Chinese are also reported to have built a network of mule tracks within their territory leading up to the LAC. In the absence of presence of jawans of Indian Army, the recent activities of the Chinese Army in the region near the LAC both in the western and eastern sectors have caused concern. The Indian side, as per the understanding between the two nations, which has been over the past decade trying to create confidence-building measures (CBMs), has stationed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Ladakh Scouts near the LAC. Releasing the book, which is dedicated to the heroes of Kargil, Gen Malik said that India needed to upgrade the range and number of guns, specially the howitzers. He also said that we needed to acquire more Precision-Guided Munition (PGM) to ensure that we had an upper hand. Besides, he said that India would have always to remain prepared for anything from a proxy war to a limited war. He stressed on the need for having better surveillance facilities, specially as the Army had been facing a disadvantage on this front. He also said that the Army was planning to upgrade its artillery capabilities. The book highlights the glorious achievements of the Gunners who contributed in very substantial measure to the Indian Army’s splendid victory in Kargil. The book captures in
detail the awesome beauty of the stark mountainous
terrain and the thunder of the big guns of Kargil that
made it possible for the Indian Army comprehensively to
defeat the Pakistani army once again. |
VP:
statute review undemocratic NEW DELHI, Feb 2 — Former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh today termed the setting up of a commission for reviewing the Constitution by the Vajpayee government as “highly undemocratic” for its failure to consult the Opposition. Talking to newspersons at a press conference, he said the way the government was moving was highly undemocratic as the Constitution was not merely a legal document but the embodiment of people’s aspirations. Flaying the government for bypassing the Parliament, he appealed to the opposition to form its own parallel commission for review of the working of the Constitution. It would be the best way to counter the government’s move as recommendations of the two panels could be placed before the people for a national debate on the issue. Rejecting the arguments extended for undertaking a review of the Constitution, the former Prime Minister said that the present political instability was not because of the Constitution but was the result of the transition through which the country was passing. “Manipulating through legal jugglery cannot solve the problem. We are now in a transitional phase with the deprived clamouring for their rights and this phenomenon has led to political instability”, the former Prime Minister said. “Instead of mechanically suppressing it, their demands should be responded politically”, he added. He criticised the government for bypassing the people’s elected representatives saying that at least for namesake they should have been consulted on the issue. In fact, there are many
areas in which consensus already exists on amending the
Constitution, he said adding that the government should
have thought of changing the Constitution in areas where
it has failed all these years. But the government is not
keen to evolve a consensus as the BJP-led ruling alliance
wants to use the document politically, he accused. |
“Water” cleared after certain deletions NEW DELHI, Feb 2 (UNI) — A total of five sentences are understood to have been removed from the script of filmmaker Deepa Mehta’s controversial feature film ‘Water’ which was cleared by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee this evening after she agreed to effect certain changes. Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley, confirming that the film had been cleared, said that the state government was being apprised of the decision of the Centre in this regard. He said that after a series of meetings between him and officials of his ministry, the changed script was then sent to the Prime Minister for his clearance. Speaking informally to newspersons, Mr Jaitley said he disapproved of vandalism on the sets of the film. He said while filmmakers have to be sensitive to the sensibilities of the people, the people on the streets could not turn into a ‘censor board’. The minister refused to comment on the views expressed by the state government, and said Ms Mehta was free to resume shooting of the film. Ms Mehta told UNI this evening that she had received a letter of approval from the ministry in this connection. She said she was committed to meaningful filmmaking and “it has never been my intention to hurt the sentiments of any city or people living therein.” She said some words used in some dialogues of the film were being misinterpreted to give it a meaning which had never been intended. She had therefore submitted a fresh proposal to the I and B Ministry to avoid any ambiguity, wherein she had changed some words in the script “to avoid any scope for misinterpretation.” Ms Mehta said the approach of the ministry had been very positive while considering her request and had granted her an approval for the script submitted by her with the requisite alternations. She said she had been
given to understand that the ministry had also
communicated this to the Uttar Pradesh Government, and
she was proceeding to Varanasi tomorrow to resume
shooting as soon as possible.
|
|
BERHAMPUR (Orissa), Feb 2 (PTI) — Mr Anadi Sahu and Mr Kunja Behari Panigrahi, vice-president and secretary, respectively, of the Orissa BJP have resigned the organisational posts protesting against the selection of party candidates from Ganjam district in southern Orissa. Along with Mr Sahu, who is a member of the Lok Sabha from Berhampur constituency, and Mr Panigrahi, 10 other office-bearers of the district unit sent in their joint resignation letter to the BJP state president, Mr Manmohan Samal yesterday a copy of which was released to the Press today. The selection of party candidates has disappointed all office-bearers and party workers of the district, the letter said. Meanwhile, BJP President Naveen Patnaik, tipped to become the Orissa Chief Minister if the BJD-BJP combine wins a majority, will contest the Hinjili seat in Ganjam district. Mr Patnaik’s name appears in the list of 47 candidates released by the BJD late night in respect of the constituencies going to the polls in the February 22 second-phase elections. The nominees for only two segments, Khallikote, where the party has a sitting MLA and Pattamundai are yet to be announced. Hinjili forms a part of the Aska Lok Sabha constituency now being represented by Mr Patnaik, who is the Union Minister for Mines and Minerals. He has been a member of the Lok Sabha from 1997 from that seat which was earlier won by his late father, Mr Biju Patnaik, in 1996. The BJD had earlier nominated 35 other nominees for the February 17 first-phase poll for 70 constituencies as per its seat-sharing accord reached with the BJP. The BJD is contesting 84 seats while the BJP will field candidates in the rest 63 seats of the 147-member State Assembly. The regional party has
renominated 23 sitting MLAs for the second-phase
elections. |
Orissa ex-Deputy Speaker quits BHUBANESWAR, Feb 2 (PTI) — Former Deputy Speaker of the Orissa Assembly Prahlad Dora has resigned from the Congress and filed his nomination papers for the Chitrakonda Assembly seat as an Independent. “I have resigned from the primary membership of the Congress and am contesting the Assembly poll this month as an Independent,” he said in a statement here. Earlier, senior party leader and Law and Panchayat Raj Minister Raghunath Patnaik had resigned from the party following the denial of the ticket to him. He has filed his papers as an independent from Jeypur. Mr Patnaik, a veteran Congress leader from the erstwhile undivided Koraput district, had blamed former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang for the denial of party ticket to him. Mr Anantaram Majhi and Mr Dhananjaya Laguri had resigned as DCC president from Raygada and Keonjhar districts, respectively, following the denial of the party ticket to them. PCC secretary Srinath
Mishra has also resigned and filed his nomination from
Dharmasala as an Independent. |
Speilberg to open short films’ festival MUMBAI, Feb 2 (UNI) — Steven Speilberg’s ‘The Last Days’ will open the 6th Mumbai International Film Festival for documentary, short and animation films — miff 2000 — tomorrow. As many as 542 films from 34 countries will be screened during the week-long competitive festival where the winners take the golden and silver conches in pure metal this time. An Oscar winner last year, ‘The Last Days’ produced by Speilberg and the Shoah foundation and directed by James Moll, depicts the lives of Hungarian holocaust survivors. Cannes Winner ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ by Wim Wenders, another entry, is about a jazz singer. Other films include ‘Bojh’ by Mani Kaul, first Indian clay animation film ‘Education Only Her Future’ by Anil Gongade, ‘Ladies Special’ (Germany) by Dorothee Werner, ‘Manhattan’ (US) by Charles Sheeler, ‘My Journey, My Islam’ by Kay Rasool, ‘Ray’ by Gautam Ghose and ‘Desperately Seeking Helen’ by Elisha Marjara. A newly-introduced international video film section includes ‘The Common Sense, of the Wisdom Tree’ by Roger Blonder, ‘A Calcutta Christmas’ by Maree Delofski and ‘The Post’ by Hugh Piper. The jury for the competitions are Richard Kaplan (us), Nicole Salomon (France), Vijaya Mehta, Vikotira Belopolskaia (Russia) and Ranjanee Ratnavibhushana (Sri Lanka). Films on India by
foreign directors will also be screened besides a package
from a New York-based ‘Women Make Movies’
organisation and those from contemporary British women
directors, Mr Bankim, chief producer of films division
said. |
Mass rape by ultras: probe ordered AGARTALA, Feb 2 (UNI) — The Tripura Government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the mass rape of some women recently by the underground militants in South Tripura district. Official sources said here today that the state government had received a report from the Tripura Commission for Women on January 29 regarding their inquiry into the allegation of rape and molestation of a few women of the minority community at Raiabari under South Tripura district. The commission had recommended to the state government to set up a high level inquiry committee to probe into the allegation of rape and molestation, the sources added. An official release said
that the state government had decided to appoint a
judicial commission consisting of a serving district and
Session Judge to inquire into the allegation and submit
the report accordingly. The state government had
requested the Guwahati High Court to nominate a serving
district and Sessions Judge to act as commission of
inquiry, the release added. |
Dental
association president elected NEW DELHI, Feb 2 — Dr Hari Parkash, Professor and Head of the Department of Dental Surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences has been elected president of the Indian Dental Association (IDA). He said one of his primary challenges was to support the government’s endeavour of spreading the message of oral health in rural areas. He pointed out that 80 per cent of dental health professionals are in urban areas while 75 per cent of the population in rural areas was served by just 20 per cent of dentists. Dr Parkash took his post graduate degree from Government Dental College, Amritsar in 1968 and has held key positions in the IDA. He has been a member of the IDA for over 34 years. The All India Dental
Association, later rechristened as the Indian Dental
Association, was founded by Dr S.K. Majumdar in 1946. The
IDA headquarter is in Coimbatore. The main functions of
the IDA are development of a national oral health policy,
implementation of programmes and dental education and
supervision of government policies and action. |
‘Karnataka trying to usurp Krishna water’ NEW DELHI, Feb 2 (PTI) — Andhra Pradesh today accused Karnataka of trying to usurp surplus water in Krishna river through “illegal Almatti dam project” during hearing of the case in the Supreme Court on controversy over sharing of the river water between the two states and Maharashtra. Opposing tooth and nail Karnataka’s plea for directing the Union Government to notify “Scheme B” of the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal (KWDT), which include sharing of surplus as well as deficient water, Andhra counsel K. Parasaran submitted before a five-Judge Constitution Bench that “Scheme B” never formed a part of the final decision of the Tribunal. When the Bench asked Solicitor General Harish Salve as to what was the position of the Centre regarding notifying “Scheme B”, he said “when the states are not agreeing for the implementation of “Scheme B”, how can the Centre notify it”. Mr Parasaran said
Karnataka’s suit for notification of “Scheme
B” “stresses only on surplus water and is
almost silent on the aspect of deficient water in the
river in a year.” |
Sister
killed over land dispute First prize for
Goan tableau Maharaj Prabhu
Nath Singh dead Workers beat up
factory owner CM’s plea
to striking staff Narendran panel
members named Bihar poll
advance CPM to hold
protest 10 more wetlands
are Ramsar sites Yoga week begins
at Rishikesh 7 killed in
collision INSAT-3B sent to French Guyana |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | In Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 119 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
