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| Tuesday, October 10, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Tension over temple: curfew on, Army out VHP : temple construction
date on Oct 18 Navy reshuffle on cards Rao to move HC only
after order Cops behind SP’s murder? |
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Allow corporate houses to fund parties: CVC Mukhopadhyay NFDC chief George: defence
budget to be 3 pc of GDP Ex-Attorney General’s
help sought in Rajkumar case
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Tension over temple: curfew on, Army out BIHARSHARIF (Bihar), Oct 9 (PTI) — Army was called out today in Biharsharif, headquarter of Nalanda district, following mounting communal tension over the construction of a temple on a disputed piece of land, even as an indefinite curfew was imposed in and around the town, Director-General of Police K.A. Jacob said. The tension was sparked off when the kar sevaks, defying a ban, constructed the temple of goddess Durga on the disputed piece of land at Ambair chowk yesterday. Three columns of the Army, besides contingents of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Bihar Military Police (BMP) had been pressed into service to maintain law and order, Mr Jacob, who is camping here along with Home Secretary U.N. Panjiar, told PTI. Members of a particular community came out in droves defying curfew regulations, blocked streets with burning tyres and wooden logs. The mob also indulged in brickbatting at several places, he said. Two persons were injured when the police opened fire to disperse a mob after bursting of teargas shells failed to control the rampaging hordes, he said. District Magistrate Rajesh Agarwal said an idol of goddess Durga was installed on October 4, but the administration maintained restraint till the conclusion of Durga puja festival. When the organisers began constructing a temple yesterday the administration objected to it, leading to violent protests. The idol was removed from the disputed site this morning and a portion of the temple structure was also demolished, he added. Mr Jacob said, stringent punitive action would be taken against police personnel who were present at the spot but remained mute spectators during the temple construction. A large contingent was posted at the disputed site but they did nothing to stop the illegal activity, he said, adding a departmental inquiry had been initiated into their role. A circle inspector deputed as magistrate in-charge at the disputed site had been suspended and recommendation made to the government for his dismissal, Mr Agarwal said. UNI: At least seven persons, including an old woman, were injured when the police opened fire to quell a 5000-strong mob that was protesting against shifting a temple construction site and violated the curfew clamped here early today. Official sources said that the RAF shelled tear gas to disperse the mob which despite the curfew had thronged the disputed site which belonged to the state Waqf Board, to take control of the place and start construction of the temple. The police later opened fire on the irate mob in which one woman was injured. The injured were taken to a hospital. The agitated mob cordoned off the local police lines where the Durga idol was kept. Earlier, the Deputy Police Superintendent was manhandled by a group of people from Tungi village when he tried to prevent them from going to the site. Another group of villagers surrounded the official residence of the District Magistrate.
VHP : temple
construction date on Oct 18 NEW DELHI, Oct 9 — The Vishwa Hindu Parishad is likely to decide on the dates of construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya at the meeting of its “marg darshak mandal” in Goa on October 18-19. Talking to mediapersons here Acharya Giriraj Kishore, senior vice-president of the VHP, said that the decision on the dates would be ratified by the congregation at Kumbh mela in Allahabad in January. He said that 40 per cent of the stone cutting work for the temple has been completed and the “VHP is ready to take action.” Regarding the controversy sorrounding the temple construction, the VHP leader said that the then central government had itself permitted the `shilanyas’ in 1990. “If they allowed us to lay the foundation stone, there should be no problem in allowing the construction,” he said. The VHP leader said that he would go to Jaipur on October 12 to take a decision on yatra for carrying model of the temple to Ayodhya. |
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Navy reshuffle on cards NEW DELHI, Oct 9— A reshuffle in the Navy hierarchy is on the cards with the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral P.J. Jacob, due for retirement and another senior officer seeking retirement to take up a term- specific assignment. According to reports the movement in the Navy hierarchy was being expected for some time and orders for some of the
transfers had already come. Orders for the rest of the reshuffle were expected in the coming days. The Navy would not only have a new Vice - Chief of the Naval Staff but also a new Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, besides the new Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the four naval commands. Reports said Admiral Jacob was due for retirement in February ,2001, and as per indications Vice-Admiral Madanjit Singh was expected to take over the post from him. Vice- Admiral Madanjit Singh had earlier been the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff here at the South Block. Vice-Admiral R.N. Ganesh, who earlier had been tipped to take over the Advance Training Vehicle Programme at Mumbai would finally be doing so after formally quiting the force. Admiral Ganesh is presently the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (Southern Command). As per the requirements, Admiral Ganesh would have to seek retirement from the force for the job which has a five-year term and actually been reserved for ex-naval oficers. In another movement, Rear Admiral Sampat Pillai has already taken over as the CMD of the Goa shipyard. He was till now posted at the South Block, where the office of Chief of the Naval Staff and offices of the other senior naval officers were located. Vice Admiral Raman Puri, presently the Fotress Commander,Fotran, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is expected to take over as the next Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff from Vice-Admiral Harinder Singh. The latter moves in place of Admiral Ganesh as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Command. Vice-Admiral Vinod Pasricha, presently the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command is expected to take over the same post in the Western Command and Vice-Admiral Manvendra Singh, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command is expected to move to the South Block here, the reports added. |
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Rao to move
HC only after order NEW DELHI, Oct 9 (PTI) — Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, convicted in the JMM MPs bribery case, is ready with a petition to appeal against the trial court order but will file it in the Delhi High Court only after the pronouncement of the sentence on October 11, his counsel, Mr R.K. Anand, said today. “The petition for appeal is ready, but it will be filed after the pronouncement of the quantam of sentence by the trial court,” Mr Anand said. Asked whether the petition for appeal would be filed soon after the pronouncment of the sentence, he said: “It depends upon what the quantum of sentence will be.” “If the sentence will be less than three years, we can file a bail application before the trial court itself, which will be our first priority,” he said. As per the law the trial court has the jurisdiction to hear the bail application in that eventuality, “otherwise we will move the high court. But it all depends on the situation that will emerge from the sentence order,” he
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Cops behind SP’s murder? PATNA, Oct 9 — Did his own associates and accompanying policemen kill the Lohardagga SP, Ajay Kumar Singh? Was there a plot by the aggrieved policemen to help the ultras kill him? As the high-level probe over the killing of the SP starts, the loose ends of the story narrating the killing have come tumbling down. The masses have already started believing the “political-administrative plot” to eliminate a brave, honest and uncompromising SP, who earned the ire of all and sundry. The three-member team of experts from the National Security Guards, New Delhi, arrived to probe all aspects of the killing. The first round of probe has revealed startling facts. As against the official version of the vehicle of the slain SP blasted off by a land mine explosion (LME), the expert team did not find any trace of an LME on the spot. The post-mortem examination reports and eyewitness accounts stated that the SP died of gunshot fired from a close range. Interesting aspect is that there seems to be only one gunshot fired. What were the security guards doing by his side? Also, it was found that the wireless set of the SP’s vehicle was dislodged on the fateful day. None of the policemen accompanied the body of the SP when it was being carried to Ranchi. Why? There are more unanswered queries. There were initial reports of an encounter of 90-minute duration taking place before the SP was shot dead. How could this be possible when only one shot was fired? Also, why the bullet ridden Gypsy vehicle was displaced from the place of incident in utter haste is a matter to be probed. The SPG experts may find out the truth behind the whole story. The IPS officers are, however, demanding a CBI probe into the killing. Naturally they suspect foul play. This is not unusual. The SP was known to have drawn the wrath of too many people. He had recently suspended a sub-inspector who had threatened him of dire consequences. The slain SP had mentioned this in the case diary. Most interesting fact is that the PWG ultras have claimed the onus of the killing of the SP, whereas the initial report said he was killed by the MCC ultras. He had drawn the ire of the MCC and had also received threats from them but there was little reason to believe of any strong reason for the PWG to eliminate him. Rather, he was doing what the PWG wanted, that was taming the MCC. The area was also known as the MCC stronghold and how come the PWG crept in to kill him was a mystery.
Allow corporate houses to fund
parties: CVC
AHMEDABAD, Oct 9 (UNI) — Central Vigilance Commissioner
(CVC) N. Vittal suggested today that individuals and corporate bodies be permitted to finance political parties in elections and such contributions be made eligible for tax deduction, to eliminate the spectre of black money. Speaking on an interactive national seminar-cum-workshop, on “Combating Corruption: Agenda for Action”, organised by the Citizens’ Vigilance Movement
(CVM) here, Mr Vittal said under the existing income-tax law, contribution to the political parties by business houses was eligible for tax deduction only if a nexus for business advantage could be proved. This provision omits the basic issue that every contribution, which any businessman in his individual capacity or in a corporate capacity makes was with a view to getting some benefit, or advantage in the corridors of power. Mr Vittal said the shift from black money-based political funding to legitimate funding would not take place overnight, but the transformation process would certainly begin. The CII and Assocham have agreed to the CVC’s request to ask their members not to bribe. He said the country should aim at a more transparent system of funding of elections and the political process. “We should try to emulate what the USA has done”. The American political system was much cleaner than the Indian system. In the corruption perception index 1999, the USA ranked 18 and India 73 in a list of 99 countries arranged in the order of increasing corruption, he said. |
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Mukhopadhyay NFDC chief NEW DELHI, Oct 9 (UNI) — After naming Bollywood’s “Dream girl” Hema Malini as its first-ever woman Chairperson, the government has now appointed a senior Indian Information Service Officer as Managing Director of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Hema Malini and Mr Deepankar Mukhopadhyay who until recently was functioning as officer on special duty in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The ACC has also approved the names of six part-time members of the NFDC Board. They include film-makers Kiran Shantaram, Vijaya Mehta, and senior critic Sudhir Nandgaonkar who is presently Director of the Mumbai International Film Festival. The NFDC, which is the government’s body dealing in film trade, has been without a formal board and a Chairperson since wellknown Telugu filmmaker D.V.S. Raju resigned in 1993. Mr Ravi Gupta, the then Managing Director of the NFDC, had quit soon after and senior officials of the ministry of Joint Secretary-level have since then been functioning as chairman-cum-managing directors. Earlier, Dadasaheb Phalke awardee and renowned film director Hrishikesh Mukherjee and veteran film-maker D.V.S. Raju had also served as chairman of the NFDC. The corporation has seen a stready decline in revenues in the nineties through fall in film exports, though an ongoing agreement with Doordarshan for marketing of feature films telecast on the national broadcaster has helped improve its financial position. Policy decisions for improving the functioning of the NFDC could not be taken in the absence of any board of directors. Beginning his career in 1975 in the news service division of All India Radio, Mr Mukhopadhyay also worked as its correspondent in Singapore. He also functioned for some time as Deputy Director in the Directorate of Film Festivals, and then in the Press Information Bureau, where he was also head of the eastern regional network. |
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George: defence budget to be 3 pc of GDP NEW DELHI, Oct 9 (PTI) — India’s forces modernisation drive was “running parallel” to China and the government would strive to maintain this pace to deal with future conflicts which could be “sudden wars limited in scope and with a nuclear overhang”, Defence Minister George Fernandes said today. Asserting that New Delhi’s modernisation drive was not inferior to Bejing’s, he told newsmen on the sidelines of an institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) seminar and a Territorial Army Day function that the Defence Budget could be hiked to the level of three per cent of the GDP by next year to keep up the level of modernisation. “Many changes are taking place in our neighbourhood which will affect future power balance. These changes naturally raise many questions”. Fernandes said adding the country had to consider implications of the Chinese modernisation. He said the country’s strategic planners had also to consider how long Pakistan’s present isolation would continue and to keep track of technological inflow into the region. The Minister said the country had to be prepared to match modernisation drive in the region in the context of balance of power. Mr Fernandes told newsmen at the Territorial Army function that he was personally campaigning for a sustained defence spending of three per cent of the GDP saying it could come about in 2002 budget if not next year. At the IDSA seminar on ‘Air power in India’s Security’, the Director of the Institute Air Commodore (Retd) Jasjit Singh said in next 10 years there could be a significant tilt in balance of power in the region due to China’s rapid modernisation of its forces. He told newsmen that China in next seven years would have a hi-tech air force and a new brand of professional officers ready to man top ladders of the People’s Liberation Army. Referring to recent Defence agreements signed with Russia, particularly on indigenous production of SU-30 MKI, the Defence Minister said these efforts were aimed at keeping New Delhi on a par with Beijing’s efforts. On AJT, Fernandes said the IAF had sought a “particular configuration” in the British Aerospace Hawks. As to the numbers, he said “we will get as many as we need”, he said. The grand old man of the Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Arjan Singh asked the government to take urgent steps to bring about cohesion between the Air Force and the Army warning that “continued lack of cooperation could cost the country dearly as it did in 1965 conflict.” “Lack of coordination and cooperation between IAF and the Army which was there during my time continued till date,” he said, speaking at a two-day seminar on Air Power organised by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) here. “This lack of cooperation, when Air Force was not taken into confidence blunted two major vital attacks of the Army in the western sector in the 1965 conflict,” Mr Singh, one of the highest decorated Air Force officers, said. Arjan Singh who was the Air Chief during the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict is the second leading commander of the era after former Western Army Commander Harbaksh Singh to come out with “startling revelations about the conduct of the operations.” According to media leaks of the official accounts of the 1965 operations, Harbaksh Singh had claimed that he had disregarded an order from the then Army Chief Gen J.N. Chaudhri to withdraw to the west of the Beas river after Pakistani armoured thurst in the Khem Karan
sector. Ex-Attorney General’s
help sought in Rajkumar case BANGALORE, Oct 9 (PTI) — Karnataka may draft the services of former Attorney-General Parasaran to agrue before the Supreme Court on October 11 its case pertaining to the release of TADA detenues in connection with the Rajkumar kidnap issue. State Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister D.B. Chandre Gowda, told reporters here that Mr Parasaran’s services had been sought and his consent in this regard was awaited. Senior counsel Harish Salve would also argue on behalf of the state, Mr Gowda said. Noting that the Union Government had also filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court backing the actions of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments, he expressed the hope that the verdict would be favourable for the two
states. |
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I was in love with Govindacharya: Uma NEW DELHI, Oct 9 (PTI)— BJP firebrand leader and former Union Minister Uma Bharti has said she was in love with her senior party colleague K.N. Govindacharya and wanted to marry him. “Yes, I was in love with him. I wanted to marry him. I used to chase him everywhere and I feel that he also loved me though he never told me so,” Ms Bharti was quoted as having said so in an interview to a weekly magazine “The Week” in its latest issue. Although Mr Govindacharya never told her about his love, he had revealed his feelings to party leader L.K. Advani and former RSS supremo Bhau Rao Devras, she said. “Bhau Rao advised me that I should not marry for the sake of the masses and the country. So I gave up the idea,” she said. Asked whether she ever had a crush on anybody before taking “sanyas” at the age of 16, she said, “Yes, many. Now all those people are happily married. I am not going to name them. All of them were elite. I was an innocent flirt.” Denying that she was highly ambitious, she said if that was so she would not have quit her ministerial post. “There are more ambitious people in the party than me. I am not happy with the way the media has portrayed me. I am a 24-carat person.” Asked why she chose self-imposed exile in Kedarnath, she said she wanted to run away from the crowd and moreover she was in search of a place where she could think and rethink. She is still undecided about withdrawing her resignation from Lok Sabha saying “Atalji spoke to me a short while ago. He says that my exile is not suiting him. I will talk to the BJP leaders once the Dasehra festival is over.” |
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Integration award for Satish
Dhawan NEW DELHI, Oct 9
(PTI) — Noted space scientist Satish Dhawan has been selected for “Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration” for the year 1999 for his outstanding contributions in science. The decision was taken by the advisory committee of the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration. |
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Indo-Japanese video fest NEW DELHI, Oct 9 (UNI) — Twentytwo industrial technology and three entertainment videos will be screened in the first-ever Indo-Japanese video film festival being held in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta on weekends this month. The festivals in the Capital will be inaugurated by former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral. |
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