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| Friday, October 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Make Chhattisgarh on ‘Nov 1’ AICC observers join Pranab’s fast Dams not same as polluting units: SC ED ex-officer, brother held by CBI |
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| BJP toeing
RSS line: Amar Singh NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today accused the BJP of having tacit understanding with the RSS and attacked, the Union Home Minister, Mr L. K. Advani, for attending the Sangh’s Agra conclave and subsequently justifying his presence there. Custodial death: govt gets notice Kesri remains
critical People return home
as AP cyclone threat recedes Abducted kiln owner freed CBI’s
reminder on Nishan Bibi Jagir must quit: DSGMC men
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Make Chhattisgarh on ‘Nov 1’ BHOPAL, Oct 19 — The all-party meeting today turned down Mr Digvijay Singh’s suggestion that the Centre should be asked to defer the establishment of the new state of Chhattisgarh beyond November 1. The most virulent opposition to Mr Digvijay Singh’s suggestion came from the BJP and BSP leaders. The Chief Minister had earlier this week requested the Union Home Minister, Mr Lal Krishnan Advani, for extension of the date of inauguration of the new state as the cadre division had not been effected and the formalities might not be completed before November 1. He told the meeting that Mr Advani had agreed to consider the request if a proposal came from all parties. Mr Singh also said that the building for housing the Chhattisgarh Assembly was also yet to be finalised. The Madhya Pradesh BJP president, Mr Vikram Verma, and the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Dr Gauri Shankar Shejwar (who also belongs to the BJP), were not impressed with his arguments for deferring the establishment of the new state. They told the meeting that if there were any administrative problems, these would be sorted out by the Centre and the new state. The state BSP President and Leader of the BSP group in the Assembly, Mr Dauram Ratnakar, also agreed with the BJP leaders and said that there was no need to postpone the inauguration of Chhattisgarh on such grounds. The Chief Minister also tried to play on the sentiments of the BJP leaders by claiming that November 1 was not an auspicious day and that new beginnings were better made after Devotthayini Ekadashi. He claimed that Uttar Pradesh had got the date of inauguration of Uttaranchal deferred from November 1 to November 9 on the same ground. A postponement for 10 days in the case of Chhattisgarh would not make much difference, he said. Mr Ram Lakhan Sharma of the CPM also endorsed the Chief Minister. The BJP and BSP leaders, however, did not agree and the meeting decided not to seek any postponement. |
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AICC observers join Pranab’s fast CALCUTTA, Oct 19 — The AICC (I) observers, Mr Nagendra Jha, Mr Sarafraj Ahmed and Mr Saroj Kapade, took part in a token fast with the WBPCC (I) chief, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and others today in the Chowringhee area against price rise and other anti-people actions taken by the Vajpayee government which has just completed one year in office. The observers are in the city to organise the election machinery of the WBPCC, now being run by an ad hoc committee, headed by Mr Mukherjee. The election is slated for November 11. The central leaders met the office-bearers, MLAs and other leaders of the state Congress yesterday and discussed steps for revamping the party, which has been in shambles. They all admitted that with the exist of Ms Mamata Banerjee and the formation of the
Trinamool Congress, the membership of the state Congress had been lowered to only a few thousand from 1.30 lakh. They stressed the need to launch a wide campaign for the enrolment of new members of the party before the elections of the new office-bearers. Mr Mukherjee is likely to be the unanimous candidate for the post of state president. |
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Dams not same as polluting units: SC NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (PTI) — While giving the green signal to the Sardar Sarovar project, the Supreme Court has ruled that construction of big dams cannot be equated with the setting up of polluting industries as far as their effect on the environment was concerned. “What is being constructed is a large dam. The dam is neither a nuclear establishment nor a polluting industry. The construction of a dam undoubtedly would result in the change of environment but it will not be correct to presume that the construction of a large dam will result in ecological disaster,” the court
said. Mr Justice B.N. Kirpal, who wrote the judgement in the verdict given by a three-judge Bench yesterday, said merely because there would be a change was no reason to presume that there would be an ecological disaster. “It is when the effect of the project is known then the
principle of sustainable development would come into play which will ensure that mitigative steps are and can be taken to preserve the ecological balance,” Mr Justice Kirpal, with whom Mr Chief Justice, A.S. Anand, concurred, said. |
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ED ex-officer, brother held by CBI NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — In a pre-dawn swoop today, the CBI arrested former Deputy Director of Enforcement Directorate Ashok Aggarwal, and his brother Vijay Kumar Aggarwal on charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery and possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. The two were arrested from their Pashchim Vihar residence in West Delhi by the sleuths of CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch, CBI sources said. The Aggarwal brothers were later produced before the Special Judge, Mr Ajit Bharihoke, who sent them to four-day CBI custody to facilitate their interrogation. The court allowed the presence of their counsel Surinder Miglani during interrogation from a visible distance and put up their bail applications for hearing on October 23. Earlier, seeking 14-day custodial remand of the accused, CBI counsel J S Wadia told the court that Ashok Aggarwal and his family members had opened various benami bank accounts in the capital showing purchase of shares of the companies owned by his brothers Vijay Aggarwal and Mohan Lal Aggarwal. Thus, they amassed disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 33,59,368, the CBI counsel alleged. He further stated that the CBI had so far been able to locate 30 such bank accounts and further investigation was on. Mr Wadia said from these bank accounts, transactions worth Rs 48,95,000 were conducted during 1991 to 1994, with respect to only one company, Indocil Silicon Pvt Ltd. Aggrawal, who was taken to the CBI headquarters for interrogation, told newsmen that he had fallen victim to a conspiracy hatched by the son of a former Rajya Sabha Member. “I am a victim of conspiracy of Abishek,” he said. |
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BJP toeing
RSS line: Amar Singh NEW
DELHI, Oct 19 — The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today accused the BJP of having tacit understanding with the RSS and attacked, the Union Home Minister, Mr L. K. Advani, for attending the Sangh’s Agra conclave and subsequently justifying his presence there. The presence of Mr Advani at the Agra conclave and his silence on RSS chief K. S. Sudarshan’s call for “swadeshi church” and “Indianisation of Islam” clearly reflected the BJP’s “double speak”, SP general secretary Amar Singh told reporters here. “Earlier, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee from the VHP platform says that he is a “swayamsevak” first and a PM later, now Mr Advani goes all the way to Agra and silently listens to the anti-Muslim and anti-Christian bashing of the RSS,” he said, accusing the BJP of trying to divide the country on communal lines to arrest its eroding base. “It is condemnable that the country’s Home Minister and the Chief Minister, Mr Ram Prakash Gupta, were saluting the RSS flag instead of the national flag,” Mr Amar Singh said. The SP leader said Mr Advani’s justification about BJP leader links with the RSS by drawing a parallel between the links Mahatma Gandhi had with the Jawaharlal Nehru government was condemnable. Stating that SP will not remain a mute spectator to BJP’s “communal and divide and rule policy”, he sought an explanation from the NDA constituents on the issue. “They (allies) can’t absolve themselves from being a part of a communal regime just by giving statements against Mr Advani’s utterances... NDA constituents should shed their political hypocrisy and prove their secular credentials,” he said. On the other hand, the NCP said the new “aggressiveness” and “arrogance” of the Sangh Parivar is contributing to increasing intolerance and dilution of secular ethos in the country. “The call for Indianisation of the churches and a stress on the Hindu ancestry of the Muslims reflect the retrograde theory of cultural nationalism which is only an euphemism for religion-based nationalism,” party spokesman D. N. Dwivedi told newspersons. The NCP has decided that in the coming months it will approach other parties, including the Congress, to mobilise support for opposing the communal and anti-minority militancy of the sangh outfits inside and outside the Parliament, Mr Dwivedi said.
Custodial death: govt gets notice NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — The National Human Rights Commission has issued show-cause notice to the Uttar Pradesh Government to explain why the commission should not recommend an immediate interim relief of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of a teenaged boy who died in police custody. It has also asked the state government to explain as to why it should not initiate proceedings to identify delinquent police officers for prosecution. The commission has asked the state government to reply to the notice by the first week of December. Sources in the commission said it had acted on complaints that Manoj Kumar, a 19-year-old boy died in police custody. According to the complaints, the boy was implicated in a false case. He was allegedly tortured by the police, beaten severely and deprived of food. The boy’s mother was also ill treated in the police station. The victim was produced in the court by the police. He was sent for medical examination on the directions of the court. The report of the medical examination was ignored by the police and he expired after two days. Taking cognisance of the case, the commission issued a notice to the Chief Secretary and Director-General of Police. The report revealed that Manoj Kumar had several injuries when he was admitted to the district jail in Agra. He died the following day. The post-mortem conducted two days later established that he had several injuries in different parts of the body. The police report further stated that the doctors had been held responsible for not treating Manoj Kumar properly in the jail hospital. Kesri remains critical NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) — Former Congress President Sitaram Kesri, suffering from pulmonary embolism, remains ‘’critically ill’’ and is under constant observation in the intensive care unit at AIIMS. A spokesman for AIIMS said the veteran Congress leader was afflicted with severe chest infection and broncho-constriction. He is being treated with oxygen inhalation, antibiotics and supportive care. Mr Kesri was moved to AIIMS yesterday after being treated at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for a few days. The 81-year-old leader was hospitalised at RML with a fractured hip. He was put on artificial respiratory support after being shifted to the ICU when he complained of chest pain and doctors found a sharp fall in his blood pressure. |
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People return home
as AP cyclone threat recedes HYDERABAD, Oct 19 (PTI) — People in the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh today heaved a sigh of relief as a powerful cyclone over the Bay of Bengal weakened into a depression and more than 1.5 lakh evacuated inhabitants of the coastal districts began trekking back to their homes. The cyclone now lay centred at 150 km southeast off Machilipatnam and is likely to cross the coast soon with considerable dissipation, state Chief Secretary P.V. Rao said. Over 1.5 lakh people, evacuated by the administration from the low-lying areas of Nellore, Prakasm, Guntur and Krishna districts, began moving out of the relief camps for their homes. “People are returning to their homes. It is a complete normal situation in the coastal belt,” Relief Commissioner B.C. Rosaiah here. |
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Abducted kiln owner freed NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — With arrest of a Haryana criminal and safe release of an abducted businessman and his driver, to Delhi police today solved a six-day old case of kidnapping in which the abductors had demanded Rs 2 crore from the victim’s family. Delhi Police Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma said that the case was solved by a joint team of the South District Police, Special Cell and Gurgaon police. While the main accused Parveen Kumar alias Lucky who was in the Air Force, has been arrested, the police are looking for his accomplice Dalip Kumar, a dismissed police inspector. He said that Mr Subash Batra, who owns two brick-kilns in Badshahpur in Gurgaon district and had reportedly purchased property of over Rs 6 crore recently, was kidnapped on October 13 along with his driver while on the way to Gurgaon from Malviya Nagar. A case of kidnapping was registered at the Malviya Nagar Police Station. |
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CBI’s reminder on Nishan NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (PTI) The CBI has again asked the Punjab police to produce Nishan Singh, personal security officer of SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, who has been named by the agency in its FIR on the mysterious death of Harpreet Kaur. This is the second reminder to the state police asking them to trace him, who has been elusive since the agency registered an FIR at the instance of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Highly-placed sources in the agency said the Punjab police had been asked to look for Nishan Singh and direct him to the CBI’s special investigation unit for questioning in the case. He has been named by the CBI as one of the conspirators in the case. No arrest warrant had been issued against him, the sources added. During Harpreet Kaur’s illegal confinement, Nishan Singh, Satya, Harminder Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar were alleged to have kept a close watch on her.
Bibi Jagir must quit: DSGMC men NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — More than 12 Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) members today said that SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, against whom the CBI has registered a case, should step down immediately to uphold the sanctity of the office. Several DSGMC members belonging to the Delhi Akali Dal led by former DSGMC president Parmjit Singh Sarna, at a joint press conference here, said the controversy around the death of Bibi Jagir Kaur’s daughter, Harpreet Kaur, was bound to damage the SGPC. |
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Veerappan case
adjourned NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) — the Supreme Court today adjourned till October 31 further hearing of submissions with regard to the two public interest litigations and one appeal against the release of associates of forest brigand Veerappan by the government of Karnataka to secure the release of Kannada matinee icon Raj Kumar. |
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Sale of Nov sugar
quota begins NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — Sugar mills have been permitted to sell 25 per cent of their free sale sugar quota released for November from today. The government had released 10.5 lakh tonnes of sugar for October and 9.5 lakh tonnes each for November and December as quotas for free sale. The October quota was made effective from September 25 keeping in view the increase in prices in the free sale market. The government has decided to advance the effectiveness of free sale quota release for November. |
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