 |
| Friday, December 1, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Cong CEA takes it
easy Fresh cases against 3
ex-JMM MPs BSF keeping
vigil in J&K : Jagat Bengal CM opposed to smaller states Mamata declares war on CM |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
North India in Parliament Oppn walkout on farmers’ plight Scribes rue delay
in notification TN storm
claims 12 lives Murasoli Maran discharged Return of Kohinoor sought 32 Delhi JD (U) men
join Janshakti Armenian minister arrives on Sunday
|
|
Cong CEA takes it
easy NEW DELHI, Nov 30 — The Congress Central Election Authority seems to be in no hurry to decide the thousands of complaints it has received regarding the organisational elections with the files of complaints of most states yet to be handed over to the designated authorities. Though it has been almost a month since the PCCs were formed in most states, the complaints, most of which pertain to alleged irregularities in the PCC elections, have remained in the files. Admitting to having received a large number of complaints regarding the elections, the Chairman of the Central Election Authority (CEA), Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha had said in an interview on the eve of the Congress presidential elections that many complaints were genuine. He had assured of early redressal of the grievances of the Congress workers. Taking note of Mr Mirdha’s observation regarding complaints, Mr Jitendra Prasada, who contested the party presidential elections against Mrs Sonia Gandhi, had demanded review of the whole election process. Having raised the issue of alleged irregularities throughout his campaign, Mr Prasada in his letter to Mr Mirdha on November 15 thanked him for acknowledging to have received thousands of complaints in connection with the organisational elections. “As the process of the Congress president’s election is over, expeditious disposal of these complaints in a fair and transparent manner is of paramount importance,” Mr Prasada said in his letter. He had also urged Mr Mirdha to take immediate steps to review the entire process of organisational elections. Inquiries from the CEA reveal that so far complaints pertaining to only four states — Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka and Bihar — have been given to the respective complaints tribunal but redressal work had not started. Bihar alone accounts for nearly 200 election related complaints. The tribunal comprising secretary and general secretary-in-charge of the state, general secretary (organisation) is also to include a member from the respective PCC. CEA officials said the general secretary of the PCC who coordinated election work with the Pradesh Returning Officer is likely to represent the PCC in the tribunal. So far, no state tribunal has met to decide on the modalities of redressing complaints. Sources said the complainants are unlikely to be heard individually and the tribunal members are likely to take decisions among themselves. They also pointed to little possibilty of any drastic changes in the PCC lists on the basis of redressal of complaints. |
|
|
Fresh cases against 3
ex-JMM MPs NEW DELHI, Nov 30 — The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered separate cases against the three former JMM MPs, who were discharged in the MPs bribery case, for possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. The special investigating unit of the agency registered separate FIRs against Shibu Soren, Simon Marandi and Suraj Mandal on November 16 pursuant to an order of Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke. While sentencing former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao and his cabinet colleague Buta Singh to three years rigorous imprisonment, the Special Judge had directed the CBI to register cases against these MPs for having been found in possession of unaccounted money in their
accounts in a bank here. The CBI said Mr Soren, Mr Marandi and Mr Mandal during their tenure as MPs were found in possession of Rs 37.50 lakh, Rs 40.50 lakh and Rs 37.50 lakh, respectively, in their bank accounts during July-August, 1993. The JMM MPs are arguing that the amounts deposited in various accounts were political donations. Dismissing the claims of the MPs, the CBI said the investigation had revealed that the explanation was false and documents submitted in support of the explanation were found to be forged. The MPs were accused of receiving bribe of Rs 50 lakh each for voting in favour of the Narasimha Rao government in July 1993 no confidence motion. |
|
BSF keeping
vigil in J&K : Jagat NEW DELHI, Nov 30 — The BSF is keeping a strict vigil in sensitive areas of the valley to prevent any untoward incident during the month-long ceasefire announced by the government, the new Director-General of the BSF, Mr Gurbachan Jagat, said here today. Mr Jagat, former DG of the Jammu and Kashmir police, took over as DG of the BSF today from Mr E N Rammohan. He said the infiltration of foreign mercenaries was the biggest problem in the valley. The local people were fed up with militancy and had welcomed the ceasefire. “They (local Kashmiris) want peace. It is the mercenaries from Pakistan and Afghanistan who are fighting on behalf of the militants,” Mr Jagat said. He said if the local people stopped supporting the mercenaries, it would be easy for the security forces to control the militancy in the valley. The outgoing BSF chief had expressed apprehension that militant outfits might step up attack, especially on “soft targets” to derail the process. “Prominent outfits in the valley, including the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba, have opposed the ceasefire and attacks are bound to happen because they want to derail the process,” Mr Rammohan said. Mr Jagat, IPS officer of the Punjab cadre of the 1966 batch, said it was easy to control militancy in Punjab as the geographical situation and nature of militancy were different in that state. Punjab is a plain area where fencing was made on border. In Punjab, only local people had joined the militancy, while in Kashmir, mercenaries of Pakistan and Afghanistan are fighting. Jammu and Kashmir is a hilly state where fencing is not easy on the border to prevent the entry of foreign mercenaries. The new DGP said his priorities would be to fight insurgency in the border areas and work for the welfare of the force. |
|
|
Bengal CM opposed to smaller states NEW DELHI, Nov 30 — The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, today indicated his opposition to the formation of smaller states like Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. “The formation of small states has resulted in problems for our state. There has been a demand for separate state of Kamtapuri in North Bengal and Gorkhaland,” Mr Bhattacharya told mediapersons here. The West Bengal Chief Minister said he had sought help from the Centre in fighting the newly formed terrorist outfits and fundamentalist forces and charged the Union Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, with extending “moral support” to “separatist” and “divisive” forces. The 52-year-old Marxist leader addressed a press conference in the Capital for the first time after he took reins from Mr Jyoti Basu as the Chief Minister of West Bengal. Mr Bhattacharya met the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, during his visit to Delhi after taking over as Chief Minister. During his meeting with Mr Advani, the West Bengal Chief Minister apprised him of the ongoing agitation by the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) for the creation of a separate state to be carved out of nine districts of North Bengal. Mr Bhattacharya said there was no rationale behind the demand for a separate state on the basis of population, language or continuity. “The KLO has links with the ULFA and ISI, which is a matter of concern,” he said. The West Bengal Chief Minister said “the KLO was demanding South Bengal for Mamata and North Bengal for Kamta. It is a dangerous phenomenon that Mamata was supporting an outfit which was being backed by ULFA and the ISI.” The activities of the newly formed Gorkhaland Liberation Organisation (GLO) and its links with Naga outfits were also discussed with the Union Home Minister. Mr Bhattacharya said he had demanded 10 additional companies of the BSF to patrol the border districts of the state. On the question of political violence in the state, Mr Bhattacharya said it afflicted only seven of the 446 police stations in the state and normalcy had been restored to the affected areas of Midnapore district. The poet and playwright Chief Minister said he was ready to speak to Ms Mamata Banerjee “anytime, any place” to resolve the issue of political violence. “Unfortunately, she is not ready to meet me. I don’t know why,” he said. Mr Bhattacharya, during his meeting with the Prime Minister, urged for the release of funds to help the state get over the damage caused by floods. “We have already spent the entire amount of Rs 101 crore of the state calamity fund and incurred an expenditure of Rs 583 crore”, he said. |
|
Mamata declares war on CM CALCUTTA, Nov 30 — The Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee (TMC) and Bengal’s newly appointed Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharyya (CPI-M), have declared “war” against each other in the wake of fresh spurt of political violence in the Midnapore district. Ms Banerjee was in the hill city of Darjeeling when three TMC workers, Samin-ul, Rabik-ul and Sheikh Kamruddin were hacked to death allegedly at the hands of the CPI (M) at their native village Cherua, in Midnapore. On the advice of the Railway Minister, the bodies were brought to Calcutta on Monday with a plan to stage a protest rally the following day to be addressed by Ms Banerjee. But the bodies were “snatched” from their possession last night and sent to the village for last rites by the police at the instance of the Chief Minister. The TMC’s plan to hold a protest rally near Mahatma Gandhi statue, also had to be abandoned at the last moment as the Railway Minister decided not to violate the prohibitory orders under Section 144 Cr PC, banning holding of any rally in the Maidan area. The rally was held near Chowringhee, where Ms Banerjee attacked Mr Bhattacharyya. She asked TMC workers and supporters to take up arms against the CPI (M) musclemen. However, the Chief Minister has warned Ms Banerjee and her partymen of dire consequences if they attempt to create any law and order problem. He assured he had directed the police to take action against the guilty irrespective of their political colour. The Railway Minister declared her party would again launch agitation all over the state, demanding imposition of President’s rule. She said she would lead a dharna to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. The issue created an uproar in the Lok Sabha also where the TMC and the CPI (M) MPs had heated exchange of words which forced the Speaker to adjourn the house for some time. |
|
North India in Parliament NEW DELHI, Nov 30 — Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Mr Sriram Chauhan told the Rajya Sabha today the government purchased 67.87 lakh tonnes of rice for Rs 6148 crore from Punjab between October 1999 and September this year. Second class coaches in
trains: The Minister of State for Railways, Mr Digvijay Singh, told the Lok Sabha today it was not feasible to introduce trains and augment trains on the Sonepat-Delhi section due to operational and resource constraints, including lack of spare maintenance facilities in the MEMU/EMU car shed. He said the Indian Railways makes efforts to ensure that trains run punctually. Suicides by farmers: Relying on reports received from the Punjab government, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Shripad Y. Naik, told the Rajya Sabha 418 farmers committed suicide in Punjab in 1997 and three the subsequent year. He said family discord, alcohol, illicit drug abuse, indebtedness, loss of status and crop failure were the main reasons behind suicides by farmers in the state. He said the government did not have any separate details of suicides by cotton farmers. He said the Punjab government commissioned a survey to find out why farmers took the extreme step. He added that the government provides assistance to the states under the centrally sponsored scheme of Intensive Cotton Development Programme for transfer of technology through field demonstration on production, integrated pest management and training of extension workers/farmers. He said assistance was also provided for supply of critical inputs — certified seeds, sprayers, drip/sprinkler irrigation system, pheromone traps, bio agents and setting up of seed delinking machines. Problems of Punjab farmers: Mr Naik told the Rajya Sabha the government was aware of the problems faced by farmers in Punjab. He said the government had decided to immediately switch over to the macro management mode to provide assistance to states, including Punjab, for development of agriculture on the basis of their work plan. He said the work plan of Punjab would give the state the flexibility to address the specific problems/constraints of different regions/crops. Safety of pilgrims: Minister for Tourism and Culture, Mr Anant Kumar, told the Lok Sabha that 4692648 domestic and 17935 foreign tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir between January and October-end this year. Of these, 4412896 pilgrims visited Mata Vaishno Devi and 173334 visited Amarnath. Replying to a question on the steps taken to ensure the safety and security of the tourists, the minister said this was the responsibility of the state government. He informed the House that the Jammu and Kashmir Government also deployed tourist police to provide assistance to the tourists. |
|
Oppn walkout on farmers’ plight NEW DELHI, Nov 30 — The Opposition continued to keep the debate on the farmers’ plight in the country alive during zero hour in the Lok Sabha with the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Party members staging a walkout in the House over the government response to the issue. Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said the government was “insensitive” to the self-immolation threat given by some farmers in Uttar Pradesh. He said the farmers at Meerut and Hapur had indicated they would take this extreme step as the owners of cold stores had declared they would disconnect the electricity lines. This would badly hit the farmers whose five lakh sacks of potato were lying in these stores, he said. The government on its part said it favoured the constitution of a standing committee of Parliament to look into the farmers’ issue. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan, who spoke on behalf of the government in the absence of the Agriculture Minister, said the government supported the suggestion for forming a standing committee. He requested the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman to call a meeting of members from all parties to evolve a consensus on the issue. He said a comprehensive Act would be brought for farm labourers and he would consult the Law and Agriculture Minister in this regard. |
Scribes rue delay
in notification NEW DELHI, Nov 30 (PTI) — The National Co-ordination Committee of Newspaper and Newsagency Employees’ Unions today protested against the delay in notifying the Manisana Singh Wage Boards report even two weeks after its approval by the Union Cabinet and threatened industrial action if it is not done by tomorrow. Attributing the delay to “fresh objections raised by the Labour Ministry”, the committee alleged in a statement here “there are reasons for us to believe that the ministry is taking this step under the influence of newspaper/newsagency employers.” “The committee strongly protests against this knee-bending exercise of the Union Labour Ministry before a set of employers who argued before the boards that they need give only a minimum wage to their employees and a majority of whom have even refused to come out with their balance sheets,” it said. Asserting that the newspaper and newsagency employees “will not take the genuflexion of the Labour Ministry before the Indian Newspaper Society”, the statement warned, “if by 6 p.m. on Friday, December 1, the notification is not made as was decided verbatim by the Cabinet, the employees will take whatever steps they consider right in the circumstances for which only the Union Labour Ministry will be responsible.” |
|
|
CHENNAI, Nov 30 (PTI) — At least 12 persons died in the severe cyclonic storm that crossed the Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry coast last evening, official sources said today. Three ‘kalasams’ (mini-domes) of the famous Nataraja temple at Chidambaram were blown away by heavy winds yesterday, a report from Cuddalore, quoting District Collector S. Saxena said. He said seven persons, including a 13-year-old girl, died in rain-related incidents in the district which bore the brunt of the storm. Six persons died in wall collapses and one was washed away by flood waters. |
|
|
Murasoli Maran discharged CHENNAI, Nov 30 (PTI) — Union Commerce and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran was discharged from Apollo Hospitals today after successful treatment for obstructive
cardiomyopathy. “I have got my life back,” Mr Maran told mediapersons while leaving the hospital, where he was admitted for acute migraine and breathlessness on October 28. Looking normal and cheerful, the 66-year-old minister waited patiently with a smile for cameramen who thronged the hospital lobby. He commended the doctors and the “world-class” treatment made available to him. Doctors said he had been advised a month’s rest before he could resume normal work. He has been asked to return for re-evaluation after two weeks. “He started seeing files yesterday,’ said Apollo Hospitals Chairman, P. C. Reddy, when reporters wanted to know when he could resume normal duties. |
|
Return of Kohinoor sought NEW DELHI, Nov 30 (PTI) — A BJP member in the Lok Sabha today asked the government to seek return of the famous Kohinoor diamond from Britain since it belonged to India. Raising the issue during zero hour, Mr M.A. Kharabela Swain said New Delhi should take up the issue with the UK as the Taliban regime of Afghanistan, which has historically nothing to do with the diamond, has made a plea to Britain for its return. He said the diamond, which had been in the custody of various Indian kings, had been taken away by invader Nadir Shah in 1731 but it was brought back to India by Maharaja Ranjit Singh after a war. |
|
32 Delhi JD (U) men
join Janshakti NEW DELHI, Nov 30 — Majority of office-bearers of the Delhi unit of the Janata Dal (United) today joined the newly floated Janshakti of Minister of Communication Ram Vilas Paswan. Announcing the national office- bearers of his party, Mr Paswan told mediapersons “32 of the total 35 office-bearers of the Delhi JD (U) have joined our party and 11 district presidents out of the 12 districts are now with Janshakti”. |
|
Armenian minister arrives on Sunday NEW DELHI, Nov 30 — At the invitation of External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian will arrive here on Sunday on a three-day official visit. Mr Oskanian would hold detailed discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual concern with the External Affairs Minister. The two leaders are expected to focus on ways to improve trade and commercial ties. Briefing newspersons a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said that relations between India and Armenia were historical and exceptionally warm and friendly. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
