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January 13, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Hardwar issue rocks Uttaranchal House DEHRA DUN, Jan 12 — The issue of the inclusion of Hardwar district in Uttaranchal rocked the Assembly on the first day of the session when two members of the Samajwadi Party protested against the Governor’s Address and staged a walkout from the House. Protests over visit of Li Peng Bhat, Malik keep away knowingly WB massacre: four bodies
lie unclaimed Hawking’s sight-seeing
tour appears unlikely |
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Serial killer held in Bihar Strange case of bribe return Third front formed in Tamil Nadu Train to B’desh
postponed SLP against HC order dismissed Underworld gang member held Immolation bid 
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Hardwar issue rocks Uttaranchal House DEHRA DUN, Jan 12 — The issue of the inclusion of Hardwar district in Uttaranchal rocked the Assembly on the first day of the session when two members of the Samajwadi Party protested against the Governor’s Address and staged a walkout from the House. As soon as Mr Surjit Singh Barnala started addressing the members of the House, two Samajwadi Party members — Mr Ram Singh Saini and Mr Ambirish Kumar — stood up and criticised the BJP-led government at the Centre and in the parent state Uttar Pradesh for including Hardwar in the new state. They raised slogans against the Uttaranchal Government. Meanwhile, addressing the members of the Assembly, Mr Barnala paid tributes to those who sacrificed their lives in their struggle to establish the Uttaranchal state. He assured jobs to the next of kin of those who died in the struggle and said withdrawal of cases filed against members of the movement was proceeding and would be completed soon. He appealed to the members to rise above party politics and work for the development of the state. He said the state had come into being in a financial crisis. During the current year, against the total expected receipts of Rs 2,892 crore, the total expected expenditure was more than Rs 4,868 crore. From November, 2000 to March, 2001, against the expected receipts of Rs 1,294 crore the expected expenditure was Rs 2,192 crore. He said there was need for reducing the government expenditure. Mr Barnala said the government in the state was in favour of establishing a decentralised administration based on the Panchayati Raj in accordance with the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution. The government would try to derive every possible benefit from the information technology-based economic order, besides providing infrastructure facilities, a good communication system, power, water, transport, etc. to the people Mr Barnala read out the Address in Hindi. |
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Rs 156 crore released DEHRA DUN, Jan 12 — The Planning Commission has released a sum of Rs 156.95 crore in two series as special plan assistance for Uttaranchal. This amount was already earmarked for the state in the budget provisions for 2000-2001. According to the orders passed by Ms Indu Patnayak, Deputy Adviser, Planning Commission, the commission has released Rs 76.67 crore and Rs 80.28 crore to the state government. While confirming this Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Finance Minister of Uttaranchal, said with the release of this amount the financial position of the state has improved. Earlier, by the end of the last month the total amount in the state exchequer was only Rs 11.5 crore. He said the Central Government had also released Rs 2 crore separately for upgrading and repair of the border roads. |
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Pant elected Speaker BJP MLA Prakash Pant was on Friday elected unopposed as the first Speaker of the newly constituted Uttaranchal Vidhan Sabha. After the scrutiny of documents, Vidhan Sabha Secretary Mahesh Chander declared him “elected unopposed”. |
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Protests over
visit of Li Peng NEW DELHI, Jan 12 — Tibetans, who have been holding demonstrations during Chinese leader Li Peng’s visit to New Delhi, have urged the Chinese government to start unconditional talks with Dalai Lama to resolve the issue of Tibet. In a memorandum to Mr Li Peng, Chairman, Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress of China, leaders of various Tibetan organisations condemned the Chinese Government’s hardline policy on Tibet. Alleging that human rights of Tibetans were being violated in the “occupied Tibet,” the memorandum said the Tibetans were living in fear and did not have freedom of religion and expression. “The failure of your government to resume unconditional talks with the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government reveals the unsuccessful initiative to host Olympic games,’’ the memorandum said. In a separate letter to Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi, the Tibetan representatives said there would not be a positive solution between India and China unless the issue of Tibet was resolved. Meanwhile, 15 members of the Tibetan Youth Congress were arrested today after they held a demonstration near Qutab Minar during Mr Li Peng’s visit. |
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Bhat, Malik keep away knowingly NEW DELHI, Jan 12 — In a careful move, All-Party Hurriyat Conference Chairman Abdul Gani Bhat has kept himself out of the team due to leave for Pakistan. Professor Bhat and the JKLF leader, Mr Yasin Malik, have kept themselves consciously out of the team, top sources said, adding that the Hurriyat Chairman was told in the Capital before he left for Srinagar for the Executive Committee meeting that the Centre would issue travel documents to the entire team. Professor Bhat does not want to rush into a situation and is keen to wait for the outcome of talks that the Hurriyat team will have with the authorities and militant organisations in Pakistan. For almost similar reasons, the young Malik has decided to keep out of the team with a plea that he has to travel to the United Kingdom and the USA for medical treatment. Knowledgeable circles are surprised that Mr Malik and Professor Bhat are not in the team, but sources said both of them are not sure of the Islamabad strategy. Professor Bhat is said to be of the view that if the Hurriyat team comes back with some concrete results even then he would get the credit, being the APHC Chairman, but if the mission turns abortive, then it would be possible for him to distance himself from the outcome. The Centre, after careful deliberations, is providing travel documents to hardliners like former Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Sheikh Abdul Aziz, Maulana Abbas Ansari would be restored his passport. Former Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mr Abdul Ghani Lone already have passports. While Muslim militant groups in Pakistan and a part of Kashmir occupied by Pakistan have welcomed the composition of the Hurriyat team which includes pro-Islamabad elements, a section in the APHC is not certain of the overall strategy of the military regime of General Pervez
Musharraf. Welcoming the team, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen spokesman Salim Hashmi said, “The team is balanced. There were rumours that the separatist’s house is divided between moderates and extremists, but now this confusion is finished”. Another militant group, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), which had recently warned the APHC not to send a team with an “Indian agenda” when it comes to Pakistan, also expressed satisfaction, saying, “These people undoubtedly have a role in the freedom struggle as they have been fighting on the political front”. UNI adds: Former Chairman of the APHC Syed Ali Shah Geelani is angry with the Executive Council of the conference for having announced a five member delegation for a proposed visit to Pakistan next week, without the Indian Government first giving passports to all its seven members. “I am not at all satisfied (with this announcement),” said Mr Geelani in an interview with the
BBC (Urdu) last night. He protested that the Executive Council took a unanimous decision while he was in hospital. He said a representative of the Jamaat-e-Islami had reminded the council of its earlier stand that the delegation would be announced only after the Government of India gave passports to all seven members of the Executive Council, yet the council announced the delegation, he deplored. Mr Syed Geelani is among the delegation members whose names were announced yesterday by the Hurriyat conference. But he does not possess a passport. He admitted he has applied for a passport, describing himself as a citizen of India. |
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WB massacre:
four bodies lie unclaimed MIDNAPORE (WB), Jan 12 (PTI) — The bodies of four persons, whom the Trinamool Congress claimed to be its supporters allegedly massacred at Choto Angra recently, are lying unclaimed at the state General Hospital in Kharagpur. “No one has come forward to claim the bodies being kept here under police guard, though we have sent messages to relatives through Pingla and Sabang police stations,” the doctor in charge of the hospital said today. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Headquarters, Mr N.C. Ghosh, said in Kolkata yesterday that the police was waiting for DNA test reports from Central Forensic Laboratory on the bodies as there was more than one claimant for one of them. The Director-General of Police, Mr Dipak Sanyal, had said on December 10 that the bodies were brought from Midnapore to the central police morgue in Kolkata on the basis of complaints by the CPM. The bodies are of Srikanta Singh of Osthi, Sukdev Pingua of Pingla and Kanu Sinku of Maligram, and Gangadhar Das Adhikary of Panpara. Hawking’s sight-seeing
tour appears unlikely NEW DELHI, Jan 12 — World renowned wheelchair-bound physicist Prof Stephen Hawking’s desire to visit the Red Fort, Jantar Mantar, Qutab Minar and Humayun’s tomb during his five-day stay in the Capital may just remain a dream. Professor Hawking is arriving here on Sunday. The visit may materialise only if the Archaeological Survey of India permits construction of wooden ramps. The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Persons with Disabilities (NCPEDP) today handed over letters seeking permission to construct ramps at the aforesaid places, to the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the NDMC Chairman. The Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment has indicated that her ministry would respond favourably to any representation to make ramps a permanent arrangement. Mr Javed Abidi, Executive Director of the NCPEDP who is also physically challenged, told TNS here on Friday that the ASI staff refused to acknowledge a letter addressed to the ASI Director-General, Mrs Komal Anand. They, instead, directed our staffer to an ASI Director (Incharge of monuments) who did not even know who Professor Hawking was, he said. Ms Rama Chari, Executive Officer in the NCPEDP who called on the ASI Director, Mr A.K. Sinha told that Mr Sinha categorically said no permission would be given to build even temporary ramps in the monuments.
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Serial killer held in Bihar PATNA, Jan 12 — “He cannot even kill a rat” — this is what most people would say about 20-year-old Nawab Miyan. But the police says: “He has killed 25 innocent persons in two years”. Nawab, shifted to Beur jail after his arrest by the Jehanabad police, confessed to several murders after an interrogation by the Patna police on January 10. It seems that Nawab has left out no crime. Be it extortion, loot, killing or jailbreak, he has done them all. Nawab has not even spared his accomplices. He killed two of them after they fell apart. The lad is likely to spend the rest of his life in jail. Or he may be hanged. However, if someone cares to know about his history, it can shed some light on how youths are turning to crime in a big way in the state. The kidnappers, highway looters, sharpshooters and killers arrested in recent times in the state are mostly teenagers. The kidnappers of the Dhanbad industrialist Ashok Jalan were youngsters. On January 10, the Patna police busted a gang of highway looters and killers and arrested 20 persons. Half of them were below 20 years of age. The Patna police said the members were in the age group of 18-35. The gang operated in four groups. One group specialised in halting the trucks on the highway and another killed the driver and cleaner. Later, the limbs and head of the deceased were chopped off and mutilated to avoid identification. Several bodies were thrown in the river
Ganga. |
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Strange case of
bribe return NEW DELHI, Jan 12 — An amazing case of returning bribe by an officer of the Electricity Department has come to light. According to information, the enforcement cell of Electricity Department, during its operation in Sector 9, Noida found a factory owner
indulging in power theft. The officer on the spot started threatening him of serious consequences if he did not pay the bribe to the officer concerned. The case was settled for Rs 7,000. The officer took the money and pushed off from the scene. But the same officer came to his factory today morning and returned the money taken as bribe. The Superintending Engineer of the department refused to comment when approached by this correspondent. |
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Third front formed
in Tamil Nadu CHENNAI, Jan 12 (UNI) — The New Justice Party founder President, Mr A.C. Shanmugam, today announced the formation of a mini third front in Tamil Nadu. The new parties which have joined the NJP-led front are the Kongunadu Makkal Katchi, the Thayaga Makkal Katchi and the Tamil Nadu Pillaimar Peravai. Mr G.K. Moopanar would be accepted as the leader if the Tamil Maanila Congress also joined the new front, Mr Shanmugam said.
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Train
to B’desh postponed KOLKATA, Jan 12 — The flagging-off ceremony of the direct train service between India and Bangladesh, scheduled to be held here today, has been cancelled at the last moment following “objection” by the Haseena government. The function was originally scheduled on December 31 but postponed at the instance of Bangladesh Government. Now, it has been once again cancelled following an official communication received by the country’s External Affairs Ministry from the government on the eve of today’s function. The official communication states that the Minister for Communication will be available for the function any day between January 20 and 31. The Railways was now planning to refix a new date of the flagging off of the goods train as per request of the Bangladesh Government. Passenger trains between the two countries may start running some time from March. Direct train services between the two countries were suspended after the Indo-Pak war in 1965. After the formation of the Bangladesh in 1971, the services were restored partially but again stopped in 1976 due to absence of direct rail link between India’s Petropol and Benapol in Jessore district of Bangladesh. |
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SLP against HC
order dismissed NEW DELHI, Jan 12 — The Supreme Court today dismissed special leave petition against the judgement of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissing the writ petition of Mr R.A. Goel, former Chairman, Haryana State Pollution
Control Board, challenging the state government’s decision to dissolve the board before the expiry of its term of three years. The Bench comprising Mr Justice B.N. Kirpal and Mrs Justice Ruma Pal, while dismissing the SLP, observed that the tenure period of the Chairman stood expired. The petitioner’s counsel, however, submitted that out of the three years’ tenure, the board had existed for only half of the period. The petitioner alleged in his SLP that the state government had dissolved the board on the ground that as Chairman, he had not followed the administrative directions of the executive. The government had directed that a no-objection certificate should not be insisted upon from 17 highly polluting industries, although mandatory. The high court in the impugned judgment had stated, “Even if for the sake of argument, the reply of the board were held to be legally valid, we fail to appreciate as to how a functionary of the government, can call the instructions of the government itself into question.” |
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Underworld gang
member held NEW DELHI, Jan 12 — The Delhi police today arrested a member of an underworld gang who had links with criminal gangs in Mumbai and Kolkata. Bahadur Singh, alias Siddhu, was arrested from Pandwala village in north-west Delhi. He was involved in the kidnapping case of a Rajkot jeweller, Bhasker Parekh, who was released by the kidnappers in Delhi for a ransom of Rs 3 crore. The police recovered one revolver of .455 bore with three live cartridges, two country-made pistols of .315 bore with four live cartridges, a Maruti car, a cellular phone and a telephone diary. During interrogation, he disclosed that he had contact with the Rajan gang in Kolkata, the Aftab gang in Mumbai and the Sanjay Khanna, Ali Buddesh, Guru Bhai and Sharmaji gangs in Dubai. Immolation
bid DEHRA DUN, Jan 12 — The police has arrested more than 50 activists protesting against the growing unemployment in the state outside the State Legislative Assembly. Two persons even tried self-immolation but the attempt was foiled. The Uttarakhand Berozgar Mahasangh set out to carry out its “ghera dalo dera dalo” threat. Heavy police deployment was resorted to in the state capital to foil protest. Two women members of the Uttarakhand Mahila Manch were picked by the police from their homes. Ms Nirmala Bisht, the district governor of the organisation, was put behind the
bars, said a police officer. More than 4,000 people from various sections of the society came to the capital to protest against the state government. The traffic leading to the main road to the Assembly was blocked for hours. The traffic to Hardwar was diverted to other roads. Vijayaraje ill NEW DELHI, Jan 12 (UNI) — Senior BJP leader Vijayaraje Scindia has been hospitalised with meningitis and is stated to be serious. The 81-year-old BJP leader was admitted to Indraprastha Apollo Hospital on January 2.
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