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January 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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WB warns against Central rule CBI resumes interrogation
of Hinduja Magistrate can’t order CBI probe: SC NHRC summons Bihar Chief Secy
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Manipur CM falls in line CLP agitated over letter of Governor’s Secy Chautala wants Gita hymns on air Army to check ISI activities India-Bangladesh rail
service resumed Don’t equate us with
beggars: sex workers ‘SARAS’ aircraft by
October, says Joshi
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WB warns against Central rule BHUBANESWAR, Jan 21 (UNI) — West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharya today warned the Centre against imposing President’s rule in the state and dubbed as “unwarranted” the National Human Rights Commission investigation into the alleged Chhota Anguria massacre in Midnapore district. Mr Bhattacharya, who was here to attend the CPM’s Central Committee meeting, averred: “The people of the state would teach the Centre a lesson, if it imposes President’s rule on the alibi of deteriorating law and order situation.” The Chief Minister said the Centre had imposed President’s rule on several occasions in the past in some states, including West Bengal. In 90 per sent of the cases, the rule was imposed owing to political reasons, he said. The state came under President’s rule twice before in 1967 and 1969, and this time again the Centre was trying to repeat it, but it would not succeed, he said. Reacting to the
NHRC’s visit to Midnapore district, Mr Bhattacharya said: “I do not know why they have come and what they have found. I am waiting for the cid report.” He described as unfortunate that the
NHRC had not taken the state counterpart into confidence and did not even bother to inform it before visiting the violence-prone district. Dismissing the possibility of an alliance among the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the
BJP in the coming Assembly elections, the Chief Minister said any political party joining with “the communal party” would not be acceptable to the people of West Bengal. No right-thinking person would allow the communal party to grow in the state, he said. |
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CBI resumes interrogation
of Hinduja NEW DELHI, Jan 21 — The Central Bureau of Investigation today resumed the interrogation of Hinduja group Chairman S. P. Hinduja regarding the role of the three Hinduja brothers in the Rs 64-crore Bofors pay-off case. Mr S. P. Hinduja, who was questioned for three hours yesterday, was again summoned to the CBI headquarters, CBI officials said. The Hinduja brothers are being interrogated regarding their secret Swiss bank accounts codenamed Mont Blanc, Lotus and Tulip towards which the Swedish arms manufacturer A. B. Bofors allegedly paid 81 million Swedish kroner. The Hinduja brothers are appearing before the CBI following directions by the designated court which had rejected the application of the businessmen seeking permission to go abroad and directed the probe agency to begin investigations. |
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Magistrate can’t order CBI probe: SC NEW DELHI, Jan 21 (UNI) — In a significant judgement, the Supreme Court has held that the Magistrate does not have a power to direct the CBI to conduct investigation into any offence. Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure only empowers the Magistrate to direct an officer in charge of the police station to investigate any cognisable case over which he has a jurisdiction, the court said. The court reiterated that the magisterial power could not be stretched under 156 (3) of the code beyond directive to the officer in charge of the police station to conduct the investigation. The ruling was given by a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice K.T. Thomas and Mr Justice R.P. Sethi while allowing a batch of appeals by the CBI. The seemingly ingenuous question about the magisterial power to order the CBI investigation raised in the appeal have been compounded with divergent verdicts pronounced by different high courts. When the high courts of Rajasthan and Delhi answered the question in the affirmative, the Gujarat and Karnataka High Courts did exactly the opposite. The common feature in all appeals was that when a complaint was filed before a magistrate alleging serious offences, he ordered investigations to be conducted by the CBI and on completion of the investigation, the final report was required to be filed before him. “What is envisaged in 5 and 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, governing the CBI, is not one of
conferring power on a magistrate to order the CBI to conduct investigation in exercise of section 156 (3) of the code. The Supreme Court and the high courts, of course have this power,’’ the court observed. |
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NHRC summons Bihar Chief Secy NEW DELHI, Jan 21 — The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Bihar Government summoning the Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police. The respondents have been asked to appear before the commission on February 27 in connection with a case in which a former minister of the state had allegedly detained and tortured a truck driver and his helper. The respondents have been asked to appear before the commission on the given date unless the accused are apprehended and produced before the court. Sources in the NHRC said it took suo motu cognizance on the basis of a news report headlined “Bihar minister turns sadist; Driver’s nails plucked out, forced to drink urine.” The commission had issued a notice to the Bihar Government on July 11 last year and asked it to submit a progress report in the criminal case registered against the former minister. It also asked the state government to show cause as to why immediate interim relief by way of monetary compensation be not granted to the two victims by the government. The Bihar Government informed the commission that the allegations made in the news report were true. A case had been registered under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST Crime Prevention Act. According to the reply, the victims had been paid Rs 1,000 each for their treatment. The state government also promised a payment of Rs 50,000 to the truck driver who had to “drink dirty substance” and suffered injuries. One-fourth of the amount had already been paid to the driver and the remaining Rs 37,500 would be paid after the conviction order is passed by the lower court. The state government reported that it had not been able to arrest the accused as they were not traceable. The commission found it strange how Mr Lalit Yadav, the former minister and Mr Vijay Rai, the other accused in the criminal case, had been shown to be absconding. The commission said the inability of the state government to locate a person who till recently had been a minister in Bihar, was to say the least, surprising and indicative of deliberate inaction on the part of the state police. The commission was also surprised to note that the Police Department in the state was not able to apprehend and produce the former minister in court even when he continues to be a member of the state Legislative Assembly. |
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Hrithik Roshan bags best actor award MUMBAI, Jan 21 (UNI) — Hrithik Roshan bagged the best actor and best male debut award at the seventh Screen Videocon awards function held at the Andheri sports complex here
yesterday. Tabu won the best actress award for ‘Astitva’, while Shilpa Navalkar won the best female debut for “Kairee”. It was the Roshans who swept the awards category all the way winning eight of the 16 nominations for their home production ‘Kaho
Na Pyaar Hai”. The film won best director and best music director award for brothers Rakesh and Rajesh Roshan respectively along with best film, best editing, best choreography and best male playback singer award. The television awards were, as expected, swept by “Kaun
Banega Crorepati” with superstar Amitabh Bachchan winning the best anchor award. |
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Manipur CM falls in line NEW DELHI, Jan 21 (PTI) — In a desperate bid to survive,
beleaguered Manipur Chief Minister W. Nipamacha Singh has committed himself to toe the Home Ministry’s line to tone up the administration including crackdown on the police set up, transfer of rebel police forces and sacking of 800
ad hoc employees. The Manipur Government has agreed to replace DGP D.S. Grewal with another IPS officer “to be provided by the Home Ministry”, a leading north-east weekly has reported in its latest issue. Among other points reportedly agreed upon by the Chief Minister at a meeting with Home Minister L.K. Advani on January 6 here include “shifting out” IGP Law and Order A Romen, The Northeast Sun reported. The plan, which was finalised after days of deliberations between officials of the Home Ministry and the state government, also includes preparation of a counter-militancy mechanism, setting up of a special security apex committee and an independent VIP security review committee. “In order to discipline the Manipur State Police and keeping in mind the recent police revolt, the Nipamacha ministry has agreed to offer the services of the First and the Fifth battalions of the Manipur Rifles to be deployed outside Manipur,” the periodical said. About 800 employees, who made it through “adhoc or back door” appointments and are working in various departments, will be sacked by February, it said. In another proposal, the Manipur Government has agreed to shift surplus government employees from different departments to the police force. Under this, about 5,000 employees are to be taken as cops. After prolonged dithering, the Manipur Government had on January 6 submitted to the Centre a time-bound action plan to tackle insurgency and bring the state out of the financial rut, besides agreeing to a CBI probe into scams relating to state lotteries and fake government appointments. The state government has agreed to authorise the CBI to investigate the alleged irregularities in the conduct of Manipur Lotteries and the alleged fake appointments in its Education Department in which six ministers were reportedly involved. The investigation into both cases will be carried out from 1990 onwards, Home Ministry sources said. It also has agreed to complete probe into the alleged nexus between politicians including ministers and legislators with militants, besides the procurement of police uniforms and web equipment. |
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CLP agitated over letter of Governor’s Secy KOLKATA, Jan 21 (UNI) — The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in West Bengal has decided to table a breach of privilege motion against Governor Viren J. Shah’s Secretary as a letter from the senior
IAS officer has kicked up a controversy in state politics. The reason that made the Congress hostile against Governor’s Secretary Neera Saggi was a letter to the
CLP Chief Whip received yesterday advising the Opposition about its behaviour while the Governor was in the House. The letter has quoted excerpts from Jawaharlal Nehru’s letter to the then Chief Ministers in 1952, urging them to ensure that legislators did not interrupt the speech of the Governor. Mrs Saagi in the letter said that she had been directed to quote excerpts of Pandit Nehru. The
CLP which is, so far, the only party to have received the letter, just three days before the commencement of the last session of the state Assembly, has taken it as an affront on the part of a bureaucrat to “sermonise” the peoples’ representative on their code of conduct. “We will move a breach of privilege motion against her. She has exceeded her limits. What right she has got to advise the peoples representatives about their conduct inside the House?” an angry
CLP Chief Whip Abdul Mannan asked. The letter from the Governor’s Secretary was believed to have been served as a result of the unsavoury incident during the opening day of the last Budget session of the house when a section of Congress legislators created a virtual pandemonium by shouting slogans, mobbing the Governor, interrupting his address and tearing the copies of his speech. Chautala wants Gita hymns on air NEW DELHI, Jan 21 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has called for revamping publicity organisations of the Centre and states to carry the right information to the people. Inaugurating the 24th State Information Ministers’ Conference (SIMCON) here, he said it was necessary as the success of development programmes depended on how publicity units of the Centre and states conducted their efforts. Mr Vajpayee said information about many a developmental scheme did not always reach the common man, which led to corruption, inefficiency and lack of accountability. He called upon organisations like Doordarshan, AIR, DAVP and PIB to become more professional in their outlook. Mr Vajpayee’s remarks assume significance in view of the recommendations of the Expenditure Reforms Commission for winding up of several wings of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The expert committee, which went into the functioning of Prasar Bharti, had also recommended downsizing of the organisation. In her speech, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said the role of the ministry had undergone a transformation in the recent years and it was no longer an instrument of government propaganda but a key economic ministry in the age of information-communication-entertainment. Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala said hymns form Bhagavadgita should be broadcast by All India Radio, Kurukshetra, every morning in the manner which was being followed to broadcast Guru Granth Sahib excerpts from Amritsar. Mr Chautala also urged the Prime Minister to get the much delayed Doordarshan kendra set up at Hisar for which the Centre had taken a decision under the Seventh Five Year Plan. He said that despite the fact the Jalandhar based kendra of Doordarshan covered a part of Haryana, there had been no Hindi bulletin to serve the needs of the state. Punjab Information and Public Relations Minister, Mr Natha Singh Dalam stressed the need for strengthening the Jalandhar Doordarshan in terms of trained manpower and equipment for effective coverage of the activities in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Jammu and Kashmir Information Minister Ajatshatru Singh demanded an upgradation of broadcasting facilities to counter the anti-India propaganda. Maintaining that the media had been overwhelmed by the talk of visit to Pakistan by the Hurriyat Conference, he said the other point of view should not be lost sight of in the name of objectivity. The Hurriyat Conference, which derives strength from the guns of militants, was getting a lot of media attention, he said.
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Army to check ISI activities PATNA, Jan 21 — The Union Government seems to have reconciled to the new geo-strategic realities of the South Asian sub-continent in the aftermath of the Indo-Nepal crisis following the Hrithik Roshan drama. In what could well be construed as the Centre’s awakening to the ISI hijacking Nepal for its nefarious activities, the Union government has decided to hand over the security of the eastern corridor along Nepal to the Indian Army. Defence Minister George Fernandes, who is in the state to participate in the Samata’s ‘Kisan rally’, said this at a huge gathering in the Bind high school premises, 100 km off state capital. The Defence Minister, expressing concern over increased ISI infiltration and subversive activities along the Indo-Nepal border in the state, said that the existing police set-up in those parts was finding it tough to handle the ISI gameplan and that is why the task would be given to the Army. He said that government would set up two or three Army bases in north Bihar, along the porous Indo-Nepal border for better handling. It is to be mentioned that after the recent trouble in Nepal over the Hrithik affair, the Intelligence reports of the ISI shifting its area of operation in the eastern corridor and the confession of the arrested mercenaries in Nepal that the Pakistani Embassy staff are engaged in helping the ISI deliver RDX and fake notes in India through Bihar, the Union government seems to have revised its geo-strategic perceptions vis-a-vis Nepal. Earlier, addressing the Army officers and jawans at the Bihar Regimental Centre in Danapur cantonment area, the Defence Minister affirmed that Agni II was meant essentially for self-defence and that was why Pakistan need not be worried over it. He maintained that India would stick to its age-old policy of not attacking anyone first but it was gearing up its self-defence mechanism. In his meet at Bind, George lashed out at the Bihar government for delay in the Ordnance Factory project near Nalanda. He maintained that the original cost of the project, Rs 800 crore got escalated to Rs 1000 crore owing to the failure of the state government to provide land for the project. |
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India-Bangladesh rail
service resumed PETRAPOLE (North 24 Parganas), Jan 21 (UNI) — Train services resumed between India and Bangladesh after a gap of 25 years, with the flagging off Sonar-Bangla Special, a freight train, from here to Benapole in Bangladesh today. The train was jointly flagged off by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bangladesh Minister for Communication Anwar Hossain Manju. The train, comprising 30 bogies with portraits of Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam on the front, carried cement to the other side of the border. The track between the two countries was relaid a year ago with a station each at Benapole and Petrapole but the commissioning was delayed due to various reasons. While speaking to mediapersons after the commissioning of the international rail link, Ms Banerjee said: “We are ready to run passenger trains between the two countries, provided the Bangladesh Government okays the proposal”. |
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Don’t equate us with beggars: sex workers NEW DELHI, Jan 21 (UNI) — Sex workers have objected to being clubbed in the category of beggars/vagabond/street children in the forthcoming census and have threatened to move court. A sex workers’ organisation has submitted a petition to the Registrar-General of the Census Commissioner stating that comparing them with beggars was highly objectionable as “they toil very hard to earn their livelihood just like industrial workers.” The sex workers also held a meeting recently at which it was decided that if their request for inclusion in the general category was not accepted, they would approach a court against it, Mr Khairati Lal Bhola, president of the Bharatiya Patita Uddhar Sabha, an organisation working for the welfare of prostitutes and their children, said. “The sex workers do not beg, but receive money from their customer after satisfying their sexual needs,” he said and added that during their conference in Kolkata three years ago, sex workers had appealed to the government to grant them the status of trade unions as they are working in the sex industry. “Sex workers are great social reformers as they leave the sex lusters confined. |
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‘SARAS’ aircraft by
October, says Joshi HYDERABAD, Jan 21 (PTI) — “SARAS”, the first civilian aircraft indigenously developed by Indian scientists, would be ready by October, Human Resource Development and Science and Technology Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi said today . Speaking to mediapersons after the two-day CSIR Directors’ meeting here, Mr Joshi said the 14-seater aircraft, would open new horizons in Indian aviation industry. “The induction of the Rs 131-crore aircraft, originally scheduled for completion last year, was delayed due to the sanctions imposed by the USA, he said. “SARAS”, being developed by National Aeronautics Limited (NAL) Bangalore in collaboration with HAL and Tarneja Aeorospace, would have over 10,000 components developed by our scientists while a few components would be imported, he said. |
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