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| Saturday,
April 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Extend
Kargil martyrs’ grants: ex-servicemen Ministry
can’t meet CNG demand CNG safety
norms ‘rescribed’ last year Clinton
assures help to quake-hit |
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Ramesh
Parekh remanded Chaos marks Mahavira
Jayanti function New poll
pacts in Assam likely DRG not
to accept non-disabled chief No
seat-sharing with TMC: Chowdhury Cong
declares Kerala list VHP
acting chief annoys sadhus No bail
during NDPS case trial: SC WHO
focus on mental health BJP
‘not to mediate’ in DMK-MDMK row Cong
protest on April 28 Rebel
MLA to float party Law officers’ role
flayed SAD
youth wing favours Sharjah tour Body of
25-yr-old man found
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Extend Kargil martyrs’ grants: ex-servicemen New Delhi They have also said people had contributed unstintingly to the National Defence Fund during the Kargil war. It has been reported that large amounts had been transferred to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. “The money collected for the NDF should only be used for defence personnel”. Drawing attention to a series of discriminatory acts that have deprived successive generations of retired military personnel, the ex-servicemen have pointed out that even though the Defence Minister promised the President of the Indian Ex-Servicemen’s League in April, 1999, that orders for one rank, one pension would be “issued within a week”, nothing had been done to date. The demand was made in the light of the anomalies thrown up by the Fifth Pay Commission. The Pay Commission has done injustice particularly to personnel below the officer’s rank like Subedar-Major, Subedar, Naib-Subedar, Havaldar, Naik and sepoy by laying down conditionalities that ensure that they never reach the top of their respective grades and thus never enjoy the maximum pension that has been laid down in the schedule. A jawan, for instance, gets a pension lower than that of a chaprasi. All this also redounds to the disadvantage of widows of defence personnel and the demand has been made that they should receive equivalent to that of their deceased husbands. It is pointed out that in pre-Independence India the defence personnel were getting higher rates of pension ranging from 70 per cent to 100 per cent of their pay as compared to civil servants, including the ICS cadre, who were getting pensions between 40 per cent to 50 per cent of their pay. Defence personnel were, therefore, adequately compensated for early retirement in the interest of keeping the armed forces young. The formula applied was early retirement and higher compensation. Besides proper medical care is not available to retired personnel because existing facilities must cater to the needs of serving personnel. It is, therefore, suggested that the Central Government either enhance the establishment and budgets of military hospitals or set up special facilities for retired personnel. The revised disability pension does not cover pre-1996 retired personnel and they have to appear before a medical board periodically to obtain disability certificates. With 60,000 defence personnel retiring every year it will not be long when the pension bill will be larger than the pay bill. It is suggested that there should be automatic lateral induction into the paramilitary forces. This will not only reduce expenditure but will also create a readily available second line of defence. Finally, every pay commission has resulted in the lowering of the status and prestige of defence personnel, particularly of the junior commissioned officer and officers on the false plea of civilian control over military personnel. Civilian control really means political control and not bureaucratic control which has resulted in degrading the military.
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Ministry can’t meet CNG demand New Delhi, April 6 The strong diesel lobby could eventually emerge as a winner in the struggle for improving the ambient air quality in Delhi as the ministry is of the view that it could meet the demand for the CNG for only a fraction of the public transport which is operating on Delhi roads. The latest disclosures by the ministry could usher in another round of crisis and struggle for commuters as either the apex court will have to further extend the deadline for conversion of the entire public transport system to the CNG mode or again the majority of public transport vehicles will have to go off road. This time due to unavailability of CNG and not due to lack of supply outlets. What has come more as a shock for crusaders for better air quality is that all this while when the Capital was on fire with the commuters stranded and the bus operators and TSR owners on strike, the ministry chose to remain silent. While the Supreme Court kept expressing its anger, ministry officials did not come forward to explain that they did not have sufficient supply of CNG which could meet the demand for almost 70,000 public transport vehicles which include over 30,000 buses. Sources in the government disclosed that at a meeting convened on Wednesday, the ministry officials for the first time declared that there was not enough supply of CNG. The ministry was of the view that at the present stage of availability it could meet the demand for just about 10,000 buses and no other mode of public transport. Reports suggest that the ministry said if it will meet the demand for the public transport system in Delhi, it would have to stop the supply of CNG to all industry from Gujarat to Delhi. The demand in Delhi along with that of the industries, particularly the fertiliser manufacturing plants, would be much more than the present installed capacity for its manufacture. The ministry has its priorities sorted out and Delhi’s transport system is not the first priority for it. According to the reports, the first priority was fertiliser plants and power plants. The sources pointed out that here was the possible turn around for the diesel lobby. In the wake of lack of supply of CNG, experts say there could be no alternative but to go back to diesel, although one with a lower sulphur content. One view prevailing in the ministry is that the vehicles should be allowed to run on diesel with 0.05 per cent sulphur content which is already available in the country. Incidentally, the apex court has already referred to the Bhurelal Committee to explore the possibility of running the Capital’s public transport system on diesel with 0.01 per cent sulphur content. However, this quality of diesel is not manufactured in India and would have to be imported from Sweden, which is the only country in the world to be making it. This would also not be feasible. To meet the emission norms pollution traps would have to be installed in the vehicles, which were not only expensive but also had to be replaced after few thousand kilometres, the experts said. |
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CNG safety norms ‘rescribed’ last year New Delhi, April 6 The state Transport Minister had alleged that the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry had not yet prescribed the safety norms for CNG vehicles. In an official press note the Centre said: “A notification of February 9, 2000, provided that emission norms of converted vehicles have to conform to the prevalent emission norms.” “Therefore, it is clarified that with the issuance of the type approval procedures, safety norms as well as emission norms have already been prescribed,” the press note added. Meanwhile, the All-India Motor Transport Congress said today the CNG supply in the Capital fell short by more than 1 million kg of its present daily requirement in the city, disputing the Centre’s claim about its sufficient availability. Total requirement of the CNG in Delhi stood to the tune of 1,335,000 kg a day as against its present availability of 1,95,000 kg, said Mr O.P. Agarwal, a member and former president of the AIMTC, in a press note. He said the Capital needed a minimum of 130 CNG filling stations to meet the demand. At present only two companies — Telco and Ashok Leyland-were manufacturing CNG bus chassis. Both these units could produce a maximum of 600 chassis per month, but at this rate they could not fulfil the requirement before March 2003, he said. Mr Agarwal said 17,500 buses run on Delhi roads, which include school buses, tourist ones and those from other states. The total number of taxis was placed at 12,000 and three-wheelers at 22,000, he added. |
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Clinton assures help to quake-hit Mumbai, April 6 Mr Clinton, who is on a philanthrophic mission to India as part of a fund-raising campaign organised by the American India Foundation (AIF), formed after the Gujarat earthquake with its office in New York, today met National Disaster Management Committee Vice-Chairman Sharad Pawar and assured that he would do everything possible for the cause. During the breakfast meeting with Mr Pawar at the latter’s Silver Oak Estate residence near Breach Candy Hospital here, Mr Clinton said: “Because of the climatic changes, natural disasters like floods, cyclones and earthquakes are on the rise.” He also discussed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is ever-prepared to tackle any calamity in the USA of this nature. Mr Clinton, who arrived here last night after his two-day tour to the worst-affected quake-hit region of Kutch district, was given a presentation by Mr Pawar about the plan of rehabilitation. A former Defence Minister, Mr Pawar, known for his administrative experience had worked round-the-clock after the September 30, 1993 earthquake that hit Latur-Osmanabad region of the state with its epicentre at Killari, during his tenure as Maharashtra Chief Minister. Mr Pawar interacted with members of the AIF. Among others who were present at the meeting included Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who himself hails from Latur, his deputy Chhagan Bhujbal, their cabinet
colleagues, senior officials, BJP national vice-president and former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde. Mr Pawar was recently made the Vice-Chairman of the National Disaster Management Committee following the Gujarat quake taking into consideration his vast expertise and management capabilities. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is the Chairman of the committee.
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Ramesh Parekh remanded Mumbai, April 6 Ramesh was arrested last night after he surrendered before the CBI. He was produced before special judge A.R. Joshi, who came all the way from a holiday to remand the accused to CBI custody. Ketan Parekh, his relative Kartik Parekh, Director of Panther Investrade Ltd, and Jagdish Pandya, manager of Madhavpura Cooperative Bank’s Mandvi Branch here; have already been remanded to the CBI custody till April 9. On a plea by defence counsel Avinash Rasal, the judge allowed the accused medicines and home-cooked food, subject to security check by the CBI. He said the accused was a diabetic and had undergone bypass surgery recently. The judge also directed the CBI to get the accused medically examined in a hospital if he complained of any health problem. The defence lawyer submitted that the accused had himself surrendered before the CBI and denied that Ramesh had evaded arrest. He had gone to Bhavnagar to visit his ailing sister and was not aware about the CBI probe into the alleged scam, he said. CBI prosecutors Gul Asnani and Bharat Singh Raghuvanshi contended that Ramesh was not at all cooperative and was evading interrogation. They sought his custody till April 12 but defence lawyer said he would not object if the accused was remanded till April 9.
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Chaos marks Mahavira
Jayanti function
New Delhi, April 6 Among them were a senior religious leader of the Jain community, Acharya Vidyananda, song squads who had been invited to perform at the function, and mediapersons. Mr Vajpayee, in his speech, said: “I regret that Acharya Vidyanandaji could not attend the function. Had some attention been paid to these arrangements, this would not have happened.” Mr Vajpayee himself read out the message of the Acharya, who did not come even after the Prime Minister personally directed former Indian envoy L.M. Singhvi to go and bring him inside. Prior to this, Home Minister L.K. Advani also apologised while telling the audience that due to “deficiencies” in the arrangements, the Acharya had not been able to reach here. The gates had been closed for all invitees as early as 9 a.m., 90 minutes before the time given for the entry. Chaos prevailed outside the gates of the massive sports complex, where lathi-wielding policemen were seen coaxing, cajoling and at times pushing away the invitees. A team of about 30 mediapersons, carrying heavy camera equipment, were sent by policemen, including senior officers, on a wild goose chase from one gate to another round the sports complex till they almost forced their way in. While inaugurating the year-long celebrations, Mr Vajpayee said: “India has always stood for global nuclear disarmament, but we have taken certain steps in self-defence. We do not want nuclear weapons to proliferate.” “If other countries decide to destroy their nuclear arsenals, we are also prepared to do so,” he said, adding that Mahavira’s preachings of non-violence assumed more relevance today. The Prime Minister released a commemorative postage stamp on the occasion. Among those present at the function were Mr L.K. Advani and his Cabinet colleagues Mr Ananth Kumar, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr Dhananjay Kumar and Mr Sunderlal Patwa, besides a large number of religious leaders of the Jain community. Tourism and Culture Minister Ananth Kumar said his ministry had drawn up a blueprint for the year-long celebrations in different parts of the country and abroad.
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New poll pacts in Assam likely Guwahati, April 6 The
AGP-BJP alliance came as a surprise to everyone as both parties were critical of each other till recently. The
AGP, in its annual general conference in February, termed the BJP as a communal party while the BJP central leadership took a resolution last month opposing any alliance with the
AGP. However, with the election approaching, both parties realised that they would have to come together to prevent the Congress from regaining power in the state and decided to come into an alliance. However, it remains to be seen whether the process of seat sharing between the parties is completed without any major hitch as the support base of both parties is almost the same . The Assam Chief Minister, Mr Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who is also the president of the
AGP, justified the alliance with the BJP and said such a move was necessary to wipe out the Congress from the political arena of Assam. He said a friendly government at the Centre was always beneficial for states like Assam and asserted that the ideology of the BJP would not affect the
AGP. He even said as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah joined the National Democratic Alliance and under the circumstances there was nothing wrong in the AGP’s action of joining hands with the BJP. He also asserted that the
AGP-BJP combine would come to power with an overwhelming majority. Mr Mahanta was a vocal critic of the BJP led government at the Centre and he even went to the extent of blaming the Central government for the failure of the Assam Government to pay the salaries of its employees on time. But now he has softened his attitude towards the BJP and said his criticism was only issue-based. The tie-up between the AGP and the BJP meant that the Left parties’ honeymoon with the AGP was over. In the last Assembly elections, the AGP joined hands with the CPI , CPM and the United Peoples Party of Assam to come back to power but the Left parties, as well as the
UPPA, which later merged with the Samajwadi party have come out of the alliance as soon as the reports of the
AGP-BJP alliance surfaced. It may be mentioned here that the last meeting of the four-party ruling alliance was held on March 25 in which the parties resolved to fight the elections together by considering the Congress and the BJP as their main enemies. The parties were again scheduled to meet on April 4 to finalise the process of seat sharing but in between the AGP started dialogues with the BJP. The CPI formally announced its withdrawal from the ruling alliance on April 4 and on the same day senior CPI leader and state Flood Control Minister Promode Gogoi resigned from the Mahanta Ministry. He said that as the AGP joined hands with a Communal party like the BJP, there was no question of the CPI staying in the alliance. The CPI has initiated dialogue with like-minded parties like the CPM, Samajwadi Party, RSP and the Janata Dal (Secular) to form the Peoples Front in the state. However, the party is also not against forging an alliance with the Congress to defeat the BJP and its allies. CPM state committee secretary Hemen Das said as the AJP had joined hands with the communal and “Tehelka-tainted” BJP, “the CPM has no option but to come out of the ruling alliance.” He said the CPM would maintain equidistance from both Congress and the BJP and the party was even ready to face the elections alone if the Peoples Front did not take off as desired. Samajwadi Party state unit president Abdul Muhib
Mazumdar, who is the Irrigation Minister of Assam, will also formally tender his resignation within a day or two. Mr Mazumdar said his party was in favour of setting up the Peoples Front in Assam. However, at the same time, he said his party was committed to a poll pact with the United Minorities Front
(UMF). It may be mentioned here that the Samajwadi party’s commitment to the UMF might act as a hurdle in the way of the setting up of the Peoples Front as the CPM had termed the UMF as a communal party and asserted that it would not enter into any understanding with the UMF. |
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DRG not to accept
non-disabled chief New Delhi, April 6 Addressing newspersons here on Friday, the DRG convenor, Mr Javed Abidi, said the aforesaid post fell vacant after the previous incumbent, a bureaucrat resigned. Relying on information from sources, Mr Abidi said, “We are told that a disabled person is not being selected for the post.” Asked whether the DRG would go to the court if a non-disabled person is appointed as the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Mr Abidi said, “we will leave no stone unturned.” He said the search committee appointed by the government had shortlisted four names for the post. “Of these, two are disabled and two are non-disabled. The government should have narrowed down on anyone of the two disabled persons as both have been active for a long time. If a non-disabled person gets appointed, it will mean that the government could not find one competent person for this office from the country’s disabled population of 70 million. We are not at all lobbying for anybody. We are raising an issue of principle.” Mr Abidi said the government took three years to appoint the first Chief Commissioner in September 98, that too, under pressure from the disability sector. “They appointed an IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre. This despite the fact that we had been insisting that the Chief Commissioner should be a disabled person, somebody who knows the difference between a ramp and a slope and integrated education and special education. Mr Sharma resigned from the post six months ago. Should it take six months for the government to find a replacement?” He said disabled rights activists had brought the matter to the notice of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the
Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. He drew attention to the philosophy of the disabled movement the world over which clearly says, “nothing about us, without us.” Ms Vadana Bedi, Executive Director, Spastics Society of Northern India, said it was unrealistic and unthinkable to have a man to head the National Commission for Women. |
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No seat-sharing with TMC: Chowdhury Kolkata, April 6 Mr Chowdhury declared he would not share any seat with the TMC in his home district in Malda, north Bengal on TMC’s terms and field candidates in all 11 seats against the CPM in the district. Mr Chowdhury, now in the city, will be leaving for New Delhi in a day or two to meet Mrs Sonia Gandhi to convey to her his decision. Two other Congress MPs, Mr Priyaranjan Das Munshi and Mr Adhir Chowdhury, are also not happy at the present seat-sharing arrangement with the TMC in which several sitting MLAs and other loyal parties workers had been victimised. Both leaders denied that an arrangement had been made to share nine of the 18 disputed seats as claimed by Ms Banerjee. TMC leader, however, reiterated that both Mr Kamal Nath and Mr Pranab Mukherjee had agreed on the sharing of 18 seats with nine each between the parties and accordingly, she was re-arranging the TMC’s candidate list. Aggrieved at the present development, Ms Banerjee warned that if the settlement was not reached within next 48 hours, the TMC would field candidates in all 294 seats, snapping its poll-tie with the Congress. She also conveyed this decision to Mr Kamal Nath over the telephone talk last night, which was forcing Mr Nath to make an airdash to Kolkata once again today. Mr Nath, however, expressed hope that the present dispute would be amicably settled soon and both the parties would launch poll campaign against the CPM. |
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Cong declares Kerala list New Delhi, April 6 Releasing the list, AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the list includes 23 persons from the backward sections, eight Muslims, 19 Christians, 10 SCs and one ST candidates. There are eight women in the list. The list has left the Karunakaran supporters dissatisfied. Party leaders said that against its demand for at least 40 seats, the faction has got only 34. The rival faction headed by Mr A.K. Antony is believed to have got 40. The list was released today after the Congress president cleared names for seven seats that were pending. Mr Karunakaran’s son Murleedharan, who talked to media persons here, said that injustice had been done to them. He, however, said that the party would be unitedly contesting the poll in Kerala. Mr Azad is meeting party leaders from Pondicherry tomorrow to decide the party’s tie-up in the state. The Congress, which is fighting 20 seats in the state in alliance with the TMC, has left 10 seats for the AIADMK. However, Mr Azad said that the party may review the arrangement following a request by the AIADMK and PMK. Meanwhile, the Congress today said that next phase of its agitation on the Tehelka expose would begin from April 15. The agitation would be held in six states during which rallies would be held. Some of these rallies would be addressed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. |
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VHP acting chief annoys sadhus Hardwar, April 6 The VHP has so far been enlisting the cooperation and active help of the Sadhu Samaj to run its agitation for the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya, preservation of the purity of the Ganges, Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Mathura Temple. The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad has not only given the boycott call but has gone a step further to enlist the sympathy of all muths, akharas and sadhu organisations in the country, especially, at Ayodhya, Mathura, Kashi etc not to participate in any such activity of the VHP. The VHP acting president, Mr Ashok Singhal, had earlier decided to start an indefinite fast at the dam site from March 30. He had then declared that about 100 saints and sadhus would sit along with him for the fast to oppose the closing of the two tunnels of the dam which were scheduled to be closed on March 30. But surprisingly, hardly six sadhus accompanied the VHP president and none of them was a known entity in the Sadhu Samaj. Mr Singhal had to postpone his plans because of poor and lukewarm response. He took the plea that the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, had agreed to
constitute an experts committee headed by Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Human Resource Development Minister, to look into all aspects of the problem of Tehri Dam. After that, Mr Singhal announced that he would start his fast from April 12. However, enraged over the non-cooperative attitude of the Sadhu Samaj, especially, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, Mr Singhal arranged a meeting at
Har ki Pauri with the help of the Ganga Sabha to appeal to the saints to oppose the construction of Tehri Dam as it would lead to the pollution of the Ganges. However, during the course of meeting, Mr Singhal reportedly used disparaging language against the saints and sadhus collected there. He had accused them of having ‘no faith in purity of Ganga and alleged that the saints and sadhus were not sincere in their hearts to keep the sanctity of the river. The sadhus, especially, the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad Mahant Gobind Dass and Mahant Lal Baba of the Mahanirwani Akhara, took strong exception to the utterings of Mr Singhal. Even hot words are reported to have been exchanged between Mahant Lal Baba and Mr Singhal on the issue. The Sadhu Samaj was so upset over the intemperate language used by Mr Singhal that it called a meeting of the members of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, other sadhu organisations in the country and the Sant Samaj to give a befitting reply to the VHP president. The meeting decided that any sadhu organisation which participated in any activity of the VHP would be “boycotted” and would not be entertained in any activities of the Sant Samaj. Brahamchari Brahamswaroop told The Tribune yesterday that the VHP had so far been using the sadhus and saints for their own selfish political ends on the issue of the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya and now the construction of Tehri Dam. He stated that the Sadhu Samaj was not against Tehri Dam as it would bring prosperity not only to the people of Uttaranchal but also meet the power needs of the country. |
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No bail during NDPS case trial: SC New Delhi, April 6 A Bench comprising Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, in a recent judgement, said in cases where narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances were involved, the accused would indulge in activities which were lethal to the society if released on bail. “Therefore, it would certainly be in the interest of the society to keep such persons behind bars during the pendency of the proceedings before the court,” it said. However, Mr
Justice Babu, writing the judgement for the Bench, said in view of Section 37 (1) (B) of the Act, an accused could be granted bail only if there were reasonable grounds to believe that he was not guilty of such an offence and that he was not likely to commit any offence while on bail. In Orissa, the police arrested six persons on the charges of possessing and selling “ganja” and manufactured drugs prohibited under the Act. Bail applications filed by petitioner Tazmul Hossain were rejected on several grounds by the trial court. However, the trial court had split the case into two as the
prosecution could secure the presence of the six persons while rest were declared as absconders.
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WHO focus on
mental health New Delhi, April 6 Talking to newspersons on the eve of World Health Day which focusses this year on mental health, Dr Rafei said it was important that mentally ill people were not isolated or ostracised. “People and communities need to recognise the medical nature of the ailments and, through their understanding, remove the stigma and ensure that patients are treated and rehabilitated. It is time to lift the veil of myths and bring mental illnesses into the open.’’ He said the WHO had recently developed a new global policy and strategy for work in the area of mental health. He said the policy emphasised three priority areas — advocacy to raise the profile of mental health and fight discrimination, policy to integrate mental health
into the general health-sector and effective interventions for treatment and prevention. Dr Vijay Chandra, WHO Regional Adviser for Health and Behaviour, reiterated the importance of community-based mental health programmes. He said the WHO had chalked out a strategy to
ensure that basic minimum services were made available in remote areas. Dr Nimesh G. Desai, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Delhi, said the institute would submit the report of an ICMR-sponsored pilot study aimed at assessing the psychological impact of the earthquake in Gujarat. Dr Eigil Sorensen who co-ordinated the initial WHO response in Gujarat soon after the earthquake said post-traumatic stress syndrome was not a prominent feature in Gujarat. |
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BJP ‘not to mediate’ in DMK-MDMK row Chennai, April 6 The two NDA constituents are not working together for the coming Assembly elections. “The DMK is heading the NDA in the state and it is for DMK President and Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi and MDMK leader Vaiko to sort out the differences,” he said. Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Naidu said if it had been the question of the Lok Sabha elections, then the BJP-led Union Government would have taken the initiative. However, he said that as convener of the NDA, Mr George Fernandes might try to resolve the differences between the parties. He reiterated that the BJP would campaign only for NDA-alliance partners in the state and the MDMK was not one of them. Expressing concern over the rift, he said: “We will be happy if the two parties come together”. Asked to comment on reports that opinion polls predicted a landslide victory for the AIADMK-led front, Mr Naidu said that at times opinion polls had proved wrong.
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Cong protest on April 28 Dehra Dun, April 6 Before this, Congressmen from the state will gather in New Delhi on April 28 to hold a protest rally and dharna to press for the pending demands of delimitation of constituencies, transfer of assets, grant of special economic status and a special economic package to the new state. Addressing mediapersons late here, Mr Harish Rawat, president of the PCC, said the Swami-led government had failed on all fronts. Lashing out at the excise policy of the state, he said the government had failed to check the liquor mafia of the state. The licence policy has failed to pick up in many areas. |
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Rebel MLA to float party Dehra Dun, April 6 Addressing media persons here this evening, he said a function would be organised in Delhi on April 15 to announce the party’s constitution and programmes. He admitted that his dream of forming a third front in the state had failed in the initial stage with like-minded parties, but the options were open for negotiations. He would continue his efforts to form the third front in the state. He has held talks with the BSP, CPI, Uttarakhand Jan Vikas Party and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal to form the third front against the policies of the ruling BJP and the Congress. But he has left options open for the party workers and leaders of BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party to join hands with him in the interest of Uttaranchal. |
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Law officers’ role flayed New Delhi, April 6 In a letter addressed to Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley, NCP general secretary Devendra Nath Dwivedi said that the conduct of the two law officers — Solicitor-General and the Additional Solicitor-General — “is discomforting, particularly when viewed against the backdrop of the emerging trend to politicise the institution of the law officers”. “The function of the law officers is to represent the government in the law courts and not to defend it in the public and in the media, which is a public function”, Mr Dwivedi said. |
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SAD youth wing favours Sharjah tour New Delhi, April 6 Terming the decision of the Union Sports Minister, Ms Uma Bharti, as “unfortunate”, Mr Rajinder Singh Ladi, president of the SAD youth wing, said the move had hurt the feelings of cricket fans. “If the government had cancelled the visit of Indian team to Islamabad, it would have been justified as Pakistan has been engaged in a proxy war with India,” he said. |
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Body of 25-yr-old
man found Hanumangarh, April 6 The police said Mohan (25) of Khunja went somewhere on February 23 and did not come back. The family tried to find the whereabouts of the boy, but failed. On Wednesday, when Bhimeen was on walk near Riko waterworks in the industrial area, he spotted the body. The body has been sent for post-mortem. The police has registered a case under Section 174 of the IPC. |
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Cow shelter stone
laid Noida, April 6 The country has become a market and we are just consumers for the western nations, she said while addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of a cow shelter in Sector 94. She said we live in India but we don’t know the meaning being an Indian. A hospital is planned to be constructed at the cow shelter to provide medical assistance to the cows suffering
from ailments following chewing of plastic bags. |
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GIRL RAPED, MURDERED NOTED HISTORIAN DEAD TRIPURA BJP CHIEF QUITS FILM ON EUNUCH MLA PLANNED  |
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