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June 12, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Indo-Bangla talks today Jaswant’s Australia
visit from June 19 Agency had cleared wheat to Iraq: Shanta
PM goes through
important files Dehra Dun traders observe bandh |
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2,988 dowry death cases pending
Servant stabs man to death Yatra registration begins amid chaos Langar organisers seek sites in Pahalgam
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Indo-Bangla talks today New Delhi, June 11 The two-day meeting is likely to finalise the terms of reference for the two joint working groups on pending boundary issues. The two sides will discuss during the two-day parleys issues of exchange of enclaves and adverse possession lands between the two countries in the context of 1974 Indira-Mujib accord. An 11-member Bangladesh delegation will be led by Mr Janibul Huq, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Indian side will be led by Joint Secretary (North) in the Ministry of External Affairs Meera Shankar and will include Maj-Gen P.K. Gupta, Director, Land Records and Survey of West Bengal and representatives of Meghalaya, the Census Commission and the Department of Water Resources. The Bangladesh delegation also includes officials from the Foreign, Parliamentary Affairs and Law and Justice Ministries, Bangladesh Rifles, the Directorate of Land Records and the Joint Rivers Commission. “It is our hope that the two-day meeting will also finalise the modalities for the operation of the joint working groups to make them functional as soon as possible,” a Ministry of External Affairs spokesman told newspersons here today. Stating that the recent border row took place in an undemarcated area, the spokesman said there was need to address the boundary issue quickly. A decision to form a JWG was taken in December 2000 and the draft terms of reference were sent by New Delhi to Dhaka in February but there had not been any response so far. Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Syed Muazzem Ali while disclosing the meeting scheduled last month had stated “Bangladesh attaches particular significance to the Delhi meeting because it is taking place after the unfortunate incident on the border recently which claimed lives on both sides.” The two countries share an over 4000-km border between them and a total of 6.5 km in three different stretches still remain undemarcated. The areas are — 3 km in Lathitila in Moulavibazar in the North-East (opposite Meghalaya), 1.5 km at Daikhal in the North-East and at Muhurir Char in Feni (opposite Belonia of Tripura). There are 111 Indian conclaves within Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves within India. |
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Jaswant’s Australia
visit from June 19 New Delhi, June 11 Mr Jaswant Singh’s journey to the region, who is visiting the two countries at the invitation of the Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff, will mark the “return to a very active engagement” with the two countries of the Asia-Pacific region and put relations with them “back on track” after a hiatus in the aftermath of the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests by India. Mr Jaswant Singh will hold talks on bilateral, regional and international issues which would include the expansion of economic and defence ties, a spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs briefing newspersons about the visit, said here today. During his stay in Australia from June 19-23, the External Affairs Minister will call on the Governor General, Prime Minister John Howard and Leader of the Opposition Kim Beazley. Mr Singh will also interact with the members of the Standing Committee of the Australian Parliament on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. There is also a proposal by an Australian consortium of companies to invest in a multi-million dollar project in power generation, petro-chemicals and fertilisers in Orissa, the spokesman said adding that the proposal was still under active consideration. Defence ties, which had received a setback in 1998 after the nuclear explosion, have been revived after the Australian Prime Minister’s visit in year 2000. A military attache had since assumed charge here and reciprocal move was under way, the spokesman said. The
bilateral trade between New Delhi and Canberra is in the range of $ 1.5 billion with imports from Australia being about $ 1 billion and Indian exports touching about $ 400 million. Asked if the political situation in Fiji would figure during the talks with Australian and New Zealand leaders, the spokesman said given a degree of interest in the two countries besides India on the issue, it would be “natural to expect that it would be a subject of discussion”. Australia had published a white paper in December last year on the security of the entire region, naming India besides, the USA, Russia, China and Japan as powers that would play pivotal role for ensuring peace. |
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Agency had cleared wheat to Iraq: Shanta New Delhi, June 11 Referring to the rejection of three consignments of wheat by Iraq at a press conference, the minister said the quality specifications prescribed in the Iraqi contract provided for the presence of 2 per cent foreign matter. However, there was no further break-up of this 2 per cent into organic and inorganic categories. Mr Shanta Kumar said the Indian exporters had depended on the Codex standards which provide for inorganic foreign matter, like sand and stone, up to 0.5 per cent. Mr Shanta Kumar said the inspecting agency, Geo-Chem (P) Ltd, Mumbai, which was proposed by the exporters and approved by the Grain Board of Iraq, did the pre-shipment inspection on the same parameters and declared the wheat fit for human consumption and conforming to the quality specifications of the Iraqi order. The minister said since December, 2000, the total quantity of wheat contracted for export was 32,27,217 tonnes out of which 26,87,562 tonnes had been actually lifted by the exporting agencies from the Food Corporation of India godowns. The quantity actually shipped up to May 31 this year was 23,44,555 tonnes. Wheat has been exported to Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Philippines, South Korea, UAE and Yemen. The minister further said cleaning facilities would soon be set up at ports in order to boost the export of wheat. Initially, the facility would be available at two to three ports which include Kandla in Gujarat, Kakinada and Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. He said the government had decided to export 30 lakh tonnes of rice from the central pool during the current financial year. The export price of raw rice and parboiled rice is Rs 5650 per tonne and Rs 6000 tonne, respectively. The government has also allowed the FCI to export 4.35 lakh tonnes of maize during 2001-02. On the government’s decision to export foodgrains at prices which don’t even meet the economic cost, Mr Shanta Kumar said the export price was fixed by a high-level committee, which takes the existing international prices and the offers in tender under consideration. |
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UP Govt acquired land for temple: Joshi New Delhi, June 11 The BJP government led by Mr Kalyan Singh had acquired 2.77 acres of land around the structure vide two notifications which said it was for the development of tourism and to provide amenities for pilgrims there. Deposing as a witness before the Liberhan Commission of Inquiry which is probing the events which led to the demolition of the disputed structure in December, 1992, Mr Joshi said “the purpose of the government to acquire the land was to facilitate construction of the temple and to reduce the dispute to the minimum.” When asked repeatedly by the commission’s counsel Anupam Gupta what was the purpose of acquiring the land, he said the “then Uttar Pradesh Government sincerely wanted to delink the disputed structure from the rest of the land” as the question relating to the structure was to be decided by the court later. Mr Joshi accused former Prime Minister V.P. Singh of “backtracking” on issuing an ordinance in 1990 to solve the Ayodhya issue as the then Chief Minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, had “threatened” not to implement it. According to a UNI report, Mr Joshi told the commission that Mr V.P. Singh had accepted that the disputed structure at Ayodhya was ‘de facto’ a temple. He said the BJP had cautiously welcomed the move (the proposed ordinance) as the RSS and the VHP had accepted the proposal of handing over the land around the disputed structure to the VHP and referring the issue relating to the controversy over the disputed structure itself to the Supreme Court for legal
opinion. PTI |
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PM goes through important files Mumbai, June 11 Four days after the right knee replacement surgery performed by the New York-based orthopaedic surgeon Dr Chittaranjan Ranawat, the Prime Minister, who has started light physiotherapic exercises and taking solid food, is responding well to the treatment. BJP MLA Mangalprabhat Lodha, who is the party’s camp in charge at Breach Candy Hospital, informed that Mr Vajpayee monitored national and international developments and also went through some of the important files.
UNI |
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Dehra Dun traders observe bandh Dehra Dun, June 11 According to the details available from the police headquarters, more than 24 robbers, equipped with modern automatic weapons, arrived at the jewellery shop in the Dhamwala area of Palton Bazaar at 4.10 a.m. today. They stopped their vehicles (two jeeps) and two persons pretended repairing one of the jeeps. The watchman of the area, getting suspicious questioned them about their problem. When the watchman was arguing with them, one of the robbers tied his face with a piece of cloth and dragged him inside the jeep, tied his legs and hands with a piece of rope. Meanwhile, some of the robbers took out a gas cutter and broke away the locks of the jewellery shop, Zhabba Lal and Sons. Two other robbers dragged the watchman inside the shop and threatened him of dire consequences if he shouted. The watchman Lakshman Sharma, later narrated the whole incident to the police. According to the details of the incident provided by him to the police, the robbers, then took away all gold, diamond and silver jewellery from the counter. They tried to break open the locker but having failed to do so six robbers picked up the locker and kept it inside the jeep and fled away. At about 10.30 a.m., Mr
K.R. Negi, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), visited the spot and assessed the situation. The FIR has been lodged at the Kotwali but the exact value of loss is yet to be estimated. The owner of the shop, Mr Inder Mohan
Rastogi, told The Tribune that the loss was expected to be at least to the tune of Rs 35
lakh. When the local traders came to know about the incident, they did not open their shops and gathered at the
Ghantaghar. They observed chakka jam till noon. Normal traffic has been disrupted for more than three hours. Later on, the police diverted the traffic from other routes. The traffic was normalised after 2 p.m. but the traders did not open their shops for the whole day. They blamed the Uttaranchal Government for having failed to protect the trader community. Interestingly, the local BJP MLA, Mr Harbans Kapoor, protested against the Swami government along with traders. |
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2,988 dowry death cases pending New Delhi, June 11 In the Rajasthan High Court 926 dowry cases are pending and in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Bombay High Court the number of such cases is 842 and 436. In the Madhya Pradesh High Court 397 dowry death cases are pending, in Himachal Pradesh 141, Andhra Pradesh 140, Patna 71 and Kerala 35. The number of dowry death cases pending in the Karnataka High Court and subordinate courts in the state is 2,064, a government statement here said. In subordinate courts of Maharashtra the number of pending dowry death cases is the highest at 4,974, followed by 2,213 in Bihar, 2,064 in Karnataka, 1,373 in Andhra Pradesh, 1,349 in Madhya Pradesh, 936 in Jharkhand, 705 in Punjab, 152 in Kerala and 85 in Himachal Pradesh. In all, 13,251 dowry death cases are pending in subordinate courts throughout the country. While no time limit has been prescribed by law for courts to decide dowry death cases, both the government and the judiciary are concerned with the pendency of such cases, the statement said. Various steps are being taken to expedite disposal of cases by the courts, including amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure, increase in the number of judges or judicial officers, appointment of special judicial and metropolitan magistrates, and setting up of fast track courts, the statement said. |
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Servant stabs
man to death New Delhi, June 11 Hardayal Singh Khare (82) and his daughter, Aditi Asthana, were asleep in the house when the incident occurred. The son of the professor, Dr A.K. Khare, has been away from the Capital for a few days, the police said. The servant, Ranveer Singh, attacked them at 2.30 a.m. to take revenge for the discrimination allegedly done by the professor and his family members to him. The victims had two domestic servants whose police verifications were not done. The victims reportedly used to give more importance to the second servant. Ranveer could not tolerate this insult. Several times he raised objection over the attitude of the professor and his family members, the police said. |
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Yatra registration begins amid chaos New Delhi, June 11 A visit to the registration
office, on the first working day of the registration for Amarnath yatris in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri, revealed
chaos, cacophony and corruption. In the sweltering heat hundreds of people stood waiting outside the gates with impatience written large on their faces. While some kept inching forwards, others shouted at the security guards and a few enterprising young men pleaded with this reporter to allow them to tag along. The very moment the gates were opened the irate mob rushed in leaving the baffled security guards to run after
them. The shouts resembling war cries could be heard all over the place. An official dismissed the entire mob fury as “impatience on the part of people”. People on their part blamed the officials for not conducting the affairs efficiently. The soaring tempers matched with that of the weather god, sultry and relentless. The Assistant Director of the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department, Mr Sonam Dorjay, blamed the touts for creating trouble at the registration
centres. He said these touts instigate people and disrupt the working. When questioned regarding the arrangements at Srinagar, Mr Dorjay presented very promising details chalked out for the convenience of the
yatris. He added that the yatris fail to comply with the directions given out by the government, which resulted in mishaps. The government on its part was ready to face the challenge of catering to an estimated 1.05 lakh pilgrims expected this year. |
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Langar organisers seek sites in Pahalgam New Delhi, June 11 Stating that the proposed site of Noorwan was 3 km away from Pahalgam town, board officials said it could pose security risks to the pilgrims and volunteers. At least 35 persons were killed during a militant strike at a pilgrim camp in Pahalgam last year. The welfare board officials have urged the state government to allot a site within the town for setting up community kitchens. They have also demanded that overall security of the yatra should be entrusted to a single unified command for better coordination. About 130 community kitchens, which serve free meals and refreshments to yatris, are put up by voluntary organisations from various states of North India along the yatra stretch from Pahalgam to the holy cave. Of these, the largest number are set up at Pahalgam which serves as the biggest base camp for the pilgrims going for the yatra. Some community kitchens are also set up on the alternate route to the cave through Baltal. Demanding adequate security arrangements and lighting in view of last year’s incident, the welfare board officials said last year’s Pahalgam tragedy could have been avoided had the langar sites been on at “time-tested places” near the yatra route and the place of resting of “chhari mubarak”. The officials said that they had made specific requests to the state government last year to allot sites only along the yatra route but this did not happen. Twentynine community kitchens were organised at Pahalgam last year. Raising doubts about the security of the proposed site, Mr Sunil Khanna, general secretary of the Delhi-based Yatra Welfare Board, said the place did not have civic amenities either. Mr Khanna, who has been setting up community kitchen during the yatra for the past several years, said the number of pilgrims this year was expected to cross last year’s number of nearly two lakh. He said ration should be available to the langar parties through the state government’s PDS network also. Calling on the state government to improve the medical facilities during the yatra, Mr Khanna claimed no lady doctor was available last year to treat female pilgrims. Seeking creation of permanent toilets and bathrooms enroute the yatra for the convenience of pilgrims, the welfare board has offered to build these if the land was provided by the state government. |
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