 |
Sunday,
August 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
FOLLOW-UP Charge sheet against
ex-PSB GM filed Samata seeking legal opinion against portal SC: AIIMS internal admission quota void Missile range leaves villagers in
limbo |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Film-maker Asit Sen dead Kolkata, August 25 Asit Sen, maker of classic Bollywood tragedies “Mamta” and “Safar”, died at a hospital here early today. He was 79. He was suffering from piles and was admitted to Advanced Medical Research Institute on August 20. He died of profused bleeding.
Gehlot protests to Badal on river waters issue BJP: no ticket to tainted persons
Cong to review issue of Uttaranchal capital
|
|
FOLLOW-UP Chandanbara (Bihar-Nepal border), August 25 The Special Branch, Bihar’s state intelligence wing, sources informed that the Union Home ministry had written a letter to the state government to keep close vigil on this madarsa along with others along the Indo-Nepal border areas and in their initial findings, the Special Branch has established that prima facie the activities of this madarsa are dubious and not above board. The Special Branch is yet to submit its final report. The state government has been informed about it. This is not the only madarsa that has come under doubt as, the probe on their activities are on. This madarsa near Chandanbara has around 1000 students who are trained in true Islamic tradition, sources said and the students hail from Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal. The madarsa management when contacted maintained that it was essentially an educational institution. The underworld sources have a lot of tales to offer about the source of their funds. However, it interests anybody as to how such a palatial building could be made in the jungles and from where the money came from? Interestingly, the madarsa is situated just 3 km away from the international border. When enquired about the land prices there the rate in the jungles were between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per ‘kathha’. Elsewhere in Bihar such lands would fetch Rs. 1000-1500 per ‘kathha’. Near the border, the prices rise at least 10 to 14 times. The official position from the Home secretary or the state DGP could not be attained as they were at a meeting since morning to prepare a plan to deal with the spurt in Dalit killings and extremist violence in the state. The officials are anyway reluctant to talk on such matters labeling them as sensitive. Even the Intelligence Reports put their findings reports on the mouth of the newsmen. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) report maintains that the ISI’s subversive plans in India were started in 1977 by the then Pakistan General Zia-ul-Haque. The Military Intelligence (MI) has maintained in its reports that madarsas in large numbers specially, in the far off rural stretches along the Indo-Nepal border is a matter of concern. |
|
Charge sheet against ex-PSB GM filed New Delhi, August 25 The investigating agency alleged that the then General Manager (Operations), Gurpal Singh, conspired with Abhijit Singh Roy of Jayanti Business Machines Limited (JBML) of Mumbai to purchase 2.5 lakh shares of JBML, worth Rs 2 crore, at a premium of Rs 70 per share. The CBI has placed the names of PSB Chairman and Managing Director K.S. Bains, IAS (Punjab), H.S. Pal, a former Branch Manager of the Bori Bunder branch in Mumbai and New Delhi-based share broker Prasad & Co in column two for their alleged involvement but they will not be facing trial. Gurpal Singh, who was then General Manager (Operations) at the bank’s head office in New Delhi, with the tacit approval of K.S. Bains, submitted a note on January 18, 1995, recommending the purchase of shares ignoring the rejection of bank’s Recommendation Committee, the charge-sheet alleged. The Investment Committee of the bank had rejected the proposal of the JBML on January 9, 1995, saying that it was not possible to book profit for the bank for the financial year ending March 31, 1995. The bank had also violated the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India by investing in the JBML. No bank was allowed to invest more than 5 per cent of its incremental deposits in shares and debentures. As of January 18, 1995, the bank had already invested Rs 36 crore against the permissible limit of Rs 31.68 crore, the charge-sheet said. The shares were then sold by the PSB through Prasad & Co at rates much lower than the prevailing market rates. Even the share broker was allowed to retain the proceeds of sale of the shares for about six months causing wrongful pecuniary gain to the JBML and the share broker to the extent of Rs 24,90,662 and loss of the same amount to the bank.
UNI |
|
Samata seeking legal opinion against portal New Delhi, August 25 “We are in consultation with legal experts to know the options available to proceed against the Tehelka team,’’ Samata Party General Secretary Shambhu Sharan Srivastav said here today. The Law Ministry is also examining the matter, he said. The Samata Party has demanded the arrest of Mr Tejpal and his team of reporters following media reports that the news portal had engaged sex workers during the course of investigation.
UNI |
|
Using of Tehelka women staff denied New Delhi, August 25 In a statement here, Editor-in-Chief of Tehelka Tarun Tejpal said “absolutely no woman staffer of Tehelka participated in any way whatsoever with the sting involving the arranging of female companionship for the Army officers.”
PTI |
|
SC: AIIMS internal admission quota void New Delhi, August 25 “Such a reservation based on institutional continuity in the absence of any relevant evidence in justification thereof is unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution and has therefore to be struck down”, the court ruled. A three-Judge bench comprising the Chief Justice Dr. A.S. Anand, Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr. Justice Shivraj V. Patil directed that by way of institutional preference, “the institutional candidates, i.e., those who have graduated from the institute shall be preferred for admission against 25 per cent seats available to open category candidates and 25 per cent seats disciplinewise out of the total post-graduate seats for AIIMS undergraduates as suggested by the Academic Committee”. “An uniform minimum cut-off of 50 per cent marks in the competitive entrance test as a condition of eligibility for all candidates may be adopted subject to further rider (i) that the last student to qualify for admission as AIIMS graduate cannot be one who has secured marks at the common entrance P.G. test less than the one secured by any other candidate belonging to a reserved category enjoying constitutional protection such as SC, ST, etc., and (ii) that the margin of difference between the qualifying marks for Institute’s candidate shall not be too wide with the one for general category candidate”, the judges directed. Delivering the judgement while disposing of the appeal of the AIIMS Student Union and others against a Delhi High Court judgement, Mr Justice Lahoti said, “Any seat left vacant out of the preferential seats for AIIMS graduates consequent upon the above said directions shall be diverted to and made available for open general category candidates.” The judges further directed, “The preference for institute candidates to the extent of 25 per cent as above said shall remain confined to admission in P.G. course of study. There shall be no further reservation in the matter of allotment of seats disciplinewise which allotment shall be made solely on the basis of merit out of a common list drawn up pursuant to the result of common entrance examination placing the selected candidates strictly as per their ranking.” The judges, however, held that this judgement would operate prospectively with effect from its delivery on August 24 and would not have the effect of invalidating such admissions as already made. |
|
6 AIIMS employees suspended New Delhi, August 25 The suspension was recommended in the report of the Inquiry Committee set up to look into the matter, which was submitted to the Director here, the sources told.
PTI |
|
Missile range leaves villagers in
limbo Rawatsar, August 25 The land was formally acquired for the Defence Ministry by the state government in 1998. The compensation amount too was sent to the ministry by the Rajasthan Government for payment and subsequent disbursement among the affected farmers, but nothing has been heard of it since then. On the other hand, in a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right was doing — when the matter was raised by Col (retd) Sona Ram, MP, in the Lok Sabha recently — the Defence Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, informed the House that: “the government was planning to acquire 47,299 bighas in five villages falling in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan for the range. Since, the land was yet to be acquired, the issue of compensation does not arise,” the minister said. Meanwhile, life in the villages —
Moter, Dhandusar, Bannasar, Bangasar and Dhirdesar — is in limbo since villagers do not know when the order to vacate the land will be given and they will have to move elsewhere. The majority of the villagers are farmers but have now been reduced to do odd jobs to keep the hearth fires burning. As the status of the land was “acquired by government” as per official records, no development work was initiated in the villages all these years. Non-existent roads, poor water and power supply. It was due to the efforts of the present District Magistrate that the villages witnessed some development under various drought relief work schemes. Elder villagers, who pleaded anonymity, said they came to know that the land of their villages would be acquired for the range in the late 80s. The Home Department informally informed the panchayats that 47,300 bighas of land had been identified in the villages and would be acquired soon. Out of this only 1,510 bighas was government land while the rest was agricultural land falling in the villages. But in the case of Dhandusar, Moter and Bannasar, even the residential land was covered. The residents of Bangasar and Dhidesar could stay in their houses but they would have had nothing to do there. The villagers, especially elders, were initially apprehensive about leaving the ancestral land and stressed on the need for asking the authorities for their rehabilitation. However, the villagers, imbued with the sense of patriotism, decided that they had to go in the larger interests of the country. That was in 1990. The land ever since that year had not been tilled but with each passing month the anxiety of the villagers increased. Since their livelihood depended on farming, the situation began to tell on their economic status. As there was no formal notification and sensing that something was amiss, the residents approached the state government which took up the matter with the Centre. Finally, mandarins in Home Ministry woke up and subsequently the Rajasthan Home Department issued a notification on May 24, 1997, under Section 4 of the Central Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and the resulting formalities were completed after issuing notice under Section 6 of the Act on May 22, 1998. After this, the district administration pegged the rate of the land so acquired and sent an estimate of Rs 1. 59 crore for 44, 228 bighas of personal land on May 20, 2000. Sources said the amount was to be given by the IAF but they had so far not intimated the authorities in this context. The matter was actively pursued by the state Home Department and the district authorities with the IAF authorities but to no avail. Interestingly, the IAF authorities are reportedly in the dark about the agency which was asked to start the procedure for identifying and acquiring the suitable land for the project, the sources revealed. This was proved when at a meeting between the district and the IAF authorities held in March, the Controller, Defence Estates, questioned who had asked for acquisition of the land. The authorities were taken aback but replied that the entire formalities had been completed in 1998. Now, only the compensation money was to be released, the sources added. This has shaken the villagers who do not know whom to turn to now. The sources said even the local authorities are at their wits end on how to get the villagers their due. But the ball was in the court of the Defence Ministry and the IAF, the sources added. |
|
Film-maker Asit Sen dead Kolkata, August 25 He was suffering from piles and was admitted to Advanced Medical Research Institute on August 20. He died of profused bleeding. Mr Sen was also an eminent scriptwriter and cameraman. He is survived by his only son Partha Sen. Sen’s debut film “Chalachal” (Bengali) was a runaway success and had got him international acclaim. The film later became a national blockbuster when Rajesh Khanna played the lead in its Hindi version “Safar” pairing with Sharmila Tagore. Asit Sen films are also well-known for their immortal melodies. |
|
Joshi, Madhuri get Citizen’s award
New Delhi, August 25 Mr Joshi was honoured with “outstanding parliamentarian” award while Madhuri and Hrithik got kudos for their respective contribution to the Indian cinema. Union Minister Syed Shah Nawaz Hussain got the prize for "promoting national integration" whereas Jagjit Singh and Rajesh Roshan were honoured for excelling in music. The Dalai Lama (peace and humanity), Sanjay Khan (TV serials), Delhi Police Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma (law and order) and CPI leader Somnath Chatterjee (parliamentary procedure), too, received the accolade. Social worker Nanaji Deshmukh, Dr Purvish Parikh, Sahara Chairman Subrata Roy, “Dainik Bhaskar” and “Punjab Kesari” Editors Ramesh Aggarwal and Ashwini Kumar respectively, Dr Anil Kakodkar, Meghalaya Chief Minister E.K. Mawlong were also among the awardees.
PTI |
|
Gehlot protests to Badal on river waters issue Jaipur, August 25 “I have lodged a formal protest with Badal on his statement by writing a letter to him yesterday,” he said. Mr Badal had announced in the Assembly that Punjab would not part even with a drop of water from the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers. Mr Gehlot said refusal to part with water from these three rivers would be against the provisions of the inter-state water sharing agreement. The agreement could not be violated by Punjab because the control of Bhakra and Pong Dam were vested with Bhakra Management Board under the Union Government, he pointed out. Rajasthan had been getting waters of the Ravi and Beas rivers since 1920 under an agreement between the then Bikaner state and the British empire. Later, the desert state received monopoly right over the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers under the Indus Water Treaty in 1960.
PTI |
|
BJP: no ticket to tainted persons New Delhi, August 25 "We are going to finalise the system sooner than later so that only the right type of people get selected," party President
K. Jana Krishnamurthi told newspersons during a chat here. Asked if this would be applicable for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections, Mr Krishnamurthi remarked: “Hold back your comments until the candidate list is announced. After that there will be no need for asking such questions.” He, however, said the new policy of the BJP would not be applicable to its allies. "We don’t hold a patent. It is up to the allies to choose their candidates."
UNI |
|
Cong to review issue of Uttaranchal capital New Delhi, August 25 Mr Rawat, who has already launched the party’s poll campaign with rallies and demonstrations, feels that the party would get more than 50 out of 70 seats in the state’s first Assembly elections likely to be held in February along with the polls to UP and Punjab Assemblies. Talking to The Tribune here, Mr Rawat said that even the BJP had declared Dehra Dun to be “temporary capital.” Maintaining that the Congress would try to build consensus over the issue. He, however, clarified that re-examining the question of capital did not necessarily meant its change from Dehra Dun. “Dehra Dun, being the temporary capital, is a front-runner in any case,” he said. The Congress is not happy even about the state’s nomenclature. Party leaders feel that instead of “Uttaranchal” (which is seen as a name given by the Sangh ideologues), the state should have been named as ‘Uttarakhand’ which, they say, was the name under which agitation for the separate state was launched. Claiming that the BJP government in the state had failed to fulfil the aspirations of the people, Mr Rawat said that the state had not even been able to finalise its plan size. “Though the Union Cabinet decided to give special status to Uttaranchal three months back, the state
government has failed to get any special funds from the Centre. Even a meeting of the NDC has not been convened in the past three months to ratify the Cabinet
decision,” the PCC chief said. Also blaming the Centre, Mr Rawat said that though a new state had been carved, nothing had been done to meet its special economic requirements. He said that no study had been done to help the state in its days of infancy. Mr Rawat said that the state government had failed to sort out the issue of its
assets with Uttar Pradesh. |
|
VHP threatens to snap ties with BJP Gorakhpur, August 25 Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Dalmia said there was no difference in the governance of the BJP and other governments. The BJP too was trying to appease the minority community. UNI
Curfew imposed Ahmedabad, August 25 |
 |
| 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 | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
