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Saturday,
September 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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No move to replace Qureshi Naxalites trying to widen base Rajasthan getting polluted canal water Jessica
case: witnesses identify Manu |
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Licence must
for drug import Another first for Kiran Bedi Dead teacher promoted
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No move to replace Qureshi New Delhi, September 7 Sources said disregarding demands from some state leaders for replacing Mr Mohammad Shafi Qureshi as PCC chief, the high-command is likely to entrust him the task of leading the party into the next Assembly elections. Mr Qureshi, sources said, was a confidant of Ms Kidwai, general secretary in charge of Jammu and Kashmir, who was on a six-day tour of the Jammu region recently. They said though there had been persistent demands for replacement of Mr Qureshi, with leaders coming to Delhi seeking a change in the PCC leadership, the high-command had decided against making a change. Sources said Mr Qureshi was being retained as much for a lack of alternative as for his being a seasoned leader who could be match for state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah. Admitting that there was opposition to his continuation as PCC chief, leaders dealing with the state said the dissidents had not been able to come up with an acceptable alternative. These leaders said that care would be taken to ensure a “factional balance” in the state PCC executive which is likely to be decided by the end of this month. In their reports to the Congress high-command, the party leaders have talked of the “disenchantment” among the people against the National Conference (NC) government for “being corrupt and ineffective.” They have even accused the state government of “shielding militants.” The Congress leaders have said that supporters of both NC and BJP in the state were upset with the alliance between the two parties at the Centre. The Congress leaders have indicated that the party could win 30 of 37 Assembly seats in the Jammu region if proper candidates were selected and the party could overcome problem of infighting. Congress President Sonia Gandhi has sent a clear message to the leaders dealing with the state to take the NC government head-on. Congress leaders said that no alliance was likely either with the PDP of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed or with the BSP and the party would fight the coming assembly polls on its own. “Adjustments could be worked out in the post-election scenario,” an AICC leader said. |
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Naxalites trying to widen base New Delhi, September 7 Naxalites, who are called “left-wing extremists”, in the official parlance, are also trying to forge ties with militant outfits active in the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir to bolster their activities which are otherwise experiencing an overall decline since 1996. This is the assessment of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) which has come under intensive discussions at the just-concluded conference here of Directors-General and Inspectors-General of Police. The Naxalites’ contacts with foreign outfits were the focus of the DGPs’ conference. Apart from the Naxalites’ attempts to form a strategic relationship with Pakistan-backed militants in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East, another worrisome scenario for the country’s security managers is the effort of these extremists to revive contacts with the LTTE. According to well-placed sources here, Naxalites, particularly of the PWG, are at present active in Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. While there has been an overall decline in Naxalites’ operations, their activities have increased in Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border areas. The core area of their operations remains the Dandakaranya forest spanning Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. The PWG Naxalites have declared Dandakaranya forests as their compact revolutionary zone (CRZ). The Andhra Pradesh Government informed the DGPs’ conference that Laxman Rao had recently been re-elected commander of the PWG at an annual meeting in forests. Official figures show that the activities of the Naxalites have registered a consistent decline. A total of 3,356 Naxals have been arrested in past three years. According to the IB assessment on Left-wing extremism, the Naxalites’ activities are still a cause of concern and their activities in Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand are on the increase. |
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Rajasthan getting polluted canal water Sriganganagar, September 7 This
issue comes on the heels of the tussle over riparian rights and has
forced the Rajasthan Government to lodge a protest with the Prime
Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, against the supply of polluted
canal water to the state. The northern districts of the state, particularly Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh, are totally dependent on the supply of canal water from Punjab for irrigation as well as drinking purposes. The issue has been raised with the Punjab Government many times, but to no avail. According to sources, Rajasthan is being supplied water through the Gang (Bikaner), Indira Gandhi and Bhakra canals, which is then supplied to hundreds of villages in the northern areas through an elaborate network of minor canals. The water is tested by the irrigation authorities from time to time and it has been found that increasing amounts of sewage and saline water from water-logged areas is being dumped into the canals thereby making it unfit for human consumption. The state’s Chandigarh-based SE and the Water Controller were directed to submit a report on the quality of the water. After investigations and tests, the officers submitted their report to the authorities stating that the water was highly polluted and repeated pleas to the Punjab Government had yielded no results. The waste continues to be dumped and its volume was on the increase, the sources revealed. It may be recalled that the previous BJP government had conducted an aerial survey to identify the areas where maximum violations were taking place in Punjab. The matter was then taken up with the state government but other than assurances, nothing came out of it. According to the present survey report, a copy of which has been forwarded to the Chief Engineer, Irrigation, Punjab, the water was causing increase in water-borne diseases in the villages along the canals. The situation was aggravated during the drought-hit months when the people were forced to drink the highly polluted water. The number of people suffering from water-borne diseases rose alarmingly during these months, the sources informed. Another report from the AE, Field Sub Division, Ferozepore, also confirmed that sewage and other waste materials were being dumped into the eastern drain of Sutlej near Jalandhar, while the sewage from Jalandhar, Phagwara and Nakodar were being dumped in to the river near Yusufpur village. Similarly, more than 50-60 cusecs of sewage and untreated waste material from Ludhiana were being dumped into the river near Manewala village. This was in addition to the pumping of saline water from water-logged areas in other parts of the state. The report stated that the sullage and sewage flows down the river and reaches the Harike Barrage from where the three canals go to Rajasthan. It had also been stated that despite tall claims of treating sewage of the major industrial townships, nothing of the sort was being done, the sources pointed out. |
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Jessica case:
witnesses identify Manu New Delhi, September 7 Deposing before the Additional Sessions Judge R.L. Chugh, an official from the Licensing Department Gurnam Singh told the court that Manu had obtained a gun licence from Chandigarh in 1998. Mr Singh identified the signature on the licence issued to Manu and was seized by the police later. Another witness Naveen Chopra told the court that Manu had purchased 25 rounds for his .22 bore gun from Sonu Gun House in Karnal, owned by Chopra, against his licence in February 1999.
UNI |
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Licence must
for drug import New Delhi, September 7 At present, import licence was required only for schedule C and C (1) and schedule X drugs, it said, adding that it has been now been extended to all categories. The government also enhanced the import licence fees and the validity period of the licence. However, government hospitals shall be allowed to import small quantities of essential new drugs at nominal licence fees.
PTI |
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Another first for Kiran Bedi New Delhi, September 7 Joint Commissioner (Traffic) Maxwell Pereira has been elected joint secretary of the association. Describing her election as an opportunity of “leadership and responsibility”, she said she would focus on galvanising and activating police forces and make the government sensitive about the issues concerning all police ranks and not only the IPS cadres. Among her first priorities as head of the IPSA would be to ascertain the status of Padmanabaiah Committee which has talked about insulating police from political intervention, particularly appointments, through the formation of security committee. |
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Dead teacher promoted Bharatpur (Rajasthan), September 7 Ms Kamlesh Agrawal had been working at Master Aditya Higher Secondary School as a lecturer before she died. And after her death, the state Education Department “posted’’ her as Vice-Principal at a government institution.
UNI |
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