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Monday,
March 18, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Assembly rampage: 18 cops suspended Left flays vandalism by VHP Ban VHP, demands
Arjun Singh
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Normalcy returning to Ayodhya Bhagalpur riots: 39 acquitted Hindus face Jamaat wrath in B’desh CPM exhorts Oppn to topple govt
IT on perks challenged Govt has right to retire employee: SC Bid to spark communal tension in Bihar Adoption can be challenged: SC Imbibe ethics, scribes told
Insecticide samples substandard George to visit Russia
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Assembly rampage: 18 cops suspended Bhubaneshwar, March 17 State Director-General of Police (DGP) N C Padhi said one Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), two inspectors, four sub-inspectors and one assistant sub-inspector who were in charge of the north gate of the Assembly were placed under suspension. One section of the Orissa state armed police force comprising 10 jawans were also suspended as they failed to check the entry of hundreds of VHP and Bajrang Dal activists into the state Assembly premises. The activists had forced their entry into the Assembly from the north gate during lunch yesterday and went on a rampage breaking glass panes, windows, ministers’ chamber and library. Mr Padhi said the crime branch had already started investigation into the incident. So far, 62 persons, including some leaders of the VHP and Bajrang Dal have been arrested. Some more will be nabbed shortly. The DGP said the security in and around the Assembly had been beefed up following the incident. As many as 10 platoons of the Orissa police force had been deployed to maintain law and order. A senior official said fortunately the mob did not succeed in entering the lobby and the floor of the House as the watch and ward staff, apprehending trouble, locked the doors from inside. The panicked Assembly staff also bolted the door from inside. VHP state unit president Bipin Behari Ratho, who was arrested along with 61 other activists, however, condemned “police excesses on the innocent people’’ and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. The police said the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists, demonstrating before the state Assembly, burnt copies of language daily “Dharitree’’ protesting against an editorial that had appeared on its March 15 issue. They had sought permission only to stage dharna. VHP Orissa unit organising secretary Basant Kumar Rath condemned “the police action and excesses on the peaceful Ram sevaks’’ in front of the state Assembly and demanded strong action against the “erring police officials.’’ He alleged that after the dharna a delegation led by its state unit president B.B. Ratho was proceeding to the state Assembly when the police force present there misbehaved with some women activists, which led to tension. Official sources said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is in Delhi, was rushing back to the state capital today to take stock of the situation. The Orissa Assembly, adjourned yesterday following the ugly incident, would take up the issue tomorrow, suspending the question hour session.
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Left flays vandalism by VHP New Delhi, March 17 The CPM politburo said in a statement here that the attack on Orissa Assembly betrayed the fascist nature of the cadres of RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and Durga Vahini. CPI (M-L) Central Secretariat demanded that those responsible for attack on the Assembly should be booked under POTO. The way the VHP and Bajrang Dal men and women had stormed the Orissa Assembly revealed the Sangh parivar’s “frustration” as the Temple issue no more enthused the countrymen, Forward Bloc leader D.D. Shastri said. Condemning yesterday’s incident in Orissa Assembly, senior CPI leader D. Raja demanded a crackdown on the Sangh parivar activists. On observation by a VHP leader in Ayodhya yesterday that the Ram Temple issue could not be resolved through the court as it was “a matter of faith and belief for the Hindus”, and that Parliament should solve the dispute, Left party leaders said Parliament was not the place for resolving such matters and court verdict would be binding on all. |
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Ban VHP, demands
Arjun Singh Bhiwani, March 17 “Though the attack on Parliament and the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly last year were the acts of terrorists backed by the foreign forces while yesterday’s incident were done by the VHP, but the intention and the manner in which they were conducted were similar,’’ he said after addressing a rally here today adding that these forces should be banned immediately. The Congress leader said the guilty should be immediately brought to book and stern action be taken against them. He said the BJP government had failed to take adequate relief measures for the victims of the Gujarat communal violence. “After a lull of more than two weeks Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has finally spoken on the government’s measures on the issue,’’ he added.
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Normalcy returning to Ayodhya Ayodhya, March 17 Vehicles and people are not subjected to any checks but security forces continue to be deployed at all entry points, official sources said. Tempos and rickshaws have started plying in Faizabad but they not allowed to enter Ayodhya where only those vehicles having entry passes are allowed. Security restrictions would be lifted in phases after reviewing the situation, sources said. Devotees and Ram sevaks thronged the temples in the Hanumangarhi area and the banks of the Saryu river which again wore a colourful look with devotees offering prayers after taking a dip in the sacred river. The restrictions were imposed on the temple town to avoid any untoward incident during Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) shila daan programme on March 15 last, have been “eased.” Shops selling religious articles have also opened and loudspeakers blaring religious songs and hymns could again be heard. Small batches of Ram sevaks continued to arrive in the temple town on foot as buses and other modes of transport were still banned from entering Ayodhya. VHP sources said the Ram sevaks arriving in the town were those who had taken shelter in the nearby districts and could not enter the town owing to restrictions.
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Hindus face Jamaat wrath in B’desh New Delhi, March 17 On March 2 and 3, Jamaat cadres attacked and set afire two Kali temples, 20 Hindu houses and looted their property in Natore district. After ransacking the Kali temples, the local Hindus were warned of further attacks on their places of worship. In another development, a meeting was organised by Khilafat-e-Majlis which is a part of the four-party ruling alliance threatened in Sylhet on March 6 to stage a march on this issue. Human rights organisations have taken a serious view of the increasing number of incidents on atrocities on Hindus ever since Begum Khaldea Zia’s Bangladesh National Party and Jamaat-e-Islami came to power in Bangladesh last year. In post-election period, there were 8867 terrorist incidents and 385 incidents of rape against Awami League workers and minorities in which 500 persons were killed and 10,100 injured. |
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Bhagalpur riots: 39 acquitted Bhagalpur (Bihar), March 17 The case relates to killing of 24 persons by a gang which stormed the Chakjhora village under Rajaun police station in Bhagalpur district on October 28, 1989. Over 1,000 persons had been killed during the riots in the entire Bhagalpur which broke out following disturbances over the immersion of an idol.
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CPM exhorts Oppn to topple govt Kolkata, March 17 Mr Basu is the chairman of the front which includes Mr V.P. Singh, Mr H.D. Deve Gowda, Mr I.K. Gujaral and Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mr Basu said the Gujarat riots vis-a-vis VHP’s shila daan at Ayodhya on March 15 should be taken as a warning to all the secular forces which should now stand united at a common platform and fight against the BJP and other vested interests. Mr Basu was addressing the party leadership at Alimuddin Street on Saturday on the eve of the departure of the first batch of delegates to the party congress beginning on March 19 at Hyderabad. Mr Basu will inaugurate the party’s plenary session, which will be attended by nearly 1,000 delegates, special invitees and workers from different states. Delegates from some communist countries will also be present as observers. Mr Anil Biswas, a politburo member and the state party secretary, said there was a need for all opposition parties, irrespective of their political and ideological differences, to get united against the BJP and other communal forces and in the party congress, they would amend their political resolutions accordingly. Mr Biswas said there should not be any hesitation in the parties to join hands against the BJP and for that matter, even the Congress should not be considered untouchable. |
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Gamblers profit from human misery New Delhi, March 17 What is worse five-time BJP MP from Jaipur Girdhari Lal Bhargava is clueless about such illegal activity which led to the arrest of 69 persons. Bhargava told The Tribune that he was hearing this for the first time that satta was common in the Pink city. Citing instances of satta in Jaipur, he said that small traders in Ramganj and Nari ka Naka often gamble over a host of issues ranging from unpredictable weather to election results. He said that they even gamble over trivial issues as possible leakage from a hole in the roof and that police sometimes arrests ‘sattebaj’. DIG, Jaipur Range, Ajit Singh Shekhawat told The Tribune here on Saturday that 69 persons were arrested on the charge of communal riot-betting. Most of these have been booked under the provisions of the Rajasthan Public Gambling Ordinance. Mr Shekhawat said that although there was no specific provision of betting on communal riots, the accused, if convicted will have to face maximum punishment of imprisonment of six months and a fine of Rs 500. Asked if the stake money on day one alone had touched Rs 50 lakh, he said, “It touched a few lakhs. Whether it was Rs 50 lakh is anybody’s guess. We cannot give definite figures.” Mr Shekhawat said that while a few accused had been freed on bail others were still behind bars due to preventive arrest under Section 151 of Cr.PC. He said that the accused were picked up from various areas as Manak Chowk, Jauri Bazaar, Shastri Nagar, Kotwali and Ram Ganj. Secularists and liberals in the Capital obviously are shocked and feel that such incidents are a pointer to the degeneration that has come about in the system. Dr Syeda Hameed, founder and convener of the Muslim Women’s Forum feels that the ‘sattebaj’ are using human lives to win games. Quoting from Shakespeare’s noted play ‘king Lear’, Dr Hameed said that the lines “As flies to wanton boys, so are we to the Gods, They kill us for their sport’ hold good for the disturbing incidents of betting over communal riots. “Human life in this country has become so cheap that politicians also are doing satta with human lives. To me, this is just a microcosm of what is happening in the larger realm. The poor fellow whose bread and butter is satta only was only is imitating the example of his master.” Dr Hameed said that the only police arrests a bunch of such wretched persons. “The real perpetrators of the crime go unpunished.” Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh visited Godhra who recently in Gujarat along with other parliamentarians said that politicians were responsible for this degeneration. “This is most disgusting and damaging and shows that even communal hatred and contempt has been converted into big business.” SAHMAT member and freelance photographer Ram Rehman who happened to be in Jaipur around that time, said that such incidents were “repulsive and very frightening.” Just to get money, persons have started putting a price and profit on death and violence,” he said. |
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IT on perks challenged Jaipur, March 17 Five organisations, including that of banking and insurance sectors, have moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Union Finance Ministry’s notification, issued on September 25 last, imposing Income Tax (IT) on the “Perquisites admissible to the salaried personnel of the government, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and other organisations.’’ The petitioners in their joint petition have challenged the notification on the ground of it being “violative’’ of Article 14 of the Constitution and Section 17 of the IT Act. It would come up for hearing at the apex court on April 1, said the National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) deputy general secretary S.K. Rathore in a statement here today. Besides NOBO, the other petitioners are NOBO, the National Organisation of Insurance Workers, the Akhil Bharatiya Sarvjanik Prathisthan (PSUs) Mazdoor Sangh and the Akhil Bharatiya Khadan Mazdoor Sangh. The petition contended that the Section 17 (2) of the IT Act could be amended only by Parliament and not through the impugned notification. It pointed out that in view of the economic liberalisation, private companies and multi-nationals were paying substantial part remuneration to their employees in terms of perquisites not taxable earlier. Therefore, to bring these perquisites into the tax net, Section 17 (2) of the IT Act had been brought into force, which is against the interest of government and PSUs employees as they were not being extended such liberal perquisites, it pointed out.
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Govt has right to retire employee: SC New Delhi, March 17 “Integrity of government employee is foremost consideration in public service. If the conduct of a government employee becomes unbecoming of the public interest or obstruct the efficiency in public service, the government has an absolute right to compulsorily retire such an employee in public interest,” the hard-hitting judgement said. This ruling was given last week by a Bench comprising Mr Justice V.N. Khare and Mr Justice Ashok Bhan while upholding a decision of the Uttar Pradesh Government to compulsorily retire an Executive Engineer on the basis of adverse remarks on his character roll. Mr Justice Khare, writing the judgement for the Bench, said adverse entries, even uncommunicated ones and those made “Vigour or sting of an adverse entry is not wiped out merely because it is relatable to 11th or 12th years of passing of the order of compulsory retirement,” he said.
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Bid
to spark communal tension in Bihar Patna, March 17 Official sources here maintained that all district magistrates and superintendents of police of 37 districts have been asked to be on red alert and deal with iron hands any element that threatens to disturb communal peace. The district police on Friday showed good alacrity and common sense in diffusing the tension in Sadar Bazaar area of Phulwarisharif, a satellite town of the state capital. |
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Adoption can be challenged: SC New Delhi, March 17 In a case of adoption relating to Section 16 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, a Bench comprising Mr Justice U.C. Banerjee and Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar said the statutory intent was that the presumption about the registered document relating to the adoption “cannot be an
irrefutable presumption”. Section 16 provides, “Whenever any document registered under any law for the time being in force is produced before any court purporting to record an adoption made and is signed by the person giving and the person taking the child in adoption, the court shall presume that the adoption has been made in compliance with the provisions of this Act unless and until it is disproved”. Mr Justice Banerjee, writing the judgement for the Bench, said, “Mandate of the statute is rather definite since the Legislature has used ‘shall’ instead of any other word of lesser significance. “Incidentally, however, the inclusion of the words ‘unless and until it is disproved’ appearing at the end of the statutory provision has made the situation not that rigid but flexible enough to depend on the evidence available on record in support of adoption,” he said.
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Imbibe ethics, scribes told New Delhi, March 17 “The facts must be reported as they are, though journalists are free to express their views while analysing the subjects,” she said in her convocation address at the Amity School of Communications at Noida. A press note quoted her as saying that scribes “must remain courteous and use decent language rather than being abrasive while conducting interviews”. Gentle and persuasive way of soliciting information provided real depth to interviews and press conferences, she was quoted as saying. Ms Swaraj asked journalists to differentiate between investigative and yellow journalism saying that while the former was welcome in order to expose the ills in society, administration or the political system, the latter was a slur on any civilised society. On advertising, she said “perverted manner” drove away the readers and viewers rather than attracting them. At another function where she inaugurated a new film studio, she said the government would play a pro-active role to help the film industry achieve predominant position in the field.
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Insecticide samples substandard Hanumangarh, March 17 The department has filed a case against some of the firms which have been found guilty while sanction is awaited to take legal action against some other production and sales firms in the city. Sources said in the current financial year about 50 per cent ethioan samples, 40 per cent trisophose, 50 per cent alpha pethrin, 35 per cent endosulphan, methyl paratheian and samples of phoret had been rejected by the state laboratory. Deputy Director, Agriculture, posted here between April and December 2001 had taken the samples. On getting the reports of the samples being below standards, the Agriculture Department had filed complaints against the production firms in about 10-12 cases. In three of these cases samples have been sent to the Central Laboratory at Faridabad for retesting. Eight other samples taken by the Assistant Agriculture Director, Hanumangarh have also been found to be of a sub-standard quality. These samples were also taken during the same period, but the office has been awaiting sanction from the head office to file cases against the firms concerned. The samples taken by the Agriculture Director were also found sub-standard. |
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George to visit Russia New Delhi, March 17 The five-day visit comes a month after the second meeting of the Indo-Russian Governmental Commission on military-technical cooperation here during which the two countries decided to carry forward their discussions on the Gorshkov deal. According to a PTI report from Moscow Russia will ship the second batch of 40 T-90 main battle tanks to India next month under a $ 800-million deal signed last February.
UNI 11 NSCN ultras killed in Manipur Imphal, March 17 The encounter took place when the IRB personnel on patrol duty tried to stop an approaching truck, the police said today. The IRB personnel seized four
sniper rifles, as many AK-47 rifles, three self-loading rifles, two carbines, three .303 rifles and a hand grenade.
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