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Tuesday,
April 9, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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10-yr-old TADA case against Mann closed Kuwait not to prosecute national Kala azar claims 20 lives in Bihar
Mamata demands Modi’s ouster Send emissary to Arafat: Congress |
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Tarlochan seeks MPs’ help in Sekhon case Attack on scribes: PCI seeks reports Cong: Sabarmati incidents reflect intolerance Minister lays
groundwork for Naidu-PM talks Sayeed to attend Queen Mother’s funeral Forest management panels to be set up
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10-yr-old TADA case against Mann closed New Delhi, April 8 Special Judge S N Dhingra closed the case against Mr Mann and Mr Talib Singh Sandhu, the then
Executive Committee member of Mr Mann’s Akali Dal, after the police failed to execute the arrest warrant of Mr Mann and Mr Sandhu through the Delhi Police Commissioner last month. Mr Dhingra turned down Special Public Prosecutor D.P. Aggarwal’s plea seeking more time to arrest the accused. He said in his order: “The case is closed against the accused because this court feels that the prosecution is not interested in arresting the accused persons and sending them to face trial in the court.’’ Earlier, the Judge had directed the Police Commissioner to arrest the sitting Member of Parliament, Mr Mann and accused Mr Sandhu in this case, and a recently-elected MLA from UP, Mukhtar Ansari, in another TADA case but the police failed to produce them, despite the fact that they have been appearing in public. Mr Mann and Mr Sandhu were accused of delivering inflammatory speeches before a gathering of Sikhs at Delhi’s Bangla Sahib gurdwara in April 1991. In view of militancy in Punjab they were booked under TADA and some sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In 1992, the police filed the charge sheet against the accused. The case has been pending in a wrong court for about a decade, but came to the TADA court in November last for the conduct of trial. Mr Dhingra took exception to the manner in which cases were being handled by the investigating agency, he observed.’’ The Commissioner should direct his department not to waste court’s time in repeatedly sending warrants of arrest of these persons and keeping the cases pending for years together.’’
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Kuwait not to prosecute national New Delhi, April 8 The Dhalal episode has caused ripples in diplomatic circles here as the Kuwaiti Embassy here has complained to the Ministry of External Affairs about the Tamil Nadu Government’s non-cooperation in this matter. Mr Khalid Humoud al-Razni, Director, Kuwait Embassy Information Office, today sought to scotch speculations that Dhalal, a 23-year-old Kuwaiti citizen, would be stoned to death or hanged for marrying a foreigner in case she returned home. “She will not be hanged or stoned as she herself has been saying. In Kuwait we don’t have such laws now,” he said. The Kuwaiti authorities, however, voiced their disappointment over the denial of diplomatic access to their Counsellor Nameer al-Quraini to meet the woman though they were in touch with the Chennai police and the competent Tamil Nadu authorities, besides the MEA here. Mr Nameer al-Quraini, Counsellor in the Kuwait Embassy here, was not allowed to meet Dhalal even after the Chennai police was informed about the matter. Mr Khalid said at a news conference here that it was the diplomatic right of the mission to know the real story from her. When Mr Nameer reached Chennai, he was informed by the Kuwaiti woman’s lawyer that she had left Chennai two days ago, though actually she had done so only after the embassy envoy had reached there, Mr Khalid said. Mr Khalid said the need for the counsellor to meet the woman was that she did not understand English or Hindi and only spoke Arabic. Dhalal had married Khader Basha at a remote village in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh on Friday. He pointed out that Kuwait had a Parliament and followed-democratic system. It was up to her to decide where she wanted to live. |
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Kala azar claims 20 lives in Bihar Patna, April 8 Ten deaths were reported from Tetaria, Madhuban and Mehsi blocks of East Champaran district and eight deaths have taken place in Saran district. Darbhanga and Madhubani districts of north Bihar have also been in the grip of kala azar. The Chief Medical Officer of Saran division has maintained that the whole northern Bihar is in affected by kala azar. He has sought 2,000 vials of the injection for the disease from the state government. He had toured the affected areas to assess the situation. In the meantime, the Civil Surgeon of East Champaran district, Dr S. K. Mandal, has said that he would order a probe into why medicines were not distributed to the primary health centres despite their availability. Victims have charged that doctors and health officials are withholding the injections that have been allotted for distribution to health centres so that the patients could get themselves admitted to private clinics. |
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Mamata demands Modi’s ouster Kolkata, April 8 Other NDA partners like Mr Ram Bilas Paswan, Union Coal Minister and the Samata Party have already demanded Mr Modi’s removal for his failure in restoring peace and normalcy in riot-torn Gujarat. Ms Banerjee has been sore about the BJP leadership’s handling of the kar-sevak movement and the Ayodhya issue vis-a-vis recent communal riots in
Gujarat. Ms Banerjee said late, she had been totally isolated and cornered in the NDA. Ms Banerjee said she had sent an MPs’ delegation of the TMC soon after the outbreak of the riots in Gujarat to make an on-the-spot study of the situation and accordingly, a report was also handed over to the Prime Minister, suggesting various steps for restoring peace and normalcy in the state. She did not know about the fate of the report. But doubted if the report was taken seriously at all. Still TMC has not been thinking about the withdrawal of support once again from the NDA, Ms Banerjee said and added that she still believed the Prime Minister would be able to handle the situation keeping himself above party politics. Meanwhile, the CPM, Congress and other left parties which had already held the BJP responsible for the outbreak of communal riots in Gujarat over the Ram Temple issue, today came out in the streets with protest marches, seeking the removal of Mr Modi from the Chief Minister’s chair. The CPM also launched a fund-collection drive today for the relief and rehabilitation of the riot victims in Gujarat. |
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Send emissary to Arafat: Congress New Delhi, April 8 The informal meeting of the working committee, convened by the party President Sonia Gandhi at her residence, also discussed ways to build pressure on the Centre for the removal of Mr Modi and party’s strategy both inside and outside Parlaiment on the issue. Though senior party leaders have been demanding the removal of Mr Modi from various fora, it is the first time that CWC has taken a position on the issue. This was also the first CWC meeting since the recent spell of violence in West Asia. An envoy of President Yasser Arafat had met the Congress President recently while on his visit to India. Briefing about the CWC meeting, senior party leader Natwar Singh, who is also head of the party’s foreign affairs cell, expressed dissatisfaction at the government’s stance on West Asia saying that it had not done enough to address the concerns of 57 Muslim nations of the world. The CWC called upon Israel to withdraw its forces from all occupied Palestinian areas to end the seige of Mr Arafat’s headquarters at Ramalla. Reaffirming its support to the struggle for the Palestian people to achieve a soverign, independent and viable state of their own, the CWC said a solution to the West Asian conflict, of which Palestinian issue was the core, must be based on ‘land for peace’ formula enshrined in the UN Security Council resolutions. “The CWC recognises the right of all states in the region including Israel and Palestine to live in peace and within secure and recognised borders,’’ Mr Natwar Singh said. Condemning all acts of terrorism which have caused the loss of hundreds of innocent civilians on both sides, the CWC expressed concern at the rapidly escalating tension in the region. It urged President Arafat to do his utmost to persuade the Palestinian people to abandon the path of violence. The CWC said the only way to reduce tensions was to resume unconditional dailogue. It called upon Israel to permit humanitarian agencies to take essential supplies to the needy without hindrance. Senior party leader Ambika Soni said the abode of peace had been trampled upon by lathi-weilding policemen who hit out at media persons who were there to cover a meeting organised by an NGO. |
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Tarlochan seeks MPs’ help in Sekhon case New Delhi, April 8 Along with the letter, Mr Tarlochan Singh has also forwarded a note which gives details of Air Marshal Sekhon’s case along with the cases of at least three other senior IAF officers who have been retired in the past one year. The note says the IAF has retired four of its Air Marshals from the Sikh community in the past one year when they had no record of indiscipline against them. Besides Air Marshal Sekhon, the other officers that have been listed in the note are Air Vice-Marshal H.P. Singh, Air Vice-Marshal M.S. Brar and Air Vice-Marshal
J.S. Grewal. |
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Attack on scribes: PCI seeks reports New Delhi, April 8 A press note issued by the PCI Chairman, Justice K. Jayachandra Reddy here today said on the scrutiny of their reports, a fact-finding team of the council would be sent to Gujarat, if necessary. The council has observed that it was “indeed sad to note that the lives of the mediapersons are insecure, thereby affecting the media’s right to freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in the Constitution. In such a situation, there appears to be no alternative for the PCI entrusted with the pious obligation of ensuring the freedom of the Press, except to step into the picture.” |
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Cong: Sabarmati incidents reflect intolerance New Delhi, April 8 Describing the incidents as “shameful,’’ Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said Sangh Parivar activists and the police had defiled the Sabarmati Ashram. “The incidents have exposed the true nature of the BJP government. Yesterday’s attack was a pointer towards the shape of things to come,’’ Mr Sharma said. The Modi government, he said, had forfeited the right to continue in office. |
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Minister lays
groundwork for Naidu-PM talks New Delhi, April 8 Mr Goel, who has ostensibly gone on a day-long visit to the Andhra Pradesh capital to participate in an Agarawal conference, is scheduled to meet Mr Naidu for sorting out the Lok Sabha Speaker issue which has been hanging fire for the past few weeks. The Chief Minister has been dragging his feet on the issue ever since the death of
G.M.C. Balayogi. |
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Sayeed to attend Queen Mother’s funeral
New Delhi, April 8 |
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Forest management panels to be set up New Delhi, April 8 Inaugurating “Vatavaran 2002”, the two-day National Film Festival on Environment and Wildlife here today, Union Minister for Environment and Forests T.R. Baalu said the government was committed to sensitise people at all levels on environmental issues like increasing air pollution in cities, piling up of garbage, biomedical and hazardous wastes and issues relating to eco-development, wildlife and forest conservation. |
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