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Thursday, July 18, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Parties divided over Vaiko’s arrest NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT
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Prof Nigavekar takes over as UGC chief Oppn Elders walk out Trinamool MLA expelled from
House 17 hurt in group clash Bhopal gas tragedy survivors end fast Karnik quits UPSC post Tehelka scribe’s remand extended
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Parties divided over Vaiko’s arrest New Delhi, July 17 Participating in the hour-long discussion on the arrest of the MDMK leader during zero hour, CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav demanded the scrapping of POTA while the NDA
constituents pressed for amending the Act to prevent its misuse. Ironically, the Congress, which had led from the front the political struggle against the law, virtually ended up supporting the arrest of Mr Vaiko. Leader of the AIADMK parliamentary party P.H. Pandian, however, defended Mr Vaiko’s arrest, saying that Parliament had no locus standi to discuss it and that the issue had to be settled by the jury. Members, cutting across party lines, barring Mr Pandian and Mr Mani Shankar Aiyer (Congress), demanded Mr Vaiko’s immediate release. Mr Aiyer said the MDMK leader had to face the law of the land as he had made provocative speeches in support of the LTTE, a banned outfit. Meanwhile, the BJP maintained that it was not in favour of repeal of the law even as Mr Vaiko’s arrest amounted to a clear "misuse" of POTA. In a related development, apparently to bail out Mr Vaiko from the POTA mess, NDA convener and Defence Minister George Fernandes will soon meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.
Jayalalitha in Chennai. Mr Fernandes, who will be meeting Ms Jayalalithaa in his capacity as NDA convener, is likely to go to Chennai by the weekend, party sources said today. The decision has been taken by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee because the Centre cannot intervene in the POTA case slapped on Mr Vaiko as law and order is a state subject. However, at the same time, the NDA government cannot remain a mute spectator as Mr Vaiko is an important ally of the NDA, sources said. The main purpose of Mr Fernandes’ meeting will be to impress upon the AIADMK chief to soften her stand against Mr Vaiko," a top NDA leader said. Meanwhile, DMK member R. Sarath Kumar today asked the government to use the provisions of POTA against illegal medical practitioners who were playing havoc with the lives of people. Making his maiden speech in the Rajya Sabha, the Tamil film star charged that the illegal practitioners were also spreading terrorism, though in a different form. "What illegal practitioners are doing is another form of terrorism...therefore, they should also be dealt with under POTA", he said, resuming the debate on the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, introduced by Minister of State for Health A. Raja. |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, July 17 This was stated by Minister of State for Home Affairs Vidyasagar Rao in the Rajya Sabha today. He said it was true that various Central and state government departments had occupied properties belonging to Kashmiri migrants without taking the due course because of the extraordinary security situation in the state. Giving details, the minister said 1201 houses had been occupied, totalling 9717.57 kanals. Rent had been assessed for 819 houses and 6276.22 kanal while assessment was in process for 382 houses and 120 kanals. The Centre has released funds to the of Rs 798.3 crore during 2001-02 to Jammu and Kashmir for accelerated economic development in the state, Minister of State for Home Affairs Vidyasagar Rao told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today. Of this Rs 98.3 crore have been provided under the additional Central assistance, Rs 500 crore under the special plan assistance and Rs 200 crore under the special Central assistance, the minister informed the House. The minister said the government considered accelerated economic development as an important part of the strategy to deal with militancy and isolate militants and separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir. The three major prongs of the strategy are: proactive tackling of cross-border terrorism within Jammu and Kashmir, accelerating economic development of the state; and preparation to talk with any group withing the state which eschews the path of violence and may have any legitimate grievances, the minister said. The Centre has denied any incidence of synthetic milk being sold in Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi. No such reports have been received from Gujarat, Delhi and Haryana during the past three years, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare A. Raja told the Lok Sabha in a written reply today. The minister told the House that the sale of milk and milk products containing substances not found in milk except as provided in the PFA rules, was already prohibited under the provisions of the PFA Act, 1954. All state governments have been requested to take necessary action to keep a strict vigil on the quality of milk, particularly for the presence of chemical substances, the House was told. The Border Security Force is making the use of excavators and bulldozers of the required specification for digging and levelling the broken ground for the erection of border fencing and construction of protective bundh along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir, Minister of State for Home Affairs Vidyasagar Rao told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today. The minister said excavators and bulldozers were being bullet-proofed in order to shield workers from the unprovoked and continuous Pakistani fire aimed at disrupting the work. Thirty km of fencing has been completed so far, out of a total length of 180 km of the international border in the Jammu sector, he said. |
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100 migrant families to be resettled in J&K New Delhi, July 17 Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani today expressed his appreciation of the plan of the Commission and extended his full support for the endeavor. This was conveyed to a five-member delegation of the Commission led by its Chairman, Justice Mohammed Shamim, which met Mr Advani this evening. A delegation of the Commission would visit the Valley shortly to hold discussions with political leaders and the state government in this regard. Justice Mohammed Shamim later told waiting newspersons that they had told Mr Advani that it was necessary to create a sense of security before the migrants were sent to the Valley.
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Prof Nigavekar takes over as UGC chief New Delhi, July 17 Former Vice-Chancellor of Pune University, Prof Nigavekar spent his first day in office receiving bouquets and felicitation messages. Looking relaxed and comfortable in his room filled with several bouquets, the 60-year-old physicist said that he was familiar with the functioning of the Commission where he had worked as Vice-Chairman for a year-and-a-half and member from 1993 to 1996. He told TNS here today that the Tenth Plan committees would hold discussions with Vice Chancellors of 187 universities in the country and decide on the quantum of aid to be given. Their recommendations would be placed before the commission. He said that the process would be completed by November. “I was closely associated with the development of the Tenth Plan. One of the major statement I made is that in our country, higher education has a social as well as economic infrastructure. The social aspect has link with access and equity and the economic aspect has a link with personal and national levels. In the Tenth Plan, we need to balance both the aspirations,” he said. “The government will be putting in more money in the allocation for higher education in the Tenth Plan. Compared to the Ninth Plan, the allocation for higher education would be one-and-a-half times more,” he said. Asked how the quality of higher education can be improved in the country, Professor Nigavekar said “This is where one has to use the modern medium of information, science and technology to elevate the quality. This can only be done by connecting all universities. This is a major project which is going to be part of the Tenth Plan. Connectivity will help in virtual enhancement of academic infrastructure. It will also help in management of higher education in the right perspective. This is where healthy and efficient governance of higher education starts coming into play.” Asked if the improvement in the quality of higher education will prevent brain drain, the UGC Chairman asked, “Brain drain or brain gain?” While agreeing that ad hocism poses problem for teachers, he said better budgetary allocation for higher education should serve to create more teaching posts. “It remains to be seen how universities profit from more money. That is where their plan becomes important.” A Professor in Materials Science, Professor Nigavekar joined Pune University in 1977 where he set up the Centre for Advanced Studies in Physics in 1980. He was a visiting Professor to University of York in Britain and University of Western Ontario in Canada in the eighties. As member of UGC in the 90s, he initiated a number of reforms, including decentralisation of UGC administration, corpus for higher education and concept of quality in higher education. He has been Founder-Director of National Assessment and Accreditation Council, an autonomous body of the UGC.
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Oppn Elders walk out New Delhi, July 17 The issue came up during question hour but spilled over to zero hour when the Opposition members continued to grill the newly-appointed Rural Development Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, ignoring pleas from the Chairman, Mr Krishan Kant, to allow the laying of papers. Mr Shanta Kumar faced the wrath of the Opposition for the Centre allegedly not releasing Rs 600 crore to Bihar despite the completion of panchayat elections. Following the noisy scenes witnessed in the House, the Congress, RJD and the Left parties staged a walkout. The RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav said though the Centre had promised to give the funds after the completion of panchayat elections, the money was not paid even after the elections. Mr Shanta Kumar’s repeated statements that it was on the recommendation of the 10th Finance Commission not to release funds to states where panchayat elections had not been held failed to satisfy the agitated members who wanted to know why the money was still withheld despite the completion of the elections. As the minister made a vain bid to convince the members that the funds were released, several Opposition members rose in protest saying the government was misleading the House. With noisy scenes persisting for over 20 minutes, Mr Kant stood up and asked the minister to clarify the members’ query. When Mr Shanta Kumar said Rs 298 crore had been released to the state under the Prime Minister’s Gramin Sadak Yojana, Opposition members accused the minister of sidetracking the question and raised a fresh bout of protest well beyond the question hour climaxing in their walkout. |
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Trinamool MLA expelled from House Kolkata, July 17 Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim directed the marshall to “lift” the expelled member out of the House, but situation took a different turn when his party colleagues surrounded the marshall and prevented the member’s ouster. The Speaker ordered Mr Roy’s expulsion from the House on the last day of the budget session as the legislator refused to take his seat. Members caused pandemonium in the House and shouted slogans for nearly five minutes. To protest against the Speaker’s rulings, all AITC legislators, led by Leader of Opposition Pankaj Banerjee, walked out of the House. Earlier, the member sought to raise a privilege motion against State Transport Minister Subhash Chakraborty in connection with his statement made in the House previously.
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17 hurt in group clash
Basirhat, West Bengal, July 17 The clashes occurred between the residents of two nearby villages, Banglani and Tentulia Khalpur, following the arrest of a person for allegedly stealing fish from a water body belonging to a person of Banglani, police sources said. As many as 22 persons had been arrested so far in this connection while tension prevailed in the area following the clashes since Monday last, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Basirhat, Sisir Das, said. The SDPO said the situation was now under control.
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Bhopal gas tragedy survivors end fast New Delhi, July 17 Mr Satinath Sarangi, an activist of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action and two survivors — Rasheeda Bee and Tara Bai — broke their fast after Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister S.S. Dhindsa “agreed that compensation money will not be paid to 20 wards classified non-affected in Bhopal by an Indian Council for Medical Research study.” “Money will only go to the 36 affected wards and not to others. With this step we have partially achieved our objectives”, Mr Sarangi told reporters here. However, he expressed disappointment over the fact that their demand that CBI reinstate charges of “culpable homicide” against the accused instead of “causing death due to rash negligence” was not met. Bhopal: The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court will take a final view on August 27 about the CBI’s plea seeking alteration in the IPC section framed against the then Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) chairman Warren Anderson in connection with the Bhopal gas tragedy criminal case. Appearing before the court of the CJM, Bhopal, Mr Rameshwar Kothe, CBI counsel C Sahay contended that the agency had sought to prosecute Anderson and two other accused under Section 304A (causing death by rash and negligent act not amounting to murder) of the IPC in place of section 304 (Part II) (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder)in the light of the Supreme Court judgement.
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Karnik quits UPSC post New Delhi, July 17 UPSC Chairman P.C. Hota said here today Mr Karnik had quit as a member and his resignation letter had been forwarded to the Ministry of Personnel. It might be recommended to the President Mr K.R. Narayanan, for acceptance. In his resignation letter, faxed to the President and UPSC Chairman, Mr Karnik said he had quit voluntarily and on moral grounds to maintain the dignity of the UPSC, his lawyer Satish Maneshinde said in Mumbai. In his letter, Mr Karnik said he was falsely implicated in the MPSC scam case and he was "innocent". Mr Karnik was arrested on July 14 by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on a charge of conspiring with seven others to manipulate answerpapers of MPSC examination in 1999, thereby favouring candidates in lieu of illegal gratification. According to the ACB, 398 answersheets were replaced by the accused who broke open the MPSC office to tamper with documents.
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Tehelka scribe’s remand extended Ghaziabad, July 17 Advocate S. Luthra, on behalf of Kumar Badal argued against the CBI application for an extension in the judicial remand and pleaded that Kumar Badal had a three-month old child, an ailing wife and is needed by the family, and moreover, didn’t have a criminal background. CBI Judge Randhir Singh, in his order, observed that this would be the last application for extension of remand adding that there is sufficient ground under Section 167 CrPC. Kumar Badal has also been ordered to be detained in Dasna district jail in Ghaziabad. Senior advocate Darshanand Gaud, on behalf of Kumar Badal’s accomplices, argued against imposition of the National Security Act and said he would move the Allahabad High Court against the same.
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