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Thursday,
December 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Widows of ’84 riots threaten suicide NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT Pamphlet withdrawn after
protest Heptullah pulls
up Poojari in RS Govt firm on Salem
extradition
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Frontier dinner for Putins Custodial death: UP
told to pay Rs 1 lakh Child fever death toll crosses 170 Reduce poverty, says UNFPA
report Roshan turns hostile in Bharat case Doordarshan facing
revenue deficit Enayet institute gets plot Judge ‘beats’ up youth ‘Tansen Samaroh’ live on
DD
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Widows of ’84 riots threaten suicide New Delhi, December 4 The victims, who have organised themselves as the November 1984 Victims Widow Jatha, accused Congress leaders H.K.L. Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar of killing people in a planned way by either burning them alive or using special chemicals. “Despite repeatedly naming the culprits who ruined our lives, the government has failed to arrest any accused person. We have approached every authority and all commissions constituted till now have failed to get us justice. What kind of laws and legal process are this? Who will give us justice ?’’ they lamented. The widows will meet Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani on December 8 to demand the institution of a CBI inquiry, arrest and punishment of guilty persons and proper rehabilitation of the widows who are leading a life of difficulties. “We will meet Mr Advani on December 8 and if the government failed to take any notice of our plight, we will be forced to commit mass suicide,’’ they threatened. The CBI, they added, should find out from Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Tytler who all were involved in the conspiracy for the carnage of Sikhs and how and who implemented it. The inquiry should find out why the police and administration kept quiet while the mobs killed Sikhs and on whose instructions the doors of hospitals and courts remained closed for four days, they said. The widows, who were given Rs 3.5 lakh compensation and a job, have organised themselves in a group as they realised that all political leaders were only using the cause for their own benefits while nobody was talking about the problems encountered by them in day-to-day life. “We were given compensation, but during the past 18 years the value of the rupee has gone down and we find it difficult to meet our day-to-day expenditures. We were given one-room flats in Tilak Vihar, which is known as Widows’ Colony. At that time, the government had said it was free of cost, but now the DDA is sending us notice, asking us to pay more than Rs 1 lakh for it. We find it difficult to meet two-square meals a day in our Class IV jobs, from where will we pay the instalments?’’ asked Kamlesh Kaur.
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, December 4 The number of civilians killed in terrorist activities in the state was 996 in 2001 and 847 in 2000. The state government provides ex gratia relief of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin in case of death, Rs 75000 in case of permanent disability, Rs 5,000 for grievous injury and Rs 1,000 for minor injury, the minister told the House. Per capita income: The per capita income for 2000-01 in Punjab was Rs 15,390 compared to the national average of Rs 10,254, the Minister of State for Planning, Ms Vasundhara Raje, informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today. The per capita income in Haryana was Rs 14,331, and Rs 10,942 in Himachal Pradesh for 2000-01, while it was Rs 7,435 in Jammu and Kashmir for 1999-2000, the minister told the House. Health and family welfare: The government has launched a pilot project for the introduction of hepatitis B vaccination under the Universal Immunisation Programme. The districts which will be covered during the second phase (2003-04) include Ropar and Hoshiarpur in Punjab, Panchkula and Ambala in Haryana, Hamirpur and Solan in Himachal Pradesh and Rajouri and Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir, informed Mr Shatrughan Sinha, Minister for Health and Family Welfare. He also told the House that during 2001-02, while the number of reported cases of hepatitis B were 4,881 in Punjab, the number of deaths caused by hepatitis B were 19. In Haryana there were 2,731 cases and 10 deaths, while 1,275 cases were reported in Himachal Pradesh and 4,226 cases in Jammu and Kashmir. In Chandigarh, 310 hepatitis B cases and eight deaths due to it were reported, informed Mr Sinha. Road transport and highways: The Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Mr B.C. Khanduri, told the Lok Sabha that 12 contracts of road construction were being executed by foreign companies exclusively and 35 contracts as joint ventures with Indian companies under the National Highway Development Project. Regarding the length of roads being constructed by foreign companies, he informed that it was 22 km in Punjab. Electricity:
The Power Financial Corporation (PFC) released Rs 4 crore to various power utilities in Punjab, Rs 576 crore to Haryana, Rs 137 crore to Himachal Pradesh, and Rs 9 crore to Jammu and Kashmir for various power projects, Ms Jayawanti Mehta, Minister of State for Power, told the House. Road accidents: A total of 1,324 persons were reported killed in road accidents in Punjab in 2000, 2,870 in Haryana, 808 in Himachal Pradesh and 741 in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr I.D. Swami, Minister of State for Home Affairs, informed the Rajya Sabha. Communications and IT: Dr Sanjay Paswan, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, told the Lok Sabha that the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited had proposed to set up 74 new telephone exchanges in 2002-03 in Punjab and Chandigarh, 30 new exchanges in Haryana, 53 in Himachal Pradesh and 10 in Jammu and Kashmir. |
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Pamphlet withdrawn after
protest New Delhi, December 4 A Lok Sabha Secretariat press note said today that a series of pamphlets were brought out on “Democratic Institutions: A Great Tradition for India” for distribution to dignitaries at an exhibition set up by the secretariat. It said the contents were based on published data and sources. “A reference was made today in the Rajya Sabha on the use of certain words in the pamphlet on “Movement for Freedom and Democratic Institutions” and objections were raised by some honourable members. The pamphlet has accordingly been withdrawn from circulation,” it said. Earlier, the Congress had sought the withdrawal of the pamphlet and substitution of inappropriate references, saying that the party strongly disapproved of the content, language and manner of expression in the pamphlet circulated by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said that large parts of it had used inappropriate and misleading language to describe something as noble and uplifting as the Indian freedom struggle. “The freedom struggle involved not only the First War of Independence in the mid-nineteenth century but several other movements like the Gaddar Movement. We have not seen an Indian publication, that too of the Lok Sabha Secretariat itself, describing it as a terrorist movement,” he said. Mr Singhvi said Dr Manmohan Singh had raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha. The party also pointed to the “unprecedented lapse” on the part of the Central ministers and officials in not receiving visiting Russian President V. Putin with appropriate dignity and decorum.
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Heptullah pulls
up Poojari in RS New Delhi, December 4 A visibly angry Ms Heptullah said, “I will bring you before the committee”, when Mr Poojari continued to question her ruling for not allowing Congress member Subbirami Reddy to ask another supplementary. Yesterday, when Mr Poojari tried to show the rule book questioning the ruling of the Chair, Ms Heptullah had asked him to take his seat. Mr Poojari tried to raise the matter again, saying that “Madam, you had yesterday...” before she asked him to sit down. As he refused to relent, she drew the attention of the Leader of the Opposition in the House, Mr Manmohan Singh. She asked Mr Manmohan Singh to speak to the member but Mr Poojari did not relent. |
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Govt firm on Salem
extradition New Delhi, December 4 “We are determined to get Abu Salem extradited to India. This has been decided,” Mr Advani said while replying to supplementaries during question hour. The Home Minister said the Government of Portugal was fully cooperating with New Delhi in this regard and had send Salem to 90 days remand. The Home Minister said the only difficulty was that the Portuguese Government had a policy of not allowing extradition of any person to a country which had capital punishment. While stating that India did not have an extradition treaty with Portugal, Mr Advani said “we are hopeful that Abu Salem will be extradited to India.” He said the government was completing various processes before the completion of 90 days of remand in Lisbon. Soon after the government received information of the detention of Salem on September 19, a CBI team was sent to Portugal, which, along with Embassy officials there, discussed the issue of extradition of Salem, Mr Advani said. To a question whether any legal assurance being given to Portugal would not amount to an interference in the Indian judicial process, Mr Advani said highest legal opinion had been sought in this regard. He said besides being involved in the Mumbai serial blasts in 1993, Salem was wanted for crimes in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. He said state governments had been asked to give details about his crimes and this would be furnished along with the FIR to the Portuguese Government. The Interpol would also be informed in detail about Abu Salem’s crimes, he said. Mr Advani said the thumb impression and fingerprints of Abu Salem were matched before he was identified after having travelled under a passport carrying a different name and was booked under that offence in Portugal. Earlier, Minister of State for Home C. Vidyasagar Rao told the Opposition that it was not true that the CBI team which went to Portugal returned to India without any result. He said Salem’s arrest was discussed in detail by the Home and External Affairs Ministries and after deliberations it was decided to seek his extradition. |
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Frontier dinner for Putins New Delhi, December 4 The Putins were offered Dal Dera Ismail Khan which they immensely liked, sources at the Prime Minister’s residence said. Jheenga
samarkand, mutton raan alishaan, pista murg, subz reshami and gosht koma rampuri were also served. |
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Custodial death: UP
told to pay Rs 1 lakh New Delhi, December 4 Acting on a complaint of Bhagwan Devi of Aligarh that her brother Bholu had been tortured to death by personnel of the Railway Protection Force, Aligarh, the commission issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh. The commission subsequently received a report from the Superintendent of Police, Aligarh. According to the report, Bholu was arrested and produced before the Railway Magistrate and then remanded in judicial custody. Since he had sustained injuries he was admitted to the district hospital, Aligarh where he died. On Bhagwan Devi’s complaint the case was investigated but the final report was withheld and a re-investigation order passed. The investigation was handed over to the CID, Agra. The commission also received the magisterial inquiry report of the case. Sources in the commission said the magisterial inquiry confirmed that the accused got injured in custody and this led to his death. The report also held the police officers concerned guilty of concealing facts and submitting false report. The report of the CID also primafacie held the police officers guilty and called for their prosecution. Considering it a fit case for award of immediate interim relief under Section 18(3) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the commission on May 29 directed the UP Government to show cause within six weeks why immediate interim relief not be awarded to the next of kin of the deceased. In spite of the commission’s notice and a reminder to the UP government on August 29, no report was received. |
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Child fever death toll crosses 170 Muzaffarnagar, December 4 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Ms Mayawati, has directed the Ayurveda Minister, Chaudhary Ilam Singh, to stay put in Saharanpur till the situation is brought under control. The state government has also ordered that Dr Ram Babu, Director, Health Services, of the Lucknow division, would inquire into the causes of death of children and the spread of the disease. In Muzaffarnagar, a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the deaths of children. |
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Reduce poverty, says UNFPA
report New Delhi, December 4 The report titled ‘People, Poverty and Possibilities: Making Developments Work for the Poor’ examines the inter relations between poverty and population issues. It argues that addressing population concerns is critical to meeting millennium development goals of cutting global poverty and hunger to half by 2015, reducing maternal and child deaths, curbing HIV/AIDS and promoting environmentally sustainable development. The UNFPA Representative in India, Mr Francois Farah said that the report shows that 7 per cent of development in economic growth comes from investment in health. Releasing the report, Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Vikram Verma said that the title of the report is highly relevant to the Asian and African region and to India in particular.
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Roshan turns hostile in Bharat case Mumbai, December 4 Film actor Shah Rukh Khan had yesterday turned hostile in the Bharat Shah case by not supporting the prosecution’s case. Roshan is the 12th witness in the case to turn hostile. Others include director Anees Bazmee, producer Sanjay Gupta, director Mahesh Manjrekar and owner of Venus music company Ratan Jain.
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Doordarshan facing
revenue deficit New Delhi, December 4 Addressing mediapersons on the completion of 31 years of Doordarshan’s English news, DD Director-General, Dr S.Y. Quraishi, said Doordarshan had earned a revenue of Rs 266.64 crore till November as compared to Rs 327.9 crore in the corresponding period last year. He said although they were initially a little worried, they were hopeful of generating revenue from the revenue sharing agreement with NIMBUS. Apart from this, DD is yet to get Rs 53 crore for selling airtime during the recent Indo-West Indies series. While drawing attention to television audience measurement (TAM) rating data favouring DD’s strength and reach, Dr Quraishi said, “We have 93.5 per cent share in news channels between 8 to 9 pm.” Regarding Doordarshan’s commercial policy, Dr Quarishi said he was not so much for commercial ads in news bulletins.
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Enayet institute gets plot Kolkata, December 4 The sitar maestro had sent as many as eight letters to the Chief Minister, requesting for a 10-cuttah plot at Salt Lake for setting up a permanent cultural institute after the name of his father, Enayet Khan. But there was no response. The news item on the maestro’s decision was published in the columns of The Tribune along with other Kolkata dailies, which had drawn the Chief Minister’s attention. Mr Bhattacharjee called the sitar maestro at Writers Buildings and promised him a 10-cuttah land at Salt Lake or some other suitable place nearby for the proposed foundation. |
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Judge ‘beats’ up youth
Kochi, December 4 The incident is said to have taken place two days ago when the youth reportedly did not allow the judge’s car to overtake his vehicle.
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‘Tansen Samaroh’ live on
DD New Delhi, December 4 According to a press note issued here today, the festival will be telecast on DD-Bharati from 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm on December 6, from 9 am to 11.30 am and 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm on December 7 and 8. |
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