 |
Saturday,
April 19, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Asghar Ali shot
Pandya: CBI
chief SUPREME COURT |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Uma’s faux pas at
Hanuman temple Navy’s first stealth warship launched Solanki tried to scuttle Bofors probe:
CBI |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ganga’s flow diverted at
Har-ki-Pauri SP workers torch 2 vehicles in
UP Truckers meet Naidu to end
impasse
Togadia fears threat to
life Treasure unearthed
from Dutch fort ‘Needless’ purchases irk
Shekhawat PM to meet
G-8 leaders in France Prayers mark Good Friday
Big B to
rock-n-roll with Adnan Sami
|
|
Asghar Ali shot Pandya: CBI chief New Delhi, April 18 Addressing a crowded press conference a day after the four accused were nabbed in Hyderabad, CBI Director P.C. Sharma said. “We can say with confidence that Asghar Ali is the main killer. He pulled the trigger”. Ali who was arrested along with Mohammad Abdul Bari, Abdul Rauf and Mohammad Iftekar would remain in CBI custody till April 21 and then taken to Ahmedabad. Mr Sharma said Ali and other accused, who had a long criminal track record, had links with Pakistan and received training to use IED there. The CBI chief said Ali was about to escape from Hyderabad and go to Pakistan. It would have been difficult to nab him had he not been arrested yesterday, Mr Sharma added. Even before Pandya’s killing, Ali went to Pakistan and he had allegedly received training in Pakistan, Mr Sharma said adding that he was not aware of the purpose of the training. Son of retired police officer, Ali, was arrested by the Nalgonda police five years ago and two pistols and some RDX were recovered from him. The CBI chief said Ali, aged 29, had links with Pakistan and might have gone there more than once and received training along with others. Asked what could be the motive behind Pandya’s killing, Mr Sharma said investigations were on to determine this. “When it was hatched and where it was hatched, is still to be ascertained”, he added. Mr Sharma said Ali had once visited Kashmir where he had met some militants also. The full ramifications and the dimension of his meeting with militant outfits, if any, were still to be ascertained. Asked as to how many shooters were involved in Pandya killing, he said four persons were in the custody of the CBI and four others with the Gujarat police. “These eight persons in some way have links with the killing”. In a pre-dawn operation, a special team of CBI officials, in co-ordination with the city police, arrested the four from a bus stand at Medchel on the city outskirts while they were about to board a bus bound for Nizamabad at 5.30 a.m. yesterday.
PTI |
|
SUPREME COURT New Delhi, April 18 Seeking details from the state government about the structures to be allowed with in the 5 km sensitive area around Taj and the total land earmarked for development of green belt, a Bench comprising Mr Justice M. B. Shah and Mr Justice Arun Kumar said the ambient air quality (AAQ) standards for the area should be complied with. The court directed the Uttar Pradesh Government counsel Ajay Agrawal to submit an affidavit, detailing the information by April 29, when the matter would be taken up for hearing again. The direction was issued during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) by environment activist advocate M. C. Mehta, who said the Uttar Pradesh Government had a proposal to give clearance for the construction of a trade and culture centre by Oswal at the cost of Rs 10 crore on the 2.69 hectare of land around three km of the Taj Mahal. No person should be allowed even to have a temporary structure on more than 2.5 hectare of land in the periphery of the monument, the Bench said. Water table hit by mining The haphazard mining in the fragile Aravalli hill region of Haryana and Rajasthan comprising Gurgaon, Faridabad and Alwar districts, has badly affected the natural drainage system and the ground water table of the entire region. This has been stated in a study report on the impact of mining in the Aravalli range on ground water, placed before the Supreme Court by the Chandigarh-based Western Region Central Ground Water Board, which conducted a repeated survey of the entire area on court’s direction. Taking a serious view of the Haryana Government allowing large scale illegal mining in Faridabad and Gurgaon districts, a Bench comprising Mr Justice Y K Sanharwal and Mr Justice H K Sema has directed the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, to place before it by April 24, the other two study reports about the impact of mining in the region. These studies were conducted by the Spot Inspection Team and the Central Mine Planning and Design , the court was informed. The Bench was not also satisfied with the affidavit of the Union Environment and Forest Ministry, which said the “mining operations may be permitted subject to imposition of additional conditions by the CGWB wherein clearances have been issued by the Union Ministry of Mines and the state government.” The study by the institute was ordered by the apex court in sponsorship with the Central Polllution Control Board to assess the impact of large scale illegal mining on environment, ecology and the ground water table. The Environment Ministry has stated that the Ministry of Mines in 2001 had delegated its powers to states for granting approval of mine plans and renewal of mining schemes for 29 categories of non-metalliferous mines. The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by environment activist lawyer M. C. Mehta. Mr Mehta pointed out that the Court had put a ban on mining activities and pumping of ground water in and from an area up to 5-km from the Delhi-Haryana border in the Haryana side of the ridge and also Aravalli hill region following the report of Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPPCA), headed by Mr Bhure Lal. |
|
Uma’s faux pas at
Hanuman temple Bhopal, April 18 Ms Bharti is the president of the state BJP’s election management committee and Mr Jaitley is in charge of the party affairs in the state. Ms Bharti decided to launch the BJP’s election campaign, called sankalp yatra, from Chhindwara district on April 16 when all senior party leaders, Mr Jaitley included, reached there. She chose the famous Hanuman temple at
Jam-Sanwli village near Pandhurna. By a long tradition, a woman’s entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple is prohibited. She bullied her way there to perform
pooja. As it was the Hanuman Jayanti day, she cut a cake having lighted candles and chanted “happy birthday” to Vanar Raj (monkey god). Then from the steps of the temple, she delivered before the assemblage a fiery speech against the “misrule” of Mr Digvijay Singh, ignoring the warning inscribed on a board that political speeches and activities are prohibited on the temple premises. Mr Jaitley, one of the finest advocates in the country (his Hindu fanaticism notwithstanding), was present throughout and even addressed the gathering. Then the Sadhvi picked up a Dalit woman,
Sugandha, to flag off her journey to political power. It must have been a very recent realisation on the part of BJP leaders that the path to political power lies through Dalits and adivasis. In August last year, the BJP leadership decided to make changes with a view to revamping the party unit in Madhya Pradesh. Mr Vikram Verma, an influential upper caste Hindu, was removed from the post of the state BJP president and adjusted as a Cabinet Minister at the Centre. No such consideration was shown in the case of the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Dr Gauri Shankar
Shejwar, who is a Dalit. Not surprisingly, the first reaction of Dr Shejwar was that he had always been discounted in the party organisation. In his humiliation, he even went on a five-day fast, but it had little effect on the party dominated by the upper caste Hindus. It appears that Mr Digvijay Singh’s so-called “Dalit agenda” has induced some re-thinking among BJP leaders about their attitude towards the Dalits. |
|
|
Navy’s first stealth warship launched Mumbai, April 18 Resplendent in its colourful bunting, the 143-metre long and 16.9-metre wide “Shivalik,” the first of three stealth warships of the “Project-17” being built by the MDL, slid down into the warm waters of the Arabian Sea as Ms Kaumudi Kumari, wife of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh, pressed the launch trigger after applying “kum kum” and breaking a coconut on the bow of the ship. Defence Minister George Fernandes, Minister of State for Defence Production O Rajagopal, Chief of Navy Staff and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Madhvendra Singh, Controller of Warship Production Vice-Admiral P. Jaitly, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) Western Naval Command, Vice-Admiral Arun Prakash, Defence Production and Supplies Secretary N.S. Sisodia, MDL Chairman and Managing Director CMDE H.S. Kang were present at the function at the Mazgaon Docks.
The ship, scheduled to be commissioned into the Navy in December, 2005, will be “battleworthy” by 2006, the naval chief told reporters later at a press briefing. The 15-year-old stealth technology helped in delaying detection of such ships which could launch the first strike on the enemy, he observed. The remaining two frigates would be commissioned over the next two years, the Admiral said. Mr Fernandes, addressing the gathering, paid compliments to the MDL for launching the first of the three stealth ships within two years of taking up the construction. “If the earlier Delhi-class ships had become the cynosure of all navies across the globe, the stealth frigates too would be equally important in an era of technology denial,” the Defence Minister observed.
Citing the examples of the Russian and Korean dockyards where a tight schedule of shipbuilding is followed, Mr Fernandes exhorted the Mazagon Docks to maintain a time frame with no cost overruns and also called upon the premier ship building yard to explore the possibility of exports.
UNI |
|
Solanki tried to scuttle Bofors probe: CBI New Delhi, April 18 Mr Solanki had attempted to mislead the Swiss authorities, who were executing the Letters Rogatory sent by India to that country seeking assistance in the probe, and scuttle the investigations, the agency believed and had initiated steps to prosecute him. The presidential nod for the former minister’s prosecution came way back in 1999 and the matter is now pending before a city court. Mr Solanki, who visited Davos in Switzerland in 1992 to attend the World Economic Conference allegedly met the Swiss foreign minister Rene Felber there and conveyed his reservations on the matter. The Foreign Minister allegedly told Mr Felber that inquiries conducted into the scam in India had failed to produce any result and that the request for mutual assistance was based on political considerations, CBI sources said.
PTI |
|
Ganga’s flow diverted at
Har-ki-Pauri Hardwar, April 18 The mela officer, Mr Om Prakash, assured the office-bearers of the Ganga Sabha, who were irked over the diversion of the flow of the Ganga at the peak of the yatra season, that the symbolic supply of water at Har-ki-Pauri through a pipe from Neeldhara at Bheemgoda barrage, would be maintained so that the evening aarti could be performed as usual. All religious rites performed by the Hindus at the holy place would remain suspended for about two weeks. The diversion of the Ganga for about a fortnight was required to lay the foundation of a bridge and for the extension of ghats for holding the Ardh Kumbh in April 2004. The diversion would result in the closure of the upper Ganga canal, which is the lifeline of agriculture in Hardwar district of Uttaranchal and western and central UP and supplies drinking water from Muradnagar to Delhi. It was for the first time that the upper Ganga canal had been closed in the summer season for a fortnight. The state government wanted to stop the flow of the Ganga in January, but the UP Government refused to give permission for it on the ground that the farmers needed water for irrigation purpose at that time. The closure of the Ganga canal at this time of the season would not only affect the crops, specially sugarcane, but would also hit the water supply system of Delhi. |
|
|
SP workers torch 2 vehicles in UP
Varanasi, April 18 The angry party workers also tried to set afire a power department office here. The police said here today that the SP workers burnt two government jeeps in the Sigra and Brij Enclave area and while they were trying to set afire the power office the fire-brigade officials reached the spot and managed to disperse the agitated workers. Sources, however, said several incidents of fire and damage to government property had been reported from the city for the past three days, but the police could not arrest any one in this regard. LUCKNOW: The SP today claimed that a court at Etawah had termed the FIRs lodged by the Uttar Pradesh Government in the discretionary fund issue as “fake” and had released one arrested person. Announcing this at a press conference here, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Mohammad Azam Khan said an Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate at Etawah yesterday released Sukhdeo Paliwal, manager of Jansahago Inter College, on bail after an FIR lodged by the police was found defective. “All FIRs lodged against SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav are defective and they would be rejected by all courts,” he claimed, adding that all FIRs had been registered in the same performa sent by the Chief Minister’s residence. BALLIA: Two more FIRs were lodged against Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav in Ubhaon police station today charging him with distributing money from the Chief Minister's discretionary fund to undeserving persons. The former district president of the party, Mr Adhashankar Yadav, had been made a co-accused in one of the cases, the sources said.
PTI |
|
|
Truckers meet Naidu to end impasse
New Delhi, April 18 With Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Minister of State for Surface Transport B.C. Khanduri away in Srinagar, there was no movement forward to break the deadlock in talks between the striking transporters and the government. Reports reaching here from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh suggested worsening of situation as prices of essential commodities kept increasing amid fears of disruption in movements of petrol, diesel, LPG, medicines, and milk. The truckers’ demands include putting an end to fluctuation in diesel prices, immunity from the proposed value added tax and repeal of the order to junk 15-year old trucks. Meanwhile, the All-India Motor Transport Congress, the largest truckers’ union with 2.7 million vehicles in its fold, today sought Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s intervention in bringing out a compromise formula to end the impasse. Emerging out of a meeting with Mr Naidu, AIMTC president B.N. Dhumal told reporters in Hyderabad that the Chief Minister had assured the agitating truckers that he would take up the matter with the Prime Minister. Petroleum Minister Ram Naik, however, was hopeful of an early solution. Whenever international oil prices changed, Indian oil companies reflected the same here, he said in Chennai.
PTI |
|
|
Togadia fears threat to life
Ajmer, April 18 Later, ACJM Indu Pareek ordered that the application be sent to the authorities concerned for initiating necessary actions. The VHP leader had been put under judicial custody at a jail here till April 30 by the ACJM after rejecting his bail plea on April 16.
Agency |
|
Treasure unearthed
from Dutch fort Chennai, April 18 Addressing a press conference here yesterday in connection with the World Heritage Day, Superintending Archaeologist K T Narasimhan said the Dutch colonial settlement which was razed to the ground in the British bombardment, was being excavated to bring to light the architectural beauty of the
Dutch. Sadra, once a flourishing weaver settlement during the medieval period before it was occupied by the Dutch, became a Dutch colonial settlement after they obtained it in 1612 from the rulers of
Carnatic, he said. The excavation launched recently so far had revealed invaluable evidence. Different types of floor made with hexagonal, rectangular and circular bricks, two wine bottles, three ovens, a well, a buttress wall to the inner defence wall, a granary, an ancient drainage system, a working area for colouring the muslin cloth, smoking pipes made of white clay were among the valuables found in the fort which was once a heap of sand dunes. The excavation would continue for another year, he added. “Underwater cultural heritage’’ will be the theme of the World Heritage Day this year and the Chennai Circle would explore for hidden treasures off the entire Coromandel coast. Presently, the circle had undertaken underwater excavations in Poompuhar to unearth the cultural past with material evidence, he said. Recently, a team of scientists from the National Institute of Oceaography headed by Dr S. Kadiroli had made underwater expedition in the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat and unearthed some valuable antiquities which would go a long way in restructuring the country’s archaeology, he added. Stating that 17 world heritage monuments existed in the country, two of which were located in Tamil Nadu, he said the ASI Chennai Circle had submitted a proposal to UNESCO to accord world heritage status to two more monuments belonging to the Chola dynasty.
UNI |
|
|
‘Needless’ purchases irk
Shekhawat New Delhi, April 18 The CPWD officials concerned were left red-faced at the end of it. Mr Shekhawat had gone to a three-day tour of his home state, Rajasthan, last weekend and upon his return here on Monday he straightaway headed to his bed room to rest. He noticed that his usual airconditioners were missing from the bed room. Instead new split airconditioners had been installed. He came out to inquire about the matter and discovered that even his favourite airconditioners in the drawing room had been replaced by new split ACs. At least five airconditioners had been replaced. This was not the end. Mr Shekhawat’s further inquiries revealed that his magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, which was procured by the Vice President’s Secretariat during the tenure of his predecessor Krishan Kant, had been replaced by a new one. The Vice-President was livid with these “unwanted, unnecessary and unauthorised changes” at his
residence, sources close to Mr Shekhawat told The Tribune today. Mr Shekhawat summoned the CPWD officials concerned whoprofusely apologised for having changed the furnishings in his absence without his prior approval. The MRI machine was sold off for Rs 50,000 and a new onebought for Rs 4 lakh. The Vice President is understood to have given them a dressing down for indulging in needless purchases as
the ACs and the MRI machine were working perfectly well and did not require replacement. As a result , the government
agencies have put on hold for the time being their further plans of renovation of the Vice-President’s House. |
|
PM to meet G-8 leaders in France New Delhi, April 18 Sources in the government told The Tribune yesterday that Mr Vajpayee would be visiting St Petersberg on May 31 on the occasion of 300th anniversary of the founding of the historic Russian city. During the tour, he would also visit Germany which is a bilateral visit. Mr Vajpayee’s visit to St Petersberg is not a bilateral visit and, therefore, he would not be going to Moscow. He would be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss issues of mutual interest with him. Mr Vajpayee is tipped to make an official visit to Russia later this year. The Prime Minister is also visiting China, though the dates are still being worked out. Mr Vajpayee may go to China in July this year. Defence Minister George Fernandes is visiting China on May 20 which will set the stage for the Prime Minister’s visit to Beijing. |
|
Prayers mark Good Friday New Delhi, April 18 Christians observed fast to share sufferings of Jesus Christ as devotional services were held in churches attended by a large number of faithfuls. The prayers began with reading from the Bible, narrating in detail about how Christ was crucified. The services included a solemn veneration of the Cross. Processions were also held to mark the day, stressing the power of prayer and penance to change the world situation for the better. During such a “walking pilgrimage” in Mumbai, nearly 7,000 Christians converged at Santacruz and narrated with special effects, the story of how Jesus Christ was killed for standing up for the oppressed and troubled. Christians believe that God incarnate died on the Cross as propitiation for the sins of all mankind. They also believe that he rose from the dead on the third day when “Easter” is celebrated on the coming Sunday.
PTI |
|
|
Big B to rock-n-roll with Adnan Sami Mumbai, April 18 Amitabh had last featured in music videos of his own music album ‘Aby Baby’, (‘Eir, Bir, Phatte’) which had songs written by his father Harivanshrai Bachchan to which he had also lent his voice. A ‘T-Series’ spokesman said here today that Amitabh would be singing along with Adnan Sami for “Kabhi Nahin” from the album “Tera Chehra.”
UNI
|
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
The CBI said today that Asghar Ali, arrested in connection with the assassination of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren
Pandya, is the “main killer who pulled the trigger” and like his three accomplices maintained links with Pakistan.
India’s first indigenously built stealth frigate “Shivalik”, constructed by the nation’s premier shipbuilding yard, Mazagon Dock Limited, was launched here today.
