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Tuesday,
April 22, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Kiran
Bedi’s book released Notice to
Centre on pesticides in food Transport
stir echoes in Parliament |
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Sinha
tipped to be J&K Governor NORTH INDIA IN
PARLIAMENT
Kerala
PCC chief meets Ambika PM’s
statement on offer to Pak on Thursday SC
notice to Punjab on Bhattal’s plea Zambian
President meets PM, Dy PM Bansal
advocates UT employees’ case
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Kiran Bedi’s book released New Delhi, April 21 The Hindi edition of the book `Jaisa Maine Dekha’ was also released simultaneously. While the English version of the book has been published by Sterling Publishers, the Hindi version has been brought out by Fusion Books. The proceeds from the sale of these books will go to India Vision Foundation and Navjyoti, non
profit organisations under the care of Dr Bedi. Dr Bedi who is presently serving as the Civilian
Police Adviser in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the UN in New York said if the book touched the heart of even one individual, it would be an honour. Former Inspector- General (Prisons), Tihar, Dr Bedi said that she had attempted to share experiences with readers on issues that had angered, inspired and fascinated her. “Our society needs to preserve sensitivity and courage to face the truth instead of getting immune to it. Speaking on the occasion, the Managing Director of Sterling Publishers, Mr Ghai said, ``This is Dr Bedi’s second book with Sterling Publishers. Her books have always been thought-provoking. Through her matter-of-fact style of writing, she has made an effort to take the readers away from their stressed times and ignite sensitivity. She gives the readers a clear view of the different shades that colour our society. The book is a sincere effort from her side to heighten awareness of issues that will serve to make humankind more humane.’’ |
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Notice to Centre on
pesticides in food New Delhi, April 21 In its notices to the Union Government and the ministries concerned, a Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mr V. N. Khare, and Mr Justice S. B. Sinha said they should give reasons why the PIL filed by the NGO Srishti should not be admitted. The notices were issued to the ministries of Agriculture, Chemical and Fertilisers, Health, Environment and Forest and Food and Consumer Affairs. Srishti said a seven-year study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research had established that agro-foods in the country had a “high level of pesticide residue”, which was hazardous for human health. Another study by the All-India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) conducted in 16 states had shown that 90 to 100 per cent of the fruits and vegetables produced by them had been contaminated by pesticides, the PIL said. Many developed developing nations have banned these chemicals. |
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Transport
stir echoes in Parliament New Delhi, April 21 Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi said Minister for Transport B.C. Khanduri would make a statement on the issue in the House tomorrow. In the Rajya Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured the members that the minister would make the statement in the House tomorrow. Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha during zero hour, Mr Kirit Somaiyya (BJP) said the Centre should find a way out by getting in touch with the state governments to sort out the issue of demands of the truckers’ associations. Mr Malayaswamy (AIADMK) said the truckers’ strike was causing huge losses running into crores of rupees daily, besides putting the people to great difficulties. He wanted the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter. Mr Ahmad (Muslim League) said the truckers’ strike was anti-national and the government should act against the strikers. In the Upper House, Congress member T. Subbarami Reddy raised the issue during zero hour. Leader of Opposition Manmohan Singh said the government’s stand, as published in the newspaper advertisements, was not well-explained on many of the issues raised by the striking transporters. |
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Sinha tipped to be J&K Governor Guwahati, April 21 Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh Governor, Mr Arvind Dave, was sworn in as the Assam Governor today. Mr Dave was administered the oath of office by Justice P.A. Sarkar of the Guwahati High Court at the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan where the Chief Minister, Mr Tarun Gogoi, was also present.
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, April 21 While such expenditure incurred was Rs 141 lakh in case of Haryana, it was Rs 44.5 lakh in Himachal Pradesh and Rs 121.2 lakh in Jammu and Kashmir, the minister told the House. FLORICULTURE:
Punjab has a total area of 455 hectares under floriculture cultivation, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Hukamdeo Narayan Yadav, told the House. He said the area under floriculture cultivation was 3,200 hectares in Haryana, 153.7 hectares in Himachal Pradesh and 56.6 hectares in Jammu and Kashmir in 2000-01. Responding to a query by Mr A. Narendra, the minister said that no separate allocation was made for floriculture. DRY FARMING:
To promote farming in rainfed areas in the country the restructured national watershed development project for rainfed areas is being implemented in all states and union territories. The re-structured project lays emphasis on participation of watershed beneficiaries, Mr Hukamdeo Narayan Yadav said. He told the House that during the Eighth Five Year Plan, the area developed was 18,035 hectare in Punjab; 20,272 hectare in Haryana and 34,309 hectare in Himachal Pradesh. The expenditure incurred towards the development of this area was Rs 467 lakh in Punjab, Rs 491 lakh in Haryana and Rs 1,057.7 lakh in Himachal Pradesh. AIDS AND TB CASES:
The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Mr A. Raja, told Rajya Sabha that the number of AIDS cases reported in Punjab had increased from four in 2001 to 92 in 2002. While in Haryana the number of such cases had decreased from 141 in in 2001 to 58 in 2002, in case of Himachal Pradesh 14 such cases had been reported in 2002. As many as 20,000 cases of tuberculosis in Punjab were detected and put on treatment in 2002, the minister informed the House. In Haryana the number of such cases in 2002 was 31,703 whereas it was 12,691 in Himachal Pradesh and 9,142 in Jammu and Kashmir. ESI SCHEME:
The percentage of workers covered under the ESI scheme in Punjab of the total workforce in the state is only 4.1, and it is 8.8 per cent in Chandigarh, 4.2 per cent in Haryana and 1.3 per cent in Himachal Pradesh, informed Mr Vijay Goel, Minister of State for Labour. OLD AGE PENSIONS:
The Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr Sanjay Paswan told the Rajya Sabha that the number of beneficiaries under the national age old pension scheme was 45,265 in Punjab; 50,372 in Haryana; 23,291 in Himachal Pradesh and 16,413 in Jammu and Kashmir in 2001-02. |
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Kerala PCC chief meets Ambika New Delhi, April 21 Mr Muraleedharan, who today met Congress general secretary in charge of the Kerala unit Ambika Soni, said he would meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi soon to present his views. Senior party leader K. Karunakaran, who had put up a rebel candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections, is arriving in the Capital tonight and is expected to meet Ms Gandhi tomorrow. The rebel candidate had polled 26 votes in the election, a number considered large enough to have a bearing on the stability of the Antony government. Mr Muraleedharan, Mr Karunakaran’s son, had last week submitted a report to the high command on the Rajya Sabha elections. Ms Soni along with two central observers for the Rajya Sabha by-election — Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mr R.K. Dhawan — met Ms Gandhi earlier today and discussed with her the “course of action” they had evolved after extensive consultations. “We took a comprehensive view of the situation and gave our views to the Congress President,” Ms Soni said. She said Congress President would talk to them again before taking a final view in the matter. AICC sources said efforts were being made to find a way out that do not endanger the Antony government in Kerala but also asserted the authority of the high-command. Mr Karunakaran had a telephonic talk with Mrs Sonia Gandhi on Saturday after which he was called to the Capital. On his statement in Kerala about aligning with the Left parties, Mr Muraleedharan told reporters here that he had made the remarks in the context of national politics where the Congress and the Left had similar thinking on certain issues. Referring to his statement, the KPCC chief said that he had talked about Congress opposition to “violence” and the “impediments in development by the Left in Kerala.” “I said the Congress was ready to cooperate with the Left if it changed its policies. But the Left has no inclination to change, as evident from remarks of their leaders yesterday. The chapter is closed,” Mr Muraleedharan said. |
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PM’s statement on offer to Pak on Thursday New Delhi, April 21 Raising the issue in zero hour in the Upper House, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee demanded a clarification on the issue. He said the Prime Minister is reported to have made a fresh offer of friendship to Pakistan during his public meeting in Srinagar and the House would like to know the response from Pakistan and the follow-up action being taken by the government. Responding to Mr Mukherjee, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Prime Minister would make a statement on the issue on Thursday. |
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SC notice to Punjab on Bhattal’s plea New Delhi, April 21 Issuing a notice to the Punjab Government and the prosecution on Ms Bhattal’s petition, a Bench comprising Mr Justice M.B. Shah and Mr Justice Arun Kumar said, complainant Balwant Singh Dhilon could point out the deficiencies to the Special Court during the hearing of her pending application for quashing of the charge sheet. Ms Bhattal had moved the Supreme Court against an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the complainant be given a hearing in the case by the special court, while it considered her application for quashing of the charge sheet. The
minister's, counsel said, under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the prosecution case had to be strictly conducted by the prosecutor and no private party had the right to intervene. However, Dhilon’s counsel had said if there were some deficiencies in the prosecution case and the complainant wanted to assist the trial court by pointing these out, he had the right to be heard. Dhilon, who lives in Bathinda, had, initially, filed a complaint in a local court that Ms Bhattal, during her tenure as the Chief Minister, had withdrawn Rs 20 lakh from her discretionary quota and used the money for personal purposes. |
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Zambian
President meets PM, Dy PM New Delhi, April 21 This was conveyed by the visiting Zambian President, Mr Levy Mwanawasa, who held talks with the top Indian leadership, including one-to-one and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The visiting dignitary also held talks with Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Human Resource Development Minister Murali Manohar Joshi, foreign office spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters. President APJ Abdul Kalam hosted a banquet in Mr Mwanawasa’s honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan tonight. Two agreements to be signed between India and Zambia during Mr Mwanawasa’s visit are a trade agreement on encouraging bilateral trade between the two countries and an MoU on cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors, Mr Sarna said. |
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Bansal
advocates UT employees’ case New Delhi, April 21 Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha under Rule 377, Mr Bansal drew the government’s attention to a memo dated February 11, 2003, that had en block transferred Chandigarh UT employees to the Municipal Corporation. Stating that the Union Home Minister had made a statement in the Lok Sabha assuring that the UT Administration would allow the transferred employees to be on deemed deputation for such time as may be necessary till they were permanently absorbed in the corporation. However, the February 11 memo from the Chandigarh Administration Secretary to the Municipal Corporation Commissioner was wholly contrary to the assurances given so far, Mr Bansal said, adding that the chance of giving option to the employees to go back to the UT Administration had been made subject to their accepting a situation where they agreed to being rendered surplus and faced inevitable retrenchment. The circulation of a proforma by the administration incorporating an undertaking by the transferred employees that if he was found surplus in the administration based on the availability of post and seniority, he would be liable to be retrenched, had caused deep anxiety and concern among the employees, Mr Bansal
said. |
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