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Monday,
May 19, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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CBI probe sought into health service purchases
Naidu targets 300 seats for BJP in LS
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Poetess’ family ‘receiving’ threats
MP Govt
not to introduce VAT
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Disinvested ITDC hotels back on the rails Oil panel’s recommendations under review TN warns docs of dismissal Ex-PM : accept LoC as international border Sanjay, 86 others appear in court today Largest teddy bear! Reopen cases, DSGMC asks panel
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CBI probe sought into health service purchases New Delhi, May 18 Taking cognizance of the petition by former judge R.N. Ray, a Bench comprising Chief Justice V.N. Khare and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha, has issued notices to the Union Health Ministry, the Director General of Health Service and the CBI, seeking their replies on the issue. A notice was also issued to the Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (HSCC), a public sector company, supplying the medicines to the CGHS dispensaries. Mr Ray, who also was a judge in Calcutta High Court and is currently living in the city, in a public interest litigation (PIL) said he wanted to bring to the notice of the apex court “shocking state of affairs” in the supply and procurement of drugs for the purpose of the CGHS and an appropriate direction for the CBI probe as well as ensuring proper supply of the medicines to the beneficiaries. Stating that as a CGHS card holder, he was experiencing acute shortage of drugs in the CGHS dispensaries, the former judge said lakhs of beneficiaries were affected throughout the country. “Word is abuzz in the government circle that the drugs are being procured from the local chemists only and most of them are untested,” the PIL said. Referring to media reports about detecting sale of spurious drugs in many parts of the country, the former judge said fake antibiotic and pain killers were being sold in Delhi, UP, Bihar and Gujarat and some other states in attractive packages that carried the batch number of drugs produced by wellknown multinational companies. |
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Neurosurgeon kidnapped
in Patna Patna, May 18 “The kidnappers intercepted the car of the doctor when he was returning home from a party and forcibly took him away”, a senior police official said. They later phoned at the house of the doctor, informing that they had left his car near the bus stand and would talk about their demands later. The police recovered broken spectacles and a pen from the car deserted by the kidnappers belonging to the doctor. |
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Naidu targets 300 seats for BJP in LS Lucknow May 18 The election campaign of the party would centre around the slogan “strong BJP, strong India”, he said, adding that development would be the party’s main election plank. “We will ask the people to compare the 47-year-rule of the Congress with a much smaller, but impressive, five-year-rule of the BJP at the Centre ... we are ready for a comparison and a debate on this issue,” said Mr Naidu. “The people should themselves feel the difference as how the BJP-led NDA government has taken the country on a path of progress,” said the BJP chief. “ The BJP has set a target of 300 seats for itself because if the major partner of an alliance has numbers under its belt, it can run a coalition
effectively. We will contest the elections with our alliance partners and form the next government with them,” Mr Naidu said. He said despite the coalition, the BJP would not shun its ideology. “We will propagate our own ideology without any inhibition,” he added. When asked about the party’s stand on the issue of the Ram temple, Mr Naidu said the BJP was in the favour of the construction of a Hindu temple in Ayodhya. “The issue could be resolved by a legislation ... the BJP will not force the NDA government to enforce the legislation,” he said. It may be mentioned that state BJP president Vinay Katiyar, who is an MP from Faizabad, had recently written to MPs to help the NDA government formulate a legislation in the favour of the construction of a temple in Ayodhya. “We are focused upon the Parliament elections. The Assembly elections would be like semi-finals for us,” he said. The state which will go for elections include Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. Mr Naidu, who is on a two-day tour of Uttar Pradesh, held meetings with senior party officials, ministers in the government and had interaction with party workers. |
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Poetess’ family ‘receiving’ threats Lucknow, May 18 "We received a call telling us not to pressurise the authorities probing the case," Mr Vijay Shukla, the poetess' brother, told reporters in Lakhimpur Khiri, around 130 km from here. Chief Minister Mayawati had yesterday ordered a CB-CID probe into the May 9 murder and sacked Stamps Minister Amar Mani Tripathi, who allegedly had relations with Madhumita. He said his sister's murder was a political killing and "parties of all hues are trying to drive political mileage out of it". He said he believed that some 'powerful person' was involved in this matter. "I won't be surprised if the police arrest some innocent person and accuse him of the murder," Vijay said. PTI |
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MP
Govt not to introduce VAT Bhopal, May 18 The Chief Secretary, Mr A.V. Singh, announced on May 3 that the government would go ahead with the introduction of VAT from June 1. “irrespective of the dilly-dallying by the Centre”. He had also emphatically stated that Madhya Pradesh would implement the decision “even if the other states deferred the decision and the Centre backed out of its commitment to compensate the state”. No future date for its introduction has been given. Today’s announcement merely says that the decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, and attended by the Minister of Commercial Taxes, Mr Narendra Nahata. It says: “The Centre had decided to introduce VAT for a uniform tax regime in the country, for which the Central Government had constituted an empowered committee of finance ministers....But the vague and confusing statements issued recently by the Centre has created a situation wherein the state government would not introduce VAT from June 1 despite having completed all preparations for this”. |
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Explosives, cartridges found Bhopal, May 18 As many as 10,000 non-eletric detonators, 7,000 safety fuses and 2,000 gelatin rods were also seized from the three, including a father-son duo, they said quoting delayed reports reaching the state police headquarters here. The seizure, made from the Ramdas Ghati area in Gwalior, assumes importance in the view of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and VHP (international) general secretary Praveen Togadia’s scheduled visits to Gwalior in the next couple of days.
UNI |
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Federal body not to step on states’ toes: Advani Thiruvananthapuram, May 18 He said such an agency was not meant to assume powers of the states. “A federal agency of this kind will come up only when all states agree to it,” Mr Advani, who arrived here on a day-long visit, told reporters at the airport. He said there was a feeling that such an agency would infringe upon the powers of the states but hoped an understanding on the matter could be reached through discussions in due course of time. “The Centre’s view is that an agency of this kind will not encroach upon the state’s powers. The new system will only supplement powers of the state.” “Though there is a broad consensus at the DGPs conference, we have not yet reached an agreement at the Chief Ministers’ meets,” he said.
PTI |
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Disinvested ITDC hotels back on the rails New Delhi, May 18 After Mumbai’s Centaur Airport Hotel, despite all the controversies hogging it, started its operations late last year, another of the ITDC hotels, The Qutab in New Delhi opened shop earlier this month. Acquired by Edenpark Hotels Ltd, The Qutab hopes to position itself in the mid-section for not only the travellers from abroad but also domestic travellers. While Centaur Airport Hotel continues to be hogged by controversy for having been resold to the Sahara group by the original buyers, Batra Hospitality, The Qutab is on its way by recording an almost 50 per cent occupancy within the first few weeks of its operation. This occupancy rate actually comes as a pleasant surprise to industry watchers as The Qutab, while under the ITDC control, had been without any business for years before it was finally sold to Edenpark Hotels, a joint venture between Choice Hotels India, owned by Mr Sushil Gupta, and Luxor Writing Instruments, owned by Mr D.K. Jain. The only thing that The Qutab was known for earlier was for its bowling alley which gave an opportunity to the lovers of this sport to hone their skills. New Delhi a few years ago had just this one bowling alley and only after the sport gained recognition did some of the other private entrepreneurs came forward to open more bowling alleys. A visit to the hotel clearly reflects the huge gap between the standards set by the private owners and those which were being maintained by the ITDC. From the ill lit smelly rooms with worn-out dirty furniture and without basic present-day amenities like the television, the refurbished well lit rooms with latest amenities, the hotel suddenly seems to have jumped out from the long stupor it had been for years. In the first phase The Qutab has been reopened with 60 rooms and a restaurant. The next expansion plan involves adding a spa and a gymnasium after which the hotel would finally be branded as Clarion Luxor hotel. |
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Oil panel’s recommendations under review New Delhi, May 18 The committee, headed by Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, which has suggested several amendments to the regulatory Bill pending before Parliament, has favoured dismantling of the Anti-Adulteration Cell or its merger with the proposed regulatory board. It is learnt that the ministry will give its views when the full Cabinet takes up the issue for discussion.The government is also expected to accept several recommendations of the committee and the Bill is likely to be approved by the monsoon session. |
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TN warns docs of dismissal Chennai, May 18 Director of Medical Education, Dr C. Ravindranath, said the government had powers to ‘dismiss’ and would not stop with just issuing suspension orders. Their suspension could be revoked only if the 5000-odd students, including 1300 who have to appear for their semester next month, gave in writing that they would not indulge in strikes in future. Parents must accompany such students. Dr Ravindranath said the government doctors who were extending moral support to the students by striking work were liable to be dismissed from government service, if they failed to return to work. Emphasising that there would be no more talks with the striking medicos and government doctors, he said the government was confident of facing the situation by recruiting doctors, utilising the services of senior faculty members, and private practitioners, besides using the services of doctors from the neighbouring states. Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the medical students federation said a meeting of the federation today decided that the strike would continue. Dr Ravindranath said the recruitment of nearly 3,000 doctors was now in full swing. There would be no postponement of examinations and these would be held as per schedule.
PTI |
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Ex-PM : accept LoC as international border New Delhi, May 18 “But I know that it will not be acceptable to either New Delhi or Islamabad”, he said. “The LoC should be accepted as international border by the two with mutual agreement”, he said, adding that due to certain reasons governments in India and Pakistan were not ready to accept this solution. Talking on the current initiatives towards restoration of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, he expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which the peace initiatives were handled during the Lahore visit by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Agra summit. “Before any talks ample preparations must be made, which have been lacking in the past and failures of these efforts end up creating an atmosphere of dejection and further harming the prospects of peace and normalcy.” “For any long-term solution of the Kashmir issue the local representatives and people there must be taken into confidence, while dealing sternly with the terrorists,” he said. “We must be cautious of the American interests and strategy,” he said, while adding a note of optimism by terming the current initiative, between two Prime Ministers, as an opportunity to address the mutual issues and iron out differences.
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Sanjay, 86 others appear in court today Mumbai, May 18 In keeping with a judicial order, Sanjay and 86 other accused on bail would appear before Designated Judge P D Kode after having been exempted in the last hearing till tomorrow. Sanjay has been permitted to visit the UK, the USA and Canada from May 22 to June 30 to perform in a stage show “Jalwa-2003”. However, the court has asked his Lawyer Farhana Shah to represent the actor in his absence and Sanjay has been warned not to maintain contact with any absconding accused. In a related development, accused Salim Durrani has urged the court to grant him permission to visit his native place Tonk in Rajasthan for 30 days to cultivate his land. He belongs to the princely family of Tonk and his source of livelihood is agriculture. However, for past four years, Tonk has been reeling under severe drought conditions. The judge will hear his plea tomorrow. Meanwhile, arguments will continue tomorrow on joining co-accused Ejaz Pathan and Majnu Mustaffa in the trial.
PTI |
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Largest teddy bear! Kolkata, May 18 A city-based toy-store has claimed to have made the largest ‘teddy bear’ in India, standing tall at 2.75 m. Attracting hoardes of children at the store in the heart of the metropolis, the 25-kg teddy, made of synthetic fabric and polyester staple fibre, has become the cynosure of all after it was displayed in the store premises today. “We plan to send it as an official entry to the record books, the Limca Book of Records and Guinness,” CEO of makers Fun Toys Lob Gupta says. During the centenary year celebrations of the ‘teddy bear’, the group has put up the giant teddy not only to amuse children but also grown-ups, among whom soft toys have traditionally had more takers, he says. While the soft-toy segment accounts for about 30 per cent of the total Rs 744 crore toy market in India, the company has had a parallel growth from the modest turnover of Rs 30,000 in 1991 to over Rs 3 crore this year. The teddy was born in 1902 from a newspaper cartoon in which former American President Theodore Roosevelt was shown holding his gun with the butt resting on the ground and back to a bear cub, gesturing his refusal to shoot the animal. The caricature drew the attention of an innovative New York shopkeeper who displayed two bears on his shop-window promptly, seeking Roosevelt’s permission to name the toy after his nick-name Teddy.
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Reopen cases, DSGMC asks panel New Delhi, May 18 Mr H S Phoolka, counsel appearing for the victims, said that cases against some prominent leaders had been closed by the police without filing charge sheets.
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