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Tuesday,
August 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Council to
discuss panel’s suggestions Two
Shatabdi coaches catch fire After
colas, it is drinking water SC
dismisses Mann’s plea on Jathedar’s death |
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Supreme Court for law on marriage registration Poll
possible in Nov-Dec, says poll panel Eunuchs
in MP ready for poll battle Conditional
Access System deferred in Delhi Gehlot
most popular CM, Amarinder second Behave like a responsible nation, India tells Pak Film,
TV actor Ajit Vachani dead
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Council to discuss panel’s suggestions New Delhi, August 25 Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, some Cabinet ministers and the majority of the country’s Chief Ministers are slated to attend the meeting which is being held for the first time outside the Capital. The meeting, being held at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), is also aimed at sending a signal across the border and the international community that holding of such an important conference in the Jammu and Kashmir capital was confirmation of the return of peace and normalcy in the troubled state. The meeting, being held after a gap of two and a half years, will discuss the remaining 17 recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State relations, including Articles 256 and 257 of the Constitution, allowing the Centre to give directives to a state and apply sanctions against it under Article 365 in case the state did not obey them. The ‘emergency provisions’ of the Constitution regarding the Centre’s powers to impose President’s rule under Article 356 and its duty to protect a state in case of ‘external aggression’ or ‘internal disturbance’ will also be taken up by the Council in the backdrop of varied suggestions given by the states. On Articles 256, 257 and 365, the Sarkaria Commission had suggested that they were measures of “last resort” and before application of sanctions, “utmost caution” should be exercised and all possibilities explored for settling points of conflict. With the emergence of coalition politics in the country with all major parties occupying power or sharing power in the Centre or states, a case of misue of the above Articles is almost non-existent, the ruling NDA government is likely to tell the states at the two-day meeting. Mr Advani had told the ninth meeting of the Standing Commission of the Inter-State Council in May this year that the Union Government had never given directions under Article 256 and 257 in the past and no Presidential Proclamation had been issued under Article 356 by application of Article 365 in case a state did not comply with the orders of the Centre. While some states have accepted that Articles 256, 257 and 365 were wholesome provisions, others have suggested that they were repugnant to the principle of federalism and voiced apprehension about their possible misuse. The government has held that in case caution is exercised, there will be hardly any scope of misuse of these Articles and, therefore, the Sarkaria Commission’s recommendations should be accepted. On the issue of use of Article 356, the Standing Committee of the council has suggested 12 recommendations, including “very cautious” application of the measure which should be exercised as a “last resort”. The committee has also stated that the proclamation of President’s rule should be placed before Parliament within two months of it being issued. Mr Vajpayee is also scheduled to visit Jammu before returning here on August 29. |
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Two Shatabdi coaches catch fire Kolkata, August 25 The fear-stricken passengers of these coaches were shifted to other coaches and the affected bogies were detached. The Eastern Railway authorities said the cause of fire could not be immediately ascertained, but they suspected that short-circuit could be the cause. No one, however, was injured. The smoke of the fire could be first seen from the over head of a berth in coach no 4, which soon spread to the adjoining compartment. The driver of the train, however, soon stopped the train. In another incident, three EMU coaches of a local train (Sealdah-Dankuni Local) slipped off the line near Bally Halt at Dakhineswar causing injuries to several passengers, who had jumped out of the train. The Railway authorities said the accident occurred due to subsidence of a vast area near the track following two-day rainfall in the area. The train, which started from Sealdah in the morning, had to be taken back from Bally finding the poor condition of the railway track there. The Sealdah-bound Rajdhani Express had passed through the same line only 10 minutes before the incident. |
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After colas,
it is drinking water New Delhi, August 25 Taking cognizance of a letter written by the CES to the Supreme Court, a Bench comprising Mr Chief Justice Mr V.N. Khare and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha issued notices to the union ministries of environment, health and food and consumer affairs, seeking their replies within four weeks. Converting the CSE’s letter into a public interest litigation (PIL), the court asked Additional Solicitor-General Mukul Rohtagi to file an affidavit on behalf of the government indicating what step it proposed to take to ensure safe driking water throughout the country, without having the pesticide contents to a dangerous level. Appearing for the CES, senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan said since the government has fixed standard for bottled water being sold in the country after the NGO had come up with a report against violation of the norms by the companies engaged in the trade, the standard for the drinking water should also be fixed in the larger public interest. The court ordered to tag up the CSE matter with another petition seeking ban on use of pesticides in agro-products like grain, fruits and vegetables as these were not only having the direct affect on the farm produce but also were contaminating the groundwater, which is the main soruce of driking water in the country. |
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SC dismisses Mann’s plea on Jathedar’s death New Delhi, August 25 Refusing to entertain the petition, a Bench comprising Mr Justice
K.G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice B.N. Srikrishna asked Mr Mann’s counsel Rajan Lakhanpal “how long the matter would continue” as the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed a petition by the Akali leader on the issue on January 30 this year. Mr Mann had challenged the High Court order in the apex court with his counsel contending that the Punjab Government had failed to make public a report of the departmental inquiry committee, headed by the then Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP), Mr
B.P. Tiwari. The report had “indicted” some police officials in the case, he claimed. Mr Lakhanpal contended that the two sebsequent inquiry panels set up by the state government had in fact “undone” what the Tiwari committee had said in its report, which had never been made public. “It was a rarest of the rare case where a police officer had indicted the officials of his own department and this is sufficient for the court to intervene,” he said. Mr Mann, alleged that Jathedar Kaunke was picked up by the police illegally on December 25, 1992, from his village, Kaunke, in Jagraon district and was tortured by using third degree
mathods, resulting in his death. Since the then Director-General of Police, Mr Sarabjit Singh, had not agreed with the inquiry report of Mr Tiwari, the state government had set up a panel comprising two senior police officers of the rank of the ADGP, which surprisingly supported the version of the DG, Mr Mann said. He further alleged that the police had registered a “false FIR” in a murder case against the Jathedar. The police had claimed that he was “rescued” from the custody of the police party by a terrorist group on January 2, 1993, when being taken to spot investigation about the hiding of an AK-57 rifle. As the police could not “trace” him, he was declared as “proclaimed offender”. Since the controversy failed to die down, the Punjab Government had appointed another committee comprising the then Principal Secretary, Mr Brajendera Singh, and the DG (Home), Mr Guards Samar Vijay Singh, which submitted its report on July 31, 2002, to the High Court suggesting further probe into the disappearance of the Jathedar. Consequent to the committee’s findings, a special team was constituted to investigate the matter. In its report submitted to the court on January 7 this year, it concluded that it was difficult to ascertain after 10 years that who were the terrorists involved in getting the Jathedar released from the police custody. |
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Supreme Court for law on marriage registration New Delhi, August 25 “There should be compulsory registration of marriages to prevent the child marriage. The government has to study the aspect whether it could be done through an order or a legislation,” a Bench comprising Mr Chief Justice
V.N. Khare and Mr Justice S.B. Singh observed, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL). The court issued notice to the Union Government seeking its reply within six weeks to the PIL, filed by a social organisation — the Forum for Fact Finding and Documentation and Advertising. Emphasising that it was the duty of the government to enforce the law and prevent the child-marriage, the court said: “Without making the registration compulsory, you can’t do it. It is not possible.” The court suggested that the government should launch a sustained media campaign against the social evil, especially through Doordarshan and All-India Radio. |
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Poll possible
in Nov-Dec, says poll panel New Delhi, August 25 The commission sources said the electoral rolls were ready and it, if required, could hold the elections in a phased manner. Moreover, the commission has a six-month time period to hold the polls, if the Assembly is dissolved. However, the UP Legislative Assembly continues to exist as the Governor has not given any decision on state Chief Minister Mayawati’s recommendation for the dissolution of the House. |
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Eunuchs
in MP ready for poll battle Bhopal, August 25 She, however, made it clear that it would be in addition to her work in the constituency of Sohagpur in Shahdol district. Shabnam Mausi had snatched the Sohagpur constituency from the Congress in a byelection in 2000. Eunuch Suraiya has already launched her campaign in the Bhopal North constituency. Her nomination was formally announced a few days ago by a large congregation of eunuchs in the old city. Eunuchs have given their electoral outfit the name of Jeeti Jitayee Party or JJP. Suraiya says that if she wins, it will be a victory for secularism and a blow to communalism. The jibe is apparently aimed at Mr Arif Aquil, who represents the Bhopal North constituency in the Assembly and is a Cabinet minister in the Digvijay Singh government. Mr Arif Aquil, then an Independent MLA, had allegedly instigated the post-Babri demolition riots in Bhopal. He was arrested on the direction of the then Governor, Kunwar Mahmood Ali Khan, and sent to the Sagar jail, 200 km from Bhopal. Mr Digvijay Singh, after forming the Congress government in December 1993, had quietly withdrawn all cases against Mr Aquil. |
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Conditional
Access System deferred in Delhi New Delhi, August 25 However, it would be implemented in the other three metro cities as scheduled on September 1 in a phased manner, he said. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and attended by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Delhi BJP leaders Madan Lal Khurana and V.K. Malhotra. |
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Gehlot
most popular CM, Amarinder second New Delhi, August 25 The survey by India Today-ORG MARG covering 17,500 voters from 98 parliamentary constituencies ranked the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Amarinder Singh, as the “second most popular CM”, followed by a tie between his counterparts in Gujarat and Uttaranchal, Mr Narendra Modi and Mr N.D. Tiwari, respectively, for the third place.
— UNI |
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Behave like a responsible nation, India tells Pak New Delhi, August 25 A Foreign Office spokesman told reporters today in response to a question on Pakistan’s Permanent Representative’s letter to the United Nations, Mr Munir Akram, “This (letter) is an annual ritual by Pakistan — well-rehearsed but empty”. In his letter Mr Akram complained to the permanent members of the Security Council against India’s refusal to resume dialogue with Islamabad. “The doors to dialogue with India are open. All that Pakistan needs to do is to abjure recourse to terrorism as an instrument of policy,” the spokesman said. The spokesman noted that in his letter, the Pakistani diplomat did not even mention the word terrorism as if it was unfamiliar to his country. |
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Film, TV actor Ajit Vachani dead Mumbai, August 25 “Vachani was in a critical condition since long and the end came this morning,” family sources told PTI. However, the family refuses to elaborate on the nature of Vachani’s illness. He had acted in over 50 Hindi films, besides three Sindhi movies. Vachani had also acted in Gujarati and Marathi plays, besides several television serials. “His latest one was ‘Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka’ which had 1,000 episodes in Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi,” the sources said. Vachani entered the film industry 27 years ago and was mostly seen in character roles. Vachani is survived by his wife and two daughters.
— PTI |
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Economist
Khusroo dead New Delhi, August 25 Dr Khusroo headed the 11th Finance Commission and was also India’s Ambassador to Germany. He was a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council in the mid-eighties and also served as a Planning Commission member. He was also the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from 1974 to 1979. He was a member of the Indian UNCTAD II delegation in 1968. |
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