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Sunday,
September 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Key defence post goes to
Navy Experts see danger in Rudy’s steel fork Plane hijack turns out to be mock exercise News Analysis |
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Punjab CM dares NDA govt on anti-farmer policies Disappearance of Tahir Everyone has right to protect reputation: SC Basu surprised
at Advani’s acquittal
NSG commando commits suicide Richard Vadra
cremated
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Key defence post goes to
Navy New
Delhi, September 20 Contrary to earlier media reports, he will replace Lt-Gen
Pankaj Joshi. Several media reports had said the Army would retain the
crucial post. The appointment of the Navy officer, along with some
other naval appointments, were announced by the government today. The
government passed the orders for new appointments last night. Admiral
Puri’s appointment to the important post was cleared in a massive
reshuffle of senior naval officers. General Joshi retires at the end
of this month. Under the new order, the Navy will get a new
vice-chief and new commander-in-chiefs for most of its
commands. Admiral Puri, respected in naval circles for his interest
in technical matters, will bring in his expertise to the Integrated
Defence Staff, headquartered in South Block. The Integrated Defence
Staff is currently looking at perspective planning and is in the
process of putting in place a net assessment office that will provide
long-term inputs on trends and enemies from a analytic
perspective. According to the transfer order, Vice-Admiral Arun
Prakash, C-in-C of the Western Naval Command based in Mumbai, will be
the new vice-chief when the incumbent Vice Admiral John D’Silva
retires. Admiral Prakash’s posting to the headquarters is part of
an effort to groom him as the next Navy chief to take over from
Admiral Madhvendra Singh when he retires on July 31 next
year. Vice-Admiral Madanjit Singh, the chief of the Southern Naval
Command based in Kochi, will take over as the next C-in-C of the
Western Naval Command, which is the most critical command of the Navy,
controlling seas bordering Pakistan and the busy sealanes running from
the Gulf region. Vice-Admiral O.P. Bansal, who is heading the
Tri-service Command, will take over as the C-in-C of the Eastern Naval
Command. Rear Admiral Rakesh Kala has been posted as the Chief of
Staff at the Tri-service Command. |
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Experts see danger in Rudy’s steel fork New Delhi, September 20 On a day when the security agencies at the Delhi airport
carried out a mock hijack drill to check on their anti-hijacking
preparedness, experts pointed out that in the present-day security
scenario, the decision to allow steel cutlery on board could lead to
difficult situations. Although the Civil Aviation Ministry has left
out knife from the cutlery to be re-introduced on domestic flights,
but even allowing sharp forks can spell danger, they point out. In
fact, even officials of domestic carriers have expressed surprise at
the recent decision of the ministry since security is now the prime
concern not only at the airports but also on flights. They agree that
steel forks are no less dangerous than the knives, which traditionally
have also been used for purposes other than eating. Officials agree
that even the availability of steel forks on board can encourage
devious minds to try out stunts which can create unwanted situations.
Afterall a fork can cause as much damage as an eating knife can, they
point out. The ministry’s decision comes in contrast to the
security norms being followed by most of the airlines around the
world. As part of efforts to reduce security risks on board, the
airlines around the world had decided to introduce plastic cutlery
instead of steel cutlery specially after 9/11. The hijackers in the
spectacular crashes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center had
also used knives as weapons to carry out the hijacks. Incidentally,
even in the famous IC-814 hijack to Kandahar, the highjackers had
initially used knives and were handed other weapons only on
touchdown. Experts here said when the security agencies on ground do
not even allow a matchbox or a lighter on board and force passengers
to carry pen-knives in the check-in baggage, the availability of steel
forks would be against the accepted security norms. According to
reports, the Civil Aviation Minister has in principle agreed for
re-introduction of the steel cutlery on airlines. An Indian Airlines
official said although the orders had been passed, yet they were still
to receive there. In another order, the minister has also allowed
passengers to use their mobile phones inside the plane while it is
grounded. |
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Plane hijack turns out to be mock exercise New Delhi, September 20 The Airbus 320 which landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 12.05 pm with 127 passengers and eight crew on board, was taken to an isolated bay as per the security drill. Soon the commandoes of the elite National Security Guard and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) swung into action and encircled the plane. However, the security officials soon declared it as a mock exercise and the commandoes dispersed. There was complete panic at the airport soon after the hijack news spread among the airport staff and other passengers. Indian Airlines Deputy Managing Director V. Kashyap said the IC 7469 Raipur-Nagpur-Delhi, piloted by Capt R. Mohan, sent a distress call at 11.20 am, 20 minutes ahead of its scheduled landing at the IGI airport here, when the flight was on its last leg between Nagpur and Delhi. Exactly a month ago, the
malfunctioning of an anti-hijacking device caused a scare after
signals of a certain frequency were emitted by the remote transponder
on a Srinagar-bound IC-825 flight. |
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News Analysis CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana Chief Ministers — Capt
Amarinder Singh and Mr Om Prakash Chautala — are all set for an
interesting political showdown as they will be face to face both in
Delhi and Rajasthan for the assembly elections in November. While the
Congress High Command intends to use the Punjab Chief Minister to woo
a large chunk of Sikh voters in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,
the Haryana Chief Minister is out to spread his political wings — in
Delhi and Rajasthan by luring “Jat” voters away from the Congress
and the BJP. For Mr Chautala, Rajasthan is not a new battlefield. He
had one of his sons elected to the previous Rajasthan assembly. This
time, his party may contest 30 to 40 Jat-dominated assembly seats.
Before the onset of a relatively good Southwest monsoon in the region,
Mr Chautala organised nine major political rallies in Rajasthan. Capt
Amarinder Singh and his men will start from Rajasthan on September 20
with a rally in Rai Singh Nagar, which has nearly 25,000-strong Sikh
vote-bank. Mr Chautala may also bank upon his closest family friend
and SAD chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for support in 14
Sikh-dominated assembly segments in Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh
districts. A poll adjustment or alliance with the SAD may be in the
offing. The Karanpur constituency has traditionally been returning a
Sikh candidate, starting with Mr Jawand Singh (Akali Dal) in 1952. In
the last elections in 1998, Mr Gurmeet Singh Kooner of (Cong) was able
to defeat Mr Surinder Pal Singh (BJP) by 1100 votes. This time, the
President of the Rajasthan Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr Surjit Singh Kang,
has decided to contest from Karanpur which has nearly 50,000 Sikh
voters. In Pili Banga, Mr Harchand Singh Sidhu (Cong) was a winner in
the 1998 elections. He is likely to defend his seat this time
also. Other constituencies with strong Sikh vote-banks are Kesri
Singhpur, Sri Ganganagar, Sanghria, Hanumangarh, Tibbi, Rai Singh
Nagar, and Suratgarh. It was on July 30 this year that Rajasthan
Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot kickstarted his election campaign at the
Balewala headworks in Ferozepore (Punjab) after the remodelled Gang
(Bikaner) canal was reopened. The canal, commissioned in 1928 after an
agreement between Maharaja Ganga Singh and the British Government, had
been remodelled after 75 years. It was not only water but also
continuous special assistance from Punjab that helped Rajasthan in
combating calamities like drought. Punjab had sent 200 trucks of wheat
(2000 metric tonnes) and 400 truck-loads of fodder (4000 metric
tonnes) to Rajasthan this year. Last year, the Punjab Government had
run “Langars’’ in Baran and Dungarpur districts for two months,
besides providing 5200 metric tonnes of free wheat and six train-loads
of fodder. The Haryana Chief Minister and the Indian National Lok
Dal (INLD) chief, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had also been helping
Rajasthan fight drought with uninterrupted supplies of fodder and
foodgrains. Mr Chautala has been trying to make political inroads
into the Jat heartland of Rajasthan with a view to getting his
hand-picked Jat leader installed as its next Chief Minister. His arch
rival, Mr Ajit Singh, too, had been giving him a good chase by trying
to keep “Jats” away from Mr Chautala and with his Rashtriya Lok
Dal. While Mr Gehlot had promised to reciprocate the Punjab gesture
by promising to look into the blanket ban on the purchase of immovable
property by outsiders in general and Sikhs in particular in Rajasthan,
he continues to be wary of the political designs of Mr Chautala and
his green brigade. The promise to lift the ban is yet to be honoured.
Capt Amarinder Singh, who will campaign agressively in the
Sikh-dominated areas of Rajasthan, may use the ban on purchase of land
to woo Sikh peasants back into the Congress fold. While the ruling
Congress will try to use the help from the Punjab Government and
recommissioning of the Gang canal as an election plank, the
Opposition, including the BJP and the Chautala’s INLD, may use the
same canal not only to browbeat the Congress but also raise accusing
fingers at the government for alleged large-scale irregularities in
its remodelling. The canal remodelling had remained mired in a
controversy. Payment of crores is pending. The canal had not been able
to take authorised discharge for the past several years due to
collapse of the lining. The canal issue and the immovable property
issues apart, stringent measures taken by the Rajasthan Government in
general and its universities in particular limiting the intake of
students into professional courses, including LL.B., from both Punjab
and Haryana, may be an issue of interest in Punjabis-dominated
constituencies. The BJP-led NDA Government, which Mr Om Prakash
Chautala’s INLD supports at the Centre, may not like the opposition
vote to be divided. As such it would make an endeavour to have both
the INLD and the Akalis on its side to topple the Congress in
Rajasthan. |
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Punjab CM dares NDA govt on anti-farmer policies Raisingh Nagar (Rajasthan), September 20 Addressing a Vishav Kisan Sammelan here today as a part of the Congress election campaign, Capt Amarinder Singh said Punjab was under a moral obligation to bail out Rajasthan whenever it was in distress or trouble. On the contrary, the Central Government had remained a mute spectator to the famine in Rajasthan. Referring to the WTO regime, he said the Centre should take a firm stand on the terms and conditions of the WTO agreement. He said the interests of the farming community must be safeguarded at all costs. Referring to the demands of Rajasthan, the Punjab Chief Minister said whenever additional water was needed in Rajasthan, his government would release it. He said Karnataka was facing a famine and he had made arrangements to send 20 trains of fodder there. Mr K. Natwar Singh, Rajya Sabha MP and member of the AICC working committee ridiculed the NDA government over its inept handling of the Jammu and Kashmir issue without realising the bad intentions of the Pakistan. He urged the people to strengthen the hands of the Congress. |
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Disappearance of Tahir New Delhi, September 20 Taking suo motu cognisance of a report
on the disappearance of a young groom, the commission has forwarded a
copy of the report to the Secretary, Ministry of Defence and sought
his comments within a month. The report ‘Army takes away groom on
Day I of wedding, sends his body back’ narrated how Army personnel
took away Tahir Hassan 10 hours after his marriage to Afroza on
September 11, never to return. Three days later, the family was
informed that Tahir who the Army claimed was their guide, had been
killed in an explosion in a militant camp. In its proceedings, the
commission asked the Jammu and Kashmir Government to furnish all
details with regard to such occurrences. In mid-July, Parvez Imroz,
patron, Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons sent to the
commission a list of persons reported to have disappeared. The NHRC
directed that the list be sent to the Chief Secretary, J& K
Government for comments within eight weeks on each person mentioned in
the list. In May, the commission directed the government to apprise
it of the system established to record allegations of “enforced or
involuntary disappearance” and the measures being taken to prevent
the same. The commission further asked the state government how many
such allegations it had recorded and the measures taken to bring to
book those who may have been involved in such disappearances. On July
28, the government sent a reply which was silent about the system for
recording allegations of enforced or involuntary disappearances or the
nature of such a system. Not satisfied with the reply, the NHRC has
asked the Home Department of J and K to reply to all questions. |
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Everyone has right to protect reputation: SC New Delhi, September 20 The ruling came in a
case involving Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, against whom the
three-member Bhagalpur Riot Commission had made certain adverse
remarks in its report in 1996, which were expunged by the Patna High
Court when the BJP leader had challenged the same. The High Court
order was challenged in the apex court by the Bihar
Government. “One is entitled to have and preserve one’s
reputation, and one also has a right to protect it, in case any
authority, in the discharge of its duty fastened upon under the law,
traverses into the realm of personal reputation adversely affecting
him,” said a Bench comprising Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar and Mr
Justice Arun Kumar in a judgement rejecting the Bihar Government’s
appeal. Accepting the arguments of Mr Advani’s counsel Harish Salve
that the commission had gone “haywire” in condemning Mr Advani on
the basis of his “ideological thinking”, though it was in no
manner connected with the subject matter of the inquiry, the court
said, “In such cases the right of an individual to have the
safeguard of principle of natural justice before being adversely
commented upon by a commission of inquiry is statutorily recognised
and violation of the same will have to bear the scrutiny of judicial
review.” It was because of this reason that an amendment was made
to the Commission of Inquiries Act in 1979, and Parliament had
realised that the probe panel should issue notice to the persons whose
conduct it would be inquiring into. The legislature thought it
necessary to provide such protection to the person whose reputation
was likely to be “prejudicially affected” by the inquiry, the
court observed. The court said the Act provided that such a person
would have a “reasonable opportunity” of being heard, but the
panel had made the remarks against Mr Advani without giving him such a
chance. “The principle of natural justice was got inducted in the
shape of statutory provision. It is thus incumbent upon the commission
to give an opportunity to a person, before any comment is made or
opinion is expressed which is likely to prejudicially affect that
person,” the court said. Rejecting the Bihar Government’s
arguments that there was no reason for Mr Advani to approach the High
Court at a stage when the state had not even taken action on the
commission’s report, the court said it might not be necessary for a
person to wait till certain action was initiated by the government
when his reputation was at stake. |
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Basu surprised
at Advani’s acquittal Kolkata, September 20 Mr Basu said there were reasons to believe that there
had been administrative and political pressure in letting out Mr
Advani. He alleged that Mr Advani had done severe criminal offence
in taking part in the demolition of the Babri mosque and all accused
should have been equally punished. |
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NSG commando commits suicide New
Delhi, September 20 Dharmendra Rawat (26)
committed suicide when he was on duty at the NSG camp near Palam. NSG
sources said family tension could be the reason of the suicide. Rawat,
who hailed from Pauri Garhwal in Uttaranchal, joined the course in
January this year and since then he had taken 72 days leave in the
months of January, April and July. Rawat was Ranger-2 in the 52-FAG
and was due for promotion. He was married in July this year. |
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Richard Vadra cremated Moradabad, September 20 Mr Vadra was found dead in mysterious circumstances here last evening at his Basant Vihar residence. He was reportedly a diabetic and suffering from high blood pressure. Ms Priyanka Gandhi and her husband Robert Vadra had already arrived here yesterday. —
UNI |
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