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PM leaves for
3-nation tour on Nov 11 US legislator
deposes in Lakhubhai case
Assembly poll to
have impact on national politics More women, OBCs
in Cong list for MP |
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BSP may have
understanding with Congress SC: child witness
can testify in murder case SC ruling on
lawyers working as part-time teachers
Pushkar fair begins
Army not to
vacate border posts in winter Trader shot, daughters raped
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PM leaves for 3-nation tour on Nov 11 New Delhi, November 1 Mr Vajpayee has already visited Russia twice this year. The much-awaited deal for Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier would not be signed during Mr Vajpayee’s visit to Moscow even though the deal had been almost finalised. Instead, the Gorshkov deal may be inked during Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov’s visit to India later this month. Earlier, Mr Ivanov was slated to visit India before Mr Vajpayee’s Russia visit but now Mr Ivanov’s visit here had been rescheduled and was likely to take place this month-end. Sources said the Vajpayee government was of the view that signing such a high-profile major defence deal like the $ 670 million Gorshkov aircraft carrier during prime ministerial visit would unnecessarily turn the focus on India beefing up its military muscle through its traditional strategic ally — Russia. This time the focus of Mr Vajpayee’s Russia visit would be beefing up economic cooperation between the two countries, government sources said today. That was because the Indo-Russian bilateral trade was a meagre $ 1.5 billion despite the fact that the two countries had been having a strategic relationship for past several decades. In contrast, India’s bilateral trade with China was an impressive $ 7 billion. Significantly, the rupee-rouble agreement of 1993 between India and Russia was coming to an end next year which would substantially improve India’s bilateral trade potential with Moscow. Under this agreement, India pledged to clear its Rs 36,000 crore debt to Russia in rupees at the pre-Soviet Union collapse rate of rouble in 12 annual installments of Rs 3,000 crore. The focus of Mr Vajpayee’s Tajikistan leg of his tour would be mainly economic. India attached a great importance to the strategically-located Central Asian region which had vast oil and mineral resources. The Syrian leg of the Prime Minister’s tour was mainly imbued with political overtones. The Syria visit could be seen as a balancing factor in Indian foreign policy vis a vis Israel and the Arab world. The Prime Minister’s Syria visit would obviously send a signal to the Arab world that the Indian foreign policy was balanced and not pro-Israel despite New Delhi and Tel Aviv having forged close strategic relationship. |
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US legislator deposes in Lakhubhai case New Delhi, November 1 Recording of the evidence of Mr Dymally, cited as defence witness by Chandraswami and Mamaji, had been hanging fire for the past three years due to the procedural wrangle whether evidence recorded through videoconferencing was permissible or not. The CBI had registered the case in 1986. Mr Dymally, a member of the California state assembly, who had expressed his inability to travel to Delhi to record his evidence, told Special Judge Dinesh Dayal that he neither knew Pathak nor had he ever met him. However, he replied in the affirmative when asked by the CBI counsel whether he knew Chandraswami and said that the “tantrik” had introduced him to Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. The trial court, which had finished recording of the evidence of prosecution witnesses three years ago, fixed the next hearing in the case on November 21. Conclusion of the trial was held up due to Mr Dymally’s refusal to appear before the court. |
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Mallika Sarabhai surrenders passport
Ahmedabad, November 1 Sarabhai also surrendered her passport to the police, as per the court’s orders. The District and Sessions Court on October 29 had granted her anticipatory bail and directed her to remain present at Naranpura police station on November 1 between 10 am and 12 noon. Later, talking to mediapersons, the dancer, who remained in police station for about 15 minutes, said she had complete faith in judiciary and would continue to co-operate with the police in its investigations. “I am very thankful to all my supporters, whose letters I have been receiving (since the case was registered),” a visibly relaxed Mallika said.
— PTI |
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Assembly poll to have impact on national politics New Delhi, November 1 The merger of the Samata Party with the Janata Dal (U) is just the beginning of a political process which is trying to assert its relevance in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Out of the five states where elections are to be held this month and early next month, four happen to be from the Hindi heartland — Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — where the electoral battle has been traditionally between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even in an election contested after the lifting of Emergency in 1977 and in the wake of the Bofors scandal in 1989, the Congress, though got only one Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, was able to poll 32.5 and 37.7 per cent popular votes. The Janata Party which contested on the Bharatiya Lok Dal symbol got 57.7 per cent votes in 1977 in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP polled 39.7 per cent votes in 1989. The newly created state of Chhattisgarh was then part of Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan, the Janata Party got a sizeable 65.2 per cent in 1977 and won 24 seats while the Congress just managed one seat, polling 30.6 per cent votes. During the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP got 29.6 per cent voters, winning 13 seats and the Janata Dal which had a tacit electoral understanding with the former received 25.7 per cent voters, winning 11 seats. The Congress, despite polling 37 per cent votes, failed to get a single Lok Sabha seat. In Delhi, the Congress lost all 7 seats polling just 30.2 per cent in 1977 conceding all seats to the Janata Party, which bagged 68.2 per cent votes. In 1989, the BJP polled 26.2 and won four parliamentary seats and the Congress, despite polling 43.4 per cent votes, managed just two seats with one Lok Sabha seat going to the Janata Dal with 16.3 per cent votes. Though all along, politics in these four states has been polarised between the Congress and the BJP, yet the Third Front is trying to create political space for itself. The idea of a Third Front gains momentum as the election time comes near. The electorate would have to decide once for all whether the country’s politics moves towards bipolarity or has to remain fragmented in different colours and shades. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Samajwadi Party, the CPM and the CPI, the Janata Dal (S) and former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar’s party along with many smaller political denominations are trying to forge unity so that they may at least together remain politically relevant, but they have invariably fallen apart when they are in power unlike the BJP and the Congress, for whom the power works as a cementing force. The outcome of the Assembly elections, thus, would not only determine the relevance of a Third Front but would also decide whether the next Lok Sabha elections would be contested between a BJP-led combine and the Congress-led front. |
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More women, OBCs in Cong list for MP
New Delhi, November 1 All but one of the 43-members of the Digvijay Singh ministry find place in the list, but as many as 20 out of the 124 sitting members were dropped. The lone minister dropped is Mr Devendra Deka. Chief Minister Digvijay Singh would seek re-election from Raghogarh. The lists were announced at a press conference by AICC General Secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh, Ms Ambika Soni, Mr Digvijay Singh and PCC(I) chief Radhakrishna Malaviya. They said out of the remaining 10 seats, one would be given to Revolutionary Party of India (RPI). The names of candidates for the nine seats would be announced later. Though minister Deka was dropped, he was compensated with a seat for his wife. Ms Soni said the first list included an all-time high of 34 women and 64 OBC candidates. There were only 18 women candidates in the last elections. There were a total of 16 candidates belonging to the minority community and 67 in the general category. The greater representation to women and OBCs and youth was being viewed by political observers as a move to counter the possible impact that BJP’s star campaigner and firebrand leader Uma Bharati would make in Madhya Pradesh. Mr Singh said the candidates were selected strictly in accordance with party guidelines and policies and also in keeping with Election Commission directives. “None of the candidates has been convicted. There is no major charge of offence against anybody,’’ he replied to a media query. However, he did not reveal the number of candidates against whom chargesheets were pending. He also brushed aside all questions on factionalism in the state Congress, saying, “We stand united under the leadership of Ms Sonia Gandhi and face the election. There was a spirit of accommodation among the party leaders during the selection process.’’ Though the Central Election Committee chaired by AICC President Sonia Gandhi began candidate selection exercise for Madhya Pradesh on Monday, it had been prolonged for want of decision due to the differences of opinion among the predominant groups led by Mr Digvijay Singh, Mr Arjun Singh and Mr Kamal Nath. Party sources said the nine seats were deliberately kept pending to wait for the list of the rival BJP nominees so that some ‘strategic moves’ could be made at the last moment. Asked how many relatives of Congress leaders were given tickets, he said it would be difficult to define the term ‘relatives’. However, the figure would not be more than five, he said.
— UNI |
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BSP may have understanding with Congress New Delhi, November 1 “We have decided to contest the coming polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi on our own and will put up our candidates only in those constituencies where we are strong and have the chance of winning,” BSP Chief Mayawati told newspersons here. She was quick to add that in the constituencies where it was not putting up its candidates, the party would appeal to the ‘Bahujan Samaj’ to vote for only those candidates who can defeat the BJP candidates. “As per the strategy drawn by us, we have decided to contest 160 seats in Madhya Pradesh (out of 230), 125 seats in Rajasthan (out of 200), 55 seats in Chhattisgarh (out of 90) and 40 seats in Delhi (out of 70 seats),” Ms Mayawati said. Ms Mayawati said, “Our intention is that either we should form the government or without our support no other party should be able to rule these states.” She added, “As far as any alliance with the Congress, let us wait till the results are declared.” |
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SC: child witness can testify in murder case New Delhi, November 1 “A child of tender age can be allowed to testify if he has intellectual capacity to understand questions and give rational answers thereto. The Evidence Act does not prescribe any particular age as a determinative factor to treat a witness to be competent one,” a Bench of Mr Justice Dooraiswamy Raju and Mr Justice Arijit Pasavat said. Dismissing an appeal by convict Ratansinh Dalsukhbhai Nayak from Gujarat, awarded life sentence for murdering two elderly persons, the apex court said there was no infirmity in the judgements of the trial court convicting him and the Gujarat High Court confirming the sentence. The accused was convicted on the basis of the evidence of a girl child, who was eyewitness to the “brutal assault” on the victims with a stick. The apex court said the trial court was satisfied with the child’s capacity to understand and give rational answers put to her. “The child witness had credibility which reveals a truthful approach. There were no exaggerations and she had struck to her statement made during investigation in all material particulars,” the court said. |
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SC ruling on lawyers working as part-time teachers New Delhi, November 1 A Bench Comprising Chief Justice Mr V.N. Khare and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha said “the principle of service jurisprudence cannot be extended to an advocate working as part-time lecturer.” The ruling came on an appeal by advocate A.M. Lodh from Tripura engaged as a part-time teacher by the Agartala Law College against the Guwahati High Court order rejecting his petition. |
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Charles dances on Rajasthani folk tunes Jaipur, November 1 He drove to the old capital city, 7 km from here, to see Chanwar Palkhiwalon ki
Haveli. The Prince also visited 'panna mian ka kund', a historic step well being restored by the state government. The prince remained in the Amber haveli for about two hours and enjoyed a traditional folk cultural programme specially arranged for him on the rooftop of the
haveli. He also danced with local artistes on folk tunes. — PTI |
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Pushkar fair begins Pushkar, November 1 The flag hoisting ceremony was performed by District Collector Niranjan Arya. Thereafter, began an extravaganza of various religious, social and commercial activities. The “Mandana” ceremony was also held in which rural women and school students participated. They created various figures in the mela ground using cattle dung. A camel polo contest was also held. In the evening, there was a ‘deepdaan’ ceremony. |
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Army not to vacate border posts in winter New Delhi, November 1 Claiming that the sophisticated equipment made available to the Army had greatly improved success rate in the counter-insurgency operations, he said this had helped in boosting the morale of the troops and also prevented infiltration. Speaking on the sidelines of the Combined Commanders Conference, which was addressed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, General Vij said 1,200 hand-held thermals and unattended ground censors had been inducted along the Line of Control to thwart the militants. He said no posts along the LoC would be vacated in the winter months and the Army planned to double its efforts to eliminate terrorists. |
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Moradabad (UP), November 1 The incident occurred last night after the culprits took the duo to the nearby bushes and stabbed them to death SSP, B.B. Bukhi said.
— PTI |
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New Delhi, November 1
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