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Pak envoy seeks appointment with PM, Sonia
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Haryana not to pursue inquiry against IAS officer
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Prince Charles arrives in
Mumbai
Chauhan to take on Digvijay Singh Digvijay seeks withdrawal of BJP recognition
SC sets deadline for fast-track courts SC seeks Centre’s reply on directive in CVC Act 2 doctors sacked for assaulting scribes
NDA govt undermining sanctity of judiciary: Cong
Advani to open top cops’ conference Fernandes fails to convince Karunanidhi on
POTA
Poll to cast shadow on BSF function
22 killed in Bihar
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Pak envoy seeks appointment with PM, Sonia New Delhi, November 3 Mr Khan’s request has come very recently in the wake of New Delhi lifting curbs on the Pakistani envoy. It is understood that Mr Khan’s meetings with Mr Advani and Ms Sonia may materialise in the near future, possibly by next week. However, it seems highly unlikely that the Prime Minister would be able to find time for the Pakistani envoy in view of his “extremely tight schedule”. Mr Vajpayee has to proceed on two foreign tours within this month. In between, Mr Vajpayee’s political commitments are immense in view of the coming Assembly elections in five states. Then from the first week of December, the winter session of Parliament would also begin. Meanwhile, the Pakistani envoy today called on Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi and is scheduled to meet Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah tomorrow. Interestingly, according to a press note issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the Pakistani High Commissioner appreciated the peace initiatives of Mr Vajpayee and stressed that besides resuming the train and air services between the two countries, “a dialogue process may also be initiated, which would definitely help in improving the bilateral relations.” The press note also said Mr Khan had stressed the need for people-to-people contacts between the two nations. However, the sources in the Pakistani High Commission here said Mr Khan had focussed on one single point — the Kashmir issue. |
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Hungary backs India on UN seat New Delhi, November 3 Besides, India and Hungary tonight signed six accords to intensify cooperation in defence, economic and other key sectors. The agreements were signed after extensive talks between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Hungarian counterpart, Mr Peter Madgyessy. The two discussed various bilateral issues as well as the international situation. The six agreements are on bilateral promotion and protection of investment, double taxation avoidance, defence cooperation, cultural and education exchange programmes and cooperation in information and services. India and Hungary also signed a memorandum of understanding in defence cooperation and fighting terrorism. The agreement provides for regular holding of meetings of working groups, exchange of visits and participation in conference and seminars. |
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Haryana not to pursue inquiry against IAS officer
New Delhi, November 3
An undertaking to this effect was given by senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing on behalf of Mr Chautala, to a Bench comprising Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Ashok Bhan after Mr Sanjiv Kumar, in his personal submission, alleged that he was being threatened for bringing the matter before the court.
Mr Sanjiv Kumar alleged that "tantrik" Chandraswami had threatened him of dire consequences if he continued to pursue the petition. He presented in the court an audio cassette, claiming that he had managed to record the said threat.
While ordering that the cassette be preserved with the apex court registry, the Bench directed the Haryana Government to file an affidavit clarifying how the judicial commission, proposed to be appointed by it to inquire into the matter, would be empowered to investigate it in the same manner as the police was.
The Haryana Government had earlier placed a proposal before the court for getting the entire episode probed by a retired high court judge.
Mr Sanjiv Kumar, though represented by his counsel Jasbir Mallik, made a personal submission alleging that since he had refused to bow before the "illegal order" of the Chief Minister to replace the original selection list with a "fake" one and released it for the appointment of 3,206 JBT teachers on September 25, 2000, he had been "hounded" by the state authorities by slapping "false" cases.
"I am continuously being persecuted, threatened and harassed," he said, adding that he had not been paid salary for the past two and a half years, though he was entitled to it even if placed under suspension. |
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Tourists throng Pushkar Fair
Pushkar, November 3
Nearly five lakh persons are expected to visit the fare which concludes on November 9. The Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC), main organiser of the fair, expects a 30 per cent increase in the number of international tourists this year.
The town is abuzz with activity. Shops have been tastefully decorated and a number of stalls have been set up in temporary sheds. The road leading to the mela ground remains crowded throughout the day. There is a big rush of devotees at the Brahma Temple. It is said to be the world’s only temple dedicated to Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. Of the 52 ‘ghats’ of Pushkar Lake, ‘Gau Ghat’, ‘Brahma Ghat’ and ‘Vajra Ghat’ are witnessing maximum rush.
According to RTDC sources, the rush will increase during the last five days of the fair as these days are considered auspicious for taking a dip in Pushkar Lake, which, according to mythology, ensures salvation from sins. “Earlier, the fair used to be a five-day affair, but keeping in view the tourist influx, its duration has been increased,” said the District Collector, Mr Niranjan Arya.
The venue of the cattle fair is also witnessing a host of activities. Traders have brought thousands of animals, including camels, horses and bullocks, to the fair. “Trading is on, but the scene is expected to hot up in the coming days,” said a camel trader, who has brought 60 camels for sale. “The prices of camels have shot up this year. A camel, which was available for Rs 6,000 last year, is selling for around Rs 10,000 this year,” he said.
A camel is available in the range of Rs 3,000 to Rs 20,000, while the price of a good horse hovers around Rs 60,000. “However, there is no limit to the price for a good horse,” said Sakram Singh, another trader, who has brought 15 horses.
The RTDC is holding a lot of activities to ensure tourists’ participation in the fair. A number of contests, including a football match and a “matki phod” competition, were held on Sunday in which local residents and tourists, including foreigners, participated with enthusiasm.
Lisa and Bill Wegener, tourists from the USA, said they were happy to be part of the festivities here. “The ‘deepdaan’ ceremony and the fireworks on the opening day were a treat for the eyes,” they said, adding: “We came to know about this fair from a travel journal in the USA. We were told by some people who had been to India that the fair was a must see for everyone.”
Although a lot of commercial activity, including cattle trading, is going on at the Pushkar Fair, there are several persons who have devised new ways of earning money by cashing in on the popularity of the fair and the enthusiasm of tourists.
A number of girls and women can be seen roaming around attired in traditional Rajasthani dress and supporting traditional ornaments. They accost tourists and offer them to pose for a few photographs for them. These photographs would remind them of their visit to the fair, they say.
But the opportunity of clicking them comes at a cost. They charge between Rs 10 and Rs 50 for a photo session. This way they are able to earn around Rs 100-150 daily.
The idea is fast catching up among “sadhus” even. Many of them, especially those sitting along the “ghats” of Pushkar Lake, can be seen persuading tourists, especially foreigners, to click their photographs. Obviously, they also expect a price for that.
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Jayoti Lal has come from Alwar to Pushkar with a hair trimmer. He moves around at the venue of the cattle fair soliciting customers who want to give their cattle a cleaner look as it helps in fetching a good price at the time of sale. He charges anything between Rs 40 and 60 to shear one camel, depending on the size of the animal. He says cattle traders start coming to Pushkar a couple of days after Divali. He also lands here at the same time. He is able to earn about Rs 250 to 300 daily. After the fair is over, he waits for the next cattle fair to start at some other place.
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Kishtoor, who has come to Pushkar from Srimadhopur, earns money by playing rustic tunes on “ramantha”, a violin-like instrument. He is so good at playing different tunes on this instrument that he is able to catch the attention of any passerby. He is accompanied by his six-year-old daughter. The little girl walks alongside him singing Rajasthani folk songs. He and his daughter will be able to earn around Rs 3,000 during the fair, he says.
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Rural women can be seen creating beautiful mehndi patterns on the palms of women tourists. People passing by generally get attracted towards them and start watching them create mehndi patterns. Enamoured, many of them then extend their hands to have ‘stamp’ of Pushkar Fair on their hands too. The rates for the service are reasonable, around Rs 10 to 15 per hand. A German woman got a beautiful mehandi pattern made on her left foot, waited for some time to let it dry a bit and then walked away bare foot so that her ‘priced acquisition’ was not spoiled and the pattern got a good dark colour.
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Kishore, an 11-year-old boy, is here with his father. Both of them are working hard to earn as much as they can during the fair. He roams around in the cattle fair area carrying scissors, locks and thorn pullers. The price of these articles ranges between Rs 10 to 50.
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Prince Charles arrives in
Mumbai Mumbai, November 3 According to a British Deputy High Commission spokesperson Prince Charles will met First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West and Indian naval officials. Also present on the occasion will be Commander Simon Hardern RN, Commanding Officer, HMS Kent. HMS Kent will be visiting the Western Naval Command in Mumbai from November 2 to 6, coinciding with a visit to India by the UK’s First Sea Lord. She will also undertake exercises with Indian naval ships. On Tuesday, Prince Charles will visit a film shooting and the city’s famed “dabbawallas” or tiffin suppliers outside the throbbing Churchgate railway station in downtown Mumbai. |
Chauhan to take on Digvijay Singh
New Delhi, November 3
The party’s chief-ministerial candidate in Madhya Pradesh, Ms Uma Bharati, will contest from the Bada Malara constituency, considered one of the safest seats.
Announcing this here today after a meeting of the party’s Central Parliamentary Board, BJP general secretary and spokesperson Pramod Mahajan said the meeting, chaired by president Venkaiah Naidu and attended by top party leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, had cleared the names of 137 candidates, recommendations for whom had “unanimously” been made by the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit.
Releasing the first list of candidates for the December 1 poll, Mr Mahajan said the nomination of Mr Chauhan from the Raghoghar constituency against Mr Digvijay Singh would make the contest “very important” and said the young turk had the strength and popularity to upset his rival.
According to party sources, the reason behind Mr Chauhan’s nomination is that the young BJP leader has a considerable following and the constituency has a sizeable number of Lodhi voters, traditional supporters of Ms Uma Bharati. Although party bigwigs do not expect Mr Chauhan to defeat Mr Digvijay Singh, they are sure that he would give a tough fight.
Since Mr Chauhan has nothing to lose, as he could continue as MP in the event of defeat, he can go all out against the Congress leader.
In the first list of 137, the party high command has decided to renominate 58 sitting MLAs, including Mr Anoop Mishra, nephew of Mr Vajpayee, from the Lashkar East constituency.
While 24 candidates belong to the Scheduled Castes, 29 belong to the Scheduled Tribes and only seven are women.
Accepting that the number of women candidates in the first list of 137, out of the total 230 seats, was very small, Mr Mahajan said the party high command had asked the state unit to try and accommodate more women candidates in the remaining seats.
The BJP Parliamentary Board will have another meeting here tomorrow at the Prime Minister’s residence to finalise the candidates for the remaining seats.
Ruling out differences in the party over the selection of candidates, Mr Mahajan said: “The clearance of names for over 50 per cent of the seats in Madhya Pradesh unanimously is sufficient to prove that there are no differences in the party.”
Asked why Ms Bharti had not taken the challenge to contest against Mr Digvijay Singh, Mr Mahajan shot back saying, “Let me throw a challenge: If Mr Digvijay Singh decides to contest from the Bada Malara constituency, too, then we can think of fielding her against him in Raghoghar.”
Replying to another question, Mr Mahajan said Madhya Pradesh unit chief Kailash Joshi had decided not to contest in the coming elections. |
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Digvijay seeks withdrawal of BJP recognition New Delhi, November 3 Mr Digvijay Singh and state PCC chief Radha Kishan Malviya submitted a memorandum to the commission complaining about an alleged rape victim Jamuna Bai having been presented by the BJP at the Prime Minister’s public meeting at Bhopal on October 19 to gain political mileage and Rs 1 lakh having been deposited in her account to “bribe her.” Mr Singh told reporters here that since Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh was “pre-occupied,” they had submitted the memorandum in his office. Asked if Mr Vajpayee was privy to the move to present the woman, Mr Singh said that he might have been kept in the dark. “But since Mr Vajpayee was present, he owes an answer,” Mr Singh said. Calling for action under Section 16-A of the Election Symbols (Reservation) and Allotment Order, 1968, the memorandum demanded that the BJP’s recognition as a national party be withdrawn and its lotus symbol frozen. It also sought directions against Mr Vajpayee and Ms Bharti for violation of the model code of conduct. |
SC sets deadline for fast-track courts
New Delhi, November 3
This order was passed by a Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mr V.N. Khare, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, while looking into progress made by the states in the establishment of a total of 1734 FTCs across the country for which the Central Government was providing 100 per cent grant.
The court commended Rajasthan and Maharashtra for implementing the FTC scheme in an “excellent” manner but expressed concern about Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab and West Bengal.
While asking the defaulting state governments to fill the vacancies in the FTCs and notify the required number of such courts positively by December 31, it warned that failure to do the needful by the deadline fixed would make the court consider the aspect of asking the states to refund the money received from the Centre for the purpose.
The Bench, in view of the request of Rajasthan for more funds to run the FTCs, asked Solicitor-General Kirit Raval to file the response of the Centre as to whether the money given for establishment of the FTCs were a one-time grant or it was open to giving continuous grants for their functioning. —
PTI |
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SC seeks Centre’s reply on directive in CVC Act New Delhi, November 3 Interestingly, the apex court had quashed the "single point" directive, incorporated by the Centre earlier in its executive order for creating the CVC, in a judgement in the "Jain-Hawala" scam case. A three-judge Bench, comprising the Chief Justice, Mr V. N. Khare, Mr Justice S. B. Sinha and Mr Justice A. R. Lakshman, directed Solicitor-General Kirit Raval to file affidavit to an application moved by senior advocate Anil Dewan, seeking stay of the "single point" directive incoporated in the CVC Act, passed by Parliament during previous session. The President had given his assent to the Act on September 11, the court was informed. Mr Dewan, has been appointed as amicus curiae by the court to assist it in adjudicating a public interest litigation (PIL), challenging the provision of the single-point directive, which exempts officers of the rank of Joint Secretary and above from direct probe by CBI without prior sanction of the government. |
2 doctors sacked for assaulting scribes
Kolkata, November 3
The Congress and the Socialist Unity Centre of India, demanded a judicial inquiry into the violence at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital here.
Health Minister Suryakanta Mishra said the government took the action after receiving the preliminary report from the hospital authorities on the incident.
Five mediapersons, covering the death of a patient that night, were attacked and injured by a number of junior doctors of the hospital.
Stating that they may or may not have political affiliation, Mishra said the services of junior doctors, Dibyendu Saha and Manas Maity, had been terminated.
The state government, he said, had recommended to Calcutta University for suspension of four interns — Suvojit Roy, Rakesh Sharma, Subhankar Chatterjee and Biplab Chanda — for their involvement in the violence.
The TC chief reacted sharply to the Chief Minister’s accusation that her partymen were involved in violence. —
PTI |
NDA govt undermining sanctity of judiciary: Cong
New Delhi, November 3
In a statement, senior Congress leader Arjun Singh said that the Supreme Court while hearing a petition challenging the appointment of former Commerce Secretary Deepak Chatterjee as Chairman of the Competition Commission had termed the move as a direct
encroachment on judicial functioning and had asked the government to restrain its hand.
He said that the Supreme Court had sounded serious note of warning and every person who treated the apex court as protector of the Constitution has to sit up and take notice.
Mr Singh said that the Supreme Court interfered in the Best Bakery case recently as a result of which a new trial was being held. “In this case, it appears the Government of India has gone a step further in undermining the sanctity and importance of a judicial process,” he said. “It is in this manner that the democratic rights and privileges are trampled upon and the polity can ignore these signals only at its own peril,” he said.
Maintaining that muffled steps of “fascist forces were echoing in the corridors of power,” Mr Singh called for opposition from all corners of the country to prevent “a blatant and unprecedented attempt by the present government to subvert the Constitution.” |
Advani to open top cops’ conference
New Delhi, November 3
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will address the conference on November 5, the second day of the three-day event, the main thrust of which is to realise the vision of a technologically modern and more community-friendly police in the new millennium.
During these three days, the conference would deliberate upon issues pertaining to internal conflict scenario, criminal justice system, police perspective and response and role of money factor in terrorism, an official press note said here today.
Community policing, emerging role of Interpol in investigation abroad, developments in forensic science, kidnapping for ransom and fake documents-instruments of economic genocide and other important issues encompassing a wide spectrum of problems being faced by the police all over the country would also be discussed.
The conference of IGPs is being organised by the Intelligence Bureau since 1920. |
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Fernandes fails to convince Karunanidhi on
POTA Chennai, November 3 Fernandes, who flew to Chennai apparently on instruction from Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee to convince Karunanidhi who had been demanding repeal of POTA, had an hour-long meeting with the DMK chief. Emerging from the meeting with Karunanidhi, Fernandes admitted there were differences on this issue between the constituents of the NDA and it should be ‘reconciled and resolved by some way or the other’. —
PTI |
Poll to cast shadow on BSF function
New Delhi, November 3
According to sources, Prasar Bharti has informed the BSF about its inability to telecast the event live due to the Election Commission’s model code of conduct, as Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is likely to be the chief guest.
BSF personnel are also worried over the possible inadequate coverage in private television channels, which will be busy covering the Assembly poll. |
22 killed in Bihar
Biharsharif, November 3
The police here said that at least 18 persons were killed when a jeep carrying them fell into the Lokayan river after the driver lost control of the vehicle on the Fatuah-Islampur road under Shahjahanpur police station in Nalanda district.
Two bodies had been recovered so far as divers were finding it difficult to trace the bodies because of the strong current in the river. Six injured were admitted to local hospitals.
In another incident four persons were killed when a mini-bus driver lost control in a bid to save a motorcyclist and the pillion rider. —
UNI |
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Veteran UN peacekeeper dead New Delhi, November 3 |
C.V. NARASIMHAN DEAD
COP, ULTRA KILLED IN ENCOUNTER
MEDICO STABBED, DOCS GO ON STRIKE
MOB DISRUPTS RAIL TRAFFIC
MALAYALAM FILM ACTOR DEAD
ULTRAS KILL 5 MORE IN WEST TRIPURA
6 HIV POSITIVE INDIANS QURARNTINED |
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In video: Pak envoy calls for a quick solution to the Kashmir dispute.
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