 |
|
Plea to probe seer’s arrest
dismissed
Kalam, PM greet nation on Gurpurab
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Meeting to discuss coalition
functioning
CJP merges with Cong
Review ties with SAD, RSS tells BJP
BJP seeks law to ban cow
slaughter
Magsaysay Award winner beaten
up
Maoists prevented from holding
rally
Narrow escape for CJ designate
Sonia’s residence videographed?
SC lifts ban on night viewing of
Taj
SC notice on ex-militant
serving in Army
|
|
Plea to probe seer’s arrest
dismissed
New Delhi, November 25 Despite repeated query by a Bench comprising Chief Justice R. C. Lahoti and Mr Justice G. P. Mathur on the petitioners locus standi in the case and how his fundamental rights were violated, the petitioner B. P. Singhal, a former BJP Rajya Sabha member, failed to establish as to how his rights were violated in the wake of the seer’s arrest. When his counsel Harsh Veer Sharma provided no satisfactory answer to the queries, the Bench said: “The petitioner has not made out any case for invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution. “The petition is dismissed in limine (without issuing notice to the respondents),” it said after hearing the arguments on behalf of the petitioner in a jam-packed court-room for nearly half-an-hour. The court also said the petitioner has failed to annex the copy of the FIR in the Shankararaman murder case, in which the seer was arrested, which could have enabled it to formulate its opinion on the aspect of violations of rights of the accused persons by the manner of their arrest. Moreover, none of the accused, who were the affected persons, has joined the petitioner in agitating the matter before the court, the Bench said. Sharma, arguing on behalf of Singhal, pointed out several PILs like the Hawala case and the Pilibhit massacre case where the apex court had ordered CBI probe. However, the court counter questioned him as to whether the question of locus standi was ever raised in those matters. “The orders passed in those cases were in accordance with the facts and circumstances of those cases,” the Bench observed. The petitioner said he was not seeking any relief for the accused, including the Kanchi Shankaracharya but was concerned by the apprehensions expressed by millions of followers of the seer about the “malafide” actions of the Tamil Nadu police. He said the manner in which the arrests had been made smacks of arbitrariness on the part of the police and argued that it was a fit case for transferring the probe to an
independent agency like the CBI. |
|
Satyagraha for seer’s release on Dec
5
New Delhi, November 25 Addressing a joint press conference here, VHP working president Ashok Singhal and Juna Akhara head Avdeshanand Giri said the satyagraha would be organised by the Dharmaraksha Sanukta Sangharsh Samiti which will bring into its fold religious leaders and local level social and voluntary organisations. The satyagraha would be in each district of the country under the leadership of dharma acharyas, they said. “It will be a peaceful demonstration,” the Juna Akhara chief said. Mr Singhal said an Acharya Sabh’, to be attended by all four
Shankaracharya, would be held in Chennai on December 14 to discuss the wider issues concerning the Hindu dharma, including the demand for the seer’s release, and against the move to take over the property of several temples across the country by the government. Attempts were being made to takeover 400,000 temples across the country, because of the donations they get, he Mr Singhal said asking “Can the government think of taking over churches in India.” He parried the question on whether the VHP would demand the dismissal of the Tamil Nadu Government, saying there had been such demands from others. Asked whether the VHP was happy with the way BJP President L K Advani had been, of late, focusing on Hindutva issues, Mr Singhal said “We are happy if it so, but would like to see that happening on the ground.” |
|
Kalam, PM greet nation on Gurpurab
New Delhi, November 25 “On this auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Devji’s birthday, I convey my warm greetings and best wishes to all,” the President said. He said “the Guru’s teachings of love, brotherhood, truthfulness, sacrifice and leading a moral life as the way of attaining spiritual progress are very relevant in today’s world.” In a separate message, Dr Singh said the Guru’s message of equality, equanimity, brotherhood and compassion for all continued to guide humanity even today. “His divine preachings inspired people to rise above narrow and parochial outlook of life,” he said. —
UNI |
|
|
Meeting to discuss coalition
functioning New Delhi, November 25 The first salvo in this direction was fired by the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) two days ago when its spokesperson, Mr D.P. Tripathi, warned the Congress not to treat the UPA Government as its personal fiefdom.He demanded that the the UPA committee meetings be held every month for regular consultations. The official agenda of tomorrow’s meeting is to discuss floor coordination for the winter session of Parliament, begining December 1. UPA sources said tomorrow’s meeting has essentially been called to discuss the legislations which are to be brought in the session and the government’s strategy on meeting the Opposition onslaught. However, the murmurs in the UPA suggest that the allies will send out a gentle reminder to the Congress that it is heading a coalition and that it should desist from taking unilateral decisions. The allies are expected to voice their unhappiness by referring to the need of following the coalition dharma and ensuring that the UPA meets every month as decided on the formation of the ruling combine. |
|
|
CJP merges with Cong New Delhi, November 25 The announcement of the merger was made by AICC general secretary Ambika Soni at the AICC headquarters in the presence of Tamil Nadu PCC chief G.K.Wasan, Mr Chidambaram and his party members. After the formal announcement, the Finance Minister escorted his old party members for a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Mr Chidambaram’s party was an offshoot of the Tamil Maanila Congress, led by late
G.K. Moopanar. |
|
Review ties with
SAD, RSS tells BJP
New Delhi, November 25 A meeting of RSS leaders, which discussed a report of the Sikh Sangat, a Sikh front of the Sangh Parivar from Punjab, yesterday accused Mr Badal of adopting ‘double standards’ vis-a vis the RSS and expressed their inability to continue extending support to the Akalis in the state and at the Centre. A senior leader told reporters they had information that Mr Badal was behind Akal Takht’s recent statement that the Sangh’s activities were ‘anti-Sikh’ as they intended to erode the separate identity of the Sikh panth. The RSS leaders were also angry at the manner in which Mr Badal had allegedly ‘sabotaged’ the Sangh Parivar’s elaborate programme of celebrating the 400th anniversary of the compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib. He said the Sangh Parivar had participated in the tricentenary celebrations of the birth of Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1999 when Mr Badal was the Punjab Chief Minister and organised the celebrations at the official level. Flaying Mr Badal for his ‘double-speak’, the RSS leader said on the one hand, Mr Badal was scuttling the Sangh Parivar’s activities and on the other hand, he met former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and BJP president L K Advani and sought their support for the Akalis in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. The Sangh Parivar conveyed its ‘increasing disenchantment with the Akalis’’ to the BJP’s High Command asking the latter to review its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal,’’ he said. —
UNI |
|
|
BJP seeks law to ban cow
slaughter Ranchi, November 25 On the second day of its national executive session, the BJP adopted a 8-page resolution on agriculture saying that a law to ban cow slaughter should be enacted so that the income of small and marginal farmers was supplemented. Sources said stress on a ban on cow slaughter has been laid as the RSS had asked for it at its working committee meeting in Haridwar last month. Launch of Bharat Vikas Sangam by former BJP leader K.N. Govindacharaya at Varanasi this month has been another development which has influenced the events in the saffron party. Mr Govindacharya has laid a lot of stress on cow-driven economy which has the potential of changing the village economy. In its resolution, which was introduced by former Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh and seconded by BJP Kisan Cell convener Annabhai Patil, the party has made 21 demands to the Central Government and the resolution also accused the UPA government of selling out the interests of Indian farmers. While the Vajpayee government had defended the interests of the Indian farmer at the WTO, "the UPA government has adopted a vacillating and compromising stand on agricultural trade liberalisation in WTO negotiations", the resolution said. The party asked the Centre to double the combined public-private investment in Agriculture in five years from the present 1.3 per cent of the GDP and create a climate which can encourage public-private partnership in the rural economy. Condemning the shelving of Rs 75,000-crore Jayaprakash Narayan Fund for Agriculture and Rural Development, the resolution said not only this must be immediately made operational but the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) should be also accelerated. The resolution, which talks of various steps taken by the NDA government during its six years rule, said urgent measures should be taken to expand the land under irrigation from the present 40 per cent to at least 60 per cent over the next 10 years. The river-linking project should be taken up for implementation and drip, sprinkler and other micro-irrigation systems should get priority attention, it said. There should be no mortgage of immovable property on loans of farm implements like tractors etc, the resolution said and asked the government to announce attractive tax incentives for the manufacture of low-cost and high-quality farm implements.
|
|
Magsaysay Award winner beaten
up
Lucknow, November 25 Mr Pandey and approximately 2000 of his supporters were on a padyatra against the anti people policies of multinational cold drink giants, Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola, exploiting precious ground water to sell pesticide-laden soft drinks at an exorbitant cost. Just when the 10-day padyatra was culminating the police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the protesters, including hundreds of women, informed national coordinator of the National Alliance of People’s Movement Arundhati Dhuru. The police conducted a medical examination only after leading human rights activist Ravi Kiran Jain’s intervention. Mr Pandey was heading a padyatra from the Sinchahar Coca Cola plant in Ballia district which started on November 15 and was to conclude at the Mehdiganj Coco Cola plant in Varanasi yesterday. Mr Jim Fassett-Carman, a representative of US-based Corporate Accountability International who was accompanying the padyatris to express solidarity with the people’s struggle for water rights, managed to escape. Answering the questions being placed on the public agenda through these advertisements, Mr Pandey said it was not a question of protesting against a particular brand. The struggle was against the globalisation process that was placing precious natural resources, in this case water, into the hands of the corporate sector for uninhibited exploitation. On the question of the closure of these factories leading to unemployment, he said the Mehdiganj factory in Varansai had employed 500 persons, the majority of them on daily wages. In return the factory was drawing 25 lakh litres of ground water per day to produce 1.2 lakh litres of Coca Cola per day. |
|
|
Maoists prevented from holding
rally
New Delhi, November 25 In early dawn swoops, the police also took into custody Maoists’ chief negotiator Var Vara Rao, who is holding talks with the Andhra Pradesh Government, public meeting’s convenor Hari Singh Tarq and main speakers including, Tara Singh, Sukhwinder Kaur and Raj Kishore from Bihar. The police had denied permission to the Maoists’ public meeting and rally aimed at expressing “solidarity with revolutionary forces, campaigning against pro-imperialists and semi-feudal ruling establishment of the country”. The Lal Qila meeting was also projected as the precussor to the formation of a ‘new radical’ party opposed to the Parliamentary politics. About 1500 activists were detained from Maurice Nagar, Kamala Nagar, Chawari Bazar, Jama Masjid, Sis Ganj and Bangla Sahib gurdwara areas. A large number of Maoists activists came from Punjab, Haryana, Uttranchal, UP, Bihar and parts of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. The CPI(Maoist) was formed on September 22 this year after the merger of CPI-ML (PWG) and CPI-ML (MCC) which believed in “ armed struggle and use of arms in self-defence’ and supports Moaists of Nepal. Mr Var Vara Rao condemned the police action terming it as “barbaric and undemocratic which made it clear that ruling classes are bent upon crushing the poeple’s democratic struggles”. —
UNI |
|
Narrow escape for CJ designate
New Delhi, November 25 Justice Sabharwal was going home after finishing court work and his vehicle had travelled barely 100 metres from the court on Tilak Marg when the RAF vehicle hit the car, the police said. It set off a chain of accidents as his car rammed into another car in front that in turn dashed against another. However, Justice Sabharwal escaped unhurt though the rear of his vehicle was badly damaged in the incident, the police added. They said the accident had apparently taken place because of a brake failure of the RAF vehicle, which was being driven by a driver of the paramilitary force. |
|
Sonia’s residence videographed?
New Delhi, November 25 The incident has raised question on the security as the persons who were in a car and took the video graphs could not be traced . Even the SPG and the other police force remained unable to nab them. Meanwhile, police sources said they had launched a massive hunt for the car and its occupants . The security personnel, went into a tizzy after the grey-coloured Maruti car was spotted outside 10, Janpath, with its occupants taking video shots of the complex. Before the security personnel could react, the car sped away. |
|
SC lifts ban on night viewing of
Taj
New Delhi, November 25 However, the apex court said only 400 person would be allowed to visit the red sandstone platform for viewing the marbled structure on full moon nights. A bench comprising Justice Ruma Pal, Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice S.H. Kapadia said the permission was being granted for a three-month period initially. “We will see after that,” the Bench said warning that none, howsoever highly placed he might be, would be allowed to go on to the red sandstone platform for night viewing of the monument without purchasing a ticket. Everyone, even VVIPs, would have to alight from their cars 500 m away from the Taj and battery operated vehicles alone would be used to ferry spectators, who would be allowed to carry nothing except still cameras and binoculars after a thorough check, it said. The court, on the suggestion of environmentalist lawyer M.C. Mehta and Central Pollution Control Board counsel Vijay Panjwani, asked a three-member committee, headed by advocate Krishan Mahajan, to submit a report to the court about the compliance of guidelines during the three-month period. |
|
|
SC notice on ex-militant
serving in Army New Delhi, November 25 A Bench comprising Chief Justice R. C. Lahoti and Justice G. P. Mathur issued the notice on an application filed by the Society for Human Rights and Civil Liberties, which alleged that Dahir Ahmed, alias Thathu ,who was in charge of the Ikhwan-ul-Musalmeen had been recruited in the Army. Counsel for the petitioner Ramesh Kumar Haritash alleged that despite the court issuing notices to the Centre and the state governments on September 24, the respondents have released 55 militants detained in various jails of the state. The petitioner had earlier requested the court to quash the state’s rehabilitation policy. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In
video: (
