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President for humanistic view on clemency
Govt to respond in Parliament
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Faux pas mars Nath-Left meet
UGC introduces scholarships
Top commanders’ meet begins
Gujral releases Katyal’s book on Indo-Pak ties
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President for humanistic view on clemency
New Delhi, October 17 The step taken by Dr Kalam, seen as unprecedented, could benefit some convicts, waiting for a decision by the President on their mercy petitions, who takes the final decision only on recommendation of the Union Home Ministry, if the Government accepts his suggestion. Sources said that a letter in this regard was written by Dr Kalam to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil about two to three weeks back. Dr Kalam, however, did not refer to any particular case pending for clemency, they said. Apart from taking into consideration the legal aspects pertaining to
clemency, the President has asked the government to take note of the age and health condition of the mercy seekers, sources said. Significantly, 20 petitions pending before the President for mercy include Rajiv Gandhi murder convicts Murugan, G Perarivalan and Chinna Shanthan, Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) militant Davinder Singh Bhullar, awarded capital punishment for killing nine people in a bomb blast in 1993 targetting the then Youth Congress President, Mr M.S. Bitta, Veerappan’s gang members — Simon, Gnanprakasham, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilvendran — sentenced to death for killing 21 police personnel in a land mine blast in 1993. Four other convicts from Punjab — Gurdev Singh, Satnam Singh, Piara Singh and Sarbjit Singh — were facing the gallows for attacking a marriage party in Amritsar in 1991 and killing 17 persons due to a family dispute. The Supreme Court had put its seal on the capital punishment of all these, following which they had pleaded the President for clemency. As per the law, a person who is not physically and mentally fit, could not be sent to the gallows and the humanist President, Dr Kalam might have taken this into consideration before writing to the government. The President’s views do not pertain to any specific case and are general in nature, virtually covering all the clemency petitions pending with Rashtrapati Bhavan or the Home Ministry. |
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Govt to respond in Parliament
Bangalore, October 17 "I will speak on it in Parliament in detail," Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters when asked about the Ministry's stand on the
issue. — PTI |
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Bad weather, shortage of tents hit relief work
New Delhi, October 17 Nearly 30,000 tents are required for the quake affected people of Uri and Tangdhar areas of Kashmir Valley, but the government has so far been able to deliver only 14,604 tents. Dr
D.K. Sankaran, Secretary (Border Management) in the Union Home Ministry, who is supervising the efforts for quake relief, however, maintained that the all the needy families will be provided with temporary shelter within the next 8 to 10 days. "There is a gap between demand and supply. The adequate number of tents is not available. The problem is of supply,” Dr Sankaran said, adding the government has been able to procure 1,000 tents per day from Ordnance Factory, Kanpur and six other private suppliers. About 1885 tents would be sent by tomorrow morning, and all the 30,000 would be sent by October 27, he said. With winter fast approaching, the Centre has decided to construct 100 community halls by the end of November, with each hall accommodating 20 to 30 persons. About 40 such halls would be completed by the month end, Dr Sankaran said. The Centre has managed to deliver over two lakh blankets and 57,310 woolen clothes. In the next few days 2,21610 woolen clothes will be made available to the state government, he said. Interestingly, on the request of the local people and some NGOs, 16.7 metric tonnes of biscuits and milk packets have been airlifted from Andaman Nicobar Islands to Jammu and Kashmir. “The people affected by Tsunami in Andaman Nicobar wanted to reciprocate the help and gestures shown to them. Thus, the Centre facilitated the airlifting of the biscuits and milk packets with the help of Indian Airlines and some other private airlines,” Dr Sankaran added. |
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Faux pas mars Nath-Left meet
New Delhi, October 17 CPI National Secretary D Raja and CPM Politburo member S.Ramachandra Pillai could not enter the complex as they were not MPs and the Parliament security staff informed that no passes could be issued as no information had been received from the minister's office. S.P. Shukla of JD-S, one of the parties supporting the UPA government, was also denied a pass to enter the complex. ''We waited for 15 minutes and there was no information at the reception. We went for the meeting with all the serious preparation,'' Mr Raja said. Asked whether any discourtesy was shown to them, he said it should have been done in a more serious manner. Mr Kamal Nath told reporters that there was some 'confusion' and communication gap. The meeting has now been tentatively re-scheduled for October 27. "We will take all possible steps which would be most effective. QRs are imposed only after giving market access, at the moment we are still negotiating on the question of market access. There are other methods...," Mr Nath said. The Left parties want resumption of the Quantitative Restrictions (QRs) on imports, especially on agricultural products. |
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UGC introduces scholarships
New Delhi, October 17 It has also introduced a post-graduate scholarship for single girl child with the purpose of supporting higher education to those girls who are the only child of their parents and to provide incentive for couples opting for a small family. The selection will be purely on merit basis. The awardees under this scheme can pursue their post-graduate programme in any area of specialisation as also in any institution of higher learning in the country, the UGC informed in a statement here today. A total of 2,375 scholarships, 1,800 in general course and 575 in honours courses would be given for a period of two years at a rate of Rs 2,000 per month. A single child of her parents, any girl who has taken admission in master’s degree programme of any recognised university or college would be eligible for the post-graduate Indira Gandhi Scholarship Scheme. A total of 1,200 scholarships would be given for a period of two years and a student would get Rs 2,000 per month and no tuition fees would be charged from girls under the scheme. Any student who discontinued the studies without prior approval of the UGC would have to refund the whole amount and the institution concerned would be responsible for this, the UGC notified. |
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Top commanders’ meet begins
New Delhi, October 17 The conference will give final touches to an anti-insurgency doctrine which has been on the anvil for some time. It will also focus on modernisation of the force and making it "leaner". The conference chaired by Army Chief Gen J J Singh reviewed the operational situation in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly measures to be taken to stop the infiltration from across the border, specially after the recent quake which has unsettled things in the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir to a great extent. The two-week long conference will be addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and other key ministers on Thursday. Addressing the commanders here, Chief of Air Staff S.P. Tyagi stressed the need to consolidate the issues of decentralisation and transparency to empower and create “Bold
Air-Warriors”. |
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Gujral releases Katyal’s book on Indo-Pak ties
New Delhi, October 17 In his five-minute speech after releasing the book — Mr Katyal’s maiden one — the former Prime Minister said “Diplomats on both sides must cooperate”. Mr Gujral, who has also written the foreword to the book, said this with a twinkle in his eyes while looking at the Pakistan High Commissioner here, Mr Aziz Ahmed Khan, who was seated in the first row. He quoted noted Punjabi Hafeez Jalandhari when he said that journalists and writers must not remain content in just watching and writing but should also contribute to the events. He said this in an obvious allusion to the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan. External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh, who left today for an official visit to Bhutan, sent an elaborate congratulatory message to Mr Katyal where he said: “Today, peace between the two countries is becoming increasingly people-driven.” The Minister elaborated more on this comment when he said: “Having been an Ambassador to Pakistan 25 years ago, I can testify to a remarkable transformation in the public mood in both countries. You can witness this today in the outpouring of spontaneous sympathy and sense of solidarity between the peoples of the two countries in the wake of the recent earthquake. This natural disaster, in fact brought home to us, in a most dramatic fashion how lines drawn upon the map mean so little when tragedy strikes. Let’s build upon this spirit of humanity and natural affinity which binds the people of two countries.” He remarked that Mr Katyal had singled out one of the significant points of convergence between the two countries: moving towards making borders irrelevant. “Mr Katyal has been a close observer of the ups and downs in the saga of India-Pakistan relations over recent decades. He, therefore, brings to the subject a rich and balanced perspective. His insights are further enriched with his personal association and friendship with several of the key players involved,” he said about Mr K.K. Katyal, former Associate Editor and Delhi Bureau Chief of The Hindu. |
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