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Volcker issue returns to haunt Congress
SC admits HC petitions Medha Patkar’s condition worsens |
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Surat, April 14 Setting aside their political differences, the BJP and the Congress have joined hands in their common fight against the Central Government’s decision to review the height of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). Rajkumar funeral chaos toll eight
North facing power
crisis
Evidence should match charges for dismissal: SC
Turtle skulls taken to CM’s house
Notice to CBSE on affiliation
Dawood in Karachi, says Anees’ cook
Ghani Khan Chowdhury dead
Mother, son reunited after 5 years
Booked MEA man arrives
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Volcker issue returns to haunt Congress
New Delhi, April 14 UPA sources said the government’s concern stems from reports that the investigating agencies have stumbled upon key evidence against the former minister, particularly three letters written by him to Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. After learning about these letters, Dr Manmohan Singh is learnt to have asked a senior minister to meet Natwar Singh to ascertain his views on these reports. According to highly placed sources in the UPA, the former minister denied having written such letters when confronted with these fresh revelations and maintained these could well be forgeries and the work of his detractors. The contents of these letters, it was stated, are “extremely damaging” and come close to establishing Natwar Singh’s complicity in the deal. Sources said while two of these letters were delivered to Tariq Aziz, the third did not reach him. Copies of these letters surfaced through a middleman who informed the investigating agencies about them. While the Enforcement Directorate is contemplating issuing a show-cause to Natwar Singh, the Prime Minister is nervous that fresh revelations can put the spotlight on the Congress which was also named in the Volcker report as a beneficiary of the oil-for-food programme. |
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SC admits HC petitions
New Delhi, April 14 A Bench of Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, Mr Justice C K Thakker and Mr Justice D K Jain admitted at least six special leave petitions (SLPs) of the High Court after it was informed that the Punjab government was yet to amend the rules to incorporate the standards fixed by it , while Haryana made the amendments after a series of directives from the high court. Terming the matter as important, the apex court said it required consideration but the pendency of the case would not “prejudice” the appointments of judicial officers who had already been appointed. “We make it clear that the decision in these appeals will have no effect on the judicial officers whose appointment has already been made,” the Bench in its order recorded. The purported conflict on the issue arose with the full Bench of the high court passing a resolution on October 15, 1998 stating that for maintaining parity and proper and higher standards in judicial officers’ appointments in the two states, only those candidates who had secured 50 per cent marks in aggregate in written test and interviews, be considered for appointments. The Bench again reiterated its resolution on April 19, 2000 and rejected the proposals of the governments of the two states offering appointments to those who had not secured marks as per the standards fixed by the high court. Despite this, appointments were offered by the state governments to candidates who had secured less than 50 per cent marks as they contended that the rules did not prescribe for “any minimum marks to be obtained by a candidate in the interview… and under rule 8 merit list has to be prepared on the basis of the marks obtained by him in the written examination and the viva voce.” The two governments had referred to the existing rules laying down that no candidate shall be called for the viva voce unless he obtained at least 50 per cent marks in the aggregate in all written papers and 33 per cent in the language papers and for the SC, ST and OBC the aggregate marks in written test should be 45 per cent and 33 per cent in the language paper. They further pointed out that the rules inter se provided that merit among the candidates would be determined on the basis of the aggregate marks obtained by them in the written exams and viva voce ,which should not necessarily be with a cap of 50 per cent minimum marks. As a result of the amendment made by Haryana in the rules, different categories of SC were created and those who had obtained lesser marks in judicial service exams, were given appointments, their advocae Ramesh K Haritash told the court. |
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Medha Patkar’s condition worsens
New Delhi, April 14 Meanwhile, seven more supporters of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) began their fast after failing to obtain any positive response from the PMO vis-a-vis findings and recommendations of the Group of Ministers that recently visited the Narmada valley. “We wrote to the PMO under the Right to Information Act two days ago. Today, we got a letter from them saying they had forwarded our request to the Ministry of Water Resources for necessary action. How long are we supposed to wait?,” environmentalist Shekhar Singh said. Right to Information activist and Magsaysay awardee Aruna Roy said all necessary documents related to the Sardar Sarovar Project be made public. International economist Jean Dreze, who extended his support to the NBA, demanded that the construction of the dam be stopped immediately as the Gujarat Government was violating the Supreme Court order and playing havoc with the lives of the people. Bollywood actor Rahul Bose, who joined the three in expressing solidarity with the cause, said the government could not make human beings suffer in the name of development. “If they are reviewing the proposal, they should stop construction till they finish reviewing it. Hundreds of families face submergence and the government has not provided them proper rehabilitation,” he said. Geneva: Three United Nations human rights experts have said that India should stop the construction of the contested dam that will submerge homes and land of tens of thousands of people. “Until the human rights of the affected can be guaranteed, we recommend that the construction of the dam be halted,” said Hina Jilani, who monitors the situation facing human rights activists, housing expert Miloon Kothari and Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the UN specialist on the rights of indigenous peoples. Advocates of the Narmada valley dam project in western India say it will provide water and hydro-electricity to the areas in desperate need. But critics are focussing on the fate of villagers whose homes and land are being left under water as the project advances. The three UN experts said they were concerned over the recent decision of the Narmada Control Authority to raise the height of the dam. They pointed to an Indian Supreme Court judgement of 2000 that banned the raising of the dam’s height until 35,000 villagers were resettled and given cultivable land. “According to reports received, adequate rehabilitation has not yet been provided to those affected due to the current dam height, many of them indigenous peoples and farmers.” Affected villagers might be left homeless when the land is submerged because none of the new sites where they were expected to live had sufficient housing plots, they added. “Furthermore, alternative agricultural land is reportedly not being provided and the allotted land is uncultivable and inadequate,” they said. — PTI, AFP
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BJP, Cong join hands against NBA
Surat, April 14 The District Congress Committee organised a dharna near Gandhibag garden here today against the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activists, who “want to stop” the Narmada project. City Congress committee president Sunil Brokerwala said the Central Government’s decision to review the height of the dam was “shocking”. The BJP district unit has also warned that it would intensify the agitation against the Narmada movement. Vadodara: Meanwhile, Youth Congress workers stalled the screening of Aamir Khan starrer “Rang De Basanti” here after the Bollywood actor extended support to the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), which has been opposing the raising of the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam. The workers also burnt Aamir’s posters at Aradhana theatre, where the movie is being screened.
— UNI, PTI
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Rajkumar
funeral chaos toll eight Bangalore, April 14 The situation limped back to normal today with Bangalorians getting out of their houses to resume their daily activities. The violence in the city has, however, left 285 persons injured, including 175 police personnel, according to Police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh. As many as 56 police personnel have been hospitalised while nine fans are reported to be admitted to various hospitals in the city. The Police Commissioner said the loss to property was also huge. He said the mob had burnt three petrol pumps, five lorries, 11 buses, three autos, 20 cars and 54 two wheelers. He said five police jeeps, seven police vans, three Qualis vehicles and two government Ambassador cars had also been torched by the mob. Claiming that the police force was not “caught unawares”, he said there was a shortage of manpower due to deployment of security forces for election duty in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He said despite this the force had acted with “restraint and balance”. He said the force, however, had to resort to lathi-charge and lobbing of tear gas shells and later to firing to control the mob when the body of the late actor was being taken to the burial ground. Mr Ajai Kumar Singh said 563 persons had been arrested and 41 cases had been registered. He said the antecedents of those arrested were being verified to ascertain whether they were
history-sheeters and had deliberately carried out the acts of violence.
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North facing power
crisis
New Delhi, April 14 According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), during April-February, 2006, Punjab faced a power deficit of 1573 MW, about one-fifth of the total demand of 7731 MW. In February alone, the industrial units faced on an average power cuts of three hours daily. Despite much claims and low demand due to unseasonal rain during this period, the state was able to supply just 7-8 power to farmers, as against 11 hours supply by Rajasthan, it noted. In Haryana, the state government may be lobbying for a nuclear power project — a distant dream. But the CEA found that it was not able to meet even lower demand for power in February. The state has not added any new capacity to its installed capacity of 3982 MW. It resorted to drastic scheduled and unscheduled power cuts worth 200 MW on the industry. A senior official in the Power Ministry blamed the state governments for worsening power situation. “The Shahpurkandi power project of 168 MW and 500 Gobindwal power project in Punjab have been dragging for the past many years. Despite the state government’s efforts to set up 1000 MW gas-based power project near Ludhiana, the project is unlikely to come up in near future due to acute shortage of gas even for the present projects,” he said. On the state governments’ claims to purchase power during the peak season from the eastern sector, he said, “with the rising power demand in Central and Western India, especially in Delhi and Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana will not find it easy to get power even by paying higher tariff.” As on April 11, the CEA stated the hydel power projects were generating 14 per cent lower power than the projected generation in North India. Notably, frequent breakdowns in the 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri project in Himachal Pradesh due to rising silt level and delay in commissioning of other projects, the states are likely to face severe shortage of power in the coming days. The CEA admitted that during the April-February period, the North grid faced a power shortage of 2502 MW, about 12.6 per cent of the total demand of 26195 MW. The situation is likely to worsen this summer season due to a rise in demand in the domestic and commercial sector. The official admitted that UP has already witnessed riots over power cuts in some towns in March, one can imagine the deteriorating situation in May and June. “ We should pray that good monsoon arrives in time and the Punjab and Haryana Governments encourage farmers to delay the sowing of paddy, otherwise industrial units and domestic consumers will face worst power cuts,” he added. |
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Evidence should match charges for dismissal: SC
New Delhi, April 14 The ruling was delivered on a petition by a government official who was removed from the service by the disciplinary authority on the basis of the report submitted by the Inquiry Officer who had given the findings on the charge which was not framed against him. While the principal charge was for non-maintenance of a particular register known as ACE-8
Registar, the inquiry instead proceeded against him for misutilisation or misappropriation and theft of copper wire. After losing battle before the Central Administrative Tribunal and the high court, the employee succeeded in appeal before the apex court which held that "the disciplinary authorities proceeded on wrong premise". M.V.
Bijlani, working as a Junior Engineer at Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh, had handed over charge to his successor in 1970, and in 1975 a disciplinary proceeding was initiated against him for neglecting to maintain the register for which he was removed from the service in 1983. "The employee was principally charged for non-maintenance of register. He was not charged for theft or misappropriation or misutilisation of the 4,000 kg of telegraph copper wire or misutilisation thereof. If he was to be proceeded against for misutilisation of or misappropriation of the said amount of copper wire it was necessary for the Disciplinary Authority to frame appropriate charges in that behalf," a Bench comprising Justice
S.B. Sinha and Justice P.P. Naolekar said. The court said the evidences recorded by the Inquiry Officer and inferences drawn by him were not commensurate with the charges. Maintaining that the report of the Inquiry officer suffers from several vices, the Bench said the orders of the Disciplinary Authority based on Inquiry report cannot be sustained. Observing that the employee due to pendency of these proceedings has suffered a lot, the Bench directed him to be "reinstated" in service "if he has not reached the age of superannuation". However, the court said keeping in view the fact that he has not worked for a long time, he may only be paid 50 per cent of the back wages.
— PTI |
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Turtle skulls taken to CM’s house
New Delhi, April 14 A group of protestors laid out carcasses of the turtles at the doorstep of Mr Patnaik’s Aurangzeb Road residence this morning and, in a memorandum to the Chief Minister, demanded protection for the Olive Ridleys who come every year to nest on the beaches of Orissa. A copy of the “I witness” report prepared by the Greenpeace detailing deaths of the endangered species along the Orissa coast allegedly due to illegal fishing and trawling was presented to the Chief Minister. As per Greenpeace activist Bidhan Chandra Singh, “ as Chief Minister, and one who also holds the forest portfolio, the responsibility to defend the turtles rests squarely on Naveen Patnaik’s shoulders”. The NGO has been demanding that the Orissa Government take concrete action to prevent turtle mortality in the next nesting season. About 12 Greenpeace activists were detained by the police. |
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Notice to CBSE on affiliation
New Delhi, April 14 The notice was issued by a Bench of Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P.P. Naolekar on an appeal filed by the Independent Schools Federation of India (ISFI) against the December 9, 2005 order of a Division Bench of the High Court, which reversed a Single Judge’s order on the issue. The Bench also issued a notice to the Tushar Welfare Society on whose petition Single Judge’s order was passed. The Single Judge of the High Court had on September 8 had held that private and unaided schools need not obtain clearance from state governments for grant of affiliation by the CBSE. “The CBSE shall consider, process and decide the application of a private and unaided private educational institution without insistence on the concurrence of the state government where the school is territorially located,” the Single Judge had said, terming CBSE practice as “retrograde”. However, the Single Judge’s order was reversed by a Division Bench of the HC which upheld the CBSE regulation requiring NoC from state government for affiliation. — PTI |
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Dawood in Karachi, says Anees’ cook
New Delhi, April 14 Khan, whose confessional statement was recorded before a magistrate last night, told investigators that Dawood was living in Karachi and gave his address as 13, Defence Housing Authority, Cliffton. Khan, against whom a look-out notice had been issued by Indian authorities in 1999, was arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport here and handed over to the local police on Tuesday while disembarking from a Karachi-Delhi Pakistan International Airways flight.
— PTI |
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Dawood in Karachi, says Anees’ cook
New Delhi, April 14 Khan, whose confessional statement was recorded before a magistrate last night, told investigators that Dawood was living in Karachi and gave his address as 13, Defence Housing Authority, Cliffton. Khan, against whom a look-out notice had been issued by Indian authorities in 1999, was arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport here and handed over to the local police on Tuesday while disembarking from a Karachi-Delhi Pakistan International Airways flight.
— PTI |
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Ghani Khan Chowdhury dead
Kolkata, April 14 He was 79 and is survived by his sister Rubi Noor and brother Abu Hasan, both Congress MLAs. Information Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi and Ms Noor were by his side when he breathed his last around 11.30 am. His body was later taken to Congress office at Bidhan Bhavan, near Sealdah, where it was kept till 8.30 pm. The body was later taken to Peace Haven mortuary from where it would be flown to Malda for his last rites tomorrow. According to Mr Dasmunsi, Chowdhury would be laid to rest at the Kotwali burial ground by the side of his parents, who were buried there about five decades ago. Chowdhury had been an important minister in Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet, holding key portfolios of Energy, Coal, Irrigation and subsequently, Railways. He was also a minister in the Siddhartha Sankar Ray’s ministry in Bengal during 1972-76. An eight-time party MP from Malda and a six-time MLA, Chowdhury was known for his secular character and bold and spirited outlook. He also served as state Congress president twice. Thousands of supporters and Congress workers converged on the nursing home and Congress Bhavan to pay their last respects to the leader. People in Malda town and his Kotwai village took to streets to mourn his death. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the AICC president Sonia Gandhi mourned Chowdhury’s death saying that it was not only a great loss to the party but also to the nation. At the nursing home, Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and former Chief Minister Siddhartha Sankar Ray paid their last respects to the departed leader. |
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Mother, son reunited after 5 years
Vadodara, April 14 Amit, who was five-year-old at the time of devastating earthquake on January 26, 2001, was reunited with his mother, a widow at Ambao village of Madhya Pradesh, yesterday. Jaya had refused to accept that Amit had died in the quake, that claimed lives of more than 200 schoolchildren in Anjar town of Kutch district bordering Pakistan and had also not accepted the assistance given by the government to the relatives of the deceased. A migrant tribal labourer from Garbada village of Dahod district bordering Madhya Pradesh, informed Jaya that her son was alive. The labourer, who was admitted in a local hospital for some treatment, overheard the conversation between Jaya and one of her relatives, admitted to the same hospital. When tribal saw the photograph, which Jaya was carrying, he told her that the same boy was staying in temple premises in Garbada town of Dahod and the locals provided him meals daily. Jaya along with her daughter rushed to Garbada to locate Amit, but to their bad luck. Amit had disappeared from there and intensive searches were launched in the surrounding villages. Jaya, with the help of a local political leader and the police, learnt that a group of Vadi community people had taken Amit to Ambao village and had been forcing him to do cleaning work and begging. The local police then raided the place where Amit and a group of Vadi community people were camping. The Vadi community refused to cooperate with the police and Amit was hidden, however, due to the police pressure, they presented Amit before Jaya. Later, Jaya gave a proof of identification, to prove that Amit was her son.— PTI |
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Booked MEA man arrives
New Delhi, April 14 Kumar, a 1972 batch IFS officer, at present posted as the Special Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, arrived here at IGI Airport by Lufthansa Airlines from Munich.
— PTI |
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