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’93 Mumbai blasts verdict on Sept 12
Bihar new destination of terror outfits
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NDA-Left clash over Vajpayee’s letter
Bumpy ride for Sonia, Pranab
Setback to Indo-Pak peace process
Security for I-Day
Seal illegal shops again, SC to Delhi
Dalits still face atrocity, says Arjun
Women Bill in next session: PM
RTI Act: Hazare writes to Sonia
NDA team meets Kalam today on N-deal
1957 MGR-starrer a big hit
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’93 Mumbai blasts verdict on Sept 12
Mumbai, August 10 Judge Kode began dictating his order this morning with the accused brought in to the special court amid tight security. The court is located within the Arthur Road Central Jail. Counsel for the defence Farhana Shah contended that the court should not go ahead on the grounds that a petition by extradited gangster Abu Salem was pending before the Bombay High Court. Salem has challenged the TADA court’s order separating his trial from that of the other accused. The matter will be heard on August 14. Opposing Shah’s plea, public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam pointed out that the Bombay High Court had not stayed the trial in the TADA court and Judge Kode could therefore go ahead with the dictation of his verdict. While accepting Nikam’s argument, Judge Kode ruled that he would go ahead dictating his judgement even as the operative part would be dictated on September 12. Among the accused present in the case was actor Sanjay Dutt. Security was tight with lawyers and journalists being made to undergo a thorough screening. The police clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, banning the assembly of five or more persons in the area surrounding the court. The CBI, which probed the case, had filed a chargesheet naming 198 accused in the case. Of these, 29 were discharged due to lack of evidence and 29 others, including prime accused Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon and Mohammed Dossa, were shown as absconding. Of the remaining 140, 11 died during the trial while two others, Abu Asim Azmi and Amjad Mehr Baksh, were discharged by the Supreme Court. Another accused, Riaz Khatri, has been declared an absconder after he jumped bail. The trial of Abu Salem and two co-accused Riaz Siddiqui and Mustaffa Dossa has been separated. Sanjay Dutt has been accused in the case after he was found to have accepted an AK-56 rifle from Abu Salem, Baba Musa Chavan, Samir Hingora and Hanif Kadawala. As per the CBI’s chargesheet, Dawood Ibrahim masterminded the blasts on the insistence of Pakistan’s ISI to avenge the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992.
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Bihar new destination of terror outfits
Patna, August 10 The arrest of the Dawood aide Fazl-ur-Rehman, alias Fazlu, from the Indo-Nepal border near Gorokhpur in eastern UP on Monday, on his way to his hometown at Darbhanga in Bihar, only vindicated the established apprehension in the concerned circle about the fast emergence of Bihar as the new terrorist hub. Besides the arrest of the Bihar-born Fazlu, who was also reportedly linked to both the Chhota Rajan gang and the notorious gangster of UP, Babloo Shreevastav, the last month arrests of two prime suspects in connection with the 7/11 Mumbai serial blasts from Madhubani in Bihar on the Indo-Nepal border further bore testimony to this suspicion. The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Mumbai, and the Bihar police had arrested Kamal Ahmad Ansari and Khalid Sheikh from Madhubani. Adding to the unending woes of the Intelligence, there was the arrest of another suspected SIMI activist, Ziauddin Ansari, from Phulwarisharif in Patna on Friday, again in connection with the Mumbai blasts which had claimed about 200 innocent lives. It was learnt from reliable sources that the ISI was making clever use of the soft border treaty betwen India and Nepal to infiltrate its agents into the country through the border of Bihar with the Himalayan kingdom. Besides, the ISI was also reportedly using Bihar’s common international border with Bangladesh near Kishanganj, which is linked to another international border with Nepal at Siliguri in north Bengal. Even Gorokhpur in eastern UP, from where Fazlu was arrested, could be accessed easily from Bihar. The sources claimed that both Nepal and Bangladesh now figured on the top of the priority list of the ISI to help infiltrate anti-Indian subversive elements. What, however, was reportedly causing more concern to the Intelligence agencies, of the Centre and the state, was the lengthening shadow of various terror networks in and around Patna. A few years ago, Farhan Malik, who was arrested for an attack on the American Information Centre in Kolkata in 2002, was found to have procured a fake passport from Patna after furnishing a false address. Similarly, the Delhi police had arrested two hardcore activists of the Al-Qaida, Pir Baba and Laddu Mian, from Phulwarisharif, for allegedly conspiring to bomb the US Embassy in Delhi. Even the two accused in the Godhra incident, Habis Raza and Amil Parwez, were arrested from the same area in Phulwarisharif in Patna. Notwithstanding the recent arrest of the suspected SIMI activist Ziauddin Ansari from Phulwarisharif in Patna on Friday, two years back the police had identified two other hardcore members and brain behind SIMI operations, Hasib Raza and Ghulam Sarwan Falahi. The sources disclosed that soon after the Centre had announced a ban on SIMI in 2002, which was extended for two years on Monday by the present UPA, the then Bihar government simply had issued directives to all DMs and SPs to ascertain the activities of the organisation in their respective districts. The state police in 2002 had picked up only three members, Sakhawat Ullah, Reyazul Mushahid and Mohd Riyauddin, considered “lesser evils” of SIMI while they were staging a protest near the Tumtum Parao in Phulwarisharif. In that incident, both Hasib Raza and Ghulam Sarwar Falahi had managed to slip away. The whereabouts of these two hardcore SIMI members were still not known to security agencies involved in anti-terrorist operations across the country. The sources claimed that Raza in particular, who reportedly had been a SIMI member since its inception in Bihar in 1990, was one of the hardcore members of the dreaded terrorist outfit, Hizbul Mujahideen. Raza rose from the ranks to became president of Bihar unit of SIMI. And that Bihar was fast becoming a favoured destination of various terror outfits to use its land to sneak into other parts of the country was thus not a new
phenomenon either.
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NDA-Left clash over Vajpayee’s letter
New Delhi, August 10 As soon as the House met for the day, Left members, agitated over Vajpayee’s letter, demanded an apology from him for “denigrating” the Chair. This was strongly objected to by BJP members. With the shadow of the Opposition boycott of the Speaker on Tuesday looming large, the Left members accused Vajpayee, who is the NDA Chairman, of “casting aspersions” on the Chair in the letter in which he had spoken of the need for commanding the respect of members and not demanding it. As the Left members, led by Basudeb Acharia, denounced the day-long boycott by the BJP-led NDA to protest against the Speaker “suppressing” the voice of the Opposition, the BJP members retaliated in full measure. It was trouble from the word go as the Speaker adjourned the House within minutes after it assembled for the day. His pleas to allow him to conduct the Question Hour fell on deaf ears. Similar was the case after the House met after half-an-hour and later when it re-assembled at 1 p.m. At that time, Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal ordered tabling of the papers listed for the day. As the din continued, he adjourned the House till tomorrow. Meanwhile, CPI today said it would not bring a privilege motion against NDA Chairman Atal Bihari Vajpayee “out of respect” for his seniority but sought a regret from him for writing a “derogatory” letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. “We have not moved a privilege motion against Vajpayee. Our intention is also not to demand an apology. He should express regret for writing such a derogatory letter, in his own wisdom,” CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta told reporters here. Referring to Vajpayee’s letter which said the Speaker cannot command confidence of the House, he asked “if the Speaker cannot demand confidence or respect, how can the House demand that the Speaker run the proceedings”. “Somebody said Vajpayee was asked to sign the letter someone else had drafted. It is a matter within the BJP. But if that is so, Vajpayee’s goodwill is being misused”, he said.
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Bumpy ride for Sonia, Pranab
Surat, August 10 On a brief visit to the state, Ms Gandhi and Mr Mukherjee had to board a rugged Army truck to survey the devastation caused by the release of waters from the swollen Ukai dam, as officials felt it would be impossible for ordinary cars or even sports utility vehicles to negotiate the water-logged roads. They sat on a bench behind the truck’s cabin as it drove the 13 km between the airport and the city and then took them round some areas over 90 minutes. The milling crowds during her earlier visits to Gujarat were conspicuous by their absence, and only a few people could be seen. Earlier, Ms Gandhi arrived at Harni airport in Vadodara this morning and immediately left to visit the flood-affected city of Surat. Ms Gandhi, accompanied by the Defence Minister, Union Textile Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela and AICC secretary Ahmed Patel, arrived at Vadodara in an Army aircraft and from there they all left for Surat in a helicopter. The Congress team was joined by Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Bharat Solanki. The flood situation in Surat has, meanwhile, improved slightly since last night following reduction in the discharge of water from the dam into the Tapti, but half of the city continues to remain submerged, officials said today.
— PTI
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Setback to Indo-Pak peace process
New Delhi, August 10 The public opinion in the country has inevitably been a setback for the peace process. The UPA government would like to see some concrete steps being taken by Pakistan. In the past two years, India and Pakistan have made progress and it will be a pity if it slides back. At the same time, Pakistan needs to dismantle terrorist camps on its soil. Even though India has given detailed information to Pakistan, Islamabad has taken no action. Clearly, the credibility gap needs to be addressed. Pakistan needs to do something concrete to get the talks back on the rails. The house arrest of LeT founder Hafeez Mohammed Sayeed in Lahore today may be welcome. Sayeed, who is reportedly under a month-long detention, currently heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Unless there are indications of Pakistan moving against militant organisations, public opinion in India is against resuming the dialogue. Dismissing reports in the Pakistan media that India had given a “non-paper” to Pakistan envisaging the return of Jammu and Kashmir to the pre-1953 status which granted it autonomy in most subjects, sources said certain ideas for LOC linkages had been passed on to Islamabad through back channels. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had thrown up the idea of a borderless LOC for the free flow of goods and enlarging people-to-people contact. He has made it clear that the question of redrawing the border does not arise. The idea was to dovetail such linkages with a consultative mechanism for promoting tourism and environment etc. Joint control or joint management as suggested by Pakistan have been ruled out. Simultaneously, New Delhi has emphasised that there can be no demilitarisation of J and K unless the level of violence comes down drastically and cross-border terrorism is halted.
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Security for I-Day
New Delhi, August 10 The historic Red Fort, from where the Prime Minister is scheduled to address the nation, has already been sealed off with a multi-tier security apparatus being thrown in and around the monument. Hundreds of the Delhi Police personnel have taken over the regal monument and the premises are being sanitised for the annual event. Army mine-sweepers and bomb-disposal squads have begun scanning the Red Fort premises. To check alertness of the security personnel deployed there, “mock penetration” drills are being conducted, police sources said here today. With the security threat high, precautionary measures like aerial surveillance by policemen in helicopters, deployment of the Anti- Aircraft Guns and positioning of the Quick Reaction Teams
(QRTs) of commandos are being taken to ensure that the function passes off peacefully. A select group of over 500 Delhi policemen and commandos from the paramilitary forces will exclusively guard the Prime Minister, providing him the second ring of protection, while he unfurls the national flag and addresses the nation from the ramparts of the fort. The Prime Minister, his family and former Prime Ministers are protected by the elite Special Protection Group
(SPG) and form the first ring of the security. The Delhi Police has already launched checks and verification in the walled city and its adjoining areas to detect suspicious persons. A close watch is being kept at visitors to guest houses, hotels and other places in the capital to prevent any terrorist from taking shelter there. Sharp shooters of the Delhi Police have also been positioned atop high-rises in the vicinity of the Red Fort as part of efforts to thwart the use of long-range weapons.
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I-day boycott call
Guwahati, August 10
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Seal illegal shops again, SC to Delhi
New Delhi, August 10 The court stayed the twin notifications issued by the Centre on May 20 stopping the sealing operation to give effect to the Delhi Laws (Special Provision) Act, 2006, passed by the UPA government under pressure from traders. “We are of the view that it is an invalid statute and the directions issued by the government in its two notifications dated May 20 deserve to be stayed,” a Bench comprising Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Mr Justice C.K. Thakker and Mr Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan ruled. The court said it was not issuing a complete stay order on the entire Act at this stage though prima facie agreeing with the questions raised about its invalidity in a bunch of petitions by residents’ welfare associations and former Delhi Lieut Governor P.K. Dave. The first notification issued by the government on May 20 provided that the MCD authorities would remove the seal on all those commercial premises which were sealed on the orders of the Supreme Court and the second granted permission for those to continue with their unauthorised shops in residential areas who had given undertakings to the court in the form of affidavits stating that they would close down their ventures voluntarily by June 30. While terming the problem of large-scale violations of the master plan in the Capital as multi-facet, the court said the issue of constitutional validity of the Act would be decided in its final order. The monitoring committee appointed by the court in its report had submitted that a total of 5006 unauthorised commercial ventures were sealed on the court’s order and 40,841 shop owners had furnished affidavits, giving undertaking to close their ventures. The Bench clarified that the effect of today’s order would be that all 5006 commercial ventures would be sealed again and the 40,841 others regarding which undertakings were given by their owners to close them, would have to do so by September 15. The court sought a report from the MC within three months regarding the ventures neither covered under the 5006 ones, nor included among the 40,841 affidavits so that appropriate direction regarding sealing of all uncovered shops could also be issued in the same manner. The government was directed to amend its May 20 notifications by incorporating the directions.
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Dalits still face atrocity, says Arjun
New Delhi, August 10 Speaking at the release of a book, ''Untouchability in Rural India'', he said, “there is a feeling now among some sections of the society that these things are of the past, why bother, why take action, this is the greatest danger to the society when such feelings permeate. This danger should be met now”. The book, which lays open the caste-based segregation that perpetuates even in the present day India, has been authored by Ghanshyam Shah, Harsh Mander, Sukhdeo Thorat, Satish Deshpande and Amita Baviskar. Referring to the book, Shah, one of the authors, said while he did agree that untouchability had declined to some extent, the change was small and insignificant. He said the labour market still was the witness to extreme discrimination. “All Dalits do not suffer equally, the educated ones who have government or private jobs are less discriminated than those who are agricultural workers and scavengers. Our argument is that along with culture and dignity, the economic aspect of the Dalits makes them the poorest of the poor,” Shah said. Noted film maker Shyam Benegal, who was also present on the occasion, shared case studies of discrimination against the marginalised in India, which he was witness to during the making of his films. Prof. T.K.Oomen, echoing the views that society turns an indifferent eye towards atrocity being committed against the Dalits, said the society suffered from “cognitive blackout”, he said, people had a peculiar ability to not see what they did not want to. UGC Chairman Prof. Thorat regretted the contradiction, he said, ''on the one hand the Constitution promised equality and on the other hand we have practices like untouchability''.
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Jnanpith Award for Marathi poet Karandikar
New Delhi, August 10 Karandikar, whose 88th birthday is a fortnight away, was also felicitated for his lifetime contributions to Marathi literature. The poet has become the third Marathi litterateur to have received the country’s highest literary honour for the Hindi translation of his collection of poetry, titled “Apne Hone Par”. Other Marathi litterateurs who received the award are Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar and V.V. Shirwadkar. The award carries Rs 500,000, a citation, plaque and a bronze replica. “A long creative life, full of worldly struggles and ceaseless in its search for aesthetic perfection, is at the back of this achievement”, is how the Bharatiya Jnanpith citation describes the poet. Karandikar is the leading light of the triumvirate of Marathi poets along with Vasant Bapat and Magesh Padgaonkar, whose prodigious contributions have revolutionised Marathi poetry. Hailed as the most comprehensive of all modern Marathi poets, his imprint on Marathi literature as an essayist, critic and translator also has been both awesome and phenomenal. A recipient of many a prestigious award, Karandikar has been honoured with the Keshavsut Prize, the Soviet Land Nehru Literary Award and the Kabir Samman. He was also a Senior Fellowship member of the Sahitya Akademi. For Karandikar, however, the highest award is the love of his readers. “All other awards are formalities...the Jnanpith award is not a matter of individual honour but an honour for the Marathi language and its poetry,” he says. Showing sparks of brilliance, he wrote his first collection of poems, “Swetaganga” which was published in 1949. His collections include “Mrudgandha” “Dhr|pad”, “Sahita” and “Vrupika”. He is also known for writing
children's poems. The streaks of Marxism are fairly evident in his poetry. “Marx will not become irrelevant so long as landless labourers and their families are shot, multinationals systematically loot the people and the benefits of progress do not reach the poor,” he says. He has also written in English, including two important anthologies — “Poems of Vinda” and “Some More Poems of Vinda”.
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Tryst with trees
New Delhi, August 10 The documentation of 48 Sikh shrines by Principal Secretary to the Punjab Government Damanbir Singh Jaspal embodies the very core of India's spiritual, social and cultural milieu. The roots of India's spiritual heritage lie in forests, trees and the plant life, which have not only nourished the environment and provided sustenance to human life for centuries but also created ambience for seers and sages to be one with the nature. A fact also acknowledged by Union Culture Minister Ambika Soni who inaugurated the exhibition on till August 12 at the WWF Exhibition Auditorium. She termed the effort a unique exhibition that depicted how religion and environment were inter-linked and important for human survival. Though trees find extensive mention in various religious texts and ancient hymns, signifying that man must coexist with his environment and respect forests, in Sikhism conservation of nature is one of the essential features that form the very core of the religion. Jaspal, who has painstakingly photographed 48 Sikh shrines that are commemorated by names of native species of trees, says Sikhism is the only religion having sanctified its association with trees by naming its most sacred shrines after trees. Some prominent examples being Gurdwara Baba Budha Ber Sahib, Sri Harmandar Sahib,
Amritsar, Gurdwara Pipli Sahib, Amritsar, Gurdwara Lahura Sahib, Ghavindi, Pakistan, Gurdwara Imli sahib, Chamkaur Sahib, Ropar, Gurdwara Ber Sahib, Sultanpur Lodhi, Gurdwara Datun Sahib, Leh, Gurdwara Ritha Sahib, Uttranchal and Gurdwara Kalp Vriksh, Ropar, “ Trees have figured prominently in the spiritual evolution of Sikhism as in socio-economic and cultural life of the country. As many as 17 species of tress have the honour of nearly 48 of the most sacred and historical shrines being named after them,” says Jaspal. As far as Jaspal is concerned, his tryst with trees began quite recently. He travelled on the sacred journey with his Nikon and captured vibrating images of gurdwaras named after tress in India and Pakistan.
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Women Bill in next session: PM
New Delhi, August 10 The delegation, led by National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Girija Vyas, called on Dr Manmohan Singh in his office in Parliament today and handed over a memorandum demanding 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state Assemblies. During the 20-minute meeting, the Prime Minister told the delegation that he and the UPA chairperson were in consultation with all political parties and were trying to evolve a consensus on the Bill.
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RTI Act: Hazare writes to Sonia
Alandi (Pune), August 10 The anti-corruption crusader who has been conferred with Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, said in a letter to Mr Gandhi today that if the to the Act, which had empowered the common people in nine months of its existence, were passed, it would become toothless. “There has been a noticeable change in the attitude and behaviour of lower and middle class bureacracy and the common man has started getting justice as most of the cases are processed expeditiously and decisions are taken on merit. Even the ministers, the top bureaucrats and all those in authority have started thinking 10 times before taking any decision. This has gone a long way in checking corruption, nepotism and red-tape, the maladies of our democracy”, he said in the letter.
— PTI
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NDA team meets Kalam today on N-deal
New Delhi, August 10 Talking to newspersons, BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman V.K.Malhotra said the delegation would apprise the President of the proposed Indo-US nuclear deal which seeks to put serious constraints on the country's nuclear weapon programme.
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1957 MGR-starrer a big hit
Chennai, August 10 When he made one of his several box-office hits of the folklore genre, “Nadodi Mannan” in 1957, the charismatic ac‘rule’ Tamil Nadu as Chief Minister, had said, “if Nadodi Mannan becomes a hit I will be a king; if it flops I will be wandering in the streets like a nomad.” The film indeed became a big hit. And it continues to be so, if the tremendous response to it not only from MGR fans but the present generation of film buffs is any indication, following its re-release on five screens in Chennai and five in a few other parts of Tamil Nadu. The evergreen MGR-starrer,which he himself had directed, besides essaying a double role for the first time, has been drawing full houses and is to be released in another theatre in the city which normally screens new films. The film has been released again by a distributor Divya films.
— UNI
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Thousands seek release of toddlers
Shillong, August 10 Four-year-old Sachit Goel and his cousin Harsha Goel, were abducted while they were on the way to school, by an armed gang who demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh for their release. The police later detained the driver of the vehicle, one Rudal Shah alias Amar Behari. The police suspected the involvement of the driver after they seized the ransom note from his possession. He is currently in police custody and is being interrogated.
— UNI
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Diarrhoea leaves 4 dead, 200 ill
Varanasi, August 10 Chief Medical Officer (CMO) A.P. Singh, said today that four persons, including three minors, have died of diarrhoea during the past 72 hours. “Supply of contaminated water is the prime cause behind the outbreak of the water-borne disease, that was first reported in Adampura a week ago,” Dr A.P. Singh added.
— UNI
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Teaching in Navodayas ‘faulty’
New Delhi, August 10 The committee, headed by Y.N. Chaturvedi, also suggested setting up of more training institutes for teachers as it noted the absence of adequate orientation programmes for them.
— PTI
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Tension in Sawaimadhopur
Jaipur, August 10 |
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