Friday, August 14, 1998
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N A T I O N |
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Hawala case: 7
NTPC officials discharged |
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Politics
is a service: Sonia |
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Grand finale to mark 50th
I-Day |
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Hawala case: 7 NTPC officials discharged NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (PTI) — A city court today discharged former National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Director (Finance) P.S. Bami and six other senior NTPC officials in the Rs 65-crore Jain hawala case. Special Judge V.B. Gupta in his 116-page order also discharged three Jain brothers, N.K. Jain, S.K. Jain and B.R. Jain and their secretary J.K. Jain, all co-accused with the NTPC officials in the case, saying that there was no material evidence against them. Discharging the accused, Mr Gupta said "I hold that there is no material on record for framing charges against any of the accused persons in the case". The CBI had chargesheeted Bami, V. Sunderajan, R.K. Narayanan, S.C. Parekh, Mohammed Abdul Hai, G. Venkataraman and Manohar Lal Malik (all NTPC officials) accusing them of receiving huge amounts from the Jains as bribe while being public servants. The court held that prima facie there was no evidence on record to substantiate the allegations. The court also discharged the case against Jains’ firm Bharat Industrial Works, New Delhi for the same reason. Soon after the pronouncement of the order, Mr Bami said, "there was nothing in the case. It was a result of political imbroglio. I am thankful to the judiciary which has upheld the truth". With this order, over 25 politicians and eight bureaucrats have been discharged in the case while the cases of Ashok Sen, Sharad Yadav, Balram Jakhar, Hari Narain, M.P. Narainanan, N. Venkatraman, B.R. Desikachari and S. Ranganathan are pending with the Delhi High Court. The only hawala scam case left with the trial court is that of Arif Mohammad Khan in which order has been reserved by the court. All these orders of dicharge by the trial court were passed after the Delhi High Court held that mere entries of names in the diaries in coded form without any independent corroborative evidence could not be termed admissible under the Indian Evidence Act. The Supreme Court had upheld the high court order which had held that Jain diaries in the case were inadmissible while discharging BJP leader L.K. Advani and Congress leader V.C. Shukla. The following 33 politicians and bureaucrats have been discharged in the Jain-hawala case so far: Madhav Rao Scindia, V.C.
Shukla, Arjun Singh, L.K. Advani, Yashwant Singh,
Kalpnath Rai, Devi Lal, LP. Shahi, Kamal Nath, Buta
Singh, Kailash Joshi, Arvind Netam, N.D. Tiwari, R.K.
Dhawan, Ranjit Singh, Harmohan Dhawan, K. Natwar Singh,
B.D. Dhanke, Madan Lal Khurana, Chand Ram, Prakash
Bhatia, C. Narayan Swamy, P. Shiv Shankar, Moti Lal Vora,
V. Krishna Murthy, AK.Panja, PS. Bami, V. Sunderajan,
R.K. Narayanan, S.C. Parekh, Md. Abdul Hai, G.
Venkatraman and Manohar Lal Malik. |
BJP-Samata bandh in Sitamarhi partial PATNA, Aug 13 (UNI, PTI) — A dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the BJP-Samata Party combine at Sitamarhi to protest the death of four Janata Dal workers in police firing on August 11, evoked a partial response today. According to the police headquarters here, no untoward incident had been reported from the bandh-bound area. Additional security forces were deployed in the town and patrolling was intensified. The BJP and Samata Party sources here, however, claimed that all markets remained closed and vehicular traffic was off the roads. Bandh supporters had also blocked trains near Sitamarhi station, paralysing traffic on the Darbhanga-Narkatiaganj section of the North-East Frontier Railway. Meanwhile, Janata Dal president Sharad Yadav was in the trouble-torn town to review the situation along with another JD leader and former Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Mr Yadav along with BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi attended the funeral of socialist leader and former JD legislator Ramcharitra Yadav in Sitamarhi who was killed in the firing. Describing the firing as "unprovoked and condemnable", Mr Yadav demanded that the state government constitute an all-party committee to probe the reasons that compelled the district administration to take such an extreme action". Holding District Magistrate R.N. Prasad and Police Superintendent P. Saxena responsible for the firing, he called for their immediate sacking. Mr Yadav said an all-party committee should also be constituted to supervise the relief operations being carried out in the flood-affected areas. GIRIDH (Bihar): Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has ruled out the possibility of the dismissal of the Rabri Devi ministry in Bihar. "Invoking Article 356 in any state is a long drawn process and demand for imposition of President’s rule even on petty issues is not tenable," Mr Sinha said on Wednesday. The Finance Minister said the Centre would soon fulfil its promise on the formation of a separate Vananchal state to be carved out of Bihar. The necessary steps were being taken for the purpose, he added. Earlier, Mr Sinha visited
Atkadih village in Giridih district where 11 persons were
gunned down by armed extremists on July 7. |
Jaya races with rupee in
shedding value Tamil Nadu’s “Iron Lady” has set a blistering pace in her race with the rupee. So far it is a neck-and-neck affair, both shedding value every few weeks. There are differences though between the two. The lady’s is purely a self-willed effort while the currency is a victim of outside manipulation. Two, the fortunes of the lady in question may not smile soon, but the rupee should get relief once the regional environment turns favourable. For the AIADMK “strong man”, the latest fiasco is the most grievous. (It does not mean that she cannot cause herself a more serious wound.) Her action, rather over-reaction, had all the ingredients of a classic misjudgement. The Cauvery is the wrong issue. This is the wrong year. The timing was hopelessly wrong. The resort to a dire threat was self-destructive. And, horror of horrors, she had no fall-back position. Retreating from the brink is the loudest proclamation of one’s self-doubt and surrender. In today’s world waverers don’t win and winners don’t waver. She has blinked first in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with the BJP. The present ruling combine is not the toughest of rivals and to invite a humiliating defeat at its hands! No doubt, Ms Jayalalitha has lost the nimble political touch she showed in putting together a winning alliance in February. Perhaps she is sure-footed in dealing with her own Dravidian fans and foes but fumbles with non-Tamilians. If this be the case, it speaks volumes of her immaturity. Let us start with her selection of the Cauvery issue for hurling a blood pressure-inducing threat at the BJP-led ruling combine. It is what may loosely be called a secular issue, in that any leader or any political party can take it up with any degree of vehemence either sincerely or to get electoral mileage. For this reason it is a double-edged weapon, subject to the law of “winner takes all”. By the same token, the loser loses all. Given this inherent risk, Ms Jayalalitha should not have underestimated the political sagacity of her arch rival Karunanidhi or overestimated her own capacity to armtwist the Prime Minister and his advisers. She grossly miscalculated and is, therefore, gasping for breath under the debris. Two, this is the wrong year to invoke the Cauvery to take out an insurance against electoral loss. The weather god has been very generous and there is ample water to please the kisan in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The demand for irrigation water is an emotional issue and no one, not even the mighty Jayalalitha, can whip up mass emotion when there is no crisis. She should know. In 1995, as Chief Minister, she went on a theatrical hunger strike demanding a greater share of water to the state’s farmers and emerged as the sole voice and sword arm of the farming community. But 1998 is not 1995, and any melodramatic gesture of a repeat fast is likely to be misconstrued as an attempt to get rid of the so many kilos of accumulated fat. In what will go down as an unpardonable snafu, she challenged three men who were desperate to score a victory, any victory, at this time. The Prime Minister wanted to tell the countrymen that he can do more useful things than ordering the Pokhran blasts. In other words, he was keen to prove that he is also a doer, not merely a poet. The Cauvery issue presented him with an excellent opportunity. Karnataka Chief Minister J.H. Patel is caught up in one of his periodic crises. And the Cauvery interim award has gone badly against his state. He wanted several amendments to the old award and was ready to bargain. Of the three key negotiators, he is the biggest winner. He has managed to remove restrictive clauses from the interim award like the ban on improving the existing canal system or expanding the area under irrigation (11 lakh hectares), while also wresting veto power. Mr Karunanidhi has been equally successful in inching back to the centre-stage of state politics. And by the same token in marginalising our tough lady. The last lingering opposition to the interim award has been overcome. The monitoring committee cannot offer much benefit but the high-powered Cauvery River Authority cannot cause damage either (the state weilds a veto). In the days to come, Ms
Jayalalitha would rue her haste in sounding the bugle
before charting a retreat route. All agitationist
politicians respect a golden rule: it is not necessary
that one should win all battles but it is absolutely
essential that one does not lose face. Ms Jayalalitha
would learn this lesson the hard way and benefit the
second time, if there is a second time. |
Politics is a service: Sonia NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, today once again attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre for its failure on all fronts and said the party could improve the situation if it resolved to work. Addressing the national convention of the party’s ex-servicemen cell here this evening, the Congress President said the situation the country today was not what the freedom fighters would have dreamt of. “The prices are rising, crime is up, law and order situation is bad, corruption has crossed all limits and in Delhi even basic services are not available to the people”, she said. Referring to the role of ex-servicemen in defending the country’s frontiers, she said, at present the need was not just to protect the boundaries but to fight the dangers within the country. While welcoming 35 senior Army and Air Force officers who joined the Congress today, she said often the refrain is: “Politics is not clean and how can we take part in it.” Affirming that while the statement was true partly, she said that was the reason why good and clean people should join politics. “Politics is not a profession, it is a service,” she said, adding that ex-servicemen could contribute a lot in improving the situation by joining politics. Mahatma Gandhi, she said, had dreamt of providing every citizen the rights and respect and all political parties must dedicate themselves to realising it. On the demands of the ex-servicemen, she said, their cause and welfare had always been dear to the Congress and said she hoped the government would do justice to ex-servicemen. Promising a greater role for ex-servicemen in the Congress, she said the party needed dedicated band of workers like them. Earlier, the ex-servicemen cell presented mementos to 15 gallantry award winners, including Capt. Umrao Singh (Victoria Cross) Col Hoshiar Singh (Param Vir Chakra) and Col Iqbal Singh(Military Cross). The Haryana Pradesh
Congress Committee President, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda,
said later that among those felicitated today, 11 of them
were from Haryana. |
Grand finale to mark 50th I-Day NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — A cultural extravaganza depicting the mosaic of the diverse Indian tradition would mark the end of the year-long celebrations of the golden jubilee of country’s independence from colonial yoke. The golden jubilee celebrations return to the historic Rajpath after a year on August 15 for a fitting finale. The year-long celebrations had a colourful start on the eve of the 50th anniversary of independence with a grand "March of Nation" from the National Stadium to Vijay Chowk, covering about 2 km across the majestic India Gate. Television viewers across the country will be treated to a heady mix of folk music and dance, that would be dished out by leading artistes from four giant screens erected on the flanks of Rajpath for tours from 7 p.m. The speeches of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will once again reverberate in the portals of the gigantic Central Hall of Parliament on the day as parliamentarians meet to mark the closing function of the celebrations. Prior to the inauguration of the main function by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, at 9 p.m. at Vijay Chowk, over 2000 achievers from various fields, led by Indo-Tibet Border Police’s Ms Santosh Yadav, the lone woman to scale the Mt Everest twice, will march in a procession from National Stadium. The marchers, carrying the fabric of the three colours of the National Flag will produce the effect of a gigantic Tricolour fluttering across the span of Rajpath. The marchers will be led by a team of "Nada Swaram" players. The march aims to symbolise the will and determination of the youth to achieve the goals of independent India. Several outstanding young men and women who have brought laurels to the country would participate in the march. The Prime Minister will receive the torch at the conclusion of the march at Vijay Chowk. This will be followed by mass singing of "Vande Mataram"and "kadam kadam badhaya ja" and other patriotic songs in various languages. "Drums of Freedom" will be played by well-known artistes from across the country. More than 500 artistes representing all the zonal cultural centres will participate in this programme by presenting the best of tradition from different parts of the country. Four special stages will be constructed on both sides of the Rajpath where folk music and dances will be performed by all the four zonal cultural centres to give the people a glimpse of the bewildering variety of Indian folk music and dance. On the stage, the martial dance of India will be displayed. In addition, to project Asia’s Indian identity, cultural programmes from Singapore, Korea, Thailand and Sri Lanka will also be staged. The highlights of the Asian pageant shall be Ramayana by the Thai artistes, fire dance and drums by Sri Lankan performers from Singapore. An exhibition on India’s vision for the future will also be held at the National Stadium. It will focus on the achievements made by the country during the past five decades and give a glimpse of future programmes in the fields of science, technology, education and environment. The main thrust of the
event, Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma said was to
create a sense of belonging and excitement amongst the
people of our country and to instil in them the spirit of
nationalism so that they view India as a strong and
vibrant nation. |
BJP prepared for any
eventuality NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The Bharatiya Janata Party today said that it was prepared for any eventuality and ready to meet any situation. With nervousness writ large but putting up a brave face, the BJP general secretary, Mr M.Venkaiah Naidu, admitted that "the issue is delicate" but there "is no threat to the government". Mr Naidu defended the Cauvery agreement, saying that the BJP had tried to resolve the issue which defied a solution for the past 25 years from a national angle. "There is no politics involved in it", he stressed. Mr Naidu, who avoided even an indirect negative word on Ms Jayalalitha, hoped that "our allies in Tamil Nadu will see reason". He said that there was no need to comment on Union Patroleum Minister, V.K. Ramamurthy’s statement in Chennai this morning that Ms Jayalalitha has been authorised to "take an appropriate decision at the appropriate time". There was an urgency to reach an agreement in the light of the Supreme Court’s deadline of August 12, Mr Naidu said, adding that there was a need to sort out the issue. The Centre had not forced anybody. The response from their allies so far had been positive. "We are confident of carrying them with us. It is a collective effort of all the parties concerned", he said. The issue has been
resolved to a greater satisfaction of the concerned
sides, Mr Naidu said adding that if there were
misgivings, they could be addressed before a final accord
on the Cauvery water issue was arrived at. |
I-Day awards for science inventions NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (PTI) — The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) has announced 1998 Independence Day awards for five innovative inventions that include missile and space technologies. The winners include B.K. Das from the Electro-Optical Tracking Division of the interim test range at Chandipur in Orissa who gets Rs 50,000 for his device for tracking high speed missiles like Nag and Trishul and rockets like Pinaka. S. Pal, V.K. Lakshmeesha, V.V. Srinivasan, M. Kumar and V. Senthil Kumar from the ISRO satellite centre in Bangalore have been jointly awarded Rs 35,000 for a device, 'monopulse tracking feed', needed for precision tracking of fast moving low-earth orbit satellites, an NRDC press note here says. Other winners include Bijoy Kumar Satapathy, Sirish Chandra Patnaik and Saroj Kumar Patnaik of National Aluminium Company in Bhubaneswar, who get Rs 75,000 for their process for preparation of superior-grade alumina hydrate, low soda, high alpha and pure alumina. Produced for the first time in the country, they are used in fire-resistant cables, ceramics, insulators, spark plugs, refractories, aircraft and missiles. Jai Ram Gupta and V. Balasubramani from Bhilai Steel Plant jointly get Rs 35,000 for their process to convert slab caster into bloom-cum-slab caster. NRDC's prize award committee has also announced two gold medals for the year 1998, sponsored by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) of the United Nations. A team comprising M.M. Seth, R.S. Somani, P.M. Oza, M.R. Gandhi, V.M. Sheth, and C.R. Misra have been jointly awarded a WIPO gold medal for developing a process for manufacturing zeolite-A, an environment-friendly chemical used in the manufacture of detergents. Indra Doraiswamy, P.
Chellamani, A. Kanthimathinathan, M. Kathirvel, and M.
Murthy of the South India Textile Research Association in
Coimbatore, have bagged the WIPO gold medal for
developing a process and machinery for spinning jute or
cotton blended yarns. |
HC orders cuts in plea against RGF NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (UNI) — The Delhi High Court today directed deletion of certain portions of a petition which made several irrelevant and unnecessary references against Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Shankar Dayal Sharma and other national leaders. The petition, filed by advocate P.N. Lekhi, alleged mass irregularities in the functioning of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) at the hands of its functionaries including chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Dr Sharma and Mr Amitabh Bachchan. It had gone into the history and lives of the leaders to show that the Gandhi family had floated RGF to sustain its present standard of living. Justice S.K. Mahajan ruled that allegations quoted in at least 17 paragraphs of the plaint are not only “unnecessary and irrelevant” for the purpose of the present suit but also tend to prejudice and embarrass the fair trial of the suit. “I, therefore, direct paragraphs 2, 9-13, 15, 22-27, 35 and 37 to be struck out from the plaint,” the judge ruled. The judge, however, allowed Mr Lekhi to file an amended petition within one week and fixed the case for further hearing on August 25. The admissibility of the amended plaint would be decided there after. The court raised serious objections to the petitioner making several references about the personal lives of national leaders like Sanjay Gandhi and Dr Sharma. The order said, “the
court, if it is to entertain the present suit, is only to
decide as to whether the trust (RGF) of which Congress
President Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson was being
mismanaged in the manner which so requires the
interference of the court. |
Srikrishna panel report: HC moved MUMBAI, Aug 13 (PTI) — A petition was moved in the Mumbai High Court today seeking its directions to the Maharashtra Government and the state DGP to register criminal cases against those held responsible by the Srikrishna Commission for triggering 92-93 communal violence in the metropolis. The public interest petition filed by Mr Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, contended that the respondents should be directed to investigate all such crimes and also launch appropriate prosecution against the guilty. The petition, filed through advocate Majeed Memon, will come up for hearing next week before Chief Justice M.B. Shah and Mr Justice Y.S. Jahagirdar. Mr Tushar Gandhi, vice-president of the Samajwadi Party’s Mumbai unit, argued it was not open for the state government to reject the commission’s report or insist on not acting on it particularly when its findings were based on evidence which was in public knowledge. There was no provision under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, to contend that the report was not binding on the government, the petitioner said. "The fact that the
Act contemplated that the government was bound to file
the action-taken report presupposed that the report was
binding and the state had an inescapable duty to act on
it," he contended. |
140 Assam ultras surrender MARIANI, Assam, Aug 13 (PTI) — As many as 140 ULFA and Bodo militants with arms surrendered today before the Assam Governor Lt-Gen (retd) S.K Sinha at a solemn ceremony here in Upper Assam’s Jorhat district. Of the 140 ultras, 133 belong to the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), six to the Bodo Leberation Tigers (BLT) and one to the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). The Chief Minister, Mr Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, the Chief Secretary, GOC 4 Corps Lt-Gen N.C Vij and the Director-General of Police were present. Both the Governor and the Chief Minister promised that all the youths who had come overground would be rehabilitated as the Centre had already released 51 vacancies in the BSF and CRPF for those who had earlier surrendered at Thakurbari, Sonitpur district, on July 24 last. Similarly, over 100 vacancies had already been committed with more to follow for those who participated in today’s rehabilitation ceremony. Fourteen of those who
surrendered have been actively involved in the insurgency
for 10 to 15 years. |
Sanction not needed to try retired
public NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (PTI) — The Supreme Court has ruled that a trial court could take cognisance of corruption charges against a public servant without prior sanction from the government, if he retires during the pendency of the case. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M.M. Punchhi and Mr Justice K.T. Thomas held that "the public servant, who committed the offence while he was a public servant, is liable to be prosecuted whether he continues in office or not at the time of trial or during the pendency of the prosecution". Dismissing an appeal by a retired Orissa Superintendent of Police, the Bench said, "A public servant, who committed an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act while he was a public servant, can be prosecuted with the sanction if he continues to be a public servant when the court takes cognisance of the offence. "But if he ceases to be a public servant by that time the court can take cognisance of offence without any such sanction," the Bench ruled. The apex court said, "There is no indication in the Act that an offence committed by a public servant under the Act would vanish off from penal liability at the moment he demits his office as public servant." "His being a public
servant is necessary when he commits the offence in order
to make him liable under the Act. He cannot commit any
such offence after he demits his office," the Bench
observed. |
Afghan held for murder NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — With the arrest of an Afghan national and his two Indian accomplices, the Delhi police claimed to have worked out the murder of Seema and her daughter, Puja, reported last month in Rajauri Garden in south-west Delhi. Sameer Kapur, alias Sonu, an Afghan national, Amit Chugh, alias Motta and Amit Kapoor, alias Micky, were arrested yesterday, the Joint Commissioner of Southern Range, Mr Amod Kanth, said. During investigation, the police had got information that Seema’s son Rajiv Gakkar had a lavish lifestyle and had several friends of same habit. A few weeks earlier over Rs 1 lakh was robbed from the house by unidentified persons, Mr Kanth said. The
assailants were reportedly lured by his lifestyle and he
thought that there might be a huge amount and jewellery
in the house. |
Delhi transport strike partial NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The one-day strike called by transporters in the Capital today to protest against the Delhi Government decision to phase out commercial vehicles which are more than 15 years old, had a mixed response. While the transporters claimed that the strike was a “total success” with thousands of commercial vehicles, taxis and autos off the roads, the Delhi Transport Minister, Mr Rajendra Gupta, maintained that the strike had “little effect.” The strike affected normal life, however, and several school children had to stay back home as their buses did not turn up and many office-goers turned up late at work. A few auto-rickshaws which did ply had a field day charging double the fare for short distances. The general secretary of
the Federation of Transport Unions of Congress (FTUC), Mr
Devinder Puri, claimed that nearly 80,000 vehicles,
including phat-phatias were off the roads. The
transporters were also protesting against the state
government’s decision to ban the plying and loading
of commercial vehicles during the day from August 15. |
| In
brief Explosives seized, 4 held DDA engineer held
for graft Several hurt in
group clash Two dacoits killed Srikrishna report
on Internet Traders clash with
tax staff |
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