Friday, July 24, 1998
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No hot pursuit against J&K
militants: Advani NEW DELHI, July 23 — India does not favour a “hot pursuit” policy against militants in Jammu and Kashmir considering the “sensitive and fluid” border situation and the relations with Pakistan being what they are, Home Minister L.K. Advani has said... HC notice to Centre, police on Delhi crime scenario NEW DELHI, July 23 — Observing that a state of "lawlessness" seems to have affected the Capital, the Delhi High Court today sought a report from the Centre, the Delhi Government and the Police Commissioner in this regard... |
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BAC to decide on Prasar Bharati Bill NEW DELHI, July 23 — The decision on whether or not to introduce the Prasar Bharati Bill during the current session of Parliament would be taken tomorrow when the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Lok Sabha holds its meeting...
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Transporters’ stir from Aug 22 NEW DELHI, July 23 — To protest against the hike in insurance premium rates by General Insurance Corporation, the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) has called for an indefinite nationwide strike from the midnight of August 22... Move SC against order on Biswas, say SP, RJD members NEW DELHI, July 23 — Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal members today raised a storm in the Lok Sabha demanding that the government immediately move the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order exonerating CBI officer UN Biswas... Now, a play on Thackeray MUMBAI, July 23 — Playwright Pradeep Dalvi, who wrote the controversial play ‘Mee Nathuram Godse Boltay’ is presently writing another play on Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray... 6 kg of enriched uranium seized CHENNAI, July 23 — The CBI seized six kg of enriched uranium, used in atomic energy processes, from a house in the city and arrested two persons in this connection last evening PM apprised of poor healthcare NEW DELHI, July 23 — The Indian Medical Association has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in improving the public health services in the Capital... Junior Engineer, 2 others held NEW DELHI, July 23 — Three persons, including a Junior Engineer (JE) of the local municipal corporation, were arrested by the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi Government in two separate cases of graft yesterday... Din in Andhra House over corruption charges HYDERABAD, July 23 — The Andhra Pradesh Assembly was adjourned for 15 minutes today amidst pandemonium over corruption charges...  |
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| No hot pursuit against
J&K militants: Advani NEW DELHI, July 23 (PTI) — India does not favour a “hot pursuit” policy against militants in Jammu and Kashmir considering the “sensitive and fluid” border situation and the relations with Pakistan being what they are, Home Minister L.K. Advani has said. Asked what he meant by “pro-active” stance in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Advani said instead of waiting for militants to strike, attempts should be made to anticipate their plans by gathering intelligence and nab the culprits before recent massacres like in Udhampur could occur. In an interview to US-based “India Post” newsweekly, Mr Advani said shortly after the BJP-led coalition assumed office, there was a massacre in Udhampur. “In the course of my investigation I found that a month earlier an intelligence report had indicated that the area had been infiltrated by militants. There was a plan to do something in the area. It was then that I first used the word pro-active,” he said, according to a newsweekly press release. He further said “we should identify them (the militants) and flush them out instead of waiting for them to make the first move”. Observing that Pakistan-backed proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir was continuing, the Home Minister said militants now being apprehended or killed were mostly from Pakistani Punjab or were foreign mercenaries from Afghanistan or other countries unlike the situation two years back. Maintaining that not many of the militants were from Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Advani said “this is a happy sign. This means they are no longer getting recruits from Jammu and Kashmir for their proxy war. This is another improvement”. Replying to a question, he said Jammu and Kashmir is a “part and parcel” of India. “They, (the maharaja of the state and the National Conference), decided voluntarily in 1947 to become part of India. I believe that the problem of Kashmir lies in the fact that Pakistan, because of its two nation theory, has failed to reconcile with this irreversible historical fact.” On India’s nuclear tests, Mr Advani said he was not surprised at the vehement international opinion “but I do feel that the day Pokhran happened on May 11 and (Prime Minister) Vajpayee made the announcement, every Indian in the country and abroad felt proud.” Noting that by turning nuclear, a country does not become aggressive or militant, he said “the surprising part is that these kinds of comment that India has become a terrorist state should come from countries which have huge nuclear arsenal. It is so hypocritical”. On Washington’s comments on the nuclear tests, Mr Advani said “the nuclear blasts have only betrayed their unconcern and indifference for India’s security concerns”. He recalled that the international reaction had been adverse when Sikkim became part of India, when the 1948 Hyderabad police action took place and when the Army was sent to liberate Goa in 1954. The Home Minister said the BJP had not given up the issue of construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya but it had not been included in the national agenda as other alliance partners did not agree. Asked if the BJP has given up on this issue in view of the government’s assurance of not starting construction of the temple, he said “there is no question of that. We have our own manifesto. There may be three or four issues that really made BJP a distinctive party — Ayodhya, Uniform Civil Code, Article 370 and nuclear deterrent”. Mr Advani said “when we formed the alliance government, we found that on the first three, the others did not agree but on the nuclear deterrent, the others too agreed. “Hence, that one single distinctive item from the BJP manifesto was made part of the national agenda. We are happy that one distinctive feature of the BJP which has been included in the national agenda has been achieved in the first three months by the government.” |
| BAC to decide on Prasar
Bharati Bill Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, July 23 — The decision on whether or not to introduce the Prasar Bharati Bill during the current session of Parliament would be taken tomorrow when the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Lok Sabha holds its meeting. The Information and Broadcasting Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj, told newsmen here today that the BAC would decide whether to introduce the Bill in this session or refer it to the Select Committee for a review. The BAC in its meeting last week had decided to refer the Bill to the committee but later deferred it, following a protest from the government. The minister informed that originally the Bill was scheduled to be introduced in the Lok Sabha early this week, but the BAC had decided to refer it to the Select Committee in spite of the objections raised by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Ram Naik, at the meeting. She said that the BAC decided to defer the decision as she had had initially orally protested and later also written to the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, about the urgency of introducing the Bill in Parliament. The minister said that matter would now be discussed afresh at the meeting tomorrow. She was of the view that there was no need to refer the Bill to the Select Committee as it was not a new legislation but the introduction of an old Bill which had lapsed. Besides, the Bill had already been reviewed by the committee last year. The government, meanwhile, has also decided to ‘de-block’ about 1.5 lakh titles of newspapers and magazines around the country which were not being published by their owners for a long time. The ministry had taken the opinion of the Law Ministry in this regard. There was a view that there would be no need for amending the existing law governing the publication of newspapers and other periodicals for such an action. Ms Swaraj said that these titles could be de-blocked under the existing law by simply writing to their owners to prove that the periodicals were being published regularly and then publicly notifying the names of those newspapers and magazines which were not being published. The minister said that the issue was agitating the government as well as the newspaper industry for a long time. Out of the nearly two lakh titles listed with the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI) under the ministry, about 1.5 lakh titles were lying unused. Under the existing law, if a title has been allotted to a person for publishing a newspaper or a magazine, it cannot be allotted to another person under the same name. |
| HC notice to Centre, police
on Delhi crime scenario Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 23 — Observing that a state of "lawlessness" seems to have affected the Capital, the Delhi High Court today sought a report from the Centre, the Delhi Government and the Police Commissioner in this regard. Acting on a writ petition, a Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Mahinder Narain and Mr Justice S.K. Mahajan said: "We would like to know from the respondents what action is being taken in view of the state of lawlessness which seems to have affected the National Capital Territory (NCT)." The Bench issued show-cause notices to the Centre, the Delhi Government and the Delhi Police Commissioner and directed them to file their reply within 10 days. The case will come up for hearing on August 3. The petition, moved by advocate Rajiv Awasthi, sought direction from the court to the Centre, the state government and the Police Commissioner to place a "status report" on the steps being taken for ensuring the safety of citizens in the spate of dacoities and robberies during the past few days in the city. Standing counsel for the Centre, Mr Rakesh Tiku, while receiving the notice, admitted that "something needs to be done". He, however, said the incidents were being "overplayed" by the media. "What is wrong in it. If the incidents have taken place," the Bench observed. Mr Awasthi submitted that for the past one month, reports of broad daylight robberies, chain snatching, murder, rape and assault had been appearing everyday in the newspapers and the police seemed to have failed miserably to ensure the safety of the citizens. Pressing for admission of the petition, he said even the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, in a statement before Parliament had admitted that the crime rate had gone up in the Capital. At an average about 75,000 criminal cases were registered here every year, of which only 40 per cent resulted in proper investigation, the petition said, adding that, the police lacked proper coordination with neighbouring states. It said "certain inherent problems, indiscipline and interference of politicians has made the system ineffective. People have lost faith in it and are constrained to approach the court". "The deteriorating law and order situation can be gauged from the fact that the Home Minister had to constitute a committee of MPs and MLAs to monitor law and order," the petition said. It said out of the 50,000 strength of the Delhi Police, only 25,000 personnel were being used to maintain law and order and handle routine duties while the remaining were withdrawn for looking after the security of VIPs. The Delhi Government, in its report, had felt the need for establishing 50 new police stations but none had come up during the past 10 years. Even the recommendation for setting up 17 police stations immediately, had not been implemented by the government, the petition claimed. The police needed nearly 8,000 head constables and constables to man its 1,450 beats against the existing strength of 4,300, it said. |
| Transporters’ stir from Aug 22 Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, July 23 — To protest against the hike in insurance premium rates by General Insurance Corporation, the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) has called for an indefinite nationwide strike from the midnight of August 22. Trucks, buses and all other commercial vehicles will remain offroad. The AIMTC, which is the apex body of commercial vehicle owners in the country, has given the call for the strike as the Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC) had reportedly reneged on an agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the AIMTC to keep in abeyance the hike in insurance premium. Briefing newspersons here today, the president of AIMTC, Mr O P Agarwal, said the strike call was due to the non-performance of the TAC in reference to the agreement signed between them and the Ministry of Finance on April 9, 1997. According to the agreement, the TAC was to keep in abeyance the increase in motor insurance premium proposed to be enforced from April 1, 1997, Mr Agarwal said. The AIMTC general secretary, Mr Chittaranjan Dass, said the TAC claimed to have reconsidered the scheme of General Insurance Corporation and enforced the hike in rates of premium from February 15, 1998. Mr Dass said, "During the period April 9, 1997 to February 14, 1998 and thereafter till July 11, 1998 we have been constantly representing to the Union Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Surface Transport and the TAC pointing out the anomalies and irrationalities in the premium hike." In the emergent meeting of the AIMTC held at Delhi on July 21, 1998 the indefinite suspension of work had been decided upon. Among other things, the AIMTC is demanding that the proposals of GIC should be examined by an independent body like the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) or the Bureau of Costs and Prices (BC) and till such time the above said exercise is concluded, the operation of TAC’s notification of January 28, 1998, made effective from February 15, 1998, increasing the rates of motor insurance premium, be kept in abeyance. |
| Tension brewing in Jharkhand Delay in Bill: MPs threaten to quit RANCHI, July 23 (UNI) — Tension is running high in this tribal belt of Bihar with almost all political parties threatening to revive their movement for a separate state following delay in the introduction of the Jharkhand/Vananchal Bill in Parliament. A deadline has been set and agitational programmes announced by protagonists of the separate state to press for the early creation of Jharkhand state comprising 18 districts of south Bihar. Even few BJP MPs and MLAs from Bihar’s Jharkhand region have threatened to resign if the legislation seeking the state’s creation was not tabled during the current session of Parliament. The threat was aired by some senior BJP leaders at one of their meetings held here recently. The meeting was presided over by BJP national president Karia Munda, prominent among others who attended the meeting were party MP Ram Tahalchoudhary and legislators Shanker Choudhary and Duti Pahan. Meanwhile, talking to newsmen here yesterday Jharkhand Mukti Morcha vice-president Suraj Mandal also threatened to launch a ‘do or die’ agitation in case the Jharkhand Vananchal Bill failed to come up during the current session. The JMM leader said his party would slap economic blockades and disrupt the transportation of minerals and forest products besides paralysing the functioning of central government offices and public sector undertakings in the area. Welcoming the seventh extension granted to the Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC), he said it would help keep the pace of development in the region. However, he said, had the Centre formally announced the creation of Jharkhand / Vananchal state and subsequently brought a legislation in Parliament there would have been no need to further extend the tenure of the JAAC. The party strongly favoured a democratically elected body in this region for its overall development, he added. Similarly, the Jharkhand Regional Congress Committee has announced its intention to start economic blockades and disrupt the movement of natural resources in Jharkhand if the Vananchal state Bill, as promised by the BJP, was not introduced during the budget session. It had recently staged a day-long dharna at the Boat Club in Delhi and submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the AICC Chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, for the early formation of the Jharkhand state. Smaller political outfits, including the Jharkhand Peoples Party and the All-Jharkhand Students Union have also threatened to intensify their struggle for a separate state if the Vananchal Bill failed to come in Parliament during the current session. Even the Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders have reacted sharply on the reported attempts to defer the separate state bill. |
| Move SC against order on
Biswas, say SP, RJD members NEW DELHI, July 23 (PTI) — Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal members today raised a storm in the Lok Sabha demanding that the government immediately move the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order exonerating CBI officer UN Biswas, who had sought Army’s help last year to arrest Laloo Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam. They also attempted to disrupt question hour but dropped their plans after the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Sharad Pawar, requested that they raise it during zero hour. Later during zero hour, the members stormed the well and pleaded with the Speaker, Mr GMC Balayogi, to direct the government to go for an appeal against the High Court verdict. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana said the government was awaiting the opinion of the Attorney-General and would take a decision on the matter after the opinion was received. The Government, he said, knew that the last date for filing an appeal was August 12, 1998. "This is purely a legal matter and no political motivation is involved," he remarked. As soon as the House assembled, SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav raised the issue and was supported by the members of his party as well as the RJD. Supporting them, Mr Pawar suggested that the government take the initiative to file the appeal as August 12 was the last date. CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee said the government should go by principles and not by personalities involved in it. The principal question involved in it was whether an investigating authority could approach the Army directly to seek its help in arresting anybody or whether a high court could give oral order to any bureaucrat to seek the Army’s help in such matters, he said. The Patna High Court had reportedly allowed Biswas to seek Army help to arrest Yadav in the fodder scam. Mr Chatterjee said there were well-defined guidelines who all could approach the Army for help. The Government should move the Supreme Court so that it gave a considered view on the casual observation of the Calcutta High Court exonerating Biswas, he said and asked the government to explain its stand. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav requested the Speaker to direct the government to file an appeal against the High Court’s order and recalled that as the Defence Minister he had disallowed use of the Army for this purpose. Mr Yadav alleged that it appeared that the government had little interest in filing an appeal as RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav was involved in it. He claimed to have information that the Attorney-General had sent his opinion to the government and it was sitting over his report. Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar said it was "clear that Biswas had crossed his jurisdiction" in seeking Army help to arrest Laloo Prasad Yadav and this was an "unpardonable offence." BJP member Satyapal Jain said he had information that the Attorney-General had not given his report and that the government should take a decision in this regard on merit. |
| Now, a play on Thackeray MUMBAI, July 23 (PTI) — Playwright Pradeep Dalvi, who wrote the controversial play ‘Mee Nathuram Godse Boltay’ is presently writing another play on Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. “I always like controversial subjects, I always pick up off beat subjects”, he said at a news conference he had convened to explain his position on the Nathuram play. Dalvi, who has written 21 plays out of which at least three were banned for various reasons, refuted a suggestion that he was deliberately choosing subjects to create controversies and said just because his plays created furore, he would not stop writing plays. “So many people die in aeroplane crash but no one stops travelling by plane”, he explained his logic. |
| 6 kg
of enriched uranium seized CHENNAI, July 23 (PTI) — The CBI seized six kg of enriched uranium, used in atomic energy processes, from a house in the city and arrested two persons in this connection last evening, CBI sources said. The uranium was seized from the house of an engineer, who confessed during interrogation that the radioactive metal, in the form of granules packed in a polythene bag, was passed on to him by another man, the sources said. They said both men were arrested and produced before a magistrate, who remanded them in police custody till July 29. The matter was being investigated by the agency. Meanwhile, the Director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Dr Placid Rodriguez, said the stolen uranium could not have come from the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam. He was answering a question from reporters who approached him at a function here. A Nuclear Power Corporation official, who is also attending the workshop, said uranium was not available in granule form in any of the nuclear power establishments. All power stations received the necessary uranium in the form of pellets encased in zirconium tubes. These were packed at the nuclear fuel complex at Hyderabad, he said. If anyone was possessing uranium in granule form, it must have been obtained only from the Jaduguda mines in Bihar or before it was packed at Hyderabad, he added. He said it would be possible to trace the source only after the material was analysed. |
| PM apprised of poor healthcare Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, July 23 — The Indian Medical Association has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in improving the public health services in the Capital. The IMA has appealed to Mr Vajpayee to intervene immediately to alleviate the suffering of the poor who cannot afford even the cheapest private treatment. The general secretary of the IMA, Dr Prem Aggarwal said that the association had drawn Mr Vajpayee’s attention to the deteriorating public healthcare delivery system in Delhi. The communication points out that the unending series of strikes and agitations by doctors, para-medics and workers of government hospitals had left the public healthcare delivery system in a shambles. The IMA has observed that since Delhi is the main referral centre for medical needs of persons from Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the stir had affected the entire northern region. |
| Junior Engineer, 2 others held Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, July 23 — Three persons, including a Junior Engineer (JE) of the local municipal corporation, were arrested by the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi Government in two separate cases of graft yesterday. In the first case, Junior Engineer (Building) Ved Prakash Bansal was caught along with a “beldar” Bharat Singh while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from Sanjeev Singh, a complainant. A senior police officer said Sanjeev Singh, who owns a building, wanted to construct a partition. The JE objected to it and asked Rs 30,000 in order to get the work done. In the second incident, Nabh Singh, an alleged tout in the Patel Nagar Sub Divisional Magistrate’s office, was caught while taking Rs 700 from Mahendra Prasad Arya, who wanted a domicile certificate. A lower division clerk Bhisham Singh, who had demanded the money from Arya, escaped. |
| Din in Andhra House over
corruption charges HYDERABAD, July 23 (PTI) — The Andhra Pradesh Assembly was adjourned for 15 minutes today amidst pandemonium over corruption charges made by Mines and Geology Minister A. Chandrasekhar against the Director of his own department even as the government ordered a probe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) into the issue. " A determined Opposition sought to put the Telugu Desam government on the mat over the minister’s recent letter to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu making "grave corruption charges" against State Mines Director T.V. Choudhary. Amidst uproar, marked by Opposition members frequently rushing to the well of the House, Congress, BJP, CPL and CPM leaders demanded immediate suspension of the official. After an hour-long furore and heated exchanges between Treasury Benches and the Opposition, the Chief Minister admitted to receiving the letter from his Cabinet colleague and announced that the matter would be referred to the ACB for inquiry. |
| In
brief Rabri orders probe into selections PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi has ordered a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in appointments in the state Statistics Directorate, said State Planning Minister Tulsi Singh. He said the Chief Minister, gave her nod to a recommendation by the state Home Department to hand over the inquiry to the investigating agency. — PTI Schoolgirl commits suicide TIRUCHIRAPALLI: A 13-year-old schoolgirl who committed self immolation on Tuesday allegedly in protest against the humiliation meted out to her in the school at Thuraiyur town near here died on Wednesday. The police said, the deceased M. Rajalakshmi, an eighth standard student of Sengunthar Higher Secondary School, was pulled up by her class teacher, who also had her slapped by a boy of the same class as punishment, for doing poorly in an examination. — UNI JD unit in Arunachal ceases to exist ITANAGAR: The Janata Dal unit in Arunachal Pradesh has virtually ceased to exist with its president T.C. Teli (MLA) and his followers joining the Congress on Wednesday. Mr Teli had dissolved JD state executive and all other committees on June 30 to “pave the way for a fresh political realignment in the state”. — PTI Awards for research scholars ALLAHABAD: The National Academy of Sciences has decided to institute two awards for young research scholars engaged in physical and biological sciences. Known as “sworn jayanti pursuer”, these awards would be given during the annual session of the academy to young scientists presenting the best research paper in the two fields, academy sources said on Wednesday. — UNI Flood situation in Arunachal ITANAGAR: Flood situation in Arunachal Pradesh, which is being lashed by heavy rain for over two months, remained grim on Thursday with major rivers continuing to be in high spate and fresh areas being inundated in Namibia subdivision of Lot district, official sources said. The National Highway connecting Hailuliang with Tees is facing submergence due to diversion of Lot river and road communication from Tees to other parts of the district and Assam has been disrupted for the past three days, the reports said. — PTI Boy killed in wall collapse NEW DELHI: A five year-old-boy was killed and two others were injured when the wall of a temple collapsed at Bhagirathi Vicar in Gokulpuri here on Wednesday. According to the police, the injured, Ambit and Bajrang, were admitted to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital. A spokesperson of Delhi Fire Service said the mishap took place when the children along with other devotees were attending a religious function at Shiv Mandir in C block. —TNS Brother, sister murdered NEW DELHI: A 17-year-old Sikh youth and his sister were reportedly murdered in their house in Till Vicar area of West Delhi on Thursday morning. The area police officials said that the bodies of the deceased, Mint and Paramjit Kaur, were lying on beds in different rooms. There were at least 10 stab marks on the chest and stomach of the deceased, the police said. The police suspects that robbery could be the motive of the murder as the house was ransacked. — FOC  |
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