Wednesday, September 16, 1998
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Cong on building austere image NEW DELHI, Sept 15 — The Congress party is all set to alter its image and soon it will be expected of all its members to follow a code of conduct which among other things debars them from "vulgar display of wealth". Desperate decisions of Samajwadi
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Badal's call to regional parties CHENNAI, Sept 15 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today gave a clarion call to all political parties, especially the regional ones, to collectively strive for establishing a true federal structure in the country to fulfil regional aspirations.
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Thackeray hits out at Mulayam on aid
for Pak MUMBAI, Sept 15 — The Shiv Sena supremo, Mr Bal Thackeray, today hit out at the Samajwadi Party leader, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, for demanding that India should give financial assistance of Rs 2000 crore to Pakistan to help it tide over its present economic crisis. Judges’
selection: SC fixes final hearing for Oct DRDO
ties up with ministries SC
issues notices on CJM’s plea Parvati
to act in Telugu film |
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Cong on building austere image NEW DELHI, Sept 15 — The Congress party is all set to alter its image and soon it will be expected of all its members to follow a code of conduct which among other things debars them from "vulgar display of wealth". The Congress Working Committee which met here today adopted a 18-point Code of Conduct prepared by the party’s Ethics Committee which will be formally announced tomorrow. Apart from the mandatory wearing of Khadi and prohibition already in force, the Congress wants its Members of Parliament to disclose their assets each year to the party, declare on oath antecedents before contesting elections, ostentation in marriages, and promote vigorously family planning, environment, education, employment and human rights in the society. To monitor any infringements, the Congress party will put in place a committee headed by a Chairperson, Secretary and four members. Some of the highlights of the code of conduct include: follow two-child family planning norm, those contesting elections disclose on oath whether they are facing any criminal charges, inform the party in case any member is arrested on criminal charges, bar members to collect funds individually on behalf of the party, not to support or recommend candidates with criminal background, no ostentation of marriages or vulgar display of wealth, and not associate with caste or communal organisations nor attend functions organised by them. The report of the Ethics Committee headed by Mr A K Antony had drawn the Code of Conduct, which the CWC adopted today. The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, is keen to give a face-lift to the party and the Code of Conduct is a step in this direction. Even in Parliament, the
Congress President had advised members to show restraint
while protesting and raising issues and avoid rushing
into the well of the House. At the Pachmarhi conclave,
the party declared that from January 1, 2000, those
members who become parent of more than two children would
be ineligible for selection or election to any party
office or for selection as a party candidate for any
election. |
Badal's call to regional parties CHENNAI, Sept 15 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today gave a clarion call to all political parties, especially the regional ones, to collectively strive for establishing a true federal structure in the country to fulfil regional aspirations. Addressing the rally held to mark the birth anniversaries of Annadurai and E.V. Ramaswamy Periyar, Mr Badal said there could be no place for a unitary form of government in our country. India's future lay in genuine federalism. "Let us turn this into a nationwide movement", he said. Mr Badal said the experience of the past 50 years clearly showed that successive Congress governments at the Centre and to the states had 'failed' to recognise and fulfil the aspirations of different regional, linguistic, religious and ethnic components of the country. The Akali Dal had been demanding a drastic restructuring of the Constitution. Punjabis and Tamils were the first in the country to see that the constitutional structure given to this country did not fulfil the legitimate aspirations of the people of different regions. Mr Badal said that MDMK and SAD had a common stand on various national issues. He said both regional parties were against Article 356 and both stood for federalism and more autonomy of the states. Like MDMK, the SAD was also striving hard for establishing a caste-less and class-less society. Mr Badal said: "We have been demanding that a significant measure of autonomy must be introduced in our constitutional system and that fiscal autonomy will be meaningless if it is not accompanied by a degree of political autonomy. "We need to take the issue of Centre-State relations to the masses". Mr Badal said there was
need for greater interaction among the states at the
people's level so that landmark contributions such as
those of Periyar and Anna were not confined to regional
bounds. Punjab could host the national event to
commemorate the birth anniversary of Anna and Periyar
while similar events concerning national heroes of Punjab
could be organised in Tamil Nadu, he said. |
Appeasement
of minorities NEW DELHI, Sept 15 — Indications of minorities shifting their allegiance from the Samajwadi Party has forced the party leadership to take some desperate decisions. Stung by reversals in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly byelections and more recently by not getting invited to the Ulema Council meeting in Maharashtra, the party leadership was apparently making desperate efforts to prove to the minorities that the Samajwadi Party was their only saviour. In this bid the party leadership not only went out of its way to suddenly issue a notice to former Union Minister, Mr Buta Singh but also all over again raked up the Babri Masjid issue. Sources in the party disclosed that the sudden decision to issue a notice to Mr Buta Singh, who had only recently joined the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM), of which Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav was the president, was prompted by the fact that the Samajwadi Party had not been invited to the Ulema Council meeting in Mumbai to which representatives from about 300 minority organisations and other political parties had been invited. This has come when the RLM was holding a rally in Mumbai against the BJP-Shiv Sena government’s inaction on the Srikrishna Commission Report on riots in the city in 1992-93. In fact the Ulema Council meeting categorically ruled out taking recourse to agitational politics, which was the RLM plan, for the implementation of the Srikrishna Commission Report. The party leadership took this as an indication that all was not well with the minorities and that they could well shift their allegiance if urgent steps were not taken. The RLM leadership then panicked and demanded in writing from Mr Buta Singh to explain what role he had played during the ‘shilanayas’ at Ayodhya. The RLM spokesman, Mr Amar Singh, had said the RLM at the time of alligning with Mr Buta Singh had promised the minorities that it would seek an explanation in writing on the issue from him. But since he had failed to give any explanation which could be presented to the minorities, there was no alternative but to take the hard decision, Mr Amar Singh said. However, sources in the party disclosed that not being an invitee to the Ulema Council meeting was not just the only indication which the party got that its main vote bank, was shifting. Firstly, the party lost all the seats in minority-dominated areas in the recent byelections to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The only seat it won was the Milkypur Assembly seat that too due to the personal influence of Mr Mitrasen Yadav, the Samajwadi Party MP from Faizabad. The sources said that in the past few months both the minority MPs and the party cadres have been openly giving indications that time was running out for the Samajwadi Party, specially as the other parties were now directly concentrating on the minority vote bank in Uttar Pradesh. While the Bahujan Samaj Party had already given enough indication of trying to woo the minority by handing out Lok Sabha tickets to a number of leaders from the community during the last general elections, the Congress recently sent out a big message to the community by making Mr Salman Khurshid the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief. At the recent opening of the RLM office in New Delhi a prominent minority MP from the party told the Samajwadi Party chief in very clear terms that something urgent had to be done to keep the minority vote with it. He indicated to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav that the party was passing through a very crucial phase and that the minorities were watching the actions of the party. He apparently told the party chief that something had to be done to remove the BJP government, both at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, otherwise it could be too late for the party. Besides the party’s minority cadre has also been talking openly that if concrete steps were not taken by the party, they would have to take some other steps. In fact they have also gone ahead to say that in the future the BSP or even the Congress under Mr Salman Khurshid would not be a bad alternative. They feel that the best for the party would be to have an alliance with the BSP. But they also feel that the biggest stumbling block in this direction was Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav himself, to whom, the BSP general secretary, Ms Mayawati, was personally allergic due to the Lucknow guest house incident. They were looking forward to a possible alliance between the BSP and the Congress in the state in the next round of elections. This the party cadre feels would be a combination which could effectively thwart the BJP and its allies. This combination could also spell doom for the Samajwadi Party, which could be wiped out in the process. According to party sources, the educated section of the minority was also extremely annoyed with the party leadership for over the years strengthening the BJP by taking wrong decisions at crucial moments. There was a feeling that the party leadership allowed the BJP to come to power in Uttar Pradesh by allowing it to come to an understanding with the BSP. Then by hobnobbing with the then Governor Mr Romesh Bhandari and allowing it to gain in numbers and eventually letting Mr Kalyan Singh again come to power. Besides, there was a feeling in this section that the Samajwadi Party now had no clear policy for the community as it allowed the Prasar Bharati Bill to be passed in the Lok Sabha by voting along with the BJP and its allies. Incidentally, the Congress has not tried to pick this issue for its gains. The sources disclosed that
the party leadership was aware of the disenchantment that
the minorities were now having with the Samajwadi Party.
However, no concrete steps were coming forth from the
party headquarters to ensure that minorities did not move
away from its umbrella. |
A jail with a difference SRIGANGANAGAR: Within Jaitsar open jail, situated in a non-descript village about 90 km from here, time moves at a leisurely pace. Jaitsar open jail is among the seven open jails in Rajasthan where the convicts toil hard from dawn to dusk at government's farm with their family members. This jail includes of Saganed (Jaipur), Munder (Jodhpur), Bikaner, Bharatpur and Durgapur open jails of the state which were set with the motive to reform prisoners as well as providing them family treatment. The scene at this jail is no way different to a Rajasthan village where people live in mud houses. The convicts are allowed to live with their children and other family members here. "We have no sorrow of confinement and seclusion, we are here among our family members and new neighbours", says Jaswant Singh, a life term convict. Jaswant Singh, a law graduate of Warring village was convicted along with one of his brothers for the murder of another brother over a property dispute. There are about 50 convicts' families living with them at this open jail. Every working hand of family is paid Rs 33 per day for working eight hours at the farmhouse. And they have to manage their livelihood with this earning. All mud houses are self-constructed and no grant or assistance is provided by the Centre or state government. Children are sent to schools at a nearby village, according to Mr Shiv Bhagwan, a life convict and a former sarpanch. There is no prohibition on visitors at this jail-village, but if a relative or friend has to stay at jail during the night, he has to take the permission from securitymen. The securitymen also live within the precincts in mud houses. Some families at this prison have kept also milch animals and most of their daily requirements are met at the village. While the prolonged proximity among families in this "jail village" culminates in blood-thick relationship, but sporadic disputes are also never heard among co-inmates. Although no serious scuffle has ever been reported from the open jail so far, but the Munder open jail at Jodhpur was in the eye of a storm recently when a murder and incidents of suicide were reported in April. The inmates rued the Centre and state government for not providing them electricity in their houses. According to Mr Bhagwan Singh, an inmate, while the residences of the officials are well-equipped, their houses are without electricity. An attendance register is
maintained at the jail where the role call of convicts is
made twice daily. |
Thackeray hits out at Mulayam on aid for Pak MUMBAI, Sept 15 (PTI) — The Shiv Sena supremo, Mr Bal Thackeray, today hit out at the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, for demanding that India should give financial assistance of Rs 2000 crore to Pakistan to help it tide over its present economic crisis. Reacting sharply to Mr Yadav’s demand, Mr Thackeray said in an interview to Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, that such a demand will set a trend that "will inevitably lead to demands for a second Partition". He described Mr Yadav’s speech at the rally on Sunday, in which he vouched for the assistance as "outrageous and highly provocative," and said the demand "tantamounts to treason". Mr Yadav had said at the rally, which was also addressed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, that Pakistan was forced to conduct nuclear explosions following India’s Pokhran tests and consequently its economy had collapsed. India should, therefore, give a financial aid of Rs 2000 crore to Pakistan to tide over its economic crisis, the SP supremo had said. The BJP also reacted angrily to Mr Yadav’s demand and dismissed it as an attempt at appeasing Muslims "only for votes". In a statement issued here
yesterday, the BJP city chief, Mr Kirti Somaiya, said Mr
Yadav overlooked the Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in
Jammu and Kashmir, massacre of innocent Hindus and
activities of the ISI while making the demand for
financial aid. |
Judges’ selection: SC fixes final hearing for Oct NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (PTI) — The Supreme Court today made it clear to the Union of India, states and other interveners that hearing on the presidential reference, which had raised nine vital questions regarding appointment of judges to the apex court and high courts, will be completed latest by October 15. While fixing a five-day schedule for the final hearing commencing from October 7, a nine-Judge Constitution Bench headed by Mr Justice A.S. Anand said, “The Attorney General shall begin arguments and let it be very clear that the hearing shall be complete latest by October 15.” The court granted time till September 22 to the persons concerned, who had not filed their written submissions, to do so on or before September 22 and warned that after the fixed date, no more opportunity would be given to them. The Constitution Bench comprising Mr Justice Anand, Mr Justice S.P. Bharucha, Mr Justice M.K. Mukherjee, Mr Justice S.B. Majumdar, Mr Justice Suajata V. Manohar, Mr Justice G.T. Nanavati, Mr Justice S. Saghir Ahmed, Mr Justice K. Venkataswami and Mr Justice B.N. Kirpal would hear arguments on October 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15. President K.R. Narayanan had made a reference on July 27 to the apex court under Article 143 of the Constitution for interpretation of law to dispel doubts relating to the procedure involved in the appointments of judges to the apex court and chief justices and judges to various high courts and their transfers. The 1993 judgement, on a petition filed by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCARA), gave primacy to the opinion of the Chief Justice of India formed in consultation with two seniormost judges of the apex court in regard to appointment of judges and their transfers. The nine-Judge Bench on
September 8 had made it clear that the apex court’s
1993 judgement laying down guidelines regarding
appointment of judges had become the law of the land and
it “will neither review nor reconsider the judgement
but adjudicate the reference in the light of the
judgement.” |
DRDO ties up with ministries NEW DELHI, Sept 15 — The Defence Research and Development Organisation has tied up with the ministries of Social Justice and Empowerment, Science and Technology, Rural Development and leading hospitals to identify spin-off technologies that can make available cheaper medical devices and products to the general public. The collaboration known as the Society for Bio-Medical Technology would help identify some of the technologies used by the DRDO for defence personnel injured in action. This includes artificial limbs and sophisticated health equipments developed by the DRDO. According to Mr Abdul Kalam, Secretary (R and D) in the Defence Ministry, an artificial limb developed with the DRDO-based technology would cost Rs. 15,000 as compared to Rs one lakh for an imported one. Similarly, Drishti, eye laser equipment, could be made available to the public for Rs 5 lakh as compared to the imported equipment which costs Rs 15 lakh. This was disclosed by Mr
Abdul Kalam while he was speaking at “Ability
Exhibition`98” here last evening. |
SC issues notices on
CJM’s plea NEW DELHI, Sept 15 — The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Union Ministries of Law and Finance on a petition filed by Dr Neelima Shangla, Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Jind, Haryana, challenging the raising of the age limit for the post of Judicial Member, Customs, Excise, and Gold Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT). The notices were issued yesterday by a Division Bench, comprising Mr Justice A.S. Anand and Mr Justice D.P. Wadhwa on a Special Leave Petition filed by Dr Shangla. The petitioner, who argued her case in person, challenged the raising of the age limit to 45 for the post of CEGAT Judicial Member, stating that till last year under the statutory provisions of the Customs Act, there was no age limit and only 10 years’ experience as judicial officer was required. She argued that this time
the Ministries of Law and Finance had introduced a new
rule, enacted through a committee consisting of
bureaucrats, which overrode the statutory provisions of
the Customs Act dealing with the eligibility criteria of
a candidate. This, the petitioner argued, could not be
done legally. |
Parvati to act in Telugu film HYDERABAD, Sept 15 (PTI) — The NTR-TDP President Lakshmi Parvati makes her debut in the tinsel world enacting the role of a politician in the Telugu film, "Prema Veerudu." Announcing her screen debut here yesterday, Parvati, wife of the actor-turned politician late N.T. Rama Rao, said the film also would launch her son Koteshwar Prasad as a hero. "I play the role of a politician fighting for people's rights and opposing those who exploit them", Parvati said, adding she had also written a song in the film and hoped, to write some portions of the dialogue. Replying to a volley of questions, she denied there would be any party propaganda through the film. She also denied that her son was nursing any political ambitions. Mumbai-based model Farha
Khan would be the heroine of the film being directed and
produced by Raja Bhaskar. |
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| Sengupta UN rapporteur NEW DELHI: Dr Arjun K. Sengupta, former Planning Commission member, has been appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva as ‘independent expert’ (rapporteur). Dr Sengupta will be rapporteur on matters relating to rights to development. A former Indian Ambassador to the European Union and Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, Mr Sengupta is also a member of the high-powered UN Committee for Development Planning. — PTI MP wins Commonwealth award 10 per cent women
will be widows Wage board sitting
adjourned Benoy Mukherjee
dead Ram Joshi passes
away |
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