Tuesday, February 16, 1999
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Pakistan trip PM to fly to
Amritsar NEW DELHI, Feb 15 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is not aware if his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif will accompany him to New Delhi when he returns from Lahore at the end of his journey to Pakistan by the inaugural Delhi-Lahore bus. High Court clears Kesri NEW DELHI, Feb 15 — Taking cognizance of a CBI affidavit giving a clean chit to former Congress President Sitaram Kesri, the Delhi High Court today cleared him of the charges of bribing 22 Bihar MLAs to win the Rajya Sabha elections. |
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Notification
on Jaya cases
Wife
kills husband over cup of tea Jetley
new Deputy Army Chief Wind
up minorities’ panel: VHP Now
khadi jeans HC
directive on phone dues |
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Pakistan trip PM to fly to Amritsar NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (UNI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is not aware if his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif will accompany him to New Delhi when he returns from Lahore at the end of his journey to Pakistan by the inaugural Delhi-Lahore bus. "I don't know... you tell me", Mr Vajpayee said smilingly when asked if Mr Sharif had confirmed his visit to Delhi. Mr Vajpayee was talking to reporters at Delhi airport soon after his arrival here late last night from his eight-day foreign trip. The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Lahore on February 20 by the bus which will start from Delhi early in the morning. He will be the first Indian prime minister to visit Pakistan after a decade. Mr Rajiv Gandhi had visited the neighbouring country in July 1989. Reports from Islamabad, quoting highly placed sources, have suggested that Mr Sharif would accompany the Indian Prime Minister to New Delhi on February 22. However, there is no confirmation yet in this regard. Pakistan has already confirmed that Mr Sharif would welcome Mr Vajpayee at the Wagah border when the latter arrives there aboard the bus sometime in the evening on February 20. Indications are that Mr Vajpayee would fly from here to Amritsar and board the bus near the border. Diplomats in both countries are in touch, giving final touches to his programme. The nearly 500 km journey will be completed by the bus in about 12 hours, including an hour-long clearance at the Wagah border. For security reasons, both countries opted for day-time travel. PTI adds: A host of bilateral issues, including Kashmir, will be discussed between Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during the former’s two-day historic trip. During the first ever visit to Pakistan by an Indian Premier in over a decade, the two leaders are expected to hold wide-ranging talks on ways to thaw ties strained after the May nuclear tests, with special focus on Kashmir, and peace in South Asia. "The two Prime Ministers will discuss the main issue of Indo-Pak relations with special emphasis on the Kashmir issue apart from deliberating on the broader issue of peace in the South Asian region," the sources said. Both leaders are also expected to discuss ways to further improve road travel between the two countries, the sources said adding that Mr Vajpayee’s itinerary for his stay had already been finalised. Although Mr Vajpayee had expressed his desire to visit Lahore’s Badshahi Mosque and address a public meeting, the sources said, his movements will be restricted to the minimum in view of threats from right-wing groups. According to details finalised by officials of the two sides, Mr Vajpayee will reach the Wagah border around 4 p.m. Both leaders will then fly by helicopter to the Governor House in Lahore where Mr Vajpayee will be staying. An earlier proposal to travel by road from Wagah to Lahore has been cancelled due to security reasons, the sources said. The short road journey from Amritsar upto Wagah border inside Pakistan will be monitored by Army and para-military forces. After two rounds of
informal meetings on February 20, formal discussions will
begin on the morning of February 21. First foreign
ministers, foreign secretaries and other officials of
both sides will meet to prepare ground for a formal
meeting later between their leaders. |
Assets case NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (UNI) — Taking cognizance of a CBI affidavit giving a clean chit to former Congress President Sitaram Kesri, the Delhi High Court today cleared him of the charges of bribing 22 Bihar MLAs to win the Rajya Sabha elections in 1988 and 1994 and acquiring wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. While disposing of an PIL filed by Patna-based journalist Madhuresh Kumar seeking Mr Kesri’s prosecution in connection with the case, a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Arun Kumar and Mr Justice Manmohan Sarin, however, refused to express any opinion on the affidavit of the CBI or its merits and demerits. "The CBI has filed several affidavits and status reports and has reached certain conclusions. We have perused them and it is not for us to go into the merit and demerits of the affidavits,’’ the judges observed in their order. "In view of the fact that the CBI has reached certain conclusions, we cannot express our opinion on them,’’ they said. The Bench noted the contention of petitioner’s counsel Prashant Bhushan that given the attitude of the CBI, no purpose would be served in continuing with the investigation by the agency. The court permitted the petitioner to take recourse to the available legal remedy, if he was unsatisfied with the outcome of the case. The Bench, in its verdict outlined the conclusions reached by the CBI in the case as listed in its affidavit filed in the high court on November 30. The court said the prime investigating agency of the country had concluded that no case was made out against Mr Kesri for allegedly acquiring wealth and no evidence, oral or documentary, was available to substantiate the bribery allegations. The CBI in its status report submitted on November 30 had given a clean chit to Mr Kesri, saying "no material could be found to reflect that any offence under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act or any other penal law has been committed (by Kesri)." The court said the CBI in its report had made it clear that no evidence to link Mr Kesri with the assets of his son, Amarnath Kesri, was found by the agency during investigation. On allegations of some Bihar Congress MLAs that they were paid "bribe" by Mr Kesri during his election to the Rajya Sabha in 1988 and 1994, the Bench observed since the CBI had formed an opinion on this aspect, no purpose would be served in pursuing the matter further. Madhuresh’s counsel P. Bhushan had during arguments said that the CBI under law could probe even the oral allegations against a person, especially when he was holding a high office in the government or a party. "No evidence, oral or documentary is available to substantiate the (bribery) allegation and hence it will not be worthwhile to register a case," the CBI report said. It further stated that the household expenses including salaries of Mr Kesri’s servants were borne by the All-India Congress Committee and these were reflected in the party’s income tax returns. The CBI had also rejected
the charge that Mr Kesri had made a contribution of Rs 50
lakh to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. |
Notification on Jaya cases NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (PTI) — The issue of special courts to try corruption cases against AIADMK leader Jayalalitha took a new turn today with the Tamil Nadu Government announcing that it would challenge within a week in the Supreme Court a notification by the Centre transferring cases against her to the sessions courts. "The Centre has issued the notification without consulting the Madras High Court and we wish to challenge it here within a week," counsel for the state government Fali S. Nariman and Shanti Bhushan told a Division Bench of the court comprising Mr Justice G.T. Nanavati and Mr Justice S.P. Kurdukar. Tamil Nadu conveyed its stand when the Bench observed that in view of the Centre’s February 5 notification, Jayalalitha’s special leave petition challenging the Tamil Nadu Government’s April 30, 1997, notification constituting three special judges "becomes infructuous". The Bench fixed February 22 for hearing on the SLP by Jayalalitha and the writ petition to be filed by Tamil Nadu. Earlier, when Attorney General Soli Sorabjee submitted a copy of the February 5 notification, the Bench asked as to how the Centre could classify cases in various categories. "It is the privilege of the judiciary. How the executive can do it (the classification)," the Bench asked. Mr Sorabjee contended that the court should not pass any such observation as it was yet to hear the contention of the Central Government on the issue. Mr Bhushan, appearing for the state government, contended that the Centre’s notification did not apply to the cases already pending before the three special judges, appointed exclusively to try all corruption cases against the former Chief Minister, as the Centre had taken no consent from the Madras High Court. He said the special judges were appointed by the state government by the April 30 notification after taking consent of the high court. The Centre’s notification, thus, would apply only to cases other than those against Jayalalitha pending before the special judges. However, the Bench said let the writ petition by the Tamil Nadu government be filed within a week and the court would pass appropriate orders on it. At the beginning of the hearing, counsel for Jayalalitha, senior advocate K.K. Venugopal contended that the state government had no jurisdiction under Section 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act to transfer the cases against Jayalalitha to special judges. The Bench observed that in view of the February 5 notification by the Centre transferring the cases to the sessions courts, "the petition by Jayalalitha becomes infructuous". However, counsel for Tamil Nadu contended that they wished to challenge the notification which did not have the consent of the Madras High Court and was not applicable to the cases of Jayalalitha which were already pending before the three special judges. The three special judges,
who were appointed by the state government by a
notification dated April 30, 1997, had ignored the
Centre’s notification and were going ahead with the
trial of Jayalalitha and others in the corruption cases. |
Rabri
government dismissal NEW DELHI, Feb 15 — The Bharatiya Janata Party today said the Congress should act according to its public pronouncements on Bihar and support the resolution approving imposition of the President’s rule in the state in Parliament which the RJD, asked the party to oppose it. “If the Congress is true to its statement on Bihar, then they should support the resolution in Parliament imposing President’s rule in the state”, the BJP spokesman, Mr J. P. Mathur, told newspersons here. When asked whether the BJP had had any talks with the Congress seeking its support on the issue, Mr Mathur said “we have our floor coordinators and they would do the needful”. “It appears that the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, is in a fix over the issue”, Mr Mathur pointed out asking her to come out boldly in support of the central rule. If the Congress chose to do otherwise, then it would be “siding with a corrupt and violence abating administration”, he said. Mr Mathur said Mrs Gandhi has gone on record that the Rabri Devi government has no moral right to continue in office. Condemning the killing of seven people, including four members of an upper caste by extremists at Usribazar in Jehanabad district yesterday, the BJP spokesman said since the killings had been going on in the state for the last seven to eight years it would take time to bring the situation under control. “The Governor is no magician”, he stressed. The BJP leader denied reports in a section of the media that the Bihar Governor, Mr Sunder Singh Bhandari, was about to be shifted. Earlier, Mr Mathur strongly criticised the National Minorities Commission (NMC) Chairman, Mr Tahir Mahmood, for levelling ‘irresponsible’ charges against Hindu organisations. PTI adds: The Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM) today asked the Congress to spell out its stand on imposition of central rule in Bihar and accused the party of being hand in glove with the BJP on dismissal of the Rabri Devi government. “It is time for Congress to prove its secular credentials by clarifying its stand on central rule in Bihar,” Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesman M A A Fatmi told reporters saying if it delayed doing so, the party’s image would be tarnished. Another RLM constituent, the Samajwadi Party, however declined to comment on the Congress silence over the issue but its spokesman Amar Singh joined the RJD in demanding the resignation of governor S.S. Bhandari and Home Minister L K Advani following fresh killings in the state. At a separate press
conferences here, they said Mr Bhandari and Mr Advani had
lost the moral right to remain in office in the wake of
fresh killings in the state after it was brought under
President’s Rule on February 12. |
Tohra opposes Central rule NEW DELHI, Feb 15 — In what could emerge as yet another point of friction, the SGPC President and senior Akali leader, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, said his party always opposed the imposition of President’s rule and he personally was against its use in Bihar. Mr Tohra’s statement came in response to a query here by correspondents as to how he viewed the imposition of central rule in Bihar. "We (SAD) have suffered the most and our governments have been dismissed several times invoking Article 356 of the Constitution and oppose it,’’ he said. Mr Tohra said Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal had repeatedly demanded the scrapping of Article 356. However, the SGPC chief refused to state as to what stand the party would take when the motion comes up before Parliament for ratification. "That is for the parliamentary party of the SAD to decide. I will place my views when it meets,’’ he said, adding that he would be happy if the SAD opposed it. Referring to the killings of seven persons in Jehanabad district yesterday, Mr Tohra said that the RJD Government had nothing to do with the earlier massacre which were carried by the Ranvir Sena, a private army of landlords. Meanwhile, the Congress
today attacked the effectiveness of Central rule in Bihar
in the wake of fresh killings. Condemning the incident,
the party spokesman Mr Ajit Jogi said that "it goes
on to show that Governor’s rule is not a substitute
for good governance’’. |
Naidu joins war of words with Sonia HYDERABAD, Feb 15 (PTI) — The campaign for the assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, due in November, has begun in earnest with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu joining a war of words with Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The Congress chief signalled the start of her party’s campaign with a sharp attack on the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) during her January 28 visit to Tirupati. After reviewing the party’s strengths and weaknesses at a state-level convention which served as a “strategy session” for the over 5,000 delegates, the Congress President launched a frontal attack on the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) at a big public meeting in the temple town. Ms Gandhi flayed the “pro-rich” policies of the TDP government, singling out Naidu’s pet ‘janmabhoomi’ programme which, she said, had robbed local bodies of their powers and diverted central funds earmarked for other schemes. She further exhorted partymen to prepare to launch “peaceful” agitations against the TDP regime. Mr Naidu replied by challenging Ms Gandhi to implement in Congress-ruled states the kind of welfare programmes being implemented in Andhra Pradesh. “I am ready for a referendum on this. Let them do it in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi or just anywhere. Can they do it? It is not enough to fire broadsides. She has to react to the challenge”, Mr Naidu told reporters a day after Ms Gandhi left for Delhi after her visit. Peeved over the attack on his pet programme, Mr Naidu said he was ready for an inquiry by a Supreme Court judge into any irregularities in the programme. The charge about misuse of janmabhoomi funds was politically motivated as was the criticism about misuse of central funds for state programmes and dilution of the authority of local bodies, he said. Ms Gandhi had also described the Bharatiya Janata Party’s allies at the Centre, especially the TDP, as “hypocrites” with a “hollow commitment” to secularism, and challenged them to withdraw support to the Atal Behari Vajpayee government if they really disapproved of its style of functioning. Exhorting the party cadre to make it clear to the divisive forces that they would not remain “silent spectators” to “outrages” committed by them, she called upon the religious minorities in the country to seriously ponder over the problems that had cropped up after the Vajpayee government came to power. Mr Naidu, however, defended the TDP’s support to the BJP-led coalition government, reminding Sonia Gandhi that the Rajiv Gandhi government had allowed ‘shilanyas’ at Ayodhya and opening of the gates of the disputed structure and a Congress government under P.V. Narasihma Rao was in power when the Babri Masjid was pulled down. Referring to the resolution passed at the Tirupati meeting condemning the law and order situation in the state, Mr Naidu said the Congress had no moral right to talk of law and order, having “patronised and promoted” communal violence and extremist elements. Charging the BJP-led
government with failing “to deliver the goods”
like earlier coalition regimes, Ms Gandhi had said the
Vajpayee government was on the verge of collapse. |
Democracy diluted famines: Sen NEW DELHI, Feb 15 — Nobel laureate Amartya Sen today said that the majority of Hindus want peaceful coexistence with people belonging to other faiths, including Christians in India. “You may blame a minority of these people in the country for these happenings, but the majority Hindus never approve of this”, he said while delivering a lecture at conference on “Building a world-wide movement for democracy” jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and National Endowment for Democracy (NED) here. Prof Sen said that even during Mughal rule the rulers had taken the majority of people with them. Stating that a vibrant democratic system was largely instrumental in averting crises such as famine in the early 1970s as the press and the opposition highlighted the problems of the poor, Prof Sen said that China faced a severe famine leading to the death of 30 million people from 1958 to 1961. Countries such as North Korea and Sudan which did not follow the democratic pattern faced economic crisis due to natural disasters. While the Japanese remain a major economic power despite the current crisis. Prof Sen said that the East-Asian meltdown was primarily due to lack of transparency in the financial system. He also stressed the need
for high literacy among the populace for understanding
the economic reforms process. Education of women was
important as it leads to a decline in fertility rates, he
said citing the example of Kerala in this regard. |
Wife kills husband over cup of
tea NEW DELHI, Feb 15 — A woman stabbed her husband on Valentine’s Day after an altercation over a cup of tea. The man died due to excessive bleeding. The incident took place in the Hari Nagar area yesterday when the man, Hari Das, demanded a cup of tea from his wife, Vashalam. As she was busy in some other chore, Vashalam told Hari Das to prepare it himself. Police said that Hari was watching television and did not like it when his wife answered back. As tempers rose, Hari beat her. Whereupon Vashalam locked herself in the kitchen, Hari forced her to open the door and tried to beat her again. At which Vashalam grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed him in his thigh. Seeing blood, she rushed to her neighbours who refused to help. “The man could have been saved had the neighbours helped him since Hari’s wound was not deep. He died due to excessive bleeding,” a police officer said. Hari Das died on the way to the hospital. In another incident a 60-year-old man was strangled to death in his Patel Nagar house and a polythene bag containing Rs 55,000 was found missing. Police said that Pyare Lal was alone at his residence as his wife and children had gone out for work in the morning. When his elder son returned home at lunch time, he saw his father speaking to his neighbour, Subedar. Pyare Lal had recently sold land and was planning to buy plot. He had kept the money in a polythene bag and Subedar — who was aware of the sale — had told him that he would help him buy a good plot, the police said. When the family reached home from work they found the main door locked. With the help of the police, the door was broken open and Pyare Lal’s body found. A police officer said that the needle of suspicion pointed towards Subedar, as he and his family had gone missing. In another incident Rs 30 lakh was stolen from a car parked in Daryaganj in central Delhi this afternoon. The incident took place close to the area police station. According to the police, a central Delhi businessman, Mr Vinay Mehra, who deals in the import of gold, had sent four of his employees to the Daryaganj branch of the State Bank of India to deposit Rs 50 lakh. When the employees reached Daryaganj they were unable to find a suitable parking space close to the bank. Two of the employees, Rajeev and Tikku, took a bag containing Rs 10 lakh to be deposited in the bank. The other two employees, Ghanshyam and the driver Ashu Mandal alias Babloo, were guarding the car in which Rs 40 lakh were kept in different suitcases. After a few minutes, Ashu Mandal told Ghanshyam to go into the branch and enquire about the delay in depositing the cash. The police said that after Ghanshyam left, Mondal drove away. However he got stuck in a traffic jam panicked and abandoned the car and ran away with a suitcase containing Rs 10 lakh. But he was spotted and chased down by constable Subhash Chand. He was escorted back to
the abandoned car to find Rs 30 lakh kept in the other
suitcases missing. The police also found the other three
employees searching for the driver and the car. |
Jetley new Deputy Army Chief NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (PTI) — Lt Gen S.K.Jetley, the seniormost Armoured Corps officer, was today appointed Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Training and Command) while Lt-Gen Inder Varma and Lt Gen Nirmal Chander Vij took over as new Military Secretary and Director General of Military Operations here, respectively. Commissioned in ‘Central India Horse’, an Armoured Corps regiment, in December 1960, Lt Gen Jetley attended the tank technology course and senior officers course both at Moscow, an Army spokesman said. He held staff assignments
at the military operations directorate, Army
Headquarters, Brigadier General Staff of a strike corps
and at the Command Headquarters. |
Wind up minorities’ panel: VHP NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (PTI) — The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today demanded immediate winding up of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), saying the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) could be used as an effective forum for redressing people’s grievances. Complaints should be dealt with in the context of human rights violation and not by taking into consideration the communities to which complainants and affected people belonged, senior VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore told reporters here. Since the NHRC had been
looking into the violation of human rights, the NCM
should be done away with, he said. Mr Kishore also
demanded that “privileges” being provided to
Muslims be withdrawn. |
Now khadi jeans NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (PTI) — Once the spirit of Swadeshi and non-cooperative movement, the Gandhian charkha is going upmarket, spinning denim jeans and furnishings. Already a thriving Rs 5,076 crore industry, the khadi and other village products are undergoing metamorphosis to survive in the ultra-modern world. “With people becoming more conscious and the niche for natural products, including the fabrics growing the demand for our Swadeshi products is increasing”, says Bhupal Singh, Director, Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC). As gramudyog goes global,
it’s made a profit of Rs 20 crore last year and the
market is showing an annual growth of 14 per cent |
HC directive on phone dues MUMBAI, Feb 15 (PTI) — In a significant order, the Mumbai High Court has directed Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) and the union government to furnish by April 5 a list of former members of Parliament who were still in arrears of telephone bills amounting to nearly Rs 4 crore, and to state steps taken to recover the dues from defaulters. Admitting a public interest litigation last week, Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice A.P. Shah observed that the affidavits filed by the respondents so far were vague. The PIL, filed by advocate M.P. Vashi, alleged that the MTNL was adopting a discriminatory attitude towards politicians by not recovering from them arrears in payment of telephone bills running into crores of rupees. It was contended that MPs
were allowed 50,000 free telephone calls worth Rs 65,000
and if the bills exceeded this amount they were required
to pay from their own pocket. But most of the MPs crossed
the limit of free telephone calls. |
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| Transfer of cases to be
challenged NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu Government will challenge the validity of the Centre’s notification, transferring corruption cases against AIADMK general secretary, Ms J. Jayalalitha and others from three special Judges appointed by the State Government to the Sessions Courts in the Supreme Court within a week. Counsel for the state government Fali S. Nariman and Shanti Bhushan told a division Bench of the apex court comprising Justice G.T. Nanavati and Justice S.P. Kurdukar that “The Centre has issued the notification without consulting the Madras High Court and we wish to challenge the notification in the Supreme Court within a week.” — PTI Two tribal women raped Elephants go
berserk PLA activist
killed in encounter Fellowship for
activist Suspected Bodo
ultra killed Two dacoits
crushed to death Dr Srivastava dead Encounter near
National Games venue Goa Governor meets
CEC 7 ex-officials
jailed for graft |
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