Sunday, May 9, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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NTPC threat to stop power
supply to 7 states RJD ready for poll pact: Laloo |
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Justice Misra to head
AICC’s rights wing NATO bombing of embassy deplored
Cong to seek report on Kurien
"episode" Rebel MLAs seek party meeting
UN assignment for Sorabjee Mix-up of bodies creates flutter
Tushar expelled from SP |
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NTPC threat to stop power supply to 7 states NEW DELHI, May 8 (PTI) — National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) today threatened to discontinue power supply to seven major states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from June 1 due to their mounting arrears. The "NTPC has been constrained to give notices for discontinuance of power supply effective from first week of June, 1999, to the seven defaulting utilities whose arrears in number of months of billing are the highest", it said in a statement. The outstanding dues payable by various state electricity boards/utilities have been mounting rapidly and have accumulated to Rs 10,408.55 crore, including a surcharge of Rs 3,708.59 crore as on March 31, 1999, corresponding to 5.8 months of billing as against level of two months agreed in the covenant with the World Bank. The outstanding dues from the seven major defaulters are Rs 7,721.01 crore including a surcharge of Rs 2,442.19 crore accounting for nearly 77 per cent of total outstanding dues. Uttar Pradesh is top on
the list with Rs 2.036.05 crore as outstanding dues
followed by Delhi with Rs 2,024.54 crore and Bihar with
Rs 1,793.95 crore. |
RJD ready for poll pact: Laloo NEW DELHI, May 8 (PTI) — The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) today kept its options open for alliance with the Congress, the Samajwadi party, the Left Front and Janata Dal in the coming Lok Sabha elections even as its President Laloo Prasad Yadav was authorised by its national executive to hold parleys with like-minded parties. "We do not have any differences with these parties," Mr Yadav told reporters at the end of the day-long national executive meeting here. He parried repeated questions as to how many seats his party would leave for like-minded parties saying he had not yet had any word with them. He said the national executive has authorised him to hold parleys with those parties which had voted against the Vajpayee government in the confidence motion. Earlier, presiding over the meeting, Mr Yadav came down heavily on the Vajpayee government accusing it of "misusing" the CBI during election time and sought President K.R. Narayanan’s intervention in the matter. He said the Centre had chosen a particular time when elections were round the corner to demoralise the party and tarnish its image for "narrow" political gains. The meeting urged Mr
Narayanan to intervene and stop the CBI from
"humiliating" a woman Chief Minister Rabri
Devi. |
Justice Misra to head
AICC’s rights wing NEW DELHI, May 8 — Mr Ranganath Misra, MP and former Chief Justice of India, has been appointed head of the newly-formed AICC's Human Rights Department. Mr Justice Misra, who was also the first Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, said one of the objectives of the department will be to devote attention on conduct and events within the party at all levels and try to bring them in accord. The department shall look into grievances of violation, both in and outside the party and shall take up important obstinate social issues for research and solution, he said at a press briefing at the party headquarters today. He said in appropriate cases matters could even be taken to Court for resolution and the role of the department shall be that of a watch-dog. "We believe that there is no politics in human rights and we in this department shall function with that approach in mind", he said in a press statement. Apart from Justice
Misra, the department will have Mr Janardhan Reddy and Mr
Ghulam Nabi Azad as its members while Mr A.K. Sood, will
be its secretary. |
‘Bharatiya bano, Bharatiya chuno’ is BJP slogan MUMBAI, May 8 (UNI) — “Bharatiya bano, Bharatiya chuno” (be Indian, vote Indian) is the BJP’s slogan during the Lok Sabha elections to counter Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s bid to capture power, Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan has said. Talking to reporters here late last night, Mr Mahajan who is in charge of the party’s election campaign, said Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin could be a non-issue during the elections, “but, the BJP will leave it to the people to decide”, he added. Strongly criticising Mrs Sonia Gandhi for her role in pulling down the BJP-led coalition government, Mr Mahajan said she had nothing to offer to the voters. “She is not an untested missile. In 1998, she tried her level best but the Congress ended up with only 140 seats. I don’t know what new she will add”, he further said. Mr Mahajan said that, the Sonia Gandhi’s ‘reluctant politician’ image has been wiped out by the way she tried to grab power through the backdoor when her party did not have the mandate. Earlier everyone admired her efforts to revive the Congress, but, now her image in the eyes of the people has changed,” he said. Referring to provisions in the Constitution, which do not prevent Mrs Sonia Gandhi from becoming the Prime Minister, Mr Mahajan said, “the architects of our Constitution did not realise that after 50 years of freedom, the prospects of a foreign-born Prime Minister would be looming large over us”. “America is a country of migrants unlike India and hence America had to specify that no foreign born will be Head of State”, he stated. Talking about the
BJP’s prospects in the elections, he said his party
would fare better than its performance in 1998. The
voters would give a decisive mandate for the 13th Lok
Sabha, he hoped and claimed that the BJP would get 225
seats on its own while its allies would get at least 100
seats. |
NATO bombing of embassy
deplored NEW DELHI, May 8 — India has deplored NATO’s bombardment which damaged the Chinese embassy today. To a question, The Minister of External Affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh said “that any damage to a diplomatic establishment, intended or otherwise, is to be entirely deplored.” “This incident along with continuing loss of innocent civilian lives and other untoward consequences only confirms that the very fundamentals of NATO’s new approach are wrong. The incident also underlines which we in India, along with a good part of the international community have been emphasising from the very beginning that a solution to the problems relating to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is to be found only in means other than the military”, Mr Singh said. The Samata Party
yesterday appealed to all political parties to sink their
political differences and stage a joint demonstration
against the NATO’s action in Yugoslavia. |
Shiv Sena leader shot dead MUMBAI, May 8 (PTI) — A former Shiv Sena Shakha Pramukh Dattaram Ramchandra Sawant was shot dead by unidentified gunmen here today. Sawant (50) was gunned down near the Godrej factory at Vikhroli in north east Mumbai this morning. He was a resident of Tagore Nagar in the suburb. The police said the
motive for the killing was not immediately known. |
Rebel MLAs seek party meeting LUCKNOW, May 8 (UNI) — Dissident BJP legislators in Uttar Pradesh assembly today demanded that Chief Minsiter Kalyan Singh convene a party meeting in the presence of a central observer. Mr Rajesh Pandey, Vidhan Parishad member and spokesman of the dissidents, said the support for Mr Kalyan Singh could be ascertained through a secret ballot. He also threatened that the dissidents would resign from the assembly if their demand to replace Mr Digvijay Singh was not met. Forty legislators have already submitted their resignation letters to party president Kushabhau Thakre in Delhi yesterday. Mr Pandey said Mr Thakre had assured them that the (Uttar Pradesh) issue, which had been pending for long would be taken up for consideration. The dissidents will meet again on May 15 to decide on the future course of action, he added . Mr Pandey was
particularly harsh on state BJP President Rajnath Singh
and Senior state party leaders Lalji Tandon and Kalraj
Misra who had reportedly given some assurances to the
party leadership on the dissidents.’’who are
they to talk on behalf of us’’? he asked and
added. “We have not authorised anybody to speak to
party leadership on our behalf”. |
Pay proposals for scribes to be recast NEW DELHI, May 8 (PTI) — The Justice Manisana Singh Wage Boards for Journalists and other Employees of newspaper industry have decided to rewrite the controversial working paper on wage revision which had sparked off country-wide protests, the National Coordination Committee of Newspaper and Newsagency Employees Unions claimed here today. The decision to reframe the proposals for wage revision in the newspaper industry followed discussions in the Wage Board over the last week, the committee said in a release. The committee which met here today deplored the Indian Newspaper Society representatives for not attending the board meetings this week called for continued vigilance against “attempts to sabotage the wage fixing machinery.” It also decided to
strengthen coordination at state and district levels and
to expose and decide on further steps. |
UN assignment for Sorabjee NEW DELHI, May 8 — The Attorney General of India, Mr Soli J. Sorabjee, has been appointed Personal Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for East Timor. Mr Sorabjee, an internationally reputed human rights activist, will soon lead a short mission to East Timor and hold talks with authorities in both Jakarta and East Timor and UN agencies. He will also meet the members of diplomatic community in Indonesia, members of civil society, as well as citizens groups and individuals to ascertain the situation of human rights in East Timor and explore ways in which the Human Rights Commission and international community could help improve the situation in East Timor. This is the second UN
assignment for Mr Sorabjee who was appointed Special
Rapporteur of Nigeria. |
Mix-up of bodies creates flutter CALCUTTA, May 8 (PTI) — A last-minute realisation of a mix-up of bodies of two aged women prevented a Muslim woman from being cremated here. The relatives of Tribeni Shaw took the body of Ayesha Khatun from the morgue of the City Medical College Hospital on Tuesday without verifying her identity, the police said here today. The mistake was detected after the family of Ayesha said the body handed over to them was not hers. By that time Tribeni’s family had already reached the Keoratala crematorium. The police flashed a
message to the crematorium with an instruction to
withhold the cremation. |
Cong to seek report on Kurien
"episode" NEW DELHI, May 8 — The Congress said today that it would seek a report on the alleged involvement of former Union Minister, Prof P.J. Kurien, who has been summoned by a Kerala Court, in a serial rape case. "We will collect information and the matter will be examined", the AICC spokesman, Mr Shastri, said in the face of a volley of questions about the party's stand at the daily briefing today. Prof Kurien was the Chief Whip of the Congress in the dissolved Lok Sabha. According to a news agency report from Kochi, a first-class magistrate at Peerumedu in Kerala's Idukki district had ordered issue of summons to Prof Kurien on a private complaint filed by the victim of a serial rape case. To a question whether
the party was adopting double standards by asking Mr
Venod Sharma to step down for the alleged crime committed
by his son, and not taking any action against Prof
Kurien, the AICC spokesman said the party will examine
the case before taking any decision. |
15 killed as truck falls into gorge RISHIKESH, May 8 (PTI) — At least 15 persons were killed and 26 injured when a truck fell into a deep gorge near Ghansali about 51 km from Tehri, official sources said here today. The mishap occurred last evening when the truck, carrying a marriage party, lost control and fell into the gorge, they said. The injured were
admitted to the hospital, the sources said, adding senior
district officials have rushed to the accident site. |
Tushar expelled from SP MUMBAI, May 8 (PTI) — The Samajwadi Party (SP) today expelled the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and senior party leader, Tushar Gandhi from the party for a period of six years for "anti-party activities". "Abu Asim Azmi, Mumbai Pradesh SP President, has taken strong note of the anti-party activities of Tushar Gandhi and on account of that he (Tushar Gandhi) has been expelled from the party for a period of six years", an SP release here said. Tushar Gandhi had
criticised Mulayam Singh Yadav for "indirectly
helping the communal forces to prevent formation of an
alternative secular government" by not helping the
Congress form government at the Centre, SP sources said. |
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| Jail term for 28 cops SALEM: Twentyeight policemen, including an Additional Superintendent, have been sentenced to one year’s simple imprisonment by a local court for having accepted bribe from an illicit arrack seller. Chief Judicial Magistrate M. Jayabai also slapped a fine of Rs 6,000 each on the policemen of the Prohibition Enforcement Wing at nearby Gonur for having allowed the seller to operate in the area in 1989. Those sentenced include ASP K. Ramadoss, DSP V. Palanisamy, Inspector K. Shahul Hameed and Sub-Inspectors K. Ramachandran, K. Manickam and Srinivasan. The ASP, DSP and the Inspector paid the fine on Friday while the others sought a week’s time. — PTI Property attached Four crushed to
death by jeep 5 SRP jawans
killed India to head
human rights panel Indian
documentary gets award |
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