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| Tuesday, January 25, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
Reservations for SCs, STs extended Striking staff smear faces of
those working Plea for Karmapa’s
‘permanent stay’ Sanjay, Aishwarya bag Screen
awards |
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SC ban on industrial
discharge in Yamuna
Curfew relaxed in Bandikuin Kamala Das finds instant suitor Tarlochan Singh assumes charge
|
PM honours 15 kids with bravery awards NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (PTI) — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, gave away the bravery awards to 15 children today and said no religion was greater than helping others. Giving away the medals and certificates to the children, who will ride atop caparisoned elephants during the Republic Day Parade, he said the award presentation function should be observed in a bigger way to inspire more children across the country. "This is the only such programme in the country. That is why it should be observed in a way that more children get inspiration. Holding it at the Prime Minister’s residence has its significance but the audience is limited," he said. Mr Vajpayee said there was no dearth of brave children in the country but finding them from the remote corners of the country was a difficult task. "Bravery, courage, fearlessness are traits without which a man cannot be successful. We all live for ourselves but to live for others is greatness and to put your own life at risk to save another life is even greater", he said while addressing a gathering mostly of children. While the highest bravery award for children "Bharat" was not given to any child this year, the Geeta Chopra and Sanjay Chopra Award went to 15-year-old Rashmi who joined her brother 12-year-old Harsh Shrivastava in fighting a bull to save a child. Harsh got the Bapu Gayadhani Award. The awards include free
education for the children upto class X. |
Reservations for SCs, STs extended NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (UNI) — Reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and State assemblies have been extended till January 25, 2010, following the presidential assent to a constitutional amendment in this regard. The Constitution (79th Amendment) Act also extends the provisions for nominations of Anglo-Indians to the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies for the same period or up to the 60th year from the commencement of the Constitution on January 26, 1950. The Legislative Department of the Law, Justice and Company Affairs Ministry has already issued a notification enforcing the Act with effect from January 25 this year, when the present reservation comes to an end. The amendment had been
passed by the 13th Lok Sabha in its first session in
October. |
Striking staff smear faces of
those working SRIGANGANAGAR, Jan 24 — The Rajasthan statewide strike of government employees today turned violent here when agitating employees ransacked the District Collector’s office, blackened the face of some employees on duty and damaged water pipes in the adjoining areas. The striking employees entered the Collector’s office and smeared the face of two temporary appointed employees, including a woman. According to officials, the employees tore official papers and smashed furniture. They also blackened the face of an Assistant Engineer of the water department in Suratgarh. Facing an acute shortage of water and infuriated over the behaviour of the striking employees, residents of Suratgarh stage a dharna in the town. Although the district administration has pressed water tankers into service, the situation remained grim. Health services were badly affected in some parts of Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts owing to the 39-day-old protracted strike by the employees. Keeping in view the disruptive activities of the water supply department employees, the district administration has deployed security forces near the water tanks. Continuing a crackdown on the striking employees, the district police arrested 11 more employees today of various departments under the Essential Services Maintenance Act. Meanwhile, the striking employees staged demonstrations at various places in the district and hundreds of employees staged a dharna in front of their respective offices. They shouted anti-government slogans. They have also threatened to disrupt the panchayats, panchayat samitis and zila parishads, slated for January 29 and February 2, if their demands were not conceded by the state government. There are 956 members in
30 zila parishads in the state and 5257 members in the
237 panchayat samitis. The district administration has
imposed Section 144 Cr PC in several areas of the town. |
Plea for Karmapa’s ‘permanent stay’ NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (PTI) — Leaders of various Tibetan organisations today urged the Centre to grant permission for "permanent stay" of the 17th Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje, in India and hope "good sense" would prevail over Beijing and it would give religious freedom to the people in Tibet. They strongly denounced reports of sharp differences among various Tibetan groups about the stay of the Karmapa in India to pursue his spiritual and religious education. "We thank the Government of India for giving adequate security to Karmapa Dorje and urge that he be given permission for permanent stay in India so that he could continue his spiritual education and spread the message of peace", Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association President Lama Chosphel Zotpa said at a special ceremony held here to celebrate the arrival of Karmapa Dorje. Lama Zotpa regretted speculations in the media about "differences" among Tibetan groups and the law and order threat due to the arrival of the Karmapa in India. Expressing happiness over the arrival of the 17th Karmapa, member of the Tibetan government-in-exile Dolma Guiari expressed confidence that the Indian Government would grant permission for his permanent stay. She hopes the escape of the Karmapa from Tibet would be an eye-opener for the Chinese regime. Endorsing the demand of
the Tibetan organisations, BJP’s Rajya Sabha member
T.N. Chaturvedi said, "He (Karmapa Dorje) is and
honoured guest and people and the government should
accord him all respect." |
Sanjay, Aishwarya bag Screen awards MUMBAI, Jan 24 (UNI) — Sanjay Dutt and Aishwarya Rai have been honoured with the Screen Videocon Awards for best actor and actress, respectively. The sixth Screen Videocon Awards for excellence in cinema, television and music were given away last night amid a galaxy of stars, prominent personalities and others at a function held at the Andheri Sports Complex in northwest Mumbai. Blockbuster of the year "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" was chosen the best film. It also bagged the maximum number of honours. Veteran music director Naushad was honoured with the Screen Videocon Lifetime Achievement Award by thespian Dilip Kumar. Naushad thanked the organisers of the awards and the audiences for the honour. Earlier, Liza Ray and Cyrus Broacha welcomed the guests and also conducted the show. Cine singer Lata Mangeshkar graced the occasion. Sanjay Leela Bansali was awarded with the best director award for his directorial skills in "Hum dil de...’’ Anil Kapoor for ("Taal") and Sushmita Sen for "Biwi No 1" bagged the award for best actor and actress, respectively, in the supporting role. Sayaji Shinde ("Shool") won in the best negative character role category whereas Anupam Kher ("Hasina Man Jayegi") bagged the award for best comic role. Anand Bakshi ("Taal") received award for best lyricist while Amrit Gill ("Hum dil de...") was chosen for best dialogue, John Mathew Attan ("Sarfarosh") for best story, and Saroj Khan ("Hum dil de...") for best choreographer. A.R. Rahman was awarded for best music in "Taal", Kavita Krishnamurti (Hum dil de...) in the best female playback singer category, and Joginder ("Taal") in the best male playback singer category. Aftab Shivdasani ("Mast") received the award for the best debut (male) and Netra Raghuragan ("Bhopal Express") for best debut (female). Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee bagged the award for the best lyricist in the non-film music category. Colonial Cousin received
the best music video album award. |
SC ban on industrial
discharge in Yamuna NEW DELHI, Jan 24 — The Supreme Court today imposed total prohibition on discharge of untreated industrial effluents in the Yamuna by industries in Delhi and Haryana with immediate effect. The Court directed that polluting effluents should not be discharged into any drains leading to the Yamuna and this order should be served on every industry in Delhi by the government. The order has been made applicable to Haryana also. The Bench comprising Mr Justice B.N. Kirpal and Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu, passed the order at a resumed hearing of the matter relating to pollution in the Yamuna of which the court had taken note in 1994 suo motu based on a newspaper report and ever since then the court has been issuing directions to ensure safe drinking water to citizens. The court, in its order, observed that the affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary of Delhi government seemed to indicate that the order passed earlier directing industries to stop discharging of effluents from November 1, 1999, into the Yamuna had not been complied with. A Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report stated that the amount of pollutants in the Yamuna was alarming. As per the report, the
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) content should be two
tonnes per million gallon whereas it was 234.21 tonnes as
on December 31, 1999. |
Discontent in armed forces NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (PTI) — While democracies all over the world have soldiers taking part in all decisions pertaining to operations, in India their absence among the decision-makers seems to be brewing discontent and demoralisation in the forces. Several serving and retired soldiers have expressed resentment over this "obstructionist" attitude of bureaucracy in operational matters, and held them responsible for delaying modernisation of the Army. "The bureaucracy has been a major instrument in delay or killing some good proposals for the modernisation of the armed forces and the obstructionist attitude of the Ministry of Defence (mod) is generating a feeling of neglect among the top brass of the defence service," says a senior defence official who requests anonymity. "Modernisation and upgradation skills are not deterrent enough and since the last 10 years there have been several indications to reveal that Indian Army was not modernising and the Kargil aggression was a result of this," says Air Vice-Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak. The Kargil conflict, the longest border engagement between India and Pakistan since 1971, has exposed the failure of defence planning and procurement that has developed over the 30 years of peace and underlined the need for the political class and bureaucracy to give more considerate hearing to the needs of the armed forces. A Senior defence official says the mod officials do not understand the basic need of the Army and the equipment sought to be procured. "There is no reason why the armed forces should not be involved in the decision-making mechanisms, especially relating to the areas which directly affect their work efficiency and performance on and off the battle front," the senior army officer says. Prominent defence analyst P.R. Chari, though advocating radical reforms in the decision-making apparatus, says that in no democracy can the armed forces be allowed to function independently. "Basic and fundamental reforms should be made in the decision-making process since the ultimate aim is national security," says Chari, who retired as Additional Defence Secretary, Ministry of Defence. It was strange but true
that there was not a single officer in uniform in the mod
unlike the American set-up, where the services of defence
personnel are utilised extensively for enriching the
quality of decision making. |
Curfew relaxed in Bandikuin JAIPUR, Jan 24 — The curfew clamped since Saturday on Bandikuin township in Dausa district of Rajasthan, was relaxed for eight hours from 8 a.m. to 4p.m. today as the situation there improved. The police said the curfew was relaxed for a greater duration today since the situation was returning to normal. Yesterday’s relaxation was only for four hours. The DIG Mr S.N. Jain, said curfew had to be imposed after certain persons went on the rampage and obstructed railway traffic following the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Chetan Swarnkar, a six-year-old boy of Bandikui. He said the people’s action was unwarranted since the police had not only arrested all culprits involved in the crime but also recovered the body of the boy. What led to the outburst of public anger was reportedly the role of the local police station after the father of the boy reported the matter there. Had the police taken action immediately, not only would the culprits have been arrested, the boy too could have been saved. The leader of the
Opposition, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, visited Bandikui
on Sunday. The DIG, the SP and the Collector informed Mr
Shekhawat that the kidnapper and his two accomplices had
been arrested. As per the post-mortem report, Chetan was
killed the very day he was kidnapped. |
HC asks govt to file affidavit in Jama Masjid case NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (UNI) — The Delhi High Court today asked the state government to file an affidavit within two weeks stating whether or not it is bound to take action on the report of a three-member committee set up to examine unauthorised constructions around the Jama Masjid here. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S.N. Variava and Mr Justice Cyriac Joseph also issued notices to officials of the Jama Masjid Trust for which no counsel has appeared in the past few hearings. The judges said warrants would be issued if required against officials of the trust if they do not respond to the court’s order. They were hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Indian National Trust for Art, Culture and Heritage (INTACH) and the Conservation Society of Delhi (CSD). The PIL calls for
removing all unauthorised constructions in and around the
Jama Masjid area besides preserving the original
structures. The Lt-Governor had appointed a three-member
committee headed by a high court judge to look into the
matter. |
Kamala Das finds instant suitor MUMBAI, Jan 24 (UNI) — Noted English poet Kamala Suraiya (formerly Das) got a marriage proposal soon after addressing a seminar here on the "Indian Muslim Agenda for the 21st Century". In her speech here yesterday, the 65-year-old writer, who had converted to Islam recently, had mentioned that being a widow, she would like to remarry and that her future groom would be decided by Allah. She had also reiterated her demand that he should be a God-fearing Muslim as well as a good person. As soon as she came down
from the dais, Mohammed Sardar, alias ‘Jinda
Lash’, walked up to her and proposed to her. Suraiya
coolly heard him out and then handed him her card saying
that she would think about his proposal. |
Tarlochan Singh assumes charge NEW DELHI, Jan 24 — Former Press Adviser to the President of India, Mr Tarlochan Singh, today assumed office as Vice-Chairman of the National Minorities Commission. Taking over charge of his new position, Mr Tarlochan Singh said he would strive for the uplift of the minorities. Earlier in the day, he
was felicitated by the Delhi State Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee at Bangla Sahib Gurdwara. |
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