 |
| Saturday, March 4, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
RS adjourned over ICHR issue DMK opposes basic statute review ‘Elizabeth’ release next
week
"Homeless" Sikkimese
want citizen status Housing loan from EPF simplified Delhi police wants challan amount
hiked |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Badal meets PM on subsidies’
issue Sonia to address rally on RSS
issue Fatwas issued to film stars Tenth Guru’s
‘sanad’ found Awards for Kalam, Chidambaram Karma Kagyu sect cautions Karmapa
|
RS adjourned over ICHR issue NEW DELHI, March 3 (PTI) — The Rajya Sabha was today thrown into turmoil for about half-an-hour over the controversial withdrawal of two volumes of "Towards Freedom" series by the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) as the Opposition stalled proceedings and forced an abrupt adjournment of the House till lunch. Trouble arose when the Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, defended the ICHR’s move while replying to a question by CPM member Nilotpal Basu. Agitated over the minister’s defence of the move, the entire Opposition, led by its leader, Mr Manmohan Singh, demanded a half-an-hour discussion on the issue. However, Mr Joshi refused to yield leading to an uproar. Though Mr Krishan Kant, the Chairman announced that question hour was over, Opposition members were still on their feet vociferously making their demand. Sensing the mood, Mr Kant adjourned the House for lunch, barely a minute into the zero hour. Agitated Opposition members, led by Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, said the minister was wasting time of the House by reading out minutes of the ICHR meetings instead of replying to their supplementaries on the main question. Mr Joshi said the ICHR had requested the publisher, Oxford University Press, to "temporarily withhold" the publication of the two volumes written by Prof Sumit Sarkar and Prof K.N. Panicker to ensure that the "lapses and drawbacks" found in the earlier volume were not repeated. He said the two volumes
would be reviewed by a committee comprising Prof Satish
Mittal, Prof Hari Om and Prof A.R. Khan. While the
Opposition said none of the committee members were a
modern Indian historian, he said all three were eminent
historians specialising in modern history. |
DMK opposes basic statute review CHENNAI, March 3 (PTI) — The DMK will oppose any move during the proposed review of the Constitution that may appear to take away constitutional guarantees for secularism and protection of minorities or affect the rights of the states, party President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told the state Assembly today. "If any change to be proposed by the Constitution Review Commission affects the minorities, undermines secularism or the rights of the states, the DMK will vehemently oppose it," Mr Karunanidhi said, intervening in the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor for her address to the house on March 1. Responding to a strident attack by CPI and the TMC members on his party for not opposing moves to review the Constitution, Mr Karunanidhi, said the review commission Chairman, Mr Justice M.N. Venkatachalaiah, had assured the nation that there would be no change in the basic structure of the Constitution. "If you don’t believe the assurance of the Prime Minister, you can at least go by the word of Mr Justice Venkatachalaiah," Mr Karunanidhi told CPI MLA K Subbarayan, who had earlier expressed scepticism about believing the promises made by any leader of the Sangh Parivar. Earlier, Mr K.S. Alagiri (TMC) asked Mr Karunanidhi how the DMK could allow itself to be misled into believing that the constitutional review was a legitimate exercise and not a "conspiracy" to alter the constitutional structure. Mr Subbarayan said that though he would go by the assurance given by Mr Justice Venkatachalaiah, there was no guarantee that the BJP-led government would not go beyond the commission’s recommendations and bring forward questionable amendments. Mr Karunanidhi, on the
other hand, pointed out that in any case the review
panel’s recommendations would have to come to
Parliament one day and said there was no scope for any
change to be made without the requisite majority in both
Houses. |
‘Elizabeth’ release next week NEW DELHI , March 3 (UNI) — Renowned actor-filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, whose controversial Oscar-winning film ‘Elizabeth’ is finally being released next week after having run into censor trouble, says that he makes films that are on issues rather than being personality-based. Addressing a press meet here today, Kapur said that while ‘Elizabeth’ deals with the issue of Catholics and Protestants, his film on ‘Mandela’ deals with black pride. Similarly, ‘Bandit Queen’ had dealt with the caste system rather than Phoolan Devi’s story. The film is being released one year after it won the Oscar and six months after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) cut three scenes in the film which is a dramatised version of the life of Queen Elizabeth I. Following an appeal to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) against the decision of the CBFC, only one of the three cuts, that of severed heads, has been retained in the version being released here. While the sub-titled reference to ‘queenie’ has been removed, the love-making scene objected to by the CBFC has been reduced. However, the ‘adult’ certificate given by the CBFC has been changed to ‘u/a’ (under parental guidance). Though Kapur had said last year that he would not release the film in the country till the cuts were restored, he said today that he had accepted the verdict of the tribunal as there was form of appeal beyond that. Kapur said the delay in
release of any film gives a free hand to pirates and this
affects the commercial success of a film. Films have a
short shelf life and, therefore, their release should not
be delayed beyond a point. Asked about future projects,
he said that after the film on Mandela, he was making
‘Phantom — The Opera’, ‘Air
Pirates’, and the Asimos Trilogy. He may also
complete the Hindi film ‘Tara Rum Pum’ which
had been abandoned midway. |
"Homeless" Sikkimese want citizen
status CALCUTTA, March 3 — Over 100,000 "homeless" Sikkimese settled down in the Darjeeling Duars Coochbehar area of North Bengal, have demanded that citizenship be granted to them without any further delay. They have threatened to launch an agitation otherwise. The ultimatum was sent to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Joyti Basu, by the Sikkim National Congress as well as the Sikkim Sangram Parisad. These "homeless" Sikkimese mostly comprises Lepchas and Bhutias who at the time of Sikkim joining as a hill state of India, had been treated as "outsiders" by the Chogyal on ethnic discrimination and are still considered as "homeless" Initially they lived in Sikkim but afterwards spread over the adjoining hills of Darjeeling and the Duars. But neither the Sikkim Government nor the West Bengal Government had taken any legal"guardianship" of them. Mr Basu said the state
had no legal responsibilities for these "homeless
people" and demanded that the Centre should take
immediate steps to decide the fate of these people. |
Housing loan from EPF simplified NEW DELHI, March 3 (PTI) — The Centre has amended the procedures for withdrawals from Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for housing purposes to provide smooth and trouble-free service. The procedure was simplified under a notification on February 25, 2000. The Centre has also extended the EPF facility to all private sector bank employees and even to those banks who operate from more than one state, an official statement said here today. Under the new
notification, the members would have to submit only a
self-declaration that the house belonged to him and was
free from encumbrance, the statement added. |
Delhi police wants challan
amount hiked NEW DELHI, March 3 — The Delhi police has urged the Delhi Government to increase the challan fine of bus drivers who violate traffic rules causing fatal accidents in the Capital. An erring driver is fined Rs 100. It should not be less than Rs 500, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Ms Kanwaljit Deol, said. On the traffic scenario
in the Capital, Ms Deol said the traffic police planned
to install cameras at important roundabouts in the
Capital to watch traffic violators. |
Fatwas issued to film stars HYDERABAD, March 3 (UNI) — Five Islamic seminaries in the city have issued fatwas to Muslim film stars to "renew their faith" as they were practising polytheism in films. The seminaries felt that the polytheism tantamounted to "atheism and infidelity". One of the seminaries, Darul-Uloom Sabil-ul-Islam, decalred that it was "unlawful" for Muslims to act in films. The fatwas were issued
when the tonsuring of head by film actress Shabana Azmi
for Deepa Mehta’s controversial film
"Water", was referred by Mr Syed Fazil Hussain
Parvez, editor of "Gawah", an Urdu weekly, to
the seminaries — Jamia Nizamia, Dauril-Uloom
Sabil-ul-Islam, Darul-Uloom Hyderabad, Darul-Uloom
Rahmania and Almahad Al-Ali-ul-Islami. |
Tenth Guru’s ‘sanad’ found HARDA (MP), March 3 (UNI) — A ‘sanad’ (document) written by the Tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, has recently been brought to light in Handiya tehsil in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh. Harda Subdivisional Officer Varadmurti Mishra told UNI that the religious and historical piece of document was preserved by a Brahmin family. Guru Gobind Singh on his way to Nanded in North India had given this ‘sanad’ to a distinguished scholar Bongar Bhatt at Handiya, he added. He said the document was written for Mr Bhatt’s family in Gurumukhi script on a special light yellow coloured paper and could even today be easily deciphered. Several Sikh families had thereafter requested Mr Gokul Bhatt present descendant of Mr Bongar Bhatt, to hand over the ‘sanad’ to them. Mr Gokul had, however,
refused to part with the document saying that it was his
invaluable inheritance, he added. |
Sonia to address rally on RSS
issue NEW DELHI, March 3 — The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, will address a rally in the Capital on Monday in protest against the Gujarat Government’s move to allow government employees to join the RSS. Addressing a press conference, the DPCC president, Mr Subhash Chopra, said here today that the March 6 rally would highlight the "dangerous course towards which the BJP is taking the country," by attempting to politicise the bureaucracy. He added that the
Congress President had set the ball rolling against the
"nefarious designs" of the BJP by courting
arrest on the Martyrdom Day on January 30. |
Awards for Kalam, Chidambaram AHMEDABAD, March 3 (UNI) — Nuclear scientists A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and R. Chidambaram have shared the first Hari Om Ashram Prerit Senior Scientist Award for 1998 for their contributions in science and technology. The biannual award, instituted by the Hari Om Ashram Trust, Nadiad, carries Rs 1,00,000 and a citation. Dr Kalam, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, is also the leading missile technologist in the country and his leadership in the development of the satellite-launch vehicles and guided missiles laid the foundation for the development of high technology. Dr Chidambaram, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy is a leading experimentalist in the fields of neutron crystallography and high pressure physics. The awards were given
away by the PRL, Chairman, Prof U.R. Rao. |
Muslims submit memo to Narayanan NEW DELHI, March 3 (UNI) — Prominent Muslim leaders today made a impassioned appeal to President K.R. Narayanan to withhold assent to the controversial UP Regulation of Public Religious Buildings and Places Bill as "it is aimed to muzzle the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution.’’ In a memorandum submitted to the President, Naib Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Mr Jaweed Habib, Prof Akhtar Wasey, Director, Islamic Studies of Jamia Millia, and Mr Rahat Mahmood, Chairman, Janata Dal Minorities Cell, said the Bill was against the spirit of the Constitution and would harm the interests of the minorities. "The promulgation of the Bill will not only put hurdles in the Constitution and extension of new religious places of worship and centres of education, but would throttle religious institutions as well." The Muslim leaders said the Bill empowers the District Magistrate to earmark the site where the religious institution would be constructed. They said the idea behind the Bill was to deprive the minorities their constitutional rights. The other signatories to the memorandum are Mr M. Afzal, a former MP, Maulana Nawabuddin Naqashbandi, Mr Z.K. Faizan, Mr Wasim Ahmed Ghazi, Dr Shahid Pervez and Mr Hamid Hussain Khizir. Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari demanded the immediate withdrawal of the UP Bill and said any attempt to promulgate the ‘Hindutva agenda’ would endanger the unity and integrity of the country. Addressing a Friday prayer gathering, he said the Constitution grants every Indian not only religious freedom but also freedom to preach and propagate his religion, but the UP Bill attempted to kill this freedom. He demanded that the
Union Home Minister give the names and number of ISI
agents arrested from madrasas and mosques. |
Badal meets PM on
subsidies’ issue NEW DELHI, March 3 — Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee to reconsider the reduction in subsidies especially on urea and fertiliser. Mr Badal called on the Prime Minister and briefed him about the impact of the move on the economy of the state as well as the farmers who were suffering on account of high costs of input and diminishing returns. The Punjab Chief Minister’s demand is similar to the one made by Chief Ministers of NDA constituents, including Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, both of whom have sought roll-back on the move to reduce subsidy both on fertilisers and foodgrains. Informed sources said Mr Badal said in case the government was not willing to accommodate the request from Punjab then the state should be compensated by matching rise in the procurement price. Apart from rise in the cost of inputs, he said, the farmers of Punjab would be hit on account of reduction in foodgrains subsidy since it would result in lesser off-take. The sources said as it is Punjab was facing an acute shortage of space due to slower off-take of foodgrains, the reduction in subsidy would further affect it, the sources added. With the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha away from Delhi, he could be present at the meeting which was attended by Union Minister, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh. Meanwhile, sources in
Punjab government said the Prime Minister had assured the
Chief Minister that the Centre would soon clear funds for
international airport at Amritsar. |
Complete list in 6 months: Vittal NEW DELHI, March 3 (PTI) — The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) proposes to complete the list of corrupt officials in all government departments and display them in its website by another six months, Chief Vigilance Commissioner N. Vittal said here. "The list will be complete in six months’ time and our department will bring out names of corrupt officials in all the 60 departments which are under the purview of the CVC", Mr Vittal told PTI last night. He said the department would also regularly keep updating the list of corrupt officials already on his website. "Mine is a humble beginning to weed out corruption from the society... and several people have complimented the department for its crusade against this menace", he said. Earlier, delivering a talk on "transparent government for our citizens: A necessity", Mr Vittal defended his move to display names of corrupt officials on its website saying "I have only used the modern way of information technology to convey this to the masses". He said a more transparent government would lead to better administration. "The ideal government should be small, moral, accountable, responsible and transparent (SMART)," he said. Criticising the Official Secrets Act, Mr Vittal said "this law has been subjected to gross misuse by the officials... The government could be as transparent as it wants to be." Mr Vittal said displaying the names of corrupt officials was to only make vigilance department more transparent. Mr Vittal said some of the officials, whose names had been displayed, said they had not been chargesheeted. "This only reflects the inefficiency and sad state of the department which has not been able to even chargesheet the official," he said. He illustrated his point by comparing corruption with cockroaches and said both multiply in darkness. Mr Vittal said his aim was to instil confidence among the people that the government was a "service provider" and the public was a "consumer". Mr Vittal assured that the CVC would be following proceedings against corrupt officials till they were either punished or acquitted. However, he said the names of punished officials would continue to remain on the website while of those acquitted would be removed. He opined that any department should not pay any attention to "anonymous complaints" as they were only targeted against the honest officials. In an attempt to encourage greater transparency in government departments, the CVC had also issued a circular to display all such orders where discretion had been used. "This is also a measure to check corruption," he added. The CVC has also now put
the vigilance manuals regarding banks and the public
sector companies on its site. |
Karma Kagyu sect cautions Karmapa NEW DELHI, March 3 (PTI) — Disciples of Karma Kagya sect and followers of Thaye Dorje, rival to the Tibetan 17th Karmapa, today cautioned that any visit by the 14-year-old monk to the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim would prove "disastrous" and escalate large scale violence. "In pursuit of the wealth and influence of the Rumtek Monastery, the ‘Chiness boy’ and his group of villains would destroy the 900-year Kagyu tradition," Lama Sonam Rinchin, emissary of the Thaye Dorje, told mediapersons here after releasing a book on their version of the ‘Karmapa’ story. Rinchin, who is here on a month-long trip from Hong Kong, said he was here to tell the "truth to the world and protect the Karmapa’s flock from being misled by perpetrators of violence". The purpose of his visit
is the release of the book ‘The Siege of
Karmapa’, which dwells on "infamous violent
attack unleashed against the Kagyu sect in 1993 by the
group". |
Badges of Sacrifice presented NEW DELHI, March 3 (PTI) — Badges of Sacrifice and Certificates of Honour were presented today to the widows or the next of kin of officers, who laid down their lives in various wars and other operations since Independence. Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt-Gen Chandra Shekhar presented the honours at a function here. Six officers wounded in
these operations were also presented certificates and
financial assistance, an army press note said. |
Vyas Samman for Shukla NEW DELHI, March 3 (PTI) — Noted Hindi playwright and satirist Shreelal Shukla was today honoured with the prestigious Vyas Samman for his satirical novel "Vishrampur ka Sant" at a ceremony here. The award, instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation in 1991, was presented to Shukla by the Union Human Resources Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi. It carries a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh, a citation and a shawl. The award-winning novel
of Shukla chronicles the forces and ideologies prevalent
in the post-Independence Indian social milieu with a
satirical punch. |
Marathi actress dead MUMBAI, March 3 (UNI) — Popular Marathi actress Ranjana who dominated the Marathi silver screen in the 70s and 80s with her inimitable acting in several blockbusters passed here this morning following a massive cardiac arrest. She was 45 and is survived by her mother, Vatsala Deshmukh, a noted character actress of her time and a nephew. The end came at 8.15 a.m. at her residence at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai.
|
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | In Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 119 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
