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| Saturday, April 22, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Action on Kargil report in 6
months Party men revolt against Dikshit SC ruling on destitute widows |
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Uma threatens indefinite
fast CBI pulled up for changing witness
list Department for NRIs Tension as prisoners continue fast Verify degrees, demand doctors Three arrested in robbery case Andhra curtains for Clintons? No to PIL on threat to Naval
complex Safe return of JK migrants
‘not far’ Work on Fazilka, Abohar line soon Kishan Kumar grilled Remarks on PM VHP leader’s
‘personal opinion’ Bandh hits life in Purnia Good Friday observed
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Action on Kargil report in 6
months LUCKNOW, April 21 (UNI) — The government would take a decision within six months on the Subramaniam committee report on the Kargil conflict, the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, said today. Talking to newsmen after laying the foundation stone of Paramveer Chakra Capt Manoj Pandey War Widows Wards Hostel in the Army Public School premises here, he said the decisions would be on restructuring the Army and military intelligence as well as modernisation of weaponry. "A committee comprising the Union Home Minister, Finance Minister and myself have already studied the report. The follow-up action is to be taken in six months,’’ he noted. Mr Fernandes, however, parried a question whether the government would restore the military intelligence set-up which was changed before the Kargil conflict in the northern sector. "You (reporters) seem to know more than I do,’’ he quipped. The Defence Minister was of the view that the defence outlay should be at least 3 per cent of the gross domestic product. At present it was well below this mark, he pointed out. He agreed that neighbouring countries like Pakistan and China were spending 6 per cent of their GDP for defence purposes. "The resource mobilisation has to be borne out of the tax payers’ pockets.’’ Mr Fernandes regretted that in Parliament, opposition parties spoke of increasing the defence outlay but always resisted attempts to tax the common man. "The problem is that both the things cannot go together,’’ he maintained. On release of All-Party Hurriyat Conference leaders from the jails of Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said the Union Government had not taken any such decision. When he was reminded that the announcement in this respect had come from Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah himself, he said state governments had the right to speak out their views but the Central Government took the decision in its own manner. He said Hurriyat leaders had been set free earlier but with no positive result. "We are willing to take such a decision but it has to be reciprocated,’’ the minister added. Mr Fernandes admitted
that there was movement of Pakistani troops across the
Kutch border. He, however, said the Indian troops were
also in the state of alert and there was absolutely no
cause of worry. |
Party men revolt against Dikshit NEW DELHI, April 21 (UNI) — Senior Congress leaders today revolted against Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and demanded her immediate resignation terming her as "corrupt and incompetent". "The extent of corruption is beyond imagination," former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler and other Congress leaders told reporters. The press conference was also addressed by former Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Deep Chand Bandhu, MLA, DPCC Vice-President Ram Vir Singh Bidhuri and other party legislators. Describing the regime of Ms Dikshit as "non performing", they said the Congress government had done precious little for the poor and rural folk during the past 16 months of its rule. The leaders would meet party President Sonia Gandhi in a day or two to put forth their demand, Mr Tytler said. Without specifying whether they had agreed on an alternative legislature party leader, Mr Tytler said, "We do not want any outsider to be the Chief Minister. One of the party MLAs should replace Ms Dikshit." In order to stem the dissidence within the party apparatus in Delhi which has been simmering for some time now, the Congress high command had constituted a six-member coordination committee on Wednesday, the first in the series for all Congress-ruled states, to take up every issue relating to the party and the government. When questioned, Mr Tytler overlooked the constitution of the committee saying "we do not even understand what is it all about." AICC General Secretary Ms Prabha Rau has been appointed the convener of the committee which consists of Mr Madhav Rao Scindia, Mr Jag Parvesh Chandra, DPCC President Subhash Chopra and DPCC Vice-President Deep Chand Sharma besides Ms Dikshit. At the outset, the Congress leaders made it clear that they remained "completely loyal to the leadership of Ms Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party". "Ms Dikshit has complete lack of knowledge about Delhi issues and not a single of these has been addressed by her so far with which we can go back to the people," Mr Tytler charged and termed her as "outright liar". The former minister said he had knowledge of four "concrete" cases of corruption against Ms Dikshit, two of them with documentary evidence. He cited the launching of radio taxis and denotification of the land for shifting Indraprastha University while listing the charges of corruption against her. He said the Chief
Minister was out to change Delhi’s character as a
"sober city" by infusing "pub
culture". With the latest excise policy, he said,
the people can now keep 20 litres of liquor at home and
clubs could remain open till 1 a.m. "We must take
note of the fact that most of the crimes take place under
the influence of liquor," he pointed out. |
SC ruling on destitute widows NEW DELHI, April 21 (PTI) — In a significant judgement, the Supreme Court has ruled that a widowed daughter, if she has no income of her own or no estate of her husband to fall back on, can claim maintenance from her father or mother. Section 19 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act creates an independent and personal right against the father during his lifetime (or against the mother) if the daughter is unable to maintain herself out of her earnings or other property, a Bench comprising Mr Justice S.B. Majmudar and Justice M.J. Rao said. "This provision also indicates that in a case of widowed daughter-in-law of the family, if she has no income of her own or no estate of her husband to fall back upon for maintenance, then she can legitimately claim maintenance from her father or mother," Mr Justice Majmudar said for the Bench. One Sham Singh had willed one-third of his property each to his widowed daughter, who was dependant on him, and two brothers. He had made it clear that though the sole right of the one-third property rested with the daughter Balwant Kaur, upon her death the property would revert to his two brothers. After the death of Sham Singh, Balwant Kaur claiming to have become full owner of the property given to her, willed the same to be given to another. This was challenged by brothers of Sham Singh, who contended that as she was the owner of the property only during her lifetime, after which the said property was to revert back to them, she had no right to will it to another. Referring to the will, the apex court said it had to be held that the testator (Sham Singh) did not confer full ownership of one-third interest in the suit land to his widowed daughter but only conferred a life interest in the property. Mr Justice Majmudar said if Sham Singh had died without making a will of his own properties, then Balwant Kaur could have become the full owner of the entire property left by him and would have excluded both his brothers. The court said under Section 21 of the Maintenance Act, a widowed daughter, if had nothing to fall back on from her in-laws, was to be treated as a dependant of her father. Mr Justice Majmudar said Section 22(2) of the Maintenance Act "clearly indicates that once a person is found to be ‘dependant’ of the deceased, then such a ‘dependant’ has a pre-existing right qua the estate of the deceased to get maintenance." He said this right would get attached to the estate which might get transmitted to the heirs of the deceased. The apex court held that Balwant Kaur, destitute widowed daughter of Sham Singh was staying with him and maintained by him in his lifetime, had nothing to fall back upon so far as her deceased husband’s estate was concerned and she had no estate of her own. The apex court set aside
the judgements of the trial court and high court and
upheld the order of the District Judge though for
entirely a different set of reasoning that Balwant Kaur
had acquired full interest in the one-third property
willed to her by her father. |
Uma threatens indefinite
fast BHOPAL, April 21 — BJP member of the Lok Sabha from Bhopal Uma Bharati, has threatened indefinite fast if the state government does not reconsider its decision to retrench daily wage workers. In a letter to Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, she has described the government decision as inhuman since many of the daily wagers now being sacked are the sole bread earners in their families. The decision, she says, has led to frustration among thousands of families and some of the daily wagers had even committed suicide. Ms Bharati in her letter says that she will start fast unto death if she does not receive a positive response from the Chief Minister within 10 days. Her letter is dated April 18. Ms Bharati had been virtually in political wilderness after resigning from the Union Council of Ministers on January 15 to lead the agitation for action against the Bhopal Collector. As the agitation was warming up, she was pressurised by the state BJP leadership to withdraw it on the Chief Minister’s assurance that a judicial inquiry would be ordered into the January 13 incidents. The judicial inquiry, yet to take off, is to cover the conduct of the Bhopal Collector during the election of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation Council Speaker, the procedure followed by him for the election, the "unauthorised" presence of a Madhya Pradesh Minister of State, a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha and a Congress MLA in the hall where the polling was held, the use of force on the BJP corporators and the happenings at Hamidia Hospital where injured BJP corporators and doctors had clashed. The BJP demands for the withdrawal of the agitation were: re-election of the corporation Speaker, transfer of the Bhopal Collector and institution of criminal cases against those responsible for the alleged lathi-charge on the BJP corporators. A visibly hurt Ms
Bharati had announced on January 21, at the meeting held
to wind up the agitation, that she would soon take the
Bhopal press into confidence about how she had been
pressured to withdraw the agitation. She has not so far.
Now she is returning to the politics of agitation with a
bang. |
CBI pulled up for changing witness list MUMBAI, April 21 (PTI) — A designated TADA court, hearing the serial blast case, has pulled up the CBI for frequently changing the list of witnesses it chose to examine, particularly at a time when the marathon trial was coming to an end. "It is most unfortunate that even after the passage of five years after the commencement of trial, the CBI has not been able to give a complete list of witnesses it intends to examine," Designated Judge P.D. Kode noted in his order yesterday. The issue arose over a list of 74 witnesses submitted by the CBI some days back and a team of defence lawyers opposing the move to examine fresh ones. On January 21 this year, the CBI had submitted a list of 155 witnesses it proposed to call in the witness box. Defence lawyer Farhana Shah, has dubbed this exercise of the prosecution as a move to delay the trial and said that it was introducing fresh witnesses at this juncture to cover the lacunae that may have cropped up during the trial. A total of 641 witnesses have already deposed before the court which has recorded evidence running into 11,000 pages. At least 126 accused,
including filmactor Sanjay Dutt, are facing the trial.
They are charged with conspiracy to cause serial blasts
on March 12, 1993, claiming 257 lives and injuring 713. |
Department for NRIs NEW DELHI, April 21 (PTI) — A new department is being set-up in the External Affairs Ministry to exclusively deal with the problems of six million non-resident Indians (NRIs) and over 20 million persons of Indian origin (PIOs). This decision has been conveyed by the Ministry to Parliament’s Standing Committee on External Affairs. An officer has been appointed for the department and the functions and responsibilities of this division are at present being worked out, according to the second report of the 42-member committee headed by Mr Krishna Bose. "The newly created division would improve coordination among various ministries and departments to optimise the benefits of the policies of the government directed towards the NRIs as well as the PIOs," it said. In its report, tabled in the Lok Sabha earlier this week, the committee regretted the government’s "lack of sensitivity and shortsightedness" in its approach towards NRIs and PIOs and asked the ministry to create a meaningful database on them. "The government has so far shown a lack of sensitivity and shortsightedness in their approach towards them which is evident from the fact that there is a total dearth of data on their economic strength, their cultural concerns, their potentialities and contributions towards their motherland and on many other related issues," it said. The report said the ministry should create a meaningful database to formulate an acceptable blueprint of ideas dealing with this issue. "Moreover, a comprehensive holistic approach, greater sensitivity and political will is required to effectively deal with NRIs and PIOs for the country’s benefit," it said. Terming NRIs and PIOs as "extremely valuable" for the country, the report was also critical of the lack of coordination among various ministries and departments and also complexities in the procedure dealing with the problems of NRIs and PIOs. The committee, however, hoped that the department being created by the ministry to exclusively deal with the problems of NRIs and PIOs would adequately be equipped to improve coordination among various ministries and departments to derive optimal benefits of government policies towards them and deal with their problems in an integrated manner. It felt that the ministry should explore the possibilities of setting up information centres or public relations offices at each of the important missions particularly in the Gulf countries. This was so because Gulf
countries had a large concentration of Indian workers to
provide them all possible assistance in times of
distress, specially in terms of providing shelter for the
hapless workers who are forced to flee due to
ill-treatment of employers. |
Tension as prisoners continue fast JEHANABAD, April 21 (UNI) — Tension prevailed inside Jehanabad sub-jail as the indefinite fast by 80 inmates entered the third day today. The inmates were demanding action against the jail authorities for their involvement in the recent clash among prisoners and ex-gratia payment to the dependants of one of the deceased prisoner. Jail Superintendent T.R. Gupta said the agitating prisoners, mostly supporters of the Ranveer Sena, were on fast since April 19, demanding an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the dependants and a government job to one of the kin of the prisoner who died at Patna Medical College Hospital. Mr Gupta said the prisoners, who had launched their indefinite hunger strike in two different wards, were demanding action against the officials involved in the incident by instituting an FIR on the basis of the statement of the prisoners injured during the clash. Official sources said
despite a request the district administration had not
provided medical aid to the striking prisoners. |
Verify degrees, demand doctors NEW DELHI, April 21 — The Delhi Medical Association (DMA) has demanded verification of the degrees of all 40,000 doctors practising in the Capital. Perturbed at the increasing number of quacks in Delhi, the DMA has decided to stage a one-day dharna and observe a token hunger strike in front of Rajghat on Sunday. At least 400 members of the DMA, doctor MPs and MLAs and representatives of voluntary organisations are expected to participate. Dr Anil Bansal, Chairman of the anti-quackery cell of DMA, told TNS here today that they would present a memorandum to the Prime Minister seeking verification of the degrees of all doctors practising in Delhi. He pointed out that the number of quacks was three times the number of qualified doctors in the Capital. While the number of doctors practising in the city was 10,000, the number of quacks was estimated to be 30,000. Other demands made by
the DMA in the memorandum include action against quacks,
continuous raids on clinics of quacks and institutions
awarding false degrees. The DMA has also demanded raids
on drug stores where chemists give medicines without
prescription and sell drugs without bills. |
Three arrested in robbery case NEW DELHI, April 21 — With the arrest of three persons, the North-West district police of the Capital claims to have worked out a robbery case that took place on April 18. Pradeep, Raju and Vijay were arrested from Jahangirpuri while they were on an autorickshaw. Two country-made pistols, a knife and Rs 5.95 lakh were recovered from their possession. During interrogation they confessed to have robbed two bank employees of the Canara Bank on April 18 of Rs 12 lakh. They said the bank employees would often hire Pradeep’s auto. Pradeep came to know that the officials carried money and made a plan to loot them. He discussed his plan with Raju, another TSR driver, Vijay, Karan and a doctor whose name is not known. As per the plan, Raju waited at the hospital autorickshaw stand while Pradeep along with other suspects stood at a distance from the hospital to loot the officials. After the robbery, the booty was distributed among the gang members. Pradeep and Raju were given Rs 1 lakh each, remaining money was divided among Vijay, Karan and the doctor. In another incident, the
East District police arrested five persons for the
alleged murder of a 15-year-old boy, Amit, in his house
at Gujarat Vihar. They were identified as Munnu, Rishi,
Rinku, Akram and Mohammad Ishar. |
Andhra curtains for Clintons? ELURU, April 21 (UNI) — Lace curtains made in a remote village in Andhra Pradesh may soon adorn the windows of White House, the official residence of the US President. US President Bill Clinton, who made a brief visit to the state during his trip to India last month, evinced keen interest in the lace products made by the Kanakadurga Dwcra Group of Annavarappadu village in West Godavary district. He even invited Mrs Degala Lakshmi, head of the Dwcra group, to the USA to market the group’s products in that country. District Collector Poonam Malakondaiah said the District Rural Development Agency was making all arrangements for Mrs Lakshmi’s trip, who is likely to leave for the USA on April 29. Besides Mrs Laskhmi, the US President has extended an invitation to four other groups from the state to visit his country. A beaming Mrs Lakshmi
told reporters that the Dwcra group was started with a
revolving fund of Rs 25,000 at Annavarappadu village in
1994. Later, the group started a women’s bank
"Santoshi Women Bank’’ at the village with
a deposit of Rs 7 lakh, of which Rs 6 lakh was advanced
as loans. Besides banking, the group also made forays
into lace making. |
No to PIL on threat to Naval complex NEW DELHI, April 21 (UNI) — The Delhi High Court has refused to entertain a plea seeking demolition of two high-rise buildings coming up opposite the Mobile Missile Coastal Battery (MMCB) complex at Worli seaface in Mumbai. A PIL filed by advocate B.L. Wadehra had contended that the two buildings could become a haven for hostile elements who could keep a surveillance from private flats over the naval complex set up to carry out seaward artillery firing practice. The naval coast battery at Worli has been established to meet the threat to Mumbai, especially from the North-West Sector. This is an operational requirement. The two buildings —
one 17-storeyed and the other six-storyed — were
given approval in 1994 and 1995. Both overlook the MMCB
complex which is a notified prohibited area. |
Safe return of JK migrants ‘not far’ NEW DELHI, April 21 (PTI) — Union Home Minister L.K. Advani has expressed confidence that time is not far for the safe return of displaced people from Jammu and Kashmir to their native land and their dignified stay there. "Yes, it is feasible ..... the challenge before the country is to see that the displaced people from Jammu and Kashmir go back and live in peace and dignity," Mr Advani told PTI here last night after witnessing a play staged for raising funds for displaced Kashmiri families. He said such a scenario would only be the "true touchstone" of return of normalcy in the state. The play ‘Tumhari Amrita’, directed by Feroze Khan, was staged to collect funds for displaced people of Kashmir. Noted stage
personalities Shabana Azmi and Farooq Shaikh played the
lead roles. |
Work on Fazilka, Abohar line soon NEW DELHI, April 21 — Work on nine railway projects was on in Punjab, Minister of State for Railways Digvijay Singh told the Lok Sabha yesterday. These included laying of new lines between Tarn Taran and Goindwal, Abohar and Fazilka, Nangal dam and Talwara and electrification of the Ludhiana-Amritsar track. Work on the rail line between Fazilka and Abohar will be taken up after requisite clearance. For work on the new line
from Chandigarh to Ludhiana, the necessary clearance had
been obtained. The final location survey had been
completed for the first phase between Chandigarh and
Morinda. |
Kishan Kumar grilled NEW DELHI, April 21 (PTI) — The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials today grilled Bollywood actor Kishan Kumar at Tihar Jail for couple of hours in connection with the alleged FERA violations by him in the sensational match-fixing case. A team of ED officials who were allowed by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal to question Kumar yesterday went to the jail this afternoon, sources in the agency said. The sources said that following the ACMM’s order yesterday, crime branch handed over voluminious documents pertaining to FERA violations collected by it so far during investigation against Kumar and Rajesh Kalra, a co-accused in the case. Kumar was earlier
briefly questioned by crime branch police but ED
officials had not interrogated him so far in the absence
of materials pertaining to FERA violations collected by
police during interrogation against him, they said. |
Remarks on PM VHP leader’s ‘personal opinion’ VIJAYAWADA, April 21 (UNI) — Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary M. Venkaiah Naidu has dismissed as "personal opinion" Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Acharya Dharmendra Maharaj remarks that Mr A.B. Vajpayee had damaged the Hindutva cause by showing undue haste in becoming the Prime Minister. Addressing a press conference here, yesterday Mr Naidu said the BJP had not given up its basic philosophy, ideals and principles. The BJP had only kept aside certain issues like Ayodhya, repealing of Article 370 of the Constitution and the Uniform Civil Code and evolved a national agenda with like-minded parties in the interests of the nation after no party came to support the BJP even though it emerged as the single largest party in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, he said. He made it clear that
the Vajpayee government was guided only by the National
Democratic Front manifesto and this had been reaffirmed
by the "Chennai Declaration". |
Bandh hits life in Purnia PURNIA, April 21 (PTI) — Normal life remained disrupted in Bihar’s Purnia town as an indefinite bandh called to protest Wednesday’s killing of district Samata Party president Madhusudan Singh, alias Butan Singh, entered the third day today. All shops and business establishments remained closed and streets wore a deserted look with no traffic. District Magistrate
Dipak Prasad said the superintendent of Purnia divisional
jail Abrar Ahmed Kanwar has been shifted as an inquiry
was underway to ascertain how Madhusudan Singh, who was
in jail, was allowed to go to the court for production
without police escort. |
Good Friday observed NEW DELHI, April 21 (PTI) — Undertaking of day-long fast and penance and special prayers in churches and cathedrals marked the observance of Good Friday, commemorating crucifixion of Jesus Christ, across the country today. Prayer services recounting the suffering and torture Christ underwent on his way to Mount Calvary, where he was crucified, were held in churches. Christ’s life and teachings, his arrest by Jewish high priests and his crucifixion were enacted at prominent cathedrals and churches. Huge crucifixes adorned
with crowns of thorns and nails were installed near
altars symbolising the Christian doctrine of
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to redeem the sins
of mankind. |
President returns NEW DELHI, April 21
(PTI) — The President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, returned
here tonight after a five state visit to France, the
first ever by an Indian Head of the State to that
country. |
Varanasi peaceful; curfew still on VARANASI, April 21 (PTI)
— Indefinite curfew, clamped on five sensitive
localities here, remained in force for the fourth day
today even as the holy city, which witnessed communal
clashes on Monday, was peaceful with security forces
maintaining a strict vigil. District Magistrate Alok
Kumar said the situation was tense but under control. |
16 die in bus mishap CHHINDWARA, April 21 (PTI) — Sixteen persons, including eight women and four children, were killed and 53 injured when a Madhya Pradesh State Transport bus fell into a ditch near Tamiya, some 60 km from here, last night, the police said. The bus was on its way
from Pipariya to Bijori when it fell into the 350-metre
deep ditch in Tultula valley. |
Tension in villages DIPHU (Assam), April 21
(PTI) — Tension prevailed today in east and west
Umglaiphar villages of Karbi Anglong district where 11
persons of a particular community were gunned down by
Karbi National Volunteer militants on Wednesday, official
sources said. Assam Industries Minister Gunin Hazarika,
today directed police and civil officials to make all
efforts to nab the culprits responsible for the massacre. |
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