 |
| Tuesday, May 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
Hurriyat consults Pak on offer Tytler, Sajjan get show-cause
notices Kishan Kumar case: notice to Jail
Superintendent PM greets workers Depot fire reduces village to
ashes Cong ready to clear dues of former
PMs BJP team visits Gujarat areas |
|
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Vajpayee to meet scribes’
panel Advani worried over internal
security UK library to open on May 16 Uma Bharati begins fast Girl commits suicide MPs’ immunity: SC refers plea
to Constitution Bench Woman murdered by grandson Christians oppose move on marriage
Bill Uzbek President on 3-day visit Bodies of singer, kin cremated Sudarshan Sareen resigns
|
Hurriyat consults Pak on offer NEW DELHI, May 1 — All Party Hurriyat Conference leaders today paid a visit to the Pakistan High Commission and reportedly discussed the offer of talks from the Government of India. Former Hurriyat Chairman Mirvaiz Umar Farooq and Muslim Conference leader, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, who arrived in the Capital on Sunday after their meeting with US Congressman Devi Bonior, are here to find a viable way for accepting the offer. Since Islamabad has been consistently supporting the APHC, Hurriyat leaders too would like to take into consideration the Pakistani opinion, diplomatic sources said. When contacted Kashmir Awareness Bureau spokesman neither confirmed nor denied the meeting. Meanwhile, two Hurriytat leaders were released from Kot Balwal Jail in Jammu today while Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman and senior Hurriyat Conference leader Yasin Malik was shifted back to Tihar Jail from a private hospital. Mr Bashir Ahmed Tota of People’s League, one of the constituents of the Hurriyat Conference, and Mr Abdus Samad Inqualabi of Jamaat-e-Islami were released this morning from Kot Balwal jail, official sources here said. The two had been detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in September last year. Mr Malik, was admitted to a private hospital on April 25 following complaint of chest pain. He was shifted from Jodhpur Jail to Tihar on Monday last. Mr Malik, Mr Abdul Majid Dandoo, Mr Abdul Ahad Waza, Mr Ghulam Mohammed Sankara and Mr Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai were all shifted to Tihar Jail yesterday, apparently as a first step towards their release. The Centre had indicated that it was ready to hold talks with Hurriyat leaders, but the latter are insisting on a formal offer of talks before reacting. Three senior Hurriyat
leaders — Mr Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Professor Bhat
and Maulana Abass Ansari — were released earlier
this month. |
Tytler, Sajjan get show-cause
notices NEW DELHI, May 1 — The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, has come down heavily on the dissidents in the Delhi Congress by issuing show-cause notice to four senior state leaders and warning letters to 15 party MLAs to desist from anti-party activities. Mrs Sonia Gandhi had earlier ruled out any change in the leadership at the state level. The dissident leaders calling for the removal of the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, had levelled allegations of corruption and inefficiency. The show-cause notices were issued yesterday by the AICC General Secretary in-charge of Delhi, Ms Prabha Rau, at the behest of the high command to Mr Sajjan Kumar, Mr Jagdish Tytler, the former DPCC President, Mr Deep Chand Bandhu, and Mr Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, sources said. The notices returnable in two weeks asked the dissidents why action should not be taken against them for indulging in damaging the image of the party and the leadership. Warning letters have also been served on 15 MLAs, including Mr Mukesh Sharma and Mr Mahabal Mishra, who were at the forefront in running a campaign inside and outside the Assembly against the Delhi Chief Minister. They have been warned of stern action if they did not desist from indulging in anti-party activities. The action comes a week after the dissident MLAs led by Mr Sajjan Kumar and Mr Tytler held a press conference charging Mrs Dikshit with being "corrupt and inefficient". The high command has already set up a six-member coordination committee, including senior Congress leader Mr Madhavrao Scindia, Ms Prabha Rao, Dikshit to sort out the issue. The former Delhi Chief
Minister and MP, Mr Sahib Singh Verma, has filed a
complaint of corruption against Mrs Dikshit before Lok
Ayukta based on the statements made by the rebel Congress
leaders and the independent complaints he had received. |
Kishan Kumar case: notice to Jail Superintendent NEW DELHI, May 1 (PTI) — A city court today issued a showcause notice to a Tihar Jail Superintendent to explain why match-fixing accused Kishan Kumar could not be produced before it in a FERA violation case despite its order. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal issued the notice asking the Jail Superintendent to appear before her along with the accused on Wednesday. The notice was issued after the crime branch police, in whose custody Kishan Kumar is being interrogated for alleged cheating and criminal conspiracy, submitted that it had no information about his production before the court from the Jail Superintendent. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had arrested the Bollywood actor for his alleged involvement in the hawala transactions relating to the match-fixing case, today sought extension of his remand period in judicial custody though it was opposed by defence counsel H R Khan Suhel. The court will hear the ED application along with Kishan Kumar’s bail application on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Rajesh Kalra,
the first accused arrested in the case involving South
African cricketer Hansie Cronje and four of his
teammates, was yesterday remanded to judicial custody
till May 13. |
PM greets workers NEW DELHI, May 1 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today greeted workers of the country on the occasion of May Day. In his message he said
the day strengthens "our commitment to the welfare
of the workers and to evolve a more productive work
culture in the country." |
Ex-Wing Commander charge-sheeted NEW DELHI, May 1 (PTI) — Retired Wing Commander Satnam Shah and his daughter Priya Shah, arrested for allegedly possessing over 150 kg of charas here in February, were today charge-sheeted by the police in a city court. The charge-sheet was filed in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Indermeet Kaur Kochhar, who after taking its cognisance issued summons asking the two to appear before her on May 15 to face trial. The charge-sheet comprising only three pages was filed under Section 20 of the NDPS Act against Satnam Shah and Priya, both presently in judicial custody in Tihar Jail. The police had arrested them in February after seizing contraband stuffed in seven suitcases. "Despite sincere efforts, the source of charas could not be established as Satnam Shah kept on changing his disclosure statements", the charge-sheet said. Satnam Shah had first claimed that one Rajesh Bhardwaj of Gurgaon in Haryana was the source of contraband and nothing incriminating had been found against the latter during investigation, it said. Satnam Shah had
subsequently changed his statement. |
Cong ready to clear dues of former PMs NEW DELHI, May 1 (PTI) — The Congress today said it was committed to paying all pending dues of former party Prime Ministers including Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, but had requested the government to fix "easy instalments" to clear these. "Whatever dues are pending, the Congress will clear these. But we had requested to the government to provide the facility to pay in easy instalments", party spokesman Ajit Jogi told reporters when asked to comment on the government’s reported plan to take action against defaulting former PMs who have not cleared the dues. Asked if the defaulters included former Prime Minister Rao too, Mr Jogi said "of course". However, he said the party had paid most of the dues against Rajiv Gandhi. To a question if the
government had rejected the Congress’ plea for
payment in instalments, Mr Jogi said the party had not
yet received any communication in this regard. |
BJP team visits Gujarat areas BARODA, May 1 (PTI) — A two-member BJP team of MPs that visited the drought-prone areas of Dohad and Panchamahal districts of central Gujarat today, said relief works would not be affected in the state due to financial crunch. Talking to newspersons here after their visit to the drought-affected areas, Mr T.N Chaturvedi and Mr Sanghpriya Gautam, who would submit their report to the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Delhi tomorrow, said they would urge the latter to give more funds to the state. The MPs expressed satisfaction over the drought relief works carried out in interior tribal areas of both the districts. They admitted that there was some delay in the starting of relief works in the affected areas for which they blamed the administration. They said they had instructed officials to keep fodder camps open for 24 hours to enable the people to get fodder any time. They also received
complaints of inadequate distribution of fodder,
non-availability of foodgrains and delay in payment of
wages from the people working at the relief sites. |
Advani worried over internal security GANDHINAGAR, May 1 (PTI) — Union Home Minister L K Advani today expressed concern over the deteriorating internal security in the country and stressed the need for measures to strengthen it. Inaugurating the Rs 9.85=crore Police Bhavan building, constructed to house offices of various police departments here, the Union Home Minister said it was the primary responsibility of the police to maintain a fool-proof security within the country and at the borders. In the last five years, the deteriorating security had led to deployment of Black commandos for the VIPs, he said, adding that it was time to gain back people's confidence in the country's security system. While the Indian Army played a major role during the Kargil war, the police had to play its duty to check the proxy war, he said. Mr Advani said even after its defeat in Kargil, Pakistan was continuing with its proxy war. He blamed Pakistan for the recent massacre of 36 Sikhs in the Kashmir valley. Referring to the tourism scene in Kashmir, Mr Advani said for three years, from 1997-99, the situation was normal in Kashmir. Mr Advani said Gujarat being a border state required special attention regarding security. He praised the law and order situation in the state and said the crime-rate had come down in the past three years. Mr Advani also called for good governance in the country irrespective of the political parties and said the aim of self-government was to maintain internal as well as border security. Mr Advani called upon the police personnel to maintain discipline and said they should not indulge in any activity that defames the force. Referring to the police
commission report, Mr Advani said the Central Government
was taking action as per the recommendation and was
taking care to set up police housing whearas the police
housing facility in Gujarat was 63 per cent but still the
arrangement for 35 per cent more facilities were still to
be done. |
Vajpayee to meet scribes’ panel NEW DELHI, May 1 (PTI) — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has convened a meeting of representatives of national-level unions of newspaper employees on May 4 to discuss the issue of the wage boards for journalists and non-journalists. The meeting, which will also be attended by Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley and Labour Minister Satyanarain Jatiya, has been convened following a request by the National Coordination Committee of Newspapers/News Agencies Employees Unions for Prime Minister’s intervention, a Prime Minister’s Office spokesman said here. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the committee had also sought a meeting with Mr Vajpayee at the earliest to discuss matters relating to R.K. Manisana Singh Wage Boards. The committee, the spokesman said, had been invited to attend the meeting. The committee comprises
the National Union of Journalists (India), the Indian
Federation of Working Journalists, the Indian Journalists
Union, the All-India Newspaper Employees Federation, the
National Federation of Newspaper Employees, the
Federation of PTI Employees Unions and the UNI Workers
Union. |
Girl commits suicide SRIGANGANAGAR, May 1 — Veer Pal Kaur, a teenaged girl of a village of this district, committed suicide allegedly after she was searched in the examination hall of State Senior Secondary Girls School at Gajsinghpura by a teacher. Police sources said that a case had been registered against the teacher concerned for forcing the girl Veer Pal Kaur to commit suicide. Investigation into the case was being conducted by the Station House Officer (SHO), police station, Gajsinghpura. The teacher was yet to be arrested. Mr Ravi Parkash Mehreda, SP, said on the phone that an FIR was registered on the complaint of brother of the deceased. He added that the body of the girl was cremated by her kin without conducting any post-mortem. Veer Pal Kaur was asked to stand up by the invigilator in the examination hall who suspected that she was carrying some paper chits which could be used for copying. She was allegedly slapped and searched in front of other students by another teacher on April 27. She was taking the class XIth examination. Veer Pal Kaur went home and allegedly took some poisonous substance. The kin of deceased cremated her dead body without suspecting any foul play. However, the brother of deceased approached the police when certain students who were also taking examination on that day reported the incident to him next day. Mr Mehreda said that a
case under Section 306 of the IPC had been registered on
the complaint of the brother. |
Depot fire reduces village to ashes MANDAWANI (Bharatpur), May 1 (PTI) — Friday’s fire at the Bharatpur Ammunition Depot had caused widespread destruction in this village leaving nearly 200 persons homeless and destroying large storage of wheat, a senior police officer said here. This village located 7 km northeast of the ordnance depot bore the maximum brunt of the flying shells and other ammunition, including GRADS (used in multi-barrel rocket launch vehicles) and most of the houses and thatched huts kept burning even 24 hours after the depot tragedy. Residents of Mandawani fled to places as far as Agra and Jaipur. However, it was not a welcome return for them as they saw their houses reduced to ashes. "My home has been reduced to ashes and I do not know where to stay in the scorching sun," says Rama Devi, a resident of the village. The Superintendent of Police (Bharatpur Range) Madhusudan Singh said the winds on Friday were blowing in the direction of the village and caused severe damage here. A shocked Sukhi Ram, a resident of the village, does not know what is in store for him as the yield of his hard-work (wheat) has been reduced to ashes. "I do not know what I will do as I do not have anything to feed my family," Sukhi Ram, who had returned from Jaipur said. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who visited the village yesterday, asked the district administration to provide relief. Dev Raj, another resident of the village, is busy salvaging household articles from the ruin the fire caused. "At least this would be of some help while building a new house," says he, picking up some mud bricks from the ashes. Meanwhile, reports of theft were pouring in from some villages but the authorities confirmed only one. Mr Madhusudan Singh, SP said "The police has registered two cases of theft from Kasuda village and we believe that people who did not leave during Friday’s melee were responsible for the act." He said the police was investigating the incidents and would soon apprehend the culprits. In a related development, Mr Ashok Gehlot announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 50,000 to the next of kins of those killed in the ordnance depot fire here on Friday. Mr Gehlot also went around hospital and villages and saw the extent of damage caused by explosion of shells and rockets. The Chief Minister also visited the houses of those killed and gave a relief of Rs 10,000 on the spot. He was accompanied by
state Home Minister G.S. Shaktawat and former Chief
Minister of the state Jagannath Phadia. |
Suicide by WB minister? CALCUTTA, May 1 — West Bengal Industries Minister Bidyut Ganguly (CPI-M) died this morning because of severe burn injuries. He was brought to Calcutta from his North 24-Parganas residence last night in a critical condition. The CPI (M) state unit general secretary, Mr Anil Biswas, said Ganguly had sustained burn injuries due to an accidental fire. But the police suspect it to be a case of suicide. Local evidences also suggested that Ganguly might have committed suicide. An inquiry has been ordered. According to party sources, Ganguly had been mentally disturbed for the past few months due to some problems in the family. Yesterday he returned home after attending a party meeting in the area and locked himself in his room on the first floor of his residence. His wife and daughter were not in the house. Suddenly the maid servant saw smoke billowing out of the room and Mr Ganguly was found with severe burns and in an unconscious state when the door was opened by the people. He was taken to SSKM Hospital in Calcutta from his Jagatdal residence where he succumbed to his injuries in the morning. NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has condoled the death of West Bengal Minister Bidyut Ganguli. As a mark of respect to
the departed leader the laying of foundation stone for
the extension of circular railway from Dum Dum cantonment
to Calcutta airport has been postponed, a Railway Board
release issued here said today. |
MPs’ immunity: SC refers plea
to NEW DELHI, May 1 (UNI) — The Supreme Court today referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking correct interpretation of Article 105(2) of the Constitution giving immunity to a Member of Parliament in respect of any act done by him inside the House. The petition, filed by the Centre for public interest litigation, assumes importance in view of the ruling of the apex court in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) case in which the Constitution Bench, by a majority verdict, held that bribe-giving MPs were liable to prosecution but those MPs who took bribe were not held liable for prosecution provided they performed the act for which they were bribed. The petition was referred to the Constitution Bench by a three-judge Bench comprising Mr Justice S.B. Majmudar, Mr Justice S. Saghir Ahmed and Mr Justice K.T. Thomas, after hearing preliminary arguments from senior counsel Anil Divan, appearing for the petitioner organisation. Mr Divan contended that when everyone was talking about eliminating corruption from the public life, the apex court judgement in the JMM case granted immunity to an MP for taking bribe either to speak or vote in a particular manner in the House. Equally, the judgement held that an MP, who despite having received a bribe, either to speak or vote in a particular manner, but abstained, was liable to prosecution. Terming the judgement a
"mockery", he said since the judgement in the
JMM case had become final, he was not asking for quashing
the same but for a declaration that prospectively it
would not be a law. |
Woman murdered by grandson NEW DELHI, May 1 — A 22-year-old youth, Sansar Chand, shot dead his 65-year-old grandmother at Keshav Puram in North-West Delhi. The accused went to the house of the deceased, Rishalo Devi, with a knife and a country-made pistol this morning. He quarrelled with the woman. Later he shot at her, killing her on the spot, the police said. The police arrested the accused from his residence. During interrogation he said that the old woman created a lot of problem in his family that was why he killed her. Father of the accused,
Rajinder, is a Class IV employee in Hindu Rao Hospital. |
UK library to open on May
16 NEW DELHI, May 1 — A fortnight from now, residents of Chandigarh will have access to a range of British newspapers, periodicals and books published in London. British Council’s 13th library in India is scheduled to open in Chandigarh on May 16. Mr Colin Perchard, Director of British Council in India told TNS here on today that the Director-General of British Council is likely to inaugurate the library in Sector 8, Madhya Marg. Mr Perchard who is also the Minister of Cultural Affairs, British Council in India said that the new styled library was more than a library. "This library would be an information centre where members will be able to gain access to all British websites and gather information related to British education, English language and English language teaching, British Tourist Authority and British Visas by a touch screen. The Chandigarh library will be the first British Council library in the country to get a touch screen," he said. Mr Perchard said a business information centre will provide information related to opportunities for investment in Britain and joint business ventures. Apart from this, the information centre would provide management training videos and educational counselling. He said the exciting thing about the library was that it had tremendous support. "Apart from individuals, it has the support of the Foreign Commonwealth Office, the British Department of Trade and Kep publishers in London. Macmillan, Penguin, Harper Collins, Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press have sent us a thousand titles for the new library. We have drawn a list of books by researching the kind of books that are popular in 12 libraries of British Council in the country." Asked whether the membership would be open to children, Mr Perchard said, "In due course if there is demand, we will work towards setting up a library for children." Mr Perchard said that the membership fee for individuals would be Rs 300 for a year. The library would be open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. Asked why British Council chose Chandigarh for opening a library, Mr Perchard said, "It is simple. Chandigarh is a premier city, central to both States, Punjab and Haryana. It is a very accessible city." He said that the library has been designed by Delhi based architect and designer, Vistaap Bagwasar. Mr P Jayarajan who looks after British Council’s library operations in India said that the library would start enrolling members from May 17. Mr Jayarajan said thrust would be on providing reading material on computers, management and other communication technologies. He said members would also be able to gain access to websites and send e-mail in the Internet centre. The number of hours each member can get on the Internet is yet to be worked out. He said the demand for setting up a library in Chandigarh had been pending for long. The British Council had got similar requests from Jaipur, Indore, Bhubaneshwar, Coimbatore, Cochin, Vadodara, Goa and Guwahati.’’ Apart from four main
regional libraries in Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai and
Chennai, the British Council has libraries in Hyderabad,
Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Bhopal, Lucknow
and Patna. |
Christians oppose move on marriage Bill NEW DELHI, May 1 (UNI) — The Christian community today strongly opposed the government’s move to introduce the Christians marriage Bill 2000 in Parliament in its present form. Leaders of the Catholics Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) and the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) addressing a joint press conference here said they had proposed certain changes in the draft before taking it to Parliament and had handed over to Law Minister Ram Jethmalani written suggestions covering various modifications that the Christian community had sought. Delhi Archbishop Alan de
Lastic said the draft Bill withdraws important freedoms
historically enjoyed by Christians. Hitherto marriages
could solemnised in the church when one party was a
Christian and both wanted to wed in church. This right
has been taken away. The new Bill restricts church
marriages only when both partners are Christians and
forces mixed couples to go for a marriage under the
special marriage Act. |
Uma Bharati begins fast BHOPAL, May 1 — The BJP in Madhya Pradesh has, albeit reluctantly, lent its support to former union minister Uma Bharati’s indefinite fast in protest against the State Government’s move to retrench 30,000-odd wage workers recruited after December 31, 1988. Ms Bharati, who is member of the Lok Sabha from Bhopal, began her fast near Vallabh Bhavan (State Secretariat) at 11 this morning. To add to the discomfiture of the ruling party, Congress MLA Kalpana Parulekar also reached the spot blasted Chief Minister Digvijay Singh for his "inhuman" decision to sack the poor workers and declared her total involvement in Umaji’s movement. Yesterday, when Ms Bharati announced her programme to start her "fast unto death" she was all alone. She said that she had written to party president Kushabhau Thakre to seek his blessing but there was no reply. "I’m also a leader of the BJP in my own right and I have decided to take up the cause of these poor workers irrespective of whether the party supports me or not", she said. Several senior leaders, including Mr Lakkhiram Aggarwal, in-charge of the party in Madhya Pradesh, Mr Vikram Verma, working president of the State unit, State BJP vice-president Babulal Gour and former Chief Minister Kailash Joshi discussed the matter and reluctantly agreed to lend support to the agitation. The only condition they had put to Ms Bharati was that she should not use the nomenclature "fast unto death" since there was no tradition in the party to permit such a thing to a party leader. Ms Bharati readily changed her plan from "fast unto death" to "indefinite fast." Several party leaders and workers were present at the site of the fast to show their solidarity with Ms Bharati this morning. Ms Parulekar was highly critical of the last week’s cabinet expansion done by Mr Digvijay Singh". The Chief Minister is
these days busy with his "gram sampark
abhiyan," an annual ritual. He however, spoke to Ms
Bharati this morning over the telephone and asked her to
postpone her indefinite fast to May 7 when a discussion
on the issue could be held. Ms Bharati said that Mr
Digvijay Singh’s proposal was meaningless since the
Chief Minister had made it very clear he was not prepared
to reconsider the decision. |
Uzbek President on 3-day visit NEW DELHI, May 1 — Indo-Uzbek ties are expected to be strengthened with the arrival of Uzbek President Islam Abduganlevich Karimov today evening on a three-day official visit. During Mr Karimov’s stay in the capital, nine bilateral agreements including an extradition treaty will be signed. A Joint Declaration on Principles of Relations between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of India will also be signed. With both Uzbekistan and India facing the menace of terrorism, New Delhi and Tashkent have decided to work on a joint strategy to counter the problem. There were a series of bombing incidents in Uzbekistan in the late nineties. With Uzbekistan too
identifying the source of its terrorism in Afghanistan
and Pakistan, there is a convergence of interest between
New Delhi and Tashkent. |
Bodies of singer, kin cremated BANGALORE, May 1 (PTI) — The bodies of noted playback singer and light music artiste, G.V. Atri, and five of his family members, who drowned at Sanda Anegunda, near the famous pilgrim spot of Sringeri in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka yesterday, were cremated here today. Hundreds of people from all walks of life bade a tearful farewell to this talented singer whose bright future was nipped in the bud at a young age of 38, family sources said. Atri, known as
"junior P.B. Shrinivas", renowned playback
singer of the South of yesteryear, was a singer who sang
from his heart, captivating young and old with his
"soulful singing". |
Sudarshan Sareen resigns NEW DELHI, May 1 — After serving as the Chairman of the Delhi State Industrial Development Corporation and Delhi State Mineral Development Corporation for three years, Mr Sudarshan Sareen has resigned. However, he continued to
be the national President of Laghu Udyog Bharti, an
all-India organisation of smallscale industries, and a
nominated member of the National Commission of Labour, a
press note said. |
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