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| Thursday, June 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Release of Indian troops on cards NEW DELHI, June 7 — Twentythree Indian peace keeping soldiers tonight appeared to be on brink of freedom after almost nine weeks of captivity by rebel militiamen in northern Sierra Leone. Karunanidhi’s Lanka stand baffling TN CM’s views
personal: Atal Don’t delay evidence in rape case: SC 14 Major-Generals
promoted, row ends Catholic priest murdered |
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| Misa’s wedding ‘cost’ Rs 3.9 m PATNA, June 7 — The ruling couple of Bihar, Laloo Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, spent a whopping Rs 3.9 million on the wedding of their daughter, Misa Bharati, an Income Tax probe has concluded. Spurt in crimes against women MUMBAI, June 7 — Noted Hindi cinema villain Jack Gaud died here early today following a heart attack, family sources said. He was 42. The actor had made a remarkable impression with his first role, portraying the villain in ‘Ganga Jamuna Saraswati’ opposite Amitabh Bachchan. Woman sets herself,
3 kids ablaze Pre-monsoon
showers in Rajasthan Woman kills baby,
attempts suicide
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Release of Indian
troops on cards
NEW DELHI, June 7 (PTI) — Twentythree Indian peace keeping soldiers tonight appeared to be on brink of freedom after almost nine weeks of captivity by rebel militiamen in northern Sierra Leone. Indian soldiers, who include two officers and one JCO, have been shifted by their captors, the militiamen of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) to areas close to Sierra Leone border with Liberia, an army spokesman said here indicating that the “hostages might be released tomorrow”. In anticipation of an imminent release of soldiers of the Indian contingent, Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen N.C. Vij has rushed to Sierra Leone capital Freetown, defence sources said. Sources said the soldiers, who were detained at Kuiva by the RUF, have been taken near the border town of Pendenbu amidst reports of a high-level meeting between a top RUF commander Brig. Issa Sesay and the company commander of the besieged Indian Gorkha contingent. The meeting took place in the backdrop of continued stand-off between two companies of the Gorkha battalion and 11 other UN military observers and heavily armed RUF gunmen. |
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Karunanidhi’s Lanka stand baffling Chennai, June 7 — It is difficult to fathom the reasons that prompted the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr M. Karunanidhi, to advocate a Czech model solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis, but his strong and detailed defence yesterday of his proposal as a “bitter but right medicine” has at best thrown the Vajpayee government into a state of tizzy. BJP leaders, apparently reminding themselves that the DMK’s support is vital for the survival of the NDA coalition at the Centre, are inclined to put a charitable interpretation of Mr Karunanidhi’s suggestion, giving him the democratic right to express his own and his party’s views even if they clash with the stand taken by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Sri Lanka. The Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, on a brief visit to Chennai yesterday, surmised that political compulsions could have weighed with the DMK leader. The BJP vice-president, Mr Jana Krishnamurthy, said his party would go by the various statements made by Mr Karunanidhi recently in the State Assembly and the latter’s endorsement of the Centre’s stand. Mr Krishnamurthy is willing to give the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister the benefit of the doubt by dismissing the suggestion by his critics that he is “playing a double game”, speaking in different voices in Delhi and in Tamil Nadu. In rejecting as impractical the Czech solution mooted by Mr Karunanidhi, the BJP leader points out that the Czech republic and Slovakia were formed on the basis of consent and in conditions of peace and not war. What has intrigued observers here is that the DMK leader has chosen to make an elaborate and calculated defence of his proposal, knowing well that the repercussions could affect the unity of the NDA. Two other units of the coalition, the MDMK led by Mr Vaiko, and the PMK led by Dr S. Ramdoss, who are staunch supporters of the LTTE and Tamil Eelam, are grateful to Mr Karunanidhi for endorsing their stand Dr Ramdoss said today he was fully behind the Chief Minister’s proposal. Until last week, the DMK had been strongly supporting the consensus in the NDA that India should not send its army and should only extend humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. It had hitherto also largely ignored the “pro-Eelam huffing and puffing” by MDMK and PMK on the ethnic crisis. Mr Karunanidhi has, of course, from time to time, taken the “we will be happy if they (Tamils) get Eelam” line. Public memory is short, but it is worth recalling that in the past the DMK had taken up the cause of Tamil Eelam. At the Madurai conference of Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation in 1984 in the aftermath of the violent ethic conflict that broke out in Sri Lanka (in 1983), Mr Karunanidhi had sought to muster support for Tamil Eelam. Interestingly, Mr Vajpayee had also participated in the conference, registering his support for Eelam. Disillusionment for Mr Karunanidhi apparently set in where the LTTE demonstrated that it had no compunction in resorting to violent elimination of rival leaders. The anti-LTTE mood took shape in the wake of the assassination of Mr Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991, in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. In the circumstances, observers here are wondering at the sudden volte face of Mr Karunanidhi in supporting partition of Sri Lanka by whatever name it may be called to assure a homeland for the minority Tamils. The public attitude in Tamil Nadu has been all along one of distant sympathy for their brethren in Sri Lanka, but support for the LTTE with its penchant for terrorism can be said to be only marginal. The Rajiv assassination was the last straw. Mr Karunanidhi apparently knows that the solution he has proposed has no chance of being seriously taken up in any quarter. Sri lanka has already denounced the proposal and New Delhi has reiterated that its stand of upholding the integrity of Sri Lanka “is consistent, well known and unchanged.” Did Mr Karunanidhi make the proposal with an eye on the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu due to be held early next year? Did he decide that with the opposition from rival parties like the Congress,
AIADMK, the TMC and the left, he could try to win votes with the party’s support for Tamil Eelam? Did he want to send a message to the LTTE which has been attacking him for his earlier stand that he is after all not unsympathetic to their struggle? The answers to these questions are anybody’s guess. Mr Karunanidhi is certainly not that naive to believe that the voters in Tamil Nadu are interested in the happenings in Sri Lanka in preference to their bread and butter at home. |
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TN CM’s views
personal: Atal
NEW DELHI, June 7 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today termed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s statement on division of Sri Lanka as his "personal views" and said there was no change in India’s position that the ethnic strife there be resolved within the framework of the country’s unity. Karunanidhi’s suggestion for partition of Sri Lanka were his "personal views or at the most of his party, but certainly not the views of the NDA which is committed to a common agenda," Vajpayee told newsmen at the airport on his return here from a holiday in Manali in Himachal Pradesh. |
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Don’t delay evidence in rape case: SC NEW DELHI, June 7 (PTI) — The Supreme Court has recorded its strong disapproval of the practice of doctors in government hospitals, specially in rural areas, not examining rape victims unless the case was forwarded to them by the police. A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice A.S. Anand said this attitude delays examination of the victim resulting in the evidence being either washed away or lost. “We wish to put on record our disapproval of the refusal of some government hospital doctors, particularly in rural areas where hospitals are few and far between, to conduct any medical examination of a rape victim unless a case of rape is referred to them by the
police," the Bench said. “Such refusal to conduct the medical examination necessarily results in a delay in the ultimate examination of the victim, by which time the evidence of rape may have been washed away by the complainant herself or be otherwise lost,” it added. The Court directed the state government to ensure against recurrence of such incidents. The case before the court was that of a class nine girl of Hosahatti village in Karnataka who was raped by one of her co-villagers Manjanna on April 6, 1998. The next day, the victim was taken to nearby Government Hospital at Belagur, where the doctor referred her to Hosadurga Hospital as there was no lady doctor at Belagur. However, the lady doctor at Hosadurga refused to examine her as she had not been referred by police. Thereafter a police case was registered and after long delay of three days, the prosecutrix was examined at Chitradurga Government Hospital as, by the time the case was registered, the lady doctor at Hosadurga had gone on leave. The clothes worn by the victim on chemical examination showed stains of semen and the lady doctor opined that the victim was sexually abused about four days prior to the examination. The trial court after examining the evidence held the accused guilty under Section 376(1) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), for raping a girl aged below 16 years and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment of seven years. The accused appealed against the trial court verdict in the Karnataka High Court and a single judge reversed the finding of the sessions judge disbelieving the testimony of the prosecutrix and the evidence given by the lady doctor who examined her. The apex Court while upholding the trial court’s verdict took exception to the way the single judge of the High Court analysed the evidence and said it shows “a singular lack of anatomical
knowledge.” |
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14 Major-Generals promoted, row ends NEW DELHI, June 7 (UNI) —More than seven months after the special selection board of the Army made its recommendations, the government today announced the promotion of 14 Major-Generals and filled the headless newly-raised 14 Corps in Leh by posting Major-Gen Arjun Ray as the General-Officer-Commanding (GOC) there. Although Army Headquarters came out with a denial last week, the promotions of Major-Generals to Lt -Generals had created some controversy with the government allegedly ‘interfering’ with the recommendations made by the board of which the Army chief is the Chairman. The board had met on November 23 and approved the Major-Generals for promotion but the government reportedly kept the list declassified as it wanted the Army to approve some candidates for promotion who had been rejected by the board. This had resulted in the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, 14 Corps and Siliguri-based 33 Corps being headless. General Ray of the Mechanised Infantry fills the gap created by the premature retirement of Lt-Gen A.B. Maseeh at Leh where 14 Corps was set up after the Kargil conflict last year. Among the other Major-Generals who have been promoted, Major-Gen Mahesh Vij, another Mechanised Infantry officer, has been posted as GOC of 4 Corps at Tejpur. Major-Gen T.S. Shergill goes as GOC of 3 Corps in Nagaland while Major-Gen R.M. Chadha will be Chief of Staff, Central Command an Army spokesman said. Other Major-Generals who have been promoted are Major-General O.S. Lohchab, Major-Gen J.R. Mukherjee, Major-Gen Kapil Vij, Major-Gen V.K. Kapoor, Major-Gen A.K. Chaki, Major-Gen J.S. Verma, Major-Gen J.S. Verma, Major-Gen J.J. Singh, Major-Gen J.B.S. Yadav, Major-Gen Hari Prasad and Major-Gen S.B. Satpute. The spokesman said Lt-Gen RK Nanawati, General Officer Commanding, Three Cops, had been appointed as Chief of Staff, Northern Command at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir, an Army spokesman said today. He will replace Lt-Gen ARK Reddy who
is retiring on June 30. Lt Gen Nanawati will take over as CoS Northern Command on July 1. |
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Catholic priest murdered NEW DELHI, June 7 (UNI) — A Catholic priest was murdered in his mission home, 8 km from Mathura cantonment, last night, the All-India Catholic Union (AICU) said here today. Quoting Archbishop Vincent Concessao of the Agra Diocese, AICU national secretary John Dayal said that the identity of the killers and the motive of the crime were not yet known. According to information from Archbishop Concessao, Brother George, a 35-year-old member of the Borivili order, was found battered to death in Navada in the Advikipost area on the Mathura bypass. The mission servant was found locked up in a room. The crime seemed to follow the pattern of the communal violence at Kosi Kalan in the Mathura area earlier this year, the AICU said. Preliminary information said some persons entered the house, locked up the servant and then went to Brother George’s room. They beat him up till he was dead and then escaped. Archbishop Concessao has left for Navada. Mr Dayal expressed concern at the killing and recalled that the Mathura-Agra belt had seen a series of acts of violence in recent months. A priest was treated brutally at Kosi Kalan, nuns harassed and schools and convents attacked, he said. |
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Misa’s wedding ‘cost’ Rs 3.9 m PATNA, June 7 (IANS) — The ruling couple of Bihar, Laloo Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, spent a whopping Rs 3.9 million on the wedding of their daughter, Misa Bharati, an Income Tax probe has concluded. The marriage was described as a “mega millennium wedding” and attended by thousands of people, including several political bigwigs. Income Tax officers had sneaked into the chief ministerial residence where the marriage took place and video-taped the ceremony, officials said. They arrived at the figure after computing the value of jewellery purchased for Misa and talking to decorators and caterers hired for the occasion. The investigation wing of the Income Tax department has sent a report to the Assessment Wing which is likely to complete the assessment process by April next year. Officials said a detailed investigation would be carried out by the assessment wing. Guests who attended the wedding would be questioned whether they had given gifts to Misa as claimed by Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief, replying to the Income Tax department on the expenditure incurred on the wedding, had claimed that he had spent a sum of Rs 700,000. He also claimed that the entire expenditure was footed by contributions from party supporters and well wishers. Investigators said Laloo Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, the Bihar Chief Minister, had submitted a list of gifts given to Misa by 115 important dignitaries. Included in the list was an unspecified gift from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi delivered on her behalf by a senior party leader. The wedding was attended by several senior political leaders, film actors and businessmen among others. The investigators have also examined Patna and Calcutta-based decorators who did up the wedding place and caterers of Kaveri restaurant in the state capital, who were hired by Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav for the occasion. Income Tax authorities have also served notice to Ram Babu Patheek, Misa’s father-in-law. However, officials said he was yet to file his reply. Mr Patheek is the latest of Mr Yadav’s relatives to be targeted by the tax department. His two brothers-in-law, Sadhu Yadav, an MLA, and Subash Yadav, a member of the legislative Council were earlier examined in a case of assets disproportionate to their income. The CBI, in this connection, had raided the chief ministerial residence of Rabri Devi, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav’s ancestral home in Phulwaria village and the house of his in-laws. Mr Yadav was sent to jail in the disproportionate assets case and released on bail after 36 days. The CBI has also filed chargesheets against him in four cases related to a scam in the Animal Husbandry Department. |
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Spurt in crimes against women NEW DELHI, June 7 (UNI) — India’s National Crime Records Bureau has recorded an increase of 40 per cent in cases of sexual harassment and 15.2 per cent in dowry deaths, according to the country status report presented at a special session of the UN General Assembly. There is also an “alarming” 87.2 per cent increase in the smuggling in of girls in 1998 over 1997, the report says in an explicit admission that in India, violence against women is widespread. The report also makes the important point that though the form of violence may be shaped by the particular cultural context, ultimately, gender-based violence is predicated on an unequal power relation between men and women. Though there is an extensive acknowledgement by the government and society of the growing trends in violence against women, leading to various pro-active and preventive measures, the impact of these continues to remain weak, the report adds. It identifies raising rates of conviction, fair trials and facilitating the judicial process as important areas for action. However, activists say the government itself has lagged behind in taking remedial action. While the Indian Government’s promise at the 1995 Beijing Conference to set up a commissioner for women’s rights has not been met, several recommendations of the National Commission for Women (NCW) have also been gathering dust. “The NCW continues to work amidst severe logistical constraints. Several important recommendations made by it have been ignored. In practice, the powers of the NCW have been severely eroded and its mandate sought to be subverted by the government,” says Janwadi Mahila Samiti General Secretary Brinda Karat. Documenting other social indicators reflecting the poor status of women and girls, the report notes that about 40 per cent of girls are married before the legal age of 18 years. Nutritional anaemia combined with early child-birth put adolescent girls at the risk of maternal mortality and morbidity, which is 437 per 100,000 live births. |
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Film villain Jack Gaud dead MUMBAI, June 7 (PTI) — Noted Hindi cinema villain Jack Gaud died here early today following a heart attack, family sources said. He was 42. The actor had made a remarkable impression with his first role, portraying the villain in ‘Ganga Jamuna Saraswati’ opposite Amitabh Bachchan. He ventured into the Hindi film industry after giving up a career in the Indian Navy and acted in over 100 movies including ‘Toofan’, ‘Mard’, ‘Tezaab’ and ‘Koyla’. He also turned producer with ‘Jungle Ka Beta’ and a Harayanvi film ‘Chori Natki’. ‘Akhri Intequam’, with Mithun Chakraborty in the main lead, was another of his under-production film. Jack is survived by wife and two sons. |
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Woman sets herself,
3 kids ablaze NEW DELHI, June 7 — A 35-year-old woman,
Sangeeta, set herself and her three children ablaze in her house in Khichripur area of East Delhi. The victims, Sangeeta (35), her children Monu (8), Neetu (6) and one-and-half-year old
Shayam, who were residents of 6/288, Khichripur, were admitted to LNJP Hospital.
Sangeeta, Neetu and Shyama succumbed to their injury in the hospital. Monu is in critical condition, the police said. The police said Sangeeta was Class IV employee of the
MCD. She reportedly fought with her husband following which the incident occurred, the police said. |
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Pre-monsoon
showers in
Rajasthan
JAIPUR, June 7 (PTI) — Pre-monsoon showers have brought cheer to the drought-hit people of Rajasthan subsiding heat wave conditions in the eastern regions of the state since yesterday, a Met official said. Kota recorded the maximum rainfall of 33 mm while squalls were reported in Udaipur and Kota division. The south-west monsoon currently heading over Bihar is likely to enter before July 17 from Jhalawar and Kota, said Mr S. S. Singh, Director of the State Weather Office. Pre-monsoon activity would further pick up in the next 24 hours in Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer and Jaipur divisions causing slight to moderate rain, Mr Singh added. The weather office claimed that the heat wave conditions would abate in the state by the weekend. |
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Woman kills baby,
attempts suicide GREATER NOIDA, June 7 — A recently wed woman, Sita, harassed by her mother-in-law stabbed her four-month-old daughter to death and tried to commit suicide at her residence under Dhankaur police station in Greater Noida area. According to the police, the woman was being harassed by her mother-in-law for dowry
up to the extent of Rs 2 lakh. Sita (24) was admitted to a local hospital where her condition is critical. |
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