 |
| Saturday, June 17, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Sierra Leone crisis: UK offers help NEW DELHI, June 16 - The Congress has decided to oppose the autonomy report tabled by the ruling National Conference when it comes up for discussion from Monday at the special session of J and K Assembly. NCW initiates review of dowry law Harappan jewellery excavated
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Additional forces rushed to UP LUCKNOW, June 16 — Twenty additional companies of the provincial Armed Constabulary have been deployed for the second phase of polling for the three-tier panchayat elections in the state tomorrow.
Views sought on review of Constitution Vittal for new fundamental right Typhoid epidemic
hits Jaipur Vessel impounded,
8 fishermen held Joshi justifies hike in college fee
|
|
Sierra Leone crisis: UK offers help NEW DELHI, June 16 (UNI) — Britain has offered India help in seeking the release of 21 peacekeepers held hostage by rebels in Sierra Leone. Britain’s readiness to assist in whatever manner possible to ensure the early end to the hostage crisis was conveyed to Defence Minister George Fernandes by his British counterpart Geoff Hoon when the two met in London yesterday. While Mr Hoon expressed Britain’s admiration for the efforts made by the Indian soldiers in the West African nation, he said his country was concerned about the safety of peacekeepers held hostage by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels. According to a Defence Ministry release here, Mr Fernandes held wide-ranging discussions with Mr Hoon which included, inter alia, long-term defence cooperation with the UK have interests was also discussed extensively. Specific areas of future cooperation were also raised and it was agreed that some of those would be taken forward during the next meeting of the defence consultative group in August. The British Secretary of State for Defence has accepted an invitation to visit India, for which mutually acceptable dates would be worked out through diplomatic channels. Mr Fernandes, who is returning home tomorrow, also held a meeting with Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Stephen Byers where the possibility of focussing on small and medium enterprises as part of the “enterprise initiative: India” was considered. The Defence Minister had a 90-minute round table discussion with academics and members of the strategic community at the International Institute of Strategic Studies. The discussion, on the theme “India’s security concerns in the 21st century” focussed on New Delhi’s relations with its neighbours as well as on possible dilemmas that could arise in the future in the context of a nuclearised India. Mr Fernandes was scheduled to visit the permanent joint headquarters of the British Defence Ministry. He will be attending the Queen’s birthday parade before returning
home. |
|
Congress to oppose autonomy report NEW DELHI, June 16 - The Congress has decided to oppose the autonomy report tabled by the ruling National Conference when it comes up for discussion from Monday at the special session of J and K Assembly. The decision was arrived at here after a meeting of the Pradesh Congress chief, Mr Mohammed Shafi Quereshi, its leaders, MLAs had with a seven-member panel of AICC members which included Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Mr Ahmed Patel, Dr Karan Singh, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr M.L. Fotedar and Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad. Former party MP, Mr Janak Raj Gupta, who was also present at the meeting told TNS today that the party would oppose the move as it felt the report did not cater to all sections of people in the state. The party did not agree with the autonomy report as it was the same as one put forward by Dr Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference, which is demanding the revival of the pre-1953 constitutional status. The state leaders had been in Delhi for the past few days wanting a clear direction from the party high command on the issue that could have constitutional and political ramification. |
|
NCW initiates review of dowry law NEW DELHI, June 16 (UNI) — Concerned at the mounting number of dowry deaths, which have risen by over 10 times in the past 15 years, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has initiated a review of the anti-dowry law and penal provisions to make them more
stringent. According to figures available with the commission, cases of bride-burning have registered a sharp increase all over the country, with the menace permeating even those communities which were traditionally averse to accepting dowry. From 427 cases of bride-burning in 1983, the numbers had gone up to 6,917 in 1998. Ironically, education and affluence have encouraged rather than discouraged the practice with highly-educated and well placed grooms now demanding ‘’market prices’’ running into lakhs of rupees, says NCW member and legal adviser Poornima Advani. The law, however, has not kept pace with the changing scenario and several loopholes and shortcomings in the existing provisions render their implementation ineffective, Dr Advani told UNI. The commission has therefore launched a nation-wide exercise to review these provisions. Twentyone state-level workshops are being held and their recommendations would be analysed and forwarded to the Union Home and Law Ministries and the Department of Women and Child Development for making necessary changes in the law. Pertinently, the review exercise also delves into the larger question of women’s economic status. To this end, the state-level workshops have been asked to give their recommendations on whether prohibiting or penalising dowry can serve any purpose without giving women equal rights in inheritance. Another larger question to be addressed by the workshops is whether registration of marriages should be made compulsory along with the list of gifts and presents. Noting that the present Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 treats both the giving and accepting of dowry as an offence, punishable by imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of Rs 15,000, Dr Advani said the commission was examining whether the giving of dowry should be treated as an offence. Persons giving dowry are, in a way, the victims of the dowry system and it is being debated whether they should be doubly-punished. In fact, it has been noted that their inclusion among the offenders contributes to the ineffectuality of the Act. The state-level workshops have also been asked to suggest whether the dowry Act should be maintained as a separate law or be included in the Indian Penal Code. Keeping it as a separate Act results in little knowledge of it at the police station level, where the ordinary constable is aware only of the IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act. However, its inclusion in the IPC would mean that special provisions like the appointment of dowry prohibition officers may not be possible, Dr Advani said. Noting that the present Dowry Prohibition Act makes it optional for state governments to appoint dowry
prohibition officers, the NCW is examining whether their appointment should be made mandatory. Among other issues being looked at are:
Dr Advani said of the 21 state workshops, recommendations had been received from 17. Workshops are still to be held in Haryana, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. By holding such workshops, being attended by lawyers, legal academics, retired judges, social workers and police personnel, the NCW would be able to elicit a wider range of opinion. Also, letters had been written to all members of Parliament for their views on the matter, Dr Advani said. Apart from the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, which was amended in 1984 and 1986, the other penal provisions are 498A, where dowry demand is combined with cruelty, and 304B of the IPC where such demands result in death. Asked about the allegations that women were misusing 498A, which is a cognizable offence, to “harass’’ their husbands and in-laws, Dr Advani said there was little truth in these charges. There may be stray cases of misuse but the bulk of cases were genuine, she added. The gravity of the situation is reflected in the fact that according to registered cases, almost every six hours, somewhere in India, a young married woman is burnt alive or beaten to death or pushed to commit suicide because of dowry, she added. |
|
NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has discovered Harappan jewellery, including gold and copper-made cults and pottery, in western Uttar Pradesh, throwing fresh light on how the civilisation spread to eastern and southern part of its hitherto known area of concentration, ASI Director-General Komal Anand said today. “The large quantity of gold jewellery, agate, onyx, pottery and burned bricks assignable to 2000 BC found in Mandi village in Muzzafarnagar form part of the extra-ordinary findings,” Ms Anand told reporters here. The district administration has been requested to hand over the jewellery and copper containers weighing about 10 kg to the ASI, she said, adding, “it has been reported that larger quantity of gold and silver jewellery has been taken away by the villagers.“I have already spoken to Deputy Commissioner Dinesh Chand Mishra to recover the antiquities and jewellery,” she said.The findings are similar to what were discovered “long back” in the Aladino area near Karachi in Pakistan, she said. ASI authorities also discovered a large copper board of anthropomorphic figure near Madarpur village in Moradabad district. She said a “Jain Saraswati” figurine datable to 1010 A.D. and a 12-feet stone jar used by Emperor Akbar had also been discovered at Fatehpur Sikri. The jar identified as “Ganga Sagar” was used by the emperor for storage of water from the Ganges, Ms Anand said. The ASI has also taken up excavation underneath a water feature “Anup Talao” and discovered a “cool palace” as mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl, the court historian of Akbar, Ms Anand said. Stating that these findings could lead to more discoveries about the Harappan civilisation, she said they also opened scope for studies on how the civilisation spread to east and south of its original area of concentration. “The jewellery kept in the treasury consisting of beads made of gold and semi-precious stones is comparable to the jewellery found from Harappan phase of Lothel and Mohenjodaro,” she said. Divulging details on the findings, she said the materials discovered “clearly show the archaeological significance of the ancient site of Mandi”.“Such a large quantity of Harappan jewellery has not been found from any other site in India,” she said. |
|
Additional forces rushed to UP LUCKNOW, June 16 (UNI) — Twenty additional companies of the provincial Armed
Constabulary (PAC) have been deployed for the second phase of polling for the three-tier panchayat elections in the state tomorrow. A spokesman for the Home Department said here today that additional companies had been deployed in Agra, Allahabad, Azamgarh, Devipatan, Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Meerut, Mirzapur and Varanasi. In the 198 development blocks 33,000 polling centres had been set up. He said 19 companies of the paramilitary forces had been kept in reserve which would be utilised in the sensitive areas. They would, however, not be used for poll duty. The District Magistrates of districts which witnessed violence during the first phase of polling on Wednesday had been directed to explain why violence could not be prevented there. At least 13 persons died in the poll-related violence during the first phase. |
|
NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — In an effort to streamline the Indian Penal Code, a move is afoot to enlarge the scope of cognizable offences and create a new category of ‘federal crimes’ empowering the CBI to deal directly with the crimes which may have national or international ramifications. “It is necessary to have a thorough look at all non-cognizable offences under the IPC and re-classify them,” Mr K Padmanabhaiah, Chairman of Committee on Police Reforms (CPR), told PTI here. The committee, constituted by Union Home Ministry to examine and specify the challanges the police would face in future, and to evaluate the strength and weaknesses of the organisation and structure of the police reforms, is expected to submit its report within a month, he said. “We are also planning to recommend a new category of federal crime which will include crimes such as assassination of head of the states, fraud in the nationalised banks and public sector and involvement in counterfeit currency which has national ramifications,” he said. There is only one national crime
investigating agency the CBI and it gets into investigations only after getting due permission from the state governments. By creating a new category, the hassle of taking permission from the state governments, which is time consuming, will be avoided, the former Home Secretary said. “It does not make a difference whether the new category comes under the IPC with new sections or there is a separate legislation
altogether for the federal crime. But it should come directly under the CBI’s jurisdiction,” Mr Padmanabhaiah said. On cognizable and non-cognizable offences, he said the first schedule of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr PC) gives a list of cognizable offences (for which a police officer may arrest a person without warrant) and non-cognizable offences (in which a police officer has no authority to arrest without warrant). “It is paradoxical to see that certain offences by or relating to public servants (Section 166,168 and 169, IPC), offences relating to elections (171-E, 171-I), contempt of the lawful authority of the public servants (all sections of chapter-X), except Section 188, false evidence against public justice are classified as non-cognizable. “In the present climate of growing corruption in public services, unabashed commitment of electoral offences, growing contempt of the lawful authority of government, growing tendency of tendering false evidence and perjury in court, these offences can no longer be treated as non-cognizable. “For instance, when resort to false evidence in courts is so rampant, there have hardly been any cases where such witnesses committing perjury have been hauled up under law. They are more like dead letters,” he said. With this, Mr Padmanabhaiah said the artificial distinction between cognizable and non-cognizable cases would be removed and there would be no question of people complaining about ineffectiveness of law with regard to non-cognizable cases. The committee has been told that an extremely small percentage of cases are referred by magistrates to the police for investigations or inquiry, he said, adding for all practical purposes, under IPC the police were only concerned with investigation and prosecution of cognizable offences. “We are also told that the percentage of non-cognizable cases tried by the courts would be miniscule. Therefore, courts also are concerned with cognizable cases only,” he said. A beginning has been made in UP and West Bengal where Sections 271-276 have been declared as cognizable as far as these states were concerned, the CPR Chairman said. The committee includes retired officers like IPS Vijay Karan and M.D. Sharma as members.
|
|
CBI traces source in Jaya forex case CHENNAI, June 16 (PTI) — The CBI has claimed to have traced the source from which former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha allegedly received $ 300,000 in 1991 as the account held by a Chennai-based industrialist, greatly strengthening its case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against her. The agency has identified the industrialist from whose bank account in Britain’s Channel Islands the amount moved allegedly to another overseas account in the name of an Indian engineer, who has since died, the CBI sources said today. With this, the immunity scheme, under which she had declared the remittance ‘from an unknown donor’, automatically becomes inapplicable, the sources said. The sources told PTI the agency suspected that the amount, declared by Jayalalitha to be a ‘gift’, could be in consideration for official acts and would shortly begin investigation to find out whether any favours had been shown to the industrialist by her as the Chief Minister in 1991. “We had registered the case under PCA on the suspicion that it could be a form of bribe, but now that we have concrete evidence about the source, what is left now is to identify the official act for which it was given as consideration,” a CBI official said. The CBI, which took over the case in 1996, had questioned Jayalalitha in 1997, but she had pleaded ignorance about the donor who had chosen to remain anonymous. The finding, pursuant to letters rogatory issued by a Chennai court, “knocks off her immunity”, the sources said. The scheme was introduced in the wake of a severe balance of payments crisis in 1991 by a special legislation by Parliament which promised total immunity from prosecution and investigation for ‘remittances made in foreign exchange by any person outside India to a resident in India’. However, with the source and the conduit being resident Indians, the immunity scheme would not be a valid defence for her any more, the agency sources said. The Act makes it clear that the immunity will not be available if remittances violated the PCA and other laws like TADA and NDPS Act. The sources said documents, received recently after a senior official visited London and sought expeditious transfer of the papers, revealed that an account was opened at Jersey, Channel Islands, in the name of the engineer. Large sums were deposited into the account from the industrialist’s account in the same bank. Subsequently, a draft was made out in Jayalalitha’s name and it was deposited by her in a Chennai bank, they added. The CBI officials now await some more documents based on a supplementary letter rogatory to identify related transactions involving the overseas accounts, they said. |
|
Views sought on review of Constitution NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — The national commission for review of the working of the Constitution has sought the opinion of the public in 10 identified areas, which include enlarging the scope of the Fundamental Rights and strengthening safeguards enumerated in the Constitution for SCs, STs and the minorities. Emphasising that the basic structure of the constitution would remain untouched, an official press note said today that the commission was looking for suggestions from the public, non-governmental organisations and others to assist it in its endeavour. Suggestions in this regard could be spent to the commission’s Secretary at Vigyan Bhawan, Maulana Azad Road Road, New Delhi or through e-mail at ncrwc@nic.in and the Commission’s website at http://ncrwc.nic.in, the note added. Expert groups set up to work on the areas identified by the commission were in the process of formulating a board
questionnaire, which would be finalised and released for public opinion and
suggestions. |
|
Vittal for new fundamental right NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — Central Vigilance Commissioner N. Vittal has suggested the incorporation of a new fundamental right in the Constitution to enable citizens to get corruption-free service from public organisations. In a letter to Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, Chairman of the Constitution Review Commission and other members of the panel, the CVC has said corruption-free service must become a fundamental right of every citizen as “it is a basic necessity for good governance.” “Fiftythree years of our existence as an independent nation and 50 years of the working of the Constitution has resulted in one common experience to all Indian citizens. They cannot go to any public organisation or office today and get the services which they are supposed to get without either paying bribe or bringing influence by way of recommendations or references from VIPs,” Mr Vittal said. Pointing out that even international bodies such as the World Bank have recognised the negative impact of the phenomenon of corruption, the CVC said: “The new fundamental right should be seen as a right given to the citizen to ensure he has a level playing field so far as his interaction with the state, which has all the power, is concerned.” “This fundamental right is different because in the absence of this right, all other rights which have been conferred on the citizen become meaningless,” Mr Vittal said.
|
|
Idols recovered,
three held NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — The Delhi police arrested three persons yesterday and recovered 11 stolen antique idols from them worth lakhs of rupees in the international market. The accused, identified as Pradeep Singh (52), Shankar Podar (35), both hailing from West Bengal, and Islamuddin (27), owner of a shop of electronic in Turkman Gate in the walled city area here, were nabbed by sleuths of the city police’s special cell, police sources said today. Pradeep and Shankar had arrived in Delhi with the stolen idols after Islamuddin had allegedly struck a deal for Rs 1 lakh with one Tapas Kumar of West Bengal. The three were held near the Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narain Hospital. The seized antiques included idols of Lord Buddha, Lord Shiva and Goddess Laxmi. The help of officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was being sought to identify the exact value of the idols. Preliminary investigations had revealed that the idols had been stolen from temples in West Bengal. Sources added that efforts were being made by the police to nab Tapas Kumar. |
|
Typhoid epidemic
hits Jaipur JAIPUR, June 16 (PTI) — Typhoid, a serious infectious feverish disease that attacks the intestines and caused by bacteria, has attained epidemic proportion in the ‘Pink City’ of Jaipur, medical experts have warned. Most of the government and private hospitals are flooded with serious and complicated cases of typhoid, hospital sources said. The disease, which made a spurt in early April, has got a high proportion due to seasonal problem of water and food contamination during summer months, Dr Kunal Kothari of Government Hospital said yesterday. The disease is generally endemic but in Rajasthan, specially in extreme heat wave months, the water or food born bacteria get activated through personal and community unhygenic conditions, Dr Kothari said. “It is a failure of community hygiene and the public health authorities must own it up and take corrective measures,” he said. A report from city based private hospital said the
faeco-oral transmission of bacteria not only causes typhoid, but could also cause gastroenteritis, hepatitis-e and polio. Some doctors have alleged that the public health authorities have made no attempts to trace the source of this widespread infection or contamination of edibles, milk, eggs or water. |
|
Vessel impounded,
8 fishermen held CHENNAI, June 16 (PTI) — A Sri Lankan fishing vessel,
traced in the Indian waters, was impounded by the Indian Coast Guard off the Kanyakumari coast on June 14 and arrested eight Sri Lankan fishermen, the police said here today. Nearly two tonnes of shark meat and tuna fishes were seized, the police said, adding that the “cargo” and the fishermen were handed over to the police at
Tuticorin. |
|
Joshi justifies hike in college fee NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — The Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, has justified the government’s move to increase college fees. “The government supports the hike in fees. The fees in colleges have remained static for many years and these have been ridiculously low,” he told “India Today” in an on-line chat show. “Our priority is to make elementary education compulsory and free and to make India fully literate within 10 years,” he said when asked if the increase in college fees would not affect people seeking higher education. Mr Joshi said the government planned to provide free education to girls up to graduation.
|
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
