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| Wednesday, June 28, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Punjab
to launch housing projects HC dismisses Jaya’s plea Jaswant to visit Palestine, Israel Kidnapped youth rescued
Archbishop laid to rest |
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Ruling on marriage registration Parading of rape victims regretted
Masters course in IT subjects for
all graduates Shoes to treat foot ulcer in
diabetics Kerala to have heavy rain
|
Punjab to launch housing
projects NEW DELHI, June 27 — The Punjab Government today unveiled ambitious plans to give a boost to the housing sector in the state, including the setting up of a new township, Anandgarh Sahib. Addressing a states Housing Ministers’ conference here, the Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, disclosed that 12 building centres had been set up in the state to introduce low-cost construction technology and four more such centres would be set up this year at Ferozepur, Muktsar, Moga and Jalandhar. The Housing Ministers of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh also addressed the conference and spoke about the various initiatives taken by their respective state governments. Haryana Urban Development and Housing Minister Dhir Pal Singh urged the Centre to help create better infrastructure in the satellite towns of Delhi so that the population pressure on the Capital could be eased. The Himachal Pradesh Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing, Mr Roop Dass Kashyap said the state government had plans to construct around 11,500 houses at a cost of Rs 17 crore in rural areas with support of HUDCO. Speaking on the Anandgarh Sahib project, the Punjab minister said the city would be a spread over an areas of 10,000 acres and it would be home to hi-tech sectors. The city would provide 40,000 plots and 50,000 flats supported by a world class entrepreneurship. She said the Punjab Government was committed to promoting the best house planning and development in the state. In this regard, she pointed out that plans were afoot to establish new urban estates in Hoshiarpur, Nawanshar, Tarn Taran and Amritsar for which acquisition process had already been initiated. The Haryana Minister said the housing problem in the capital had become very serious and a decent house or a plot was beyond the reach of the common man. He said there was a need to focus on the economic development of small towns and cities so that people don’t migrate from there in search of jobs. The minister also urged the Centre to sanction a special package for the development of Kurukshetra and disclosed that the state government would soon forward a plan in this regard to the Centre. The Himachal Pradesh Minister said HUDCO had offered a package of Rs 250 crore for the development of housing infrastructure, water supply schemes, institutional, educational, hospital buildings, bus stands and development of medium and small towns in the state. He said an additional sum of Rs 100 crore had been sanctioned to provide house building advance to State Government employees for construction of private houses. He said 12 building centres had been set up in the state for evolving cost-effective technology and spreading innovative technologies. Mr Kashyap said as
compared to 33 per cent urbanisation in the rest of the
country, urban population in Himachal Pradesh was only 10
per cent and the migration from urban to rural areas was
comparatively less in the state. |
HC dismisses Jaya’s plea CHENNAI, June 27 (UNI) — The High Court today dismissed a petition filed by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, against the order of a special judge, dismissing her petition seeking deletion of the charge of cheating in the Tansi land deal case. Mr Justice Akbar Basha Khadri dismissed the petition, seeking deletion of the charge under Section 420 of the IPC on the ground that the state government counsel had conceded before the Supreme Court that the charge could not be made out against her. The judge said it was for Ms Jayalalitha to put forth her plea before the trial court at the time of arguments. He observed that alteration referred in Section 216 of Cr PC does not include deletion, which would virtually amount to discharge. He held that the special court had no power to discharge an accused after framing of the charges. The Judge said it was not in dispute that the state government had conceded before the apex court that Ms Jayalalitha could not be charged under Section 420 of IPC. It should be pointed out that the state had not made the concession before the charge was framed or immediately after the charge was framed. He said after
examination of most of the witnesses and assessing the
evidence on its accord, the state had submitted to the
court that the charge under Section 420 of the IPC could
not be made out. This was only a ‘‘subjective
approach’’, the judge held. The Judge said at
the time when the charge was framed the special Judge was
satisfied that prima facie evidence was available and he
had framed the charges and proceeded to examine the
witnesses. |
Jaswant to visit Palestine,
Israel NEW DELHI, June 27 — The Indo-Israel relations are on path of accelerated improvement with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh paying an official visit to Israel from July 2. Mr Jaswant Singh, who would reach Tel Aviv from Lisbon on June 30, would first visit Gaza to have discussions with Palestine leader, Mr Yaser Arafat. Mr Arafat would host a dinner in the honour of the visiting Indian Foreign Minister, a senior official said here today. On July 1, he will inaugurate Nehru Library and Gandhi Activity Centre which have been set up with Indian assistance. The two centre have been set up at a cost of $ Rs 1.20 million. On July 2, his two-day official visit to Israel would begin during which he would meet the Israeli President, Mr Ezer Weizman, the Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak and the Foreign Minister, Mr David Levi. The discussion with the Israeli leaders would be focussed on finding ways and means to further deepen bilateral relations in all areas particularly in the economic field, a senior official said. A strong indication of the state of bilateral relations was available when the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, who recently visited Israel, said today that the two countries have decided to constitute a joint group to fight terrorism. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Jyoti Basu, is also paying a visit to Israel this week. Extra care has been
taken to couple the visit to Israel with a visit to the
Palestine authority so that the Arab states don’t
take exception to India’s growing ties with Tel
Aviv. |
Kidnapped youth rescued NEW DELHI, June 27 - The Delhi police rescued an 18-year old youth, Saurav Roorkiwal, who was kidnapped on Sunday, from the Kalyan Vihar road in North-West Delhi with the arrest of four persons. The victim was a student of BA first year in the School of Correspondent Courses, Delhi University, and a son of a businessman. His Santro car has also been recovered. Jagdish Rana, who run a gymnasium in Tilak Nagar, Mukhtiar Singh, a driver, Gurmeet Singh, a student in Khalsa College and his brother, Harmeet Singh, allegedly kidnapped the victim for ransom of Rs 20 lakh on Sunday evening when he along with his friend Akash was coming in his Santro car from Model Town, the police said. The police said Jagdish Rana and Mukhtiar Singh were arrested while two others had absconded. Two accused, Jagdish Rana and Mukhtiar Singh, who were on a scooter asked Saurav and Akash to stop the car. They posed themselves as policemen and asked him to show his driving licence and papers of the car. As he was not carrying the papers. The kidnappers sent Akash on their scooter to bring the documents from his house. By the time, Akash and elder brother of the victim, Gaurav, returned, the kidnappers had taken away Saurav. The Scooter of the accused was with the police which was found stolen. From its chassis number it was found that it was from Tilak Nagar area. A surveillance was kept at a gym in the area. The police team saw a well built man entering the gym and questioned him. During sustained interrogation he admitted his involvement in the kidnapping case. The car of the victim was parked inside the gym. He also disclosed the
names of two other suspects, Gurmeet Singh, and his
brother Harmeet Singh alias Pinka. |
Conspiracy to finish me
politically: Jaya IT is not the first time that the AIADMK leader, Ms Jayalalitha, has accused the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, of political motives for filing corruption cases against her, but yesterday she chose the judicial forum to drive home her contention that a false case had been registered against her to prevent her from contesting elections. In a court room drama that the Special Judge, Mr P. Anbazhagan obviously did not relish, especially when Ms Jayalalitha’s observations were greeted with applause by some advocates, the former Chief Minister alleged she had been "framed" in the TANSI land deal case to "finish me off politically." In an emotional outburst accompanied at it times by tears, Ms Jayalalitha went hammer and tongs against Mr Karunanidhi, charging him with indulging in a conspiracy to ensure that she was not a stumbling block to his ambition to "appoint" his son, Mr M.K. Stalin, currently the Mayor of Chennai, as his successor in the Chief Minister’s office. The judge said the court would take a decision based only on the evidence before the court and nothing else. Legal circles are intrigued by the claim of Ms Jayalalitha that the documents in the TANSI Jaya Publications land deal case had been forged. "If these documents had been shown to me before the case began, I would have identified the forgeries long ago," she told the court. The documents had been shown only to her aide Ms Sasikala (also an accused in the case). This was sufficient to show that the documents were forged. The prosecution has offered to produce handwriting experts to prove that the signatures of Ms Jayalalitha were genuine. Legal circles point out that Ms Jayalalitha’s lawyers had never raised the forgery issue when they moved the high court to have her discharged from the case. When the state government challenged the discharge in the Supreme Court, the forgery theory was not brought up. Ms Jayalalitha is
charged in the case with buying property of TANSI, a
government undertaking, for Jaya Publications and Sasi
Enterprises, at grossly undervalued rates leading to loss
of more than 4 crore rupees to the state government. |
Ruling on marriage registration NEW DELHI, June 27 — The Centre has left the question of compulsory registration of Hindu marriages to the state governments depending upon the local situations prevailing there. At present state governments of Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka have laws providing for compulsory registration of marriages in these states. Section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act provided that if the state government was of the opinion that it was necessary or expedient to do so, it might provide that the entering of particulars of Hindu marriages in the Hindu marriage register shall be made compulsory in the state or in any part thereof, whether in all cases or in such cases as may be specified, an official release said today. Registration of marriages solemnised otherwise than under the Special Marriage Act is permissible under Section 16 of the Act if such marriages fulfil certain conditions as laid down under Chapter III of the Act. At present, registration
of marriages solemnised or contracted under the Indian
Christian Marriage Act, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce
Act and the Special Marriage Act is compulsory. |
Parading of rape victims regretted NEW DELHI, Jun 27 (PTI) — The Delhi Police Commissioner has regretted the parading of two Japanese rape victims in front of the media by his police force and said strict instructions had been issued to follow the Supreme Court guidelines to keep the identity of such victims a secret. In a letter to the National Commission for Women (NCW), which had demanded action against the officials responsible for the violation of the Supreme Court directive, Mr Sharma said he regretted the lapse. The Supreme Court directs that rape victim should be examined in-camera during the trial. The Commissioner of Police has further informed NCW Chairperson Vibha Parthasarthy that fresh instructions to all police officers in Delhi had been issued so that such a lapse do not take place in future again, NCW Member Secretary Binoo Sen told PTI here today. The Commissioner has already asked for a report from the DCP concerned following media reports and the NCW notice questioning the propriety of the official’s action. "After watching the TV reports, I have already asked for an explanation from the officials concerned regarding the matter," Mr Sharma wrote in the letter. Deputy Commissioner of
Police (Central District) Muktesh Chander, who held the
press conference on June 22, paraded the two Japanese
tourists, who were duped and raped by an Agra-based gang
of tourist guides, in front of reporters. |
Rohit Bal’s gesture to
animals NEW DELHI, June 27 — Delhi-based fashion designer Rohit Bal plans to launch a special collection of T-shirts in the coming month to raise funds for People for Animals (PFA), a charitable trust. The collection titled ‘Sophistikats’ will be launched at the Taj Palace hotel on July 7 and will be on display till July 9 from 10 am and 10 pm. Priced at Rs 300 each, the shirts are adorned with animal motifs and messages and are available in 30 designs in six colours. The T-shirts are said to have been designed in record time. Mr Bal’s association with the PFA is inspired by his love for animals, according to his statement. He feels that animals "deserve our strongest protection as they are helpless" and are treated badly in India. In a statement, Ms Maneka Gandhi has expressed gratitude to Mr Bal for "caring enough for animals to help them." She hopes that other designers will follow his example. She is of the view that the fashion world can contribute in a big way towards animal welfare by avoiding silk and leather in favour of more ethical alternatives. Mr Bal is the second designer who has agreed to help the PFA by selling clothes. About four years back, Ms Ritu Beri designed T-shirts, mugs and pen sets to earn money for the trust. Since its inception in 1994, several celebrities have espoused the cause of animal welfare by holding art exhibitions, staging shows and plays, selling candles and even launching a website (pfadelhi.org) recently. According to the website, by the end of 2001, the PFA expects to have two million active members campaigning for a change in attitudes towards animals. Ms Menka Gandhi, Chairperson of the PFA and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, told TNS here yesterday that the proceeds from the show will go entirely to the PFA which works to rescue and rehabilitate sick and stray animals. The animal rights activist said fund raising was necessary as the PFA had to maintain three hospitals in the Capital namely the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre, the ‘gaushala’ at Bawana and the donkey sanctuary at Sadrana. On the 146 centres run by the trust in the country, 50 are expected to have hospitals soon. Sixty such centres have ambulances to respond to calls to attend to injured animals. In Delhi, animals in distress can be helped by dialling 5448062 and 5447751 and in Chandigarh help can be sought from 744065. The Sanjay Gandhi hospital alone receives about 90 calls everyday. Ms Maneka Gandhi added
that the PFA was running a donkey sanctuary at Namder and
a hospital and an animal shelter in Chennai. A
state-of-the-art hospital is coming up in Guwahati. |
Archbishop laid to rest NEW DELHI, June 27 (PTI, UNI) — Thousands of mourners from all walks of life paid rich tributes as the mortal remains of Archbishop of Delhi Alan De Lastic, who died in an accident in Poland on June 21, were today laid to rest at the Sacred Heart Cathedral here. Heads bowed as the coffin was lowered into the sanctuary inside the precincts of the church after a four-hour-long ceremonial mass led by Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) President Cyril Mar Baselios. Several political leaders, missionaries and diplomats, including Telecommunication Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Congress leaders P.J. Kurian, Oscar Fernandes, Ajit Jogi and M.S. Saathi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Raj Mohan Gandhi, BJP MP Vijay Goel, and Austrian Ambassador to India Herbert Traxl were present during the mass prayer. Earlier, President K.R.
Narayanan, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister
L.K. Advani, Delhi Lt-Governor Vijai Kapoor and Human
Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi were
among those who placed wreaths on the body of Archbishop
Alan De Lastic and paid rich tributes to him. |
Autonomy will split J&K: Cong NEW DELHI, June 27 (PTI) — The Congress today opposed the greater autonomy resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly yesterday, saying it would ultimately lead to division of the state on communal lines. The party spokesman, Mr Ajit Jogi, told newsmen that the Congress was not against granting more powers to states but in the case of Jammu and Kashmir it was opposed to the autonomy package of the Farooq Abdullah government because of its contents and timings when the valley was full of violence. Meanwhile, the BJP today said Dr Farooq Abdullah’s autonomy resolution was aimed at countering the Centre’s move to open dialogue with Hurriyat. "The National
Conference thought that the government talking to
Hurriyat would weaken its position and therefore the
Chief Minister upped his stakes by bringing this
resolution," party vice-president Jana Krishnamurthy
told newsmen here. |
4 die in junk shop blast SRIGANGANAGAR, June 27 — Four persons, including three children, were killed and two others injured in a bomb blast in a junk store here yesterday. Police sources said the blast occurred around 7.15 p.m. Those killed had been identified as Gattu, Rajesh and Sunny (all children) and Chatwari Lal. While three children died on the spot Chatwari Lal died on the way to hospital. The injured had been identified as Mangat Ram and Mukesh. The sources said the
blast occurred when metal was being extracted from a bomb
like object by labourers. |
Masters course in IT subjects
for all graduates NEW DELHI, June 27- A Masters degree in a subject like information systems is now possible even for a non-science graduate. Announcing the launch of
an M.Sc course in Manufacturing and Management
Information Systems at Amity Business School, the
President of the Ritnand Balved Education Foundation
(RBEF), Dr Ashok K. Chauhan, said the programme would
provide graduates from any stream a broad understanding
of how computer and information technology-based systems
are applied to design, evaluation, implementation and
control of manufacturing systems thus enabling students
to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the manufacturing
process. |
Shoes to treat foot ulcer in diabetics NEW DELHI, June 27 (PTI) — Scientists at the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) in Chennai have come up with a new type of therapeutic footwear to help treat foot ulcer in diabetic patients. By properly accommodating the ulcer in the foot bed to relieve body pressure and muscle strain, the footwear helps in healing the wound quickly. However, use of these therapeutic shoes does not suggest stopping the medicines. A combination of the medicines and the footwear is what is needed for treating foot ulcers, D.N. Das from the CLRI who is heading the project said. Foot complication in diabetics is quite common in India which is currently home to about 30 million diabetic patients. The prevalence of foot ulcer is 4 to 10 per cent among the diabetic population, Das said. At the same time about 85 per cent of foot amputations are preceded by a foot ulcer. Apart from aiding in
ulcer treatment, these therapeutic shoes help prevent
injuries and new ulcerations too. |
Kerala to have heavy rain PUNE, June 27 (PTI) — The forecast valid until the morning of June 29 — rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at most places in Andaman and Nicobar islands; at many places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, coastal Karnataka and Kerala; at a few places in Bihar, east Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep and at isolated places over the rest of the country outside Rajasthan and north Gujarat, where weather will be mainly dry. Heavy rainfall warning: heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places in Andaman and Nicobar islands, coastal Karnataka and Kerala during next 48 hours. Southwest monsoon has been active in Gangetic West Bengal. Rain or thundershowers have occurred at many places in Andaman and Nicobar islands, Assam and Meghalaya, Orissa, Konkan and Goa and coastal Karnataka; at a few places in sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, coastal Andhra Pradesh, north interior Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep and at isolated places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, east Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat region, Madhya Maharashtra, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu and south interior Karnataka. Mainly dry weather prevailed over the rest of the country. Day temperatures were
appreciably above normal in some part of Kashmir and of
Gujarat region and were above normal in Saurashtra and
Kutch. They were appreciably below normal in some parts
of Punjab and were below normal in northwest Rajasthan. |
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