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| Friday, August 11, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Rajkumar ‘happy’ in captivity Farooq’s offer ‘irresponsible’ Cong seeks White Paper on disinvestment North India in Parliament NRI to pay tax only if gainfully employed Boy kidnapped, murdered |
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 Uttaranchal Bill approvedNEW DELHI, Aug 10 — Parliament today approved the creation of the hill state of Uttaranchal to be carved out of Uttar Pradesh with the Rajya Sabha approving the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2000, by a voice vote. Agitated people of Udham Singh Nagar district burning an effigy of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at a demonstration in Khatima, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday. — PTI photo Scribes beaten up, 10 injured NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today assured agitated members in the Rajya Sabha that stern action would be taken against in-laws of a Kargil war widow with an eye to usurping her husband’s pension. Gangster killed
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Rajkumar ‘happy’ in captivity CHENNAI, Aug 10 (PTI) — A fourth audio cassette, containing messages from Kannada thespian Rajkumar and R.R. Gopal, the journalist-emissary, said that the actor was “comfortable and happy” with no problem at all and wanted fulfilment of the demands made by the forest brigand Veerappan. Disclosing this, Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police F.C. Sharma told newspersons here that Gopal had also mentioned in the cassette, which reached here late last night, that he would come to the city in a day or two with Veerappan’s replies to the responses of the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Governments to his 10 demands. The two photographs displayed to the media by the police chief showed Gopal with Rajkumar and the three other hostages — the actor’s son-in-law S.A. Govindaraj, another relative Nagesh and Assistant Director Nagappa. The captives seemed to be in a cheerful mood. Film star Rajkumar has once again appealed to the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments to
fulfill the demands of his captor Veerappan. “I will consider it my good fortune if Chief Ministers M. Karunanidhi and S.M. Krishna favourably consider Veerappan’s demands and
fulfill them,’ the celebrated actor said in a brief taped speech sent through government emissary R.R. Gopal. BANGALORE: Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna on Thursday vehemently denied reports that the Tamil Nadu Government had launched operations against the forest brigand Veerappan to free Kannada thespian Rajkumar and three others, held in captivity by him. |
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Farooq’s offer ‘irresponsible’ NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — Criticising Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah’s “offer” to the Hizbul leadership in the valley, former union minister and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party president Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has said that such statements could discredit the Hizbul leaders in the eyes of their cadre and supporters. Talking to TNS here, Mr Sayeed, who has been for long advocating talks with militant groups, said there was no need for the Chief Minister to hint at a split in the Hizbul leadership and of possibility of continuation of talks with the group in valley led by Abdul Majid Dar. “Rather than facilitating dialogue, such statements could spoil its chances,” Mr Sayeed said. Referring to Dr Abdullah’s statement about the possibility of Hizb cadres having a political career like some other former militants, Mr Sayeed said that there was no need of such suggestions. “Hizb leaders would speak their mind during any talks and there was no need of any suggestions,” he said, adding that such suggestions could push the Hizb leadership into a corner. Dr Abdullah had yesterday offered government jobs to the Hizb militants if they joined peace talks. He even saw a political future for the Hizb cadres along with National Conference in the state if they surrendered their guns. Describing the withdrawal of ceasefire by the Hizbul as “a temporary setback”, Mr Sayeed said that dialogue with the Centre would ultimately resume. “This is inevitable. There is no other way for both the sides to move forward,”, he said, adding, “had the ceasefire lasted for three months, peace process would have firmly been in place.” Though not making a guess about the time when the peace process would resume, he said that next time it would be more lasting. “Things have come out in the open and both sides know each other’s position. Then there is realisation on both sides of the people’s strong yearning for peace,” said the PDP chief whose party is seeking to emerge as an alternative to the National Conference in the state. Asserting that Hurriyat should also be included in the peace process, he said talks should be held with every section in the state. Asked about the reasons for the breaking off of the talks process he said that while the Hizbul apparently did not see enough flexibility in the Centre’s stand, there also seems to have been some rethinking in Pakistan on the response Hizbul’s ceasefire offer evoked. Emphasising the need of a healing touch in Jammu and Kashmir from the Centre, he said that people needed respite and relief immediately. “The talks process is zig-zag and arduous and people should see a continuous change for better,” he said. Mr Sayeed, who broke off links with Congress to float a regional party , has already started preparing for elections in the state which, he says, could come within next six months. |
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Cong seeks White Paper
on disinvestment NEW DELHI, Aug 10- The Congress today demanded a White Paper on the Government’s disinvestment policy saying it had been resorting to adhocism and there was a need for an informed nationwide debate on it. Presenting the Congress views in the Lok Sabha, Mr Mani Shanker Aiyar put forward 13 questions to the Government on various aspects of disinvestment and charged the BJP-led
administration with launching an assault on the public sector units as per its right wing policies. Mr Basudeb Acharya of the CPM initiated the debate and charged the Government with selling PSUs at throwaway
prices. He said while the Government’s budgetary support was minimum in these units, it earned much more by way of dividends and levies. Soon after Mr Aiyar finished his presentation, Mr Jaitley on the pretext of intervening in the debate made a point by point reply to the points raised by the Congress member. Mr Jaitley said the Government had a clear cut policy on disinvestment and it had found a mention in the three successive budgets presented by the Finance Minister. In a generality of cases, the Government wanted to bring its equity in public sector companies to 26 per cent, some even below that and in some non-strategic cases even keep active control of them to avoid private sector monopoly. The workers’ interest would be paramount in the disinvestment policy, he said. Reeling out figures that the public sector as such was doing better than the private sector, Mr Aiyar contested Mr Shourie’s assertion in the Rajya Sabha that the public sector units were inherently inefficient. |
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North India in Parliament NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has, since 1994, taken up with the Ministry of External Affairs a proposal to open a full passport office at Shimla, the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Ajit Kumar Panja, told the Rajya Sabha today. To a question by Ms Chandresh Kumari, he said that the Centre was aware of the existence of a foreign employment and manpower export bureau at Shimla and letters of introduction from the bureau have been received in the RPO Chandigarh from time to time. He said that recommendation of the Parliament’s Standing Committee has been that a passport office should be centrally located and should get an average of 50,000 applications per annum. The Minister said that the requirements of Himachal Pradesh were at present being met by the Passport Application Collection Centre (PACC) which has been in operation since 1982 at Shimla and the passports are issued from RPO Chandigarh. He added that the number of applications received at PACC, Shimla has been 1,271 in 1997, 1,261 in 1998 and 1,226 in 1999 which did not meet the norms recommended by the standing committee for opening a full-fledged passport office. Damaged houses The Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation has confirmed that proper rehabilitation has been done of the persons affected due to construction of the project, the Minister of State for Power, Ms Jayawanti Mehta told Mr Basudeb Acharia in the Lok Sabha. Asked about the cracks appearing in a number of houses due to blasting of area, she said that the NJPC had got a study conducted by the National
Institute of Rock Mechanics (NIRM) in 1996-97 which revealed that the damages caused to the structures were not attributable to blasting in the project area alone but there could be many other reasons. Based on the findings of NIRM, the HP Government had carried out assessment of the damages caused to the villages falling under the zone of influence. A sum of Rs 52.40 lakh has been disbursed by the state government to the affected villagers in Shimla district. Based on further re-assessment of damages, additional funds to the extent necessary would be provided by the project authorities for disbursement to the affected villagers. New rail line The Minister of State for Railways, Mr Digvijay Singh, told Mr Rattan Lal Kataria in the Lok Sabha that there was no proposal to construct railway lines from Yamunanagar to Paonta Sahib, Yamunanagar to Chandigarh and Yamunanagar to Kurukshetra. However, a survey for a new broad gauge line from Chandigarh to Dehra Dun via Jagadhri (Yamunanagar) and Paonta Sahib was being carried out, he said. To another question by Mr Kataria, the Minister said that there was no proposal to construct overbridge at Mustafabad Railway Station in Yamunanagar. To a question by Dr Sudha Yadav, the Minister said that 90 per cent earthwork was over on the conversion of metre gauge line between Delhi and Rewari to provide double broad gauge line between the two cities. He said that work on major and minor bridges was in progress, 11 out of 19 major bridges and 20 out of 80 minor bridges have been completed, full quantity of ballast has been procured and modification of platforms at 13 stations was in progress. He said that no target date had yet been fixed for the project estimated to cost Rs 69.54 crore. PTI: Five cases of espionage in defence establishments allegedly involving passing of military information have come to government’s notice in the past year, the Lok Sabha was informed today. All the five were low and medium level sources in Defence establishments, Defence Minister George Fernandes said in a written reply. Doctrine: An Army training note on counter-insurgency doctrine, including strategic, operational and tactical level considerations, has been issued, he said. Manpower: There is a shortage of officers in the Army to the extent of 28.1 per cent, Mr Fernandes informed. UN:
As many as 3800 Indian Defence personnel have been deployed in various UN missions abroad of whom 3162 are in Sierra Leone alone, Mr Fernandes said. Components: Aircraft components worth Rs 300 crore are imported each year, of which a little over 75 per cent are from Russia and other CIS countries, he said. |
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NRI to pay tax only if
gainfully employed NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — The Supreme Court today ruled that a non-resident Indian staying for a short period in India with his Indian resident spouse would not be considered a “person resident in India” for the relevant period under Section 2 (p) (iii) (c) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and Section 10 (4A) of the Income tax Act. The court gave this significant ruling in connection with the three year stay of a Malaysian citizen of Indian origin in this country with his Indian resident spouse for undergoing medical treatment. The Court held that a non-resident Indian could be considered to be a “person resident in India” only if his stay in this country was for taking up employment or carrying on business or a vocation or with the intention of remaining in India for an uncertain period or “some permanence” in staying with his spouse “ with the intention of not returning abroad in some short, set period”. A three-Judge Bench comprising Justice S.P. Bharucha, Justice S.S. M. Quadri and Justice N. Santosh Hegde delivering the judgment further held that the interest accrued in the Non-Resident (external) account of the appellant K. Ramullan in the Indian bank was not assessable for tax under the I T Act as being exempted under law. Pronouncing the judgment for the Bench, Justice Quadri said, “If we construe paragraph (c) of Section 2 (p) (iii) of the FERA to include a mere casual stay or stay for a short period. It would defeat the purpose of having Non-Resident (External) Account. This being the position, the
appellant cannot be treated as a person resident in India during the relevant period”. “Consequently, he will be a person resident outside India within the meaning of Section 2 (q) of the FERA. We, therefore, set aside the order of the High Court under challenge, answer the issue in favour of the appellant and against the Revenue”, Justice Quadri ruled while allowing a batch of appeals against a common judgment of the Kerala High Court in a September 10, 1996 Income Tax Reference. The High Court, on reference, had held that a bare reference to sub-clause (p) (iii) (c) of the FERA would show that a person who was not a citizen of India, but had come to stay in India for staying in India, would have to be regarded and understood as a person resident in India. |
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Boy kidnapped,
murdered NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — A 13-year-old boy was kidnapped from Rani Bagh in West Delhi and brutally murdered by unidentified persons today. The body of the victim, Suman Kumar, was recovered from a car parked at Shakoor Basti in North-West Delhi near cement sliding, the police said. His hands and legs were tied and neck was slit with a sharp-edged weapon. The incident occurred at 7.30 a.m. when he was going to school. He was a student of class VIII in DAV School on the Arya Samaj Road. The police received information that the victim was kidnapped by assailants who were in a Maruti Esteem car bearing registration number DLC 2457. A red alert was declared in the area by the police. After half an hour, a police team noticed the car parked near the Cement Sliding. The victim’s father, Praveen Kumar, is an engineer and recently he had returned from Dubai. Old enmity could be the cause of the murder, the police
said. |
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Uttaranchal Bill approved NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — Parliament today approved the creation of the hill state of Uttaranchal to be carved out of Uttar Pradesh with the Rajya Sabha approving the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2000, by a voice vote. The Bill was approved by the Lok Sabha last week. Piloting the Bill, Home Minister L.K. Advani made it clear that there had been no dispute on retaining Udham Singh Nagar district in the proposed new state. The House discussed the Bill the whole day with almost all parties extending their support to it. However, some individual members opposed certain clauses of the Bill but did not prevent its final passage. Mr Advani said the creation of the new state was justified as Uttar Pradesh being a large state, the people of the hills had been facing numerous practical difficulties. The debate preceding the passage of the Reorganisation Bill in the Rajya Sabha was accompanied by appeals for the exclusion of Udham Singh Nagar from Uttaranchal. Protesting the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in Uttaranchal, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President, Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal urged the Union Home Minister to think with a cool mind and appreciate the sentiments of the minorities of Udham Singh Nagar. He wanted to know why the government constituted a committee when it had decided to hand over Udham Singh Nagar to Uttaranchal. He said that the exclusion of Udham Singh Nagar would not affect the size of Uttaranchal. General Shankar Roy Chowdhury (Independent) said that the passage of the Bill would give strength to similar demands from all over the country. He suggested that the government make some arrangements or evolve some mechanism to tackle similar demands. He said that he favoured the passage of the Bill but wanted the disputed areas as Udham Singh Nagar and Hardwar to be kept away from the time being and a
referendum carried out on it. Mr Kuldeep Nayar said that small states were good in a way but these were becoming linguistic islands. He said that something should be done to string these together. He said that the Udham Singh Nagar controversy ought to be addressed. He said that residents of Udham Singh Nagar apprehended that the
linguistic minority would not be taken care of. |
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Scribes beaten up,
10 injured CALCUTTA, Aug 10 — Reporters, photographers and electronics media personnel,
covering Writers Buildings, the state government’s headquarters, were beaten up this afternoon inside the protected area by some employees, belonging to the CPM-controlled coordination committee. Ten newspersons, including a woman, were injured and they had to be admitted to the medical units of Writers Buildings. Neither Mr Jyoti Basu nor the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharyya were present in the office. But the state Finance Minister, Dr Asim Dasgupta, who was attending his office, apologised to newsmen after the incident. Dr Bhattacharya has ordered an inquiry into the incident. |
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Action against killers
of war widow: PM NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today assured agitated members in the Rajya Sabha that stern action would be taken against in-laws of a Kargil war widow with an eye to usurping her husband’s pension. Mr Vajpayee was responding to the issue raised by Ms Chandresh Kumari (Cong), who was joined by members from all parties, in expressing their anguish at the killing of Shivkumari (19) in Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, allegedly by two persons hired by her father-in-law. There was din in the House as members expressed shock that the police was yet to lodge an FIR. Ms Kumari wanted that Rs 17 lakh which the victim had received as pension, instead of now going to the family of her late husband, should be returned to the Kargil fund. |
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Gangster killed NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — The Delhi police with the help of a team of Uttar Pradesh police has gunned down the leader of a dreaded gang which unleashed a reign of terror in Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Kapil
Gehlot, who was involved in 18 murder and several other cases, was shot dead in a police encounter at Modi Nagar in Uttar Pradesh today. |
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