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| Monday, August 14, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Kumaon, Garhwal lobby for state capital 42 killed in Bihar
floods Rajkumar’s release after Aug
15? Punjab militant
moves SC |
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MPs for President’s rule in W.Bengal Security
beefed up Jharkhand:
fiscal blow for Bihar Heavy rain in HP
areas likely
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Kumaon, Garhwal lobby for state capital DEHRA DUN, Aug 13 — Now that the Rajya Sabha has cleared the Bill for the creation of a new state of Uttaranchal by slicing away 13 predominantly hill districts from Uttar Pradesh, the process of formation of the new state can formally begin. The most visible aspect of the new entity has been the race for the post of interim Chief Minister, the person who will supervise the process, lay his hands on the first instalment of the central package and lead the state to elections after delimitation of new constituencies. With 18 of the 22 MLAs of the region from the BJP, the party is set to dominate the interim government. Although the appointment of the interim CM will be done by the party high command, several local leaders have already begun to position themselves for the post. The Prime Minister’s first choice seemed to be K.C. Pant, Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission and husband of the party’s former MP from Nainital, Ila Pant. But Mr Pant, inheritor of the Gobind Ballabh Pant legacy, has been out of active politics for long. Because of this and his long Congress background (he has not formally joined the BJP) both he and the local MLAs seems cool to the suggestion. The hot contenders are Dr Ramesh Chander Pokhriyal Nishant, UP Culture Minister and the leader of the party in the Vidhan Parishad, Nityanand Swami. Both have been mobilising support for their candidature. The Party’s Lok Sabha MPs from the region Bachi Singh Rawat, Minister of State for Petroleum and Maj-Gen B.C. Khanduri, both of whom yield considerable influence at the Centre, are the dark horses. Though the choice of the leader has occupied the centre-stage, the choice of the capital is a more substantive issue as it will have an impact on the state for years to come. The most logical choice from the point of view of infrastructure is Dehra Dun, already a large, well-connected city with a rich hinterland to fall back on in the Doon valley. However, part from its being at the edge of the state, it is in Garhwal and will be hard choice to swallow for the Kumaoni’s the sword arm of the Uttarakhand movement until it was appropriated by the BJP. To pre-empt this, they originally suggested that a new capital should be constructed at Gairsain, a pretty little hill town in the centre of the state. A mini-secretariat for Uttarakhand affairs was created by the UP Government at Gairsain some years ago. But the town, nominally in Garhwal, was quixotic choice born out of anxiety rather than pragmatism, and is nightmare from the point of view of both location and infrastructure since access from either side is through vulnerable roads along riverbeds. Sensing this, Kumaon leaders are now lobbying for Kalagarh, at the very edge of Udham Singh Nagar, or at minimum a summer capital at Nainital and a winter capital at Dehra Dun. Although the jockeying may seem amusing to an outsider, its shrillness reveals the divide between the Kumaonis and the Garhwalis, and the more aggressive Kumaonis’s desire to be in the driver seat in the new dispensation. This should allow other subregional groupings such as cosmopolitan Doon valley, the Jat belt of Hardwar and the Punjabis of Udham Singh Nagar, some room for manoeuvre. Apart from these issues there are looming inter-states disputes with Uttar Pradesh, the sharpest of these over power resources. According to the original Bill, UP will retain control over power generation, a clause which was denounced even on the day the passage of the Bill was being celebrated. The issue could become complicated if a new, probably non-BJP, government is sworn in Lucknow next year. However, the issue is not as irreconcilable as it appears as most of the larger ongoing projects such as the Tehri, Tanakpur, the Malpa, etc are centrally funded or being constructed by central agencies like the NHPC and a precedent for dispute resolution already exists in the Bhakra-Beas Management Board. More prickly disputes are likely over territory. The UP Government had voted for exclusion of Hardwar district from the new state and could delay endorsement of the new bill over the issue. Similarly the shortest and most logical link between Kumaon and Garhwal divisions is the Khatima-Hardwar road, a major stretch of which runs through Uttar Pradesh territory. This would mean that travellers including VIPs from one part of the state to another would have to pass through Uttar Pradesh, leaving them vulnerable to the parent state. This has given rise to the demand that the new state be extended up to the highway to avoid multiple entry points. However, this would mean ceding large swathes of Bijnore district and Najibabad subdivision, including part of Najibabad town, and is unlikely to find favour with Uttar Pradesh. There are likely to be smaller disputes over individual villages on the road and sugarcane command areas as the Centre moved Uttaranchal from the drawing board to the street. |
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42 killed in Bihar floods PATNA, Aug 13 (UNI) — Union Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar today made an aerial survey of the flood-affected district of Sitamarhi in north Bihar. The floods have claimed 42 lives in the state thus far. Official sources said here today that eight deaths were reported from West Champaran district while ten fatalities each were reported from Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur, six from Sheohar and four each from Darbhanga and Saharsa. Mr Kumar reviewed relief work in the district with state Information and Public Relations Minister Sita Ram Yadav, the state Relief Commissioner, Lok Sabha Members from Sitamarhi and Sheohar, the district magistrate and police superintendent of Sitamarhi. Mr Kumar gave an assurance that lack of finances would not be allowed to hamper relief operations. The Centre would assist affected farmers by implementing a crop insurance scheme on a large scale. Army helicopters continued to drop food packets in Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts. The choppers had dropped 16,700 packets so far. State relief and rehabilitation department sources said a population of over 30 lakh was affected and floodwater had entered 1,621 villages of 19 districts so far. Altogether 1.96 lakh hectares of agriculture land and 0.28 lakh hectares of non-agricultural land were inundated and standing crops worth over Rs 19.16 crore destroyed. A Muzaffarpur report said the flood situation in the district deteriorated following a breach in the embankment of Lakhadei river. Floodwater had entered many villages following the breach. Central water commission sources said the Ganga, Gandak, Bagmati, Kosi and Adhwara group of rivers were flowing above the danger mark at different points. The affected districts were Muzaffarpur, East and West Champaran, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Purnia, Araria, Saharsa, Supaul, Madhubani, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Sahebganj, Madhepura, Sheohara, Vaishali, Gopalganj and Patna. State flood control cell sources said swollen rivers were exerting pressure on embankments. Water resources department engineers were keeping a close watch and taking all flood fighting measures on a war footing. Local weather office sources said light to moderate rainfall was likely in the catchment areas of all major rivers during the next 24 hours. GUWAHATI (Reuters): Medical teams with vaccines to help combat the threat of epidemics have deployed in India’s devastated, flood-hit North-East, where more rain was forecast, a government official said on Sunday. Field staff in the remote state of Assam had reported that people were suffering from fever and skin diseases caused by contaminated water, but there were no signs of epidemics so far, the official said. About 300 people are feared dead and millions have been left homeless by monsoon flooding in north and North East India, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. “Medical teams have spread out to affected districts of Assam with medicines, vaccines and first aid materials to set up medical centres,” Biren Dutta, Secretary in the Health and Family Welfare Department, told Reuters by phone. Water levels have started receding and Assam’s main river Brahmaputra and its tributaries were flowing below the danger level. However, the local meteorological office has forecast more heavy rain within 24 hours. About 500 people in a relief camp about 35 km (20 miles) from Guwahati, Assam’s main city, have moved back to their villages, local civil servant Satyen Talukdar told Reuters. The Assam Government today denied that relief funds had been diverted and relief supply to flood victims not maintained, according to UNI. LUCKNOW: The river Sharda is flowing 46 cm above the danger mark at Shardanagar and 18 cm above the mark at Palia Kalan in Uttar Pradesh. A flooded Ghaghra is flowing 38 cm above the danger mark at Ayodhya and 7 cm above this mark at Turtipaar, a Central Water Commission press note said here. Meanwhile, other major rivers in the state were still below the danger level. According to the Met office, rainfall occurred at several places in Faizabad division, at a few places in Garhwal, Kumaon, Agra, Bareilly, Varanasi and Lucknow divisions and at isolated places in the remaining divisions of the state during this period. A maximum of 14 cm rain was recorded at Bahraich followed by Banbasa with seven cm, Balrampur with 3 cm and Joshimath with two cm. |
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Rajkumar’s release after Aug 15? CHENNAI, Aug 13 (UNI) — Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi today expressed confidence in securing the release of Kannada filmstar Rajkumar, held hostage by Veerappan, during official emissary and ‘‘ Nakkeeran” Editor R.R. Gopal’s second leg of the mission to the forest on August 16 or 17. After an hour long discussions with Mr Gopal and senior officials at the secretariat here this morning, Mr Karunanidhi, answering a question, said he was hopeful that the release of Dr Rajkumar could materialise this time. The Chief Minister, however, ruled out the possibility of the much- awaited release taking place on August 15, to coincide with the Independence Day celebrations. ‘‘Mr Gopal himself will set off to the forest only after Independence Day...on August 16 or 17’’, he said. Asked whether the government would hold another round of discussions with the emissary, Mr Karunanidhi said Mr Gopal might come to take leave from him before venturing into the forest. On the Karnataka Government turning down one of Veerappan’s demands that Tamil be given the second language states in Karnataka, Mr Karunanidhi said: ‘‘How can it be possible to declare the language of one state as the second official language of another state’’. Even while turning down the demand, his Karnataka counterpart S.M. Krishna had not stated that the demand could not be met but only said it was not possible to concede the demand, Mr Karunanidhi clarified. On Veerappan’s other demand for the release of five activists of the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Tamil Nadu Retrieval Force (TNRF), he said he had already ordered their release and steps were being taken in this regard. Earlier Tamil filmstar Rajnikanth, who had offered to negotiate with Veerappan to secure the release of Dr Rajkumar, called on Mr Karunanidhi, setting off speculations that he might have expressed his willingness to accompany Mr Gopal to negotiate with Veerappan. The Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments appear to have finalised their response to Veerappan’s fresh set of demands and clarifications sought by him on the stand taken by the two governments in respect of his earlier 10 point charter of demands. Mr Gopal’s visit to the forest is slightly delayed as official orders pertaining to the release of TADA prisoners held in Karnataka and five TNLA and TNRF cadres detained in Tamil Nadu are yet to be readied. Copies of official orders with regard to the constitution of Cauvery River Water Authority headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the instance of the Supreme Court was also being made available to Mr Gopal to be shown to the brigand. Veerappan, in his fresh charter of demands, had said that the authority should be disbanded and the issue be referred to the International Court of Justice for adjudication. |
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Punjab militant
moves SC
NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (PTI) — A top Punjab terrorist, Daya Singh Lahoria, charged with attempting to kill the then Youth Congress President Maninderjit Singh Bitta in 1993, has moved the Supreme Court challenging his prosecution in many cases which did not form part of his extradition proceedings in the USA. A Division Bench comprising Justice G.B. Pattanaik and Justice U.C. Banerjee after hearing the petition issued notice to the Ministry of External Affairs and state governments of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana. Lahoria and his wife Kanwaljeet Kaur were arrested in the USA on May 3, 1995, and the Indian Government requested extradition of the duo on the ground that Lahoria was wanted in a bomb blast case which killed nine persons and nearly claimed the life of Bitta. The government said both were wanted in India in connection with a case of kidnapping for ransom. The CBI was handed over the accused by the New York police on January 16, 1997, and the couple was produced before designated court in Ajmer which remanded them to police custody. While Lahoria is at present lodged in Tihar Jail, Delhi, his wife is being kept in Ajmer Central Jail. Counsel Nafis A. Siddiqui submitted before the court that Lahoria and his wife could not be prosecuted on various cases which were not mentioned in the final judgement of the Extradition Court in the USA and wanted to know whether they could be detained on the ground of pendency of these cases. Counsel said that in addition to the extradition cases, four more cases had been added against the name of Lahoria and two more against his wife. Siddiqui said this was in violation of Section 21 of the Extradition Act which provided that an accused extradited to India from a foreign state would not face trial in offences other than those for which he was extradited. The provision also said that if he was to be tried for other offences the leave of the extraditing court in the foreign country has to be taken where the accused would be heard, counsel said. The petitioners said that other prosecution initiated against them in cases other than the car bomb blast and kidnapping cases were liable to be quashed as they were done in violation of Section 21 of the Extradition Act. Siddiqui said the trial court had held that TADA did not apply to Lahoria in the blast case but due to application of TADA in the FIRs in other cases registered in the other states, Lahoria and his wife were not being able to get bail on merit resulting in their “illegal” detention. |
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MPs for President’s rule in W.Bengal CALCUTTA, Aug 13 — The five-member team of MPs which studied the law and order situation at Keshpur and other adjoining places in Midnapore and Hooghly districts has reached the conclusion that conditions were ripe for the imposition of President’s rule in West Bengal. Accordingly, the team will recommend application of Article 356 for dissolving the Left Front Government in the state which is in power since 1977. Mr Jyoti Basu, however, has thrown a challenge to the Vajpayee Government saying imposition of President’s rule in the state will receive a befitting reply from the people. After returning to the city from Midnapore last night the leader of the team, Dr Benugopalachari (Telegu Desam) said there had certainly been a break-down of law and order. “We will report back to the Prime Minister what we saw and what we gathered after meeting a cross-section of the people”. However, Mr Prabhunath Singh (Samata Party) and Mr Suresh Prabhu (Shiv Sena) were categorical in stating that there should be an immediate imposition of the President’s rule which alone could bring peace and normalcy in the state. The team was sent to the state by Mr Vajpayee to study the law and order situation at the insistence of the Railway Minister, Ms
Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamul Congress and the Union Communications Minister, Mr Tapan Sikdar (BJP) in the wake of spurt in violent and criminal activities and political clashes in the districts after the Left Front candidate’s defeat in the Panskura Lok Sabha byelection in May. Over 100 persons were killed, houses burnt and properties damaged in these clashes. The team which also included Mr Sanjoy Paswan (BJP) and Dr Krishnan (MDMK) went to Midnapore soon after arriving in the city yesterday to make a study of the situation there. The members visited the disturbed spots, met local people, heard them and returned to Calcutta in the evening. Mr Sudip Bandopadhyya MP (Trinamul Congress) accompanied the members. This morning the members returned to the Capital. The Railway Minister, Ms Banerjee, now in the city, did not make any comment on the visit of the team. She has, however, given a call for a campaign all over the state to demand imposition of President’s rule in West Bengal. She is to lead a procession in the city today to highlight the demand for President’s rule in the state. Mr Tapan Sikdar, who supported the demand for President’s rule, however, felt the demand would be meaningless without the help of the Congress, whose support is necessary to get such resolution passed in the Lok Sabha. On the other hand the CPM and other Left parties have decided to launch a prolonged agitation against the BJP Government from August 16 onwards to thwart any conspiracy against the elected government in the state, which completed its 23 years of rule with Mr Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister. |
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Security
beefed up NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — Security has been beefed up across the country on the eve of the millennium’s first Independence Day and a general “alert” declared in the wake of reports that Pakistan’s ISI-supported militant groups might try to cause disturbances. The Union Home Ministry has asked all states and union territories (UTs) to ensure stringent security drill to prevent any untoward incident on Independence Day. The Delhi Police has, meanwhile, cautioned the public against abandoned and suspicious-looking objects. A statement issued by the police on Sunday warned people against touching unclaimed objects in public places or buses. Members of the public including those invited to the Independence Day celebrations had been requested not to bring briefcases, hand bags, diaries, packages, books, cameras, binoculars, transistor sets, tiffin boxes, food packets, sticks, baton, umbrellas or raincoats to the venue. The police had also asked vehicle owners to carry their licenses and registration papers and produce them at the time of checking. Rail traffic on the old Delhi-Shahdra section will be closed up to 9 am for two hours on August 15. Northern Railway sources said eight local trains and the long distance Oudh-Assam Express would be affected. |
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Jharkhand:
fiscal blow for Bihar PATNA, Aug 13 (UNI) — The northern part of the state after the bifurcation of Bihar for the third time will be an impoverished place and will be left to fend for itself with the formation of separate Jharkhand comprising 18 districts. With the passage of the Bihar Reorganisation Bill 2000 in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, Jharkhand as a separate state will come into existence within the next few months carving out 18 of the total 55 districts and a population of 218.44 lakh of the total l863.74 lakh population of Bihar. Similarly of the total 54 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state 14 will fall under Jharkhand while 81 assembly constituencies of the total 324 will lie under the new state. Apart from this the new state will enjoy the entire mineral rich belt. According to economic observers, the rest of Bihar will lose 63 per cent of the total annual revenue contributed by the Jharkhand and will have to manage with a meagre 37 per cent of the revenue. Besides, majority of small and big factories, the prominent technical institutions, beautiful tourist spots and landscapes, training centres for the police and Army, Army cantonment, religious spots, agricultural universities and majority of the forest areas will become the part of the new state. For the first time Bihar was divided from West Bengal in 1912 while in 1936 Orissa was carved out of Bihar and now after passage of 64 years, Jharkhand is being separated from it. After the third division, district like Bokaro, Chatra Deoghar, Dhanbad, Dumka, Deoghar, Garhwa, Giridih, Godda, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Koderma, Lohardagga, Pakur, Palamu, Ranchi, Sahebganj and East and west Singhbhum will be included in the new Jharkhand state which will be the owner of the precious mines and minerals and uranium. |
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Heavy rain in HP
areas likely NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — Rainfall: Rain or thundershowers have occurred at many places in eastern Rajasthan, at a few places in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, western Rajasthan and the hills of western Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places in the rest of the region. The chief amounts of rainfall in cm are: Haryana: Rohtak 3, Himachal Pradesh: Pandoh 4, Mandi 3 and Sunder Nagar 2, Punjab: Patiala 1, Rajasthan: Garh 7, Fug 5, Badhesar and Shivgunj 4 each, Mahi Dam and Reodar 3 each, Kotari, Mahuwa, Rupangarh and Sriganganagar 2 each and Abu Road, Asnawar, Bhimsagar, Dausa, Gangadhar, Hindon, Nimbahera,Raipur and Vagal 1 each and Uttar Pradesh: Bahraich 14, Haripur 9, Banbasa 7, Kakardharighat 4 and Joshimath 2. Forecast valid until the morning of 15th: Rain or thundershowers will occur at many places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and at a few places in the rest of the region. Heavy rainfall warning: Heavy rain is likely at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh and the hills of western Uttar Pradesh during the next 48 hours. Forecast for Delhi & neighbourhood valid until the morning of 15th: Partly cloudy sky with possibility of a thunderstorm in some areas. Farmers weather bulletin for Delhi: Forecast valid until the morning of 15th: Thunderstorm with light rain is likely at a few places. Outlook for the subsequent two days: No large change. |
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