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| Friday, August 18, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Kalraj Mishra is
UP BJP chief
Marandi projected as Jharkhand CM ADMK-Cong alliance under strain |
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Tamil
militants spurn bail offer Maldives
President arrives on Aug 20 Jaswant
holds talks with UNGA chief Jammu to
have urban ‘haat’ Delhi-Srinagar
Sikh peace march Army
officer’s wife moves HC Basu
walks out of Governor’s party Statute
Amendment Bills passed Woman,
two kids charred to death Banks
outside money lenders Act: SC Rs
1.75 cr flood relief for N-E Uncle
arrested for nephew’s murder Thundershowers
in UP plains
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Kalraj Mishra is
UP BJP chief
LUCKNOW, Aug 17 (PTI) — Senior BJP leader and PWD Minister Kalraj Mishra was today unanimously elected president of the state unit of the party. Mr Mishra’s election was announced by returning officer
P.L. Khandelwal after Mr Ram Prakash Tripathi, the second contender, withdrew his candidature. Mr
Mishra, who has been elected to the post for the fourth time, announced his resignation from the Council of Ministers. Earlier, senior BJP leader, including Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta and Union Surface Transport Minister Rajnath Singh remained closeted at separate places to evolve a consensus in favour of Mr
Mishra. While the deadline for the withdrawal of the nomination was extended to persuade Mr Tripathi to withdraw, preparations were also made at the party office to hold elections later in the day in case he refused to withdraw. |
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Marandi projected as Jharkhand CM NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — Being a dominant partner numerically in the new Jharkhand state, the state BJP leadership firmly believes it should start with a clean slate in the proposed 82-member assembly. Keen that a tribal leader take over the reigns of the interim government of Jharkhand to be carved out of Bihar, there is virtual unanimity in the party that Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Babu Lal Marandi be installed as Chief Minister. With the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the driver’s seat, the Bihar unit of the BJP is putting pressure on the central leadership that it leave the question of CM to the state leadership. Support for Mr Marandi is also widespread in the Sangh Parivar, leaving the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Shibu Soren among the also
ranks. Mr Soren’s supporters have been carrying on a campaign for an all-party government in Jharkhand, in which the JMM leader can be the political numero uno. The BJP leadership has discounted Mr Soren’s claims because of criminal cases against him. It is argued that giving political legitimacy to Mr Soren will be suicidal for the BJP-led NDA. The BJP and its partners in the NDA are presently one seat short of a simple majority in the 82-member assembly. As the largest single entity with 32 seats the BJP is way ahead in the numbers game. The Samata Party and Janata Dal have five and four seats respectively. The JMM is keen to throw its weight behind the NDA provided Mr Soren is accepted as Chief Minister. The JMM has a sizeable chunk of 12 seats. Laloo Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is positioning itself as the main opposition, has four seats. JMM activists have argued that Samata leader and Union Defence Minister George Fernandes and Union Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar, had given assurances that Mr Soren would be made the Chief Minister of Jharkhand whenever it came into being. This claim is strongly contested by BJP leaders both in New Delhi and Bihar. They contend that if Mr Fernandes and Mr Kumar said this, it was without taking the BJP into confidence. Thus the BJP is distancing itself from Mr Fernandes and Mr Kumar on the Soren issue by claiming the “ground realities coupled with the political scenario have undergone a sea change in the wake of Jharkhand becoming a reality.” Bihar BJP strategists are confident that even without lifting a finger, the NDA’s figure in the Assembly is bound to swell in the run up to the formation of the government in Jharkhand, with power hungry legislators likely to switch loyalties at the drop of a hat. Given the volatile political environment in Bihar and Jharkhand in particular, it will not be out of the ordinary if legislators of the JMM and RJD cross floors for the trappings of power. Since the inception of the BJP nearly two decades ago, the party has championed the cause of a separate Vananchal state. BJP bigwigs claim the people of Vananchal (Jharkhand) have extended unflinching support to the party. It is obvious that the BJP leadership is looking to Jharkhand from a medium-to-long term perspective and does not want to sully its image by starting on the wrong foot. Therefore, Mr Soren’s candidature for Chief Minister is out and Mr Marandi is in. Mr Marandi is credited with ensuring the organisational rise of the BJP in the Jharkhand region. Right from the Jana Sangh days, the party has garnered a majority of seats in the Chhota Nagpur area. Besides, the RSS, has established an extensive network of hospitals, schools and vanvasi kalyan kendras in the region. |
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More seats sought in Jharkhand House RANCHI, Aug 17 (UNI) — Almost all political parties here are demanding an increase in the strength of the proposed assembly in Jharkhand. Besides the BJP and Congress, the Jharkhand-named parties have also demanded a raise in the number of assembly seats in the newly created state. Senior BJP leader and state convener of the NDA Saryu Rai said the number of assembly seats in Jharkhand must be raised to at least 120 from the existing 81. A similar demand had also been raised by the Congress while the Jharkhand Vikas Party (JVP) wants the assembly strength to be 130. JVP Vice-President Suraj Mandal has urged the Election Commission to delimit the existing assembly constituencies, carving a few more for the smooth functioning of Jharkhand state. The Jharkhand parties opined that the first government of the new state should comprise representatives of all political parties and experts from different fields. Mr Mandal urged the Centre to initiate steps for an all-party interim government for at least one year in the new state after which fresh elections should be held for the Jharkhand Assembly. Even as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has left to the NDA central leadership the decision to elect its leader in Jharkhand, the local unit of the party had been repeatedly staking its claim to the coveted seat. The morcha’s local leaders had demanded the seat for their party chief Shibu Soren. Mr Soren’s candidature had, however, been opposed even by a few Jharkhand-named parties. The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), which had two legislators in the existing Bihar Assembly, which after formal bifurcation would comprise the Jharkhand Assembly, had opposed Mr Soren’s candidature. The AJSU legislators had extended their support to the NDA, provided the latter did not project Mr Soren as its leader in Jharkhand. The JMM’s claim to the post has also been opposed by the Janata Dal (united), which had three legislators in the Jharkhand region. Party leader Lalchand Mahato had categorically said the party would not support any government headed by Mr Soren. When asked about the JMM’s claim that it had been promised the seat in return of the support it had extended to the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar, Mr Rai said no such commitment was made by any NDA leader, “we have not promised any such thing to the Morcha”, said Mr Rai. While the Morcha leaders have claimed that they had been categorically promised by Mr Nitish Kumar and George Fernandes that when Jharkhand came into existence Morcha President Shibu Soren would be supported by the NDA to form the first government in the new state. |
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ADMK-Cong alliance under strain CHENNAI, Aug 17 (UNI) — The alliance between the All-India Anna DMK (AIADMK) and the Congress in Tamil Nadu appears to be on the verge of collapse as a fall out of the abduction of Kannada actor Dr Rajkumar by forest brigand Veerappan. The relationship between the two parties started tottering after
AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha sought the resignation of Karnataka’s Congress Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, following his government’s decision to release 51
TADA detenus, one of the demands of the forest brigand to set free the actor. TNCC (I) president EVKS Ilangovan joined issue with Ms Jayalalitha and described her demand as “childish’’. AIADMK
chairman Dr K. Kalimuthu, the second most important AIADMK functionary, in a stinging statement sharply criticising Congress President Sonia Gandhi, said it was for Ms Jayalalitha to decide on having an alliance with the Congress in Tamil Nadu. Ridiculing the new
TNCC (I) chief, he said Mr Ilangovan was driving the last nail into the “Congress coffin’’ in the state. Mr Kalimuthu further alleged that Ms Gandhi, who behaved like a “monkey playing with a flower garland”, had squandered an opportunity offered by Ms Jayalalitha to form an alternative after the
AIADMK withdrew support to the Vajpayee government. Mr Kalimuthu, whose statement reflects the thinking of Ms Jayalalitha, countered that Ms Gandhi’s insistence on Congress rule at the Centre, although it was in a minority, with outside support was in fact “childish’’. Ms Jayalalitha was then prepared not to share power at the centre, he pointed out. The Congress, which drew a blank in the state in the 1998 general elections and could not even retain its deposits, was given a new lease of life in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections by Ms Jayalalitha, when three of its candidates were returned to the Lok Sabha, he observed. Turning his ire on the
TNCC president, Dr Kalimuthu described him as “insane’’ and a man who did not know how to deal with the alliance leader. Mr Ilangovan had said that only Ms Gandhi (and not Ms Jayalalitha) could decide whether Mr Krishna should step down or not. |
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Tamil militants
spurn bail offer CHENNAI, Aug 17 (PTI) — In a sudden complication in the hostage crisis in Tamil Nadu, four Tamil extremists whose release has been demanded by forest brigand Veerappan have refused to seek bail and are insisting on withdrawal of all cases against them, their advocate said here tonight. Mr R Sankarasubbu, a criminal lawyer here, told PTI that the four ultras were demanding that they be released unconditionally and all charges against them be dropped. The four — Venkatesan, Sathyamurthy, Muthukumar and Manikandan — conveyed this to lawyers who met them at the Tiruchirappalli prison, the advocate said. ‘Ponnivalavan (the fifth extremist whose release has also been demanded), who is in Salem prison, may also toe the same line,’ Mr Sankarasubbu said. The extremists had instructed him not to move any bail petition on their behalf or let anyone else do so, he said. In a further condition, they were also insisting that while proceeding to the jungles after their release, they should be accompanied by a group of journalists, he said. The government had earlier revoked the detention of four extremists under the National Security Act and dropped TADA charges against a fifth to make it easier for them to seek bail from the respective courts. The release of these five was one of the conditions of Veerappan for freeing Kannada star Rajkumar and three others held hostage in the jungles since July 30. MYSORE: A court here today reserved for August 19, judgement on a plea against dropping of TADA cases against 51 detenues suspected to be associates of forest brigand Veerappan and languishing in Mysore jail. The release of 51 detenues was one of the major demands put forth by Veerappan for the release of Kannada icon
Rajkumar. |
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Maldives
President arrives on Aug 20 NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — President of the Republic of Maldives, Mr Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, is arriving here on August 20 on a four-day state visit. During his stay in the Capital, Mr Gayoom will hold discussions with the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, the Vice-President, Mr Krishan Kant, and the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said here today. The Maldivian President, accompanied by his wife Nasreena Ibrahim, would also go to Hyderabad on August 22 to see for himself the working of information technology and other knowledge based high-tech industry. On August 22 before reaching Hyderabad, Mr Gayoom would also pay a visit to Agra. He would leave on August 23. While the Indo-Maldivian relations have been cordial and trouble free, Mr Gayoom’s discussions with the Indian leadership would be focussed on ways to further deepening of the bilateral ties. India’s prompt assistance during the 1988 coup was a watershed in the bilateral ties. New Delhi has been providing assistance to Male in the field of human resource development and the health sector. |
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Jaswant holds talks with UNGA chief NEW DELHI, Aug 17— The External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, today held discussions with the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) , Dr Theo-Ben Gurirab. Briefing newspersons about the discussions, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said Dr Gurirab, who is also the Foreign Minister of Namibia, made a presentation about developments in Africa and particularly about the recently held OAU summit in Lome in which he participated in his capacity as the UNGA President. During their one-hour long talks, Mr Jaswant Singh and Dr Gurirab discussed the proposed UN reform including the expansion of the UN Security Council, international terrorism, the forthcoming UN millennium summit and the UN peace-keeping operations, particularly in Sierra Leone. Mr Jaswant Singh, during discussions on international terrorism, briefed the visiting dignitary about the problem of cross-border terrorism that India had been facing for the past few years. Dr Gurirab during his stay till August 19 will also call on the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. He will pay a visit to the Rajputana Rifles Training Centre for UN peace-keeping operations. He will also deliver a speech on UN peace-keeping at the United Service
Institution of
India. |
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North India in
Parliament NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — The CBI has destroyed 117 items of seditious nature seized from the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar after obtaining court orders, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. The Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, said in a written reply to a question by Mr G.S. Tohra and Mr S.S. Libra that nine other seized items had been submitted to courts along with chargesheets and some items related to pending cases against Akali Dal leader Simranjit Singh Mann and separatist leader Jagjit Singh Chauhan, now living in exile in London. The minister said the CBI had reported that several items handed over to them by the Army which included books and paintings had been returned to representatives of the SGPC in accordance with the list prepared by the committee. He said 1,850 Iranian rials seized from the temple premises were handed over to the CBI museum while nine torn one-rupee notes were deposited with the RBI. The items still in CBI custody included May 1984 issue of “Sant Sipahi,” a file containing various letters, a 1983 diary of Balwinder Singh Khojkipur, annual report of the All-India Sikh Students Federation of September 20, 1983, and an arms licence of Chanan Singh of Amritsar. Agriculture insurance scheme: To give wider publicity to the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme in Himachal Pradesh, including backward areas, measures to spread the message of crop insurance through posters, hand bills, jingles on All India Radio have already been taken, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Nitish Kumar, told the Rajya Sabha. To a question by Mr Anil Sharma, the minister said it was also proposed to spread the message by writing on walls and bus panels in the rural areas. He informed that Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Palampur and Dharamsala, Kinnaur, Kulu, Lahaul and Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmour, Solan and Una were among the places which had been selected for district-level awareness-cum-training programme under the insurance scheme. Urban ‘haat’ in Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government had been seeking support for participation in international fairs for the global marketing of Kashmiri handicrafts, the Minister for Textiles Mr Gingee N Ramachandran, told Mr R.L. Bhatia in the Lok Sabha. He said schemes of the Centre did not envisage any direct assistance to the state governments. However, assistance was provided to the state corporation. Financial assistance had been provided for participation in international fairs at Dubai, Tel Aviv and Memphis (USA), he said. The minister informed that the Centre had given sanction for setting up an urban “haat” at Jammu with an approved budget of Rs 136.85 lakh of which Rs 23 lakh had already been released during 1999-2000. |
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Delhi-Srinagar Sikh peace march NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — As a tribute to the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur, who laid down his life protecting the oppressed minority in Kashmir, a peace yatra will leave Delhi for Srinagar on November 24, the martyrdom day of the Guru. Being organised by the Guru Teg Bahadur Joth Action Committee, the week-long march will pass through Delhi, Haryana and Punjab before culminating at Lal Chowk, Srinagar. Talking to mediapersons, Mr Avtar Singh Hit and Mr Kuldip Singh Bhogal, members of the six-member joth action committee, claimed that the march would be one of the biggest ever with over one crore people from all parts of the country besides the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada, Malaysia and Thailand expected to join. They said the eternal flame of Guru Teg Bahadur at Gurdwara Sisganj, Delhi, will be carried to the Lal Chowk, Srinagar. The descendents of Bhai Mati Das, who laid down his life along with Guru Teg Bahadur, shall carry the flame. The committee members said Guru Teg Bahadur had laid down his life in 1676 in defence of Kashmiris who were facing worst atrocities and curbs on their freedom. “The situation today is pretty similar with the Kashmiris being massacred and forced to leave their homes, Mr Hit said, adding, “In the 17th century it was an alien regime which was responsible for violence. Now elected governments have been unable to protect their own people.” Expressing anguish at the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their homes in Kashmir, Mr Hit said the recent massacre of Amarnath pilgrims had touched every heart. “We would be associating Kashmiri Pandits in the yatra in a big way and one of our aims is to create an atmosphere whereby they can return to their homes in the valley,” he said. Mr Ravi Inder Singh, who is also member of the joth action committee, said the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur was a big factor in the creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh. “Guru Teg Bahadur laid down his life in the defence of Kashmiris and the baptism and creation of the order of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh was a sequel to his martyrdom,” he said. The committee members said people from all faiths were welcome to join the peace march and religious leaders had also been approached for the same. They said participants would go to Lal Chowk, Srinagar to pray for peace in Kashmir in presence of jathedars of all five takhts. The other members of the joth action committee are Mr Kulmohan Singh, Mr Paramjit Singh Bakshi and Mr Jitender Singh Sodhi. |
Army officer’s
wife moves HC
RANCHI, Aug 17 (UNI) — The wife of an Army Captain has moved the Ranchi Bench of the Patna High Court for the release of her husband from “illegal
confinement”. Mrs Ranjan Prasad, wife of Capt Anand Kumar of 23 Infantry Division Ordnance Unit, has in a habeas corpus writ filed on August 11 for the release of her husband, urged the court to issue an order for the release of her husband, who was allegedly taken into custody on the order of the Commanding Officer of the 23 Infantry Division on August 10. She has charged that her husband was allegedly being harassed by the Commanding Officer as the Captain had (in 1998) exposed “A huge quantity of unaccounted and unauthorised stock of ammunition and explosives of dangerous nature in his unit” while he was posted as the Administrative Officer of the Ammunition Technical wing of the Infantry Division here. |
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Basu walks out of Governor’s party CALCUTTA, Aug 17 — Freedom fighters heckled Mr Jyoti Basu at Raj Bhavan on the Independence Day and he left the Governor’s tea-party in a huff. This unsavoury incident occurred in the presence of the Governor, Mr Viren J. Shah, who was hosting a tea-party at Raj Bhavan on the occasion of the country’s 54th Independence Day celebration where Mr Basu, ministers and various other dignitaries were invited. Trouble started when Mr Anil Krishna Bhattacharyya, president of the Freedom Fighters Welfare Association, told Mr Basu, in the presence of other guests that the Left Front government was unsympathetic towards freedom fighters. The Chief Minister denied the charge. Both Mr Basu and Mr Bhattacharyya were sitting together along with the Governor when Mr Bhattacharyya raised the issue to Mr Shah. But the Governor advised Mr Bhattacharyya to talk to the Chief Minister directly and moved over to attend to other guests in the room. Thereafter a heated argument took place between Mr Basu and the freedom fighter. The Chief Minister denied Mr
Bhattacharya's charge that the freedom fighters were being neglected by the state government. Mr Basu said the state had been spending huge sum of money every year to sanction pensions to the freedom fighters. Mr Bhattacharyya challenged the claim. Refuting Mr Basu’s claim, Mr Bhattacharyya alleged that those who had actually fought for the country’s freedom were not getting pension or any help and assistance from the state government. On the contrary, the government had been generous to those who had been imprisoned on the charges of rioting and burning of trams in the 60s and 70s. After the argument visibly annoyed Mr Basu suddenly stood up and started walking towards the exit door. The 95-year-old freedom fighter, Mr Monohar Mukhopadhyya and the association’s executive president, Mr Bijoy Roy, intervened and apologised and tried to stop Mr Basu from leaving but without any success. The Governor, however, was busy attending other guests as Mr Basu left the party. |
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Statute Amendment Bills passed NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — The Rajya Sabha today passed two Constitutional Amendment Bills to restore relaxations in the qualifying marks for promotions in government jobs to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes and exempting the tribal society in Andhra Pradesh from reservation of seats for SCs. The Constitution (86th and 88th Amendment) Bills, 1999, were passed by a two-thirds majority with a lone abstention in voting for the 88th Amendment Bill. The 88th Constitution Amendment Bill seeks to restore relaxations which were withdrawn following a Supreme Court verdict of July 22, 1997. The 86th Amendment Bill’s consideration was delayed as the Minister for Rural Development, Mr Sunderlal Patwa, had to be rushed to AIIMS after he complained of uneasiness. The Bill was passed without discussion. As per the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, the tribal society in Arunachal Pradesh is casteless where social equality among men and women has prevailed over centuries and ages. The statement proposed to insert a new clause (3A) in Article 243 M of the Constitution to exempt the state from the application of Article 243 D relating to reservation of seats in panchayats for the Scheduled Castes. Moving the Constitution (88th Amendment) Bill, Minister of State for Personnel and Training Vasundhara Raje said this was being restored in view of the adverse impact of the apex court’s order on the interests of the SCs and the STs. According to the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, the government reviewed the position and decided to move for Constitutional amendment after getting representations from several quarters. The decision was aimed at restoring relaxations which were withdrawn vide instructions issued by the Department of Personnel and Training in July, 1997. Initiating the discussion on the Bill, Congress member Faguni Ram said it would enable the SCs and STs to come forward through promotions. Mr Ram Nath Kovind (BJP) said the Bill would protect the interests of SC/ST employees. He said there was no reservation Act and the reservation policy determined through office memoranda ought to be stopped through a comprehensive Constitution
amendment. |
Woman, two kids
charred to death NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — A 32-year old woman and her two children were charred to death in a fire which broke out in her house at Basai Darapur village in West Delhi. They had left a candle burning which led to a cloth catching fire, the police said. Later, the fire spread to the whole house. In another incident, 18 children between the age group of four and 12 and Nirmala (35) were admitted to GTB Hospital due to food poisoning. The victims had started vomitting after consuming
biscuits which they purchased from a hawker. In yet another incident, Kalawati (18) was stabbed to death by some armed persons who attacked her and her family members last night. The suspects, who were reportedly relatives of the deceased, attacked
Kalawati, her mother Mayawati, brother Kishan and sister-in-law,
Sunita, last night at Alipur village in north-west Delhi and injured them seriously. One of the suspects, Lakhme Ram, has been arrested. |
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Banks outside money
lenders Act: SC NEW DELHI, Aug 17 (UNI) — In a significant judgement, the Supreme Court has ruled that banks do not come under the purview of the Assam Money Lenders Act, 1934, and are, therefore, not required to take a licence to carry on the business of lending money under the Act. The court gave the ruling after adopting a purposive and meaningful interpretation of the Act and held that banks were not covered under the Act. The judgement would go a long way to dissuade debtors from taking recourse to the provisions of similar Acts, passed by many states to defeat the recovery proceedings initiated by banks. Dismissing an appeal by the Associated Timber Industries and others, a Bench of Mr Justice D. P. Mohapatra and Mr Justice Shivraj V Patil said the Guwahati High Court was justified in holding that the suit filed by the Central Bank of India for recovery of loan advanced by it appellants was maintainable. The respondent bank filed the suit for the realisation of certain amounts from the Associated Timber Industries, Chacua, and others. The appellants raised objections against the maintainability of the suit on the ground of non-compliance with the provisions of the Assam Act, particularly stating that the bank being a “money-lender” had not been registered under the Act. The Additional District Judge, Dibrugarh, before whom the suit was filed, dismissed the same. A
challenge made to the verdict of the trial court before the high court was dismissed by the high court. Hence, the appeal before the apex court. The Supreme Court in its judgement said the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and the Assam Act brought forth the wide difference in the fields of operation of banks and activities of money-lenders. While banks were financial institutions which were
engaged in improving the flow of trade, movement of commerce and expansion of business and thereby improving the socio-economic condition of the people, “money-lenders” were engaged in making personal profits. While the former were guided by policies and decisions of the Central Government, and the wide spectrum of activities in which they were engaged were all controlled or regulated by the Reserve Bank of India, there was no such regulatory policy in the case of the latter, the court
added. |
Rs 1.75 cr flood relief for N-E NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — The Department for International Development
(DFID) has announced a contribution of Rs 1.75 crore for the flood effected states of eastern and north eastern India. The money will go directly to the International Federation of Red Cross
(IFRC) for delivery of food, water, shelter and blankets. The DFID is the British Government’s department responsible for Britain’s efforts to eliminate poverty. The IFRC had earlier issued an appeal for 2.5 million pounds to fund the work of the Indian Red Cross for three months’ emergency relief work in India. The Red Cross says that its relief work will cover 2,00,000 people who are now facing the threat of water-borne diseases. Thousands of people have been left destitute and the situation can be expected to worsen over the next few weeks as the rainy season does not normally cease until the end of August. According to a press note, the IFRC will deploy a six-person assessment team to Assam early next week. |
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Uncle arrested for
nephew’s murder NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — The Delhi police claims to have worked out the murder case of Sumant Verma of Rani Bagh with the arrest of three persons. The prime accused, Anil Verma, uncle of the deceased was arrested along with his two accomplices, Daya Nanad, alias Deva, and Sanjay, alias Sonu. Two other accused, Manish and Rajesh had absconded, the police said. The police said Anil Verma had property dispute with the father of the deceased. He allegedly hatched the plan to kidnap his nephew for ransom as he needed money. Anil Verma and his accomplices allegedly stolen a Maruti Esteem car from the Moti Bagh area three days before kidnapping the child. Daya Nanad, Sanjay, Manish and Rajesh kidnapped Sumant. Anil did not join them as he wanted to keep away from the scene. The three kidnapped the child while he was going to school in the morning. The tyre of their car got deflated when they were taking the boy to their hideout. They looked for a mechanic to get it repaired. When they failed to get the tyre repaired, they thought of freeing the child. Later they killed him as they feared that they would be exposed as one of the kidnappers was a friend of the elder brother of the deceased, the police said. |
Thundershowers in UP
plains NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — Monsoon has been active in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Rainfall: Rain or thundershowers have occurred at many places in the plains of Uttar Pradesh, at a few places in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and the hills of western Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places in Jammu and Kashmir and eastern Rajasthan. Weather was mainly dry in western Rajasthan. The chief amounts of rainfall in cm are: Haryana: Chandigarh 2 and Rohtak, Himachal Pradesh: Dehragopipur, Kangra and Nahan 1 each, Jammu and Kashmir: Jammu 4, Punjab: Kharar 2 and Dasuya 1, Uttar Pradesh: Banda, Hamirpur and Shahjina 8 each, Basti and Chillaghat 7 each, Kalpi 5, Ghazipur and Marora 4 each, Dehra Dun, Katerniaghat, Mohana and Regoli 3 each, Bahraich, Bansi, Chandradeepghat, Hardwar, Kakrahi and Kakardharighat 2 each and Bareilly, Etawah, Kanpur, Mukhlispur and Narora 1 each. Forecast valid until the morning of 19th: Rain or thundershowers will occur at many places in eastern Uttar Pradesh and the hills of western Uttar Pradesh, at a few places in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, eastern Rajasthan and the plains of western Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places in the rest of the region. Forecast for Delhi & neighbourhood valid until the morning of 19th: Partly cloudy sky with possibility of thundery development and light rain in some areas. Farmers weather bulletin for Delhi: Forecast valid until the morning of 19th: light rain is likely at a few places. Outlook for the subsequent two days: No large change. |
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Delhi MC goes
online NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — The Delhi Municipal Corporation has gone online. Delhi’ites can avail information on property tax, building by laws and factory licensing through the Internet. The site can be accessed at municipalcorporationofdelhi.com. The site also has a Hindi version, www.dillinagarnigam.com, a press note said today. |
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Tarlochan Singh to
attend summit NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — Mr Tarlochan Singh, Vice-Chairman, Minorities Commission, has been invited to attend the Millennium World Peace Summit of religious and spiritual leaders being held in New York from August 28. The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, will address the summit that will precede the General Assembly’s millennium gathering of heads of governments. In his letter Mr Singh, Mr Bawa Jain who is Secretary-General of the World Peace Summit, has urged him to give suggestions relating to ways in which religious and spiritual leaders can contribute to peace in the world. |
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Hoax call delays
AI Dubai flight NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — An Air India flight from Dubai to Mumbai via Delhi was delayed by about three hours following a hoax bomb call. A call was received by the manager of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport last night that a bomb had been planted in the flight. The call came while the plane was airborne forcing, the authorities to declare a state of emergency at the airport with all precautionary measures, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airport), Mr Arvind Deep said. |
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