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| Saturday, August 19, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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New Hurriyat formula for talks Kumaramangalam critical Baggage allowance for
Attari passengers cut Naik rules out
imminent hike in petro prices Productivity declining in Punjab |
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72 MLAs suspended
from AP House Jaya charge-sheeted in SPIC case SC order on mess employees Paswan’s announcement
‘breach of privilege’ Review wage board
proposals: scribes Deendar Anjuman
to be dealt with firmly: Advani Rain forecast in UP hills Motor Vehicles
Act amended Bhagwat’s plea
dismissed Ruling on Cr P.C.
provisions
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New Hurriyat formula for talks NEW DELHI, Aug 18 (UNI) — The Hurriyat chief, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, has offered a new formula — to form two groups of Hurriyat leaders for holding talks separately with the Indian and Pakistani Governments to work out a solution to the Kashmir problem. “The seven-member executive committee of the Hurriyat proposes to break into two groups. The bigger group of four will talk to leaders in New Delhi and the smaller one to leaders in Islamabad. I trust this can take shape,” Prof Ghani told tehelka.com in an interview. Urging the two countries to accept the offer, he said it would generate a proper political climate and the tension would ease. India and Pakistan would be able to understand Kashmiris better. “There are possibilities that everyone joins hands and gets out of this rut for ever. If we break up into two groups, the two countries will not be talking to the Hurriyat on the basis of bi-partite or tri-partite.” When asked about the response to the offer, he said the proposal was made informally and so far the Centre had not responded. Prof Bhat admitted that there had been occasional informal interaction with “individuals from Delhi.” The government had not been talking to them formally although it had expressed its intent to talk informally. “...Back channel or track II talks are on. A quiet political exercise is being undertaken...what is needed is a sincere effort to improve relations between India and Pakistan. Build bridges of understanding and goodwill for the resolution of disputes.” He blamed the leadership of the two countries for messing up the situation while their people shared everything—history, geography, culture “and may be future too.” But such people are not heard. People who matter...don’t listen and come forward.’’ He supported the Indian Government’s assertion that peace and guns could not go together but said that to silence guns talks were essential. “I had said that India, Pakistan and the representatives of Kashmiris (Hurriyat) in a joint statement should just say one thing —ceasefire. If that is done, the ceasefire will hold. But when a group is involved, it may not work.” ISLAMABAD (DPA): The Hizbul Mujahideen, on Friday disowned the Kashmiri emissary Fazl Haq Qureshi who claimed the group would resume its collapsed dialogue with India over the Kashmir-issue. Hizb’s supreme commander, Syed Salahuddin, said in a statement issued in Islamabad that the group had only two spokesmen, Saleem Hashmi and commander Masood. “Nobody else has either the right or authority to speak on behalf of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen,” he said. |
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Apollo treatment
to be probed? NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan, said today that the government might probe the alleged “improper treatment” given to the Union Power Minister, Mr P.R. Kumaramangalam, at Apollo Hospital here. Sharing a member’s concern in the Lok Sabha over Mr
Kumaramangalam’s critical condition, Mr Mahajan said he would bring the matter to the notice of the Health Minister, Dr C.P. Thakur, so that a probe could be initiated into whether there was any lapse on the part of Apollo Hospital where he was first treated, before being shifted to All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The condition of Mr Kumaramangalam continued to remain critical and there was no sign of any improvement during the past 72 hours, doctors attending him at AIIMS said. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, however, said “our first priority is to provide best treatment to Mr Kumaramangalam.” Raising the issue during zero hour, a senior BJP member, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, urged the government to constitute a high-level committee to probe “improper treatment” given to the Power Minister at the private hospital. Mr Khurana said the Apollo Hospital where Mr
Kumaramangalam was admitted for over a fortnight failed to even diagnose the disease and now it had been detected by the AIIMS as being a type of “blood cancer”. Alleging that the attitude of the Apollo Hospital had been “callous”, he said it was only interested in minting money. The 48-year-old minister has been on life-support system following multiple organ failure. Mr Kumaramangalam’s condition is being monitored by a panel of doctors. He was revived after two cardiac arrests on Wednesday. The Union Power Minister is suffering from severe
septicemia and multiple organ failure. Meanwhile, the doctors said the condition of the Union Minister for Rural Development, Mr Sunderlal Patwa, was “stable.” The doctors said Mr Patwa would be kept in the hospital for a couple of days for observation. Mr Patwa was admitted to AIIMS yesterday as he complained of uneasiness in the Rajya Sabha. He has been admitted to a private ward of the cardio-neuro centre of the hospital. |
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Baggage allowance for
Attari passengers cut NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — The government today reduced the free baggage allowance for travellers from Pakistan to Rs 3,000 from Rs 12,000 to curb smuggling of goods into the country through land route. “The passengers and tourists coming from Pakistan by land route can avail of free baggage allowance only to the extent of Rs 3,000,’’ an official press note said. A notification reducing the allowance had also been issued, it said. “This measure is intended to effectively curb smuggling through the Samjhauta Express and the Delhi-Lahore bus service,” it said. In the Lok Sabha, replying to a question by Mr R.L. Bhatia about smuggling at Attari border, the Minister of State for Revenue, Mr Dhananjay Kumar, today said that intelligence reports did not indicate that smuggling was being done at Attari road by “sawari operators”. However, there had been reports that some of the passengers travelling on the Samjhauta Express plying between India and Pakistan were misusing the facility of free baggage allowance to bring baggage in excess of permissible limits, the minister said. In this, he said, they were being aided by “sawari operators” with connivance of local agents and porters. The misuse of the baggage allowance facility, the minister said, had greatly reduced with the tightening of controls such as imposition of heavy penalty and redemption fine. He said based on the report of the Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, several measures had been taken to prevent smuggling and commercial transaction of goods by passengers. Besides improving vigilance set-up and anti-smuggling set-up of the Customs Department, the measures taken included a ban on the entry of railway coolies at platform no 2 and 3 of Attari Rail, Amritsar. |
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Naik rules out
imminent hike in petro prices NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — There is no proposal to increase the prices of petroleum products in the wake of the sharp increase in the price of crude oil in the international market but it may not be possible to hold the price line for an indefinite period, the Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik, has said. The price of crude oil in the international market has registered a sharp increase recently leading to the peak price of Dubai crude oil on August 15 at $ 27.03 per barrel or Rs 8912 per tonne. It was Rs 3429 per tonne in January-March 1999. The minister’s disclosure came at a meeting of the Parliamentary
Consultative Committee attached to his ministry. It may not be possible to keep the prices unchanged in view of the sharp increase in the international market price of crude oil, he said. He, however, said a reduction in the duties and taxes on petroleum products, including sales tax levied by the state governments, would help contain the domestic prices. |
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North India in
Parliament NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — In Haryana and Punjab, due to intensive cropping there is more mining of micro and macro nutrients and withdrawal of excessive water leading to declining productivity, the Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr Babu Lal Marand, told the Rajya Sabha today. In a written reply to Mr Prem Chand Gupta who asked if Haryana and Punjab were heading towards becoming the country’s least productive and drought prone areas, the minister said although the growth rate of productivity had declined in Punjab recently, the productivity per hectare had not declined. The present wheat yield in Punjab still compares favourably with many countries in the world. The falling of water table relates specifically to sweet water zone due to early transplantation of rice. The minister said, however, there was no report of drought in Haryana and Punjab. The problem of secondary salinisation, particularly in canal irrigated areas, was increasing due to more seepage. Proper lining of canals and judicious use of water were being advocated to mitigate this problem, the minister said. In order to check soil erosion, bio-engineering measures had been suggested. Integrated use of natural resources and introduction of legumes in cropping system were also being popularised to sustain higher productivity. Under the National Watershed Development Programme of the Ministry of Agriculture, which, inter alia, included enhancement of agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner, an area of 35,520 hectare in Haryana and 19,792 hectare in Punjab had been treated so far, he said. ASI sites in Haryana: Eightyeight historical monuments and sites in Haryana are under the protection of the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI), the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mr Ananth Kumar, told Mr Ratan Lal Kataria in the Lok Sabha today. During 2000-2001, the ASI had made a provision for Rs 37 lakh for the maintenance of protected monuments in Haryana. The minister said according to the information given by the Haryana Government, the state Department of Archaeology and Museum was engaged in excavations at Kunal in Fatehabad district and at Sugh in Yamunanagar district. HP temples: Financial assistance of Rs 219.41 lakh has been provided to the Himachal Pradesh Government for 10 tourism projects for developing tourist facilities around some of the famous temples, the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mr Ananth Kumar, told Mr Suresh Chandel in the Lok Sabha. He said the Department of Tourism did not have any scheme for development of temples but financial assistance was given to the state governments for the development of tourist infrastructure around places of pilgrimage. Iron deficiency in J-K: The percentage of married women aged 15-49 years suffering from iron deficiency in Jammu and Kashmir is 58.7 per cent, the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prof Rita Verma, told Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Rajya Sabha. She said according to the data available from the National Family Health Survey, 1998-99, the iron deficiency for married women in the country in the age group of 15-49 years was 51.8 per cent. In the case of children under three years of age, while the percentage for the country was 74.4 per cent, for Jammu and Kashmir it was 71.1 per cent. The Minister informed that iron deficiency was a problem of inadequate nutrition and national plan of action on nutrition was being implemented through a number of departments. |
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72 MLAs suspended
from AP House HYDERABAD, Aug 18 (PTI) — Seventy-two opposition members belonging to the Congress, MIM and Left parties were today suspended from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for periods ranging from one to three days for obstructing proceedings even as the TDP Government conceded a combined Opposition demand for constituting a House committee to go into the power reforms issue. As the power tariff issue rocked the House for the sixth day, the Opposition attack gained stridency forcing the government to agree for a House committee to make a comparative study of the status of power reforms, tariff structures and management of power sector in various states. The demand for a House committee to go into the circumstances that led to the recent hike in power tariff was voiced by all opposition parties, including the ruling TDP’s ally the BJP. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, whose reply to an acrimonious debate on the issue was interrupted by the slogan-shouting opposition members for the third consecutive day, promptly agreed to the idea but rejected the Opposition demand for suspending the tariff hike, pending submission of the House committee’s report. Pandemonium prevailed in the House with Congress and CPM members storming the well and raising slogans demanding rollback of the hike even as the Treasury Benches accused them of deliberately obstructing the proceedings. Sixtyfive members, of the Congress, four of the Majlis Ittehadul two of the CPM and the lone member of the CPM (ML) were suspended from the House for creating unruly scenes. Mr D Nagender (Congress) was suspended for six days for tearing off papers near the Speaker’s podium. The other Congress and Left parties members were suspended for three days while MIM legislators were suspended for the day. |
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Jaya charge-sheeted in SPIC case CHENNAI, Aug 18 (UNI) — The CBI today filed a charge sheet against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, leading industrialist a
C Muthiah and former State Industries Secretary C Ramachandran in the Rs 28.29-crore spic disinvestment case before a special judge. Judge a c
Arumugaperumal Adityan, who took the charge sheet on file, ordered issuance of summons to Ms Jayalalitha, Mr Muthiah and Mr Ramachandran for their appearance before the court on September 4. In the charge sheet, the accused were charged for offences under Section 120 B of
IPC read with Section 13 (2) read with Section 13 (i) (D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The allegation against Ms Jayalalitha and Mr Ramachandran was that they had abused their official position to favour the late m a Chidambaram and his son a c Muthiah in bringing back Mr Chidambaram as Chairman of spic and relinquishing the right of the state-owned
TIDCO's shares in spic as part of a zero conversion bond, thereby causing wrongful loss of Rs 28.29 crore to the exchequer. Though Mr Chidambaram was named an accused initially, he was shown as deceased accused' in the charge sheet since his death. In 1997, Janata Party President Subramaniam Swamy had filed a public interest litigation before the Madras High Court to quash the government letter relinquishing its share in spic and also sought a
CBI probe. Mr Justice y Venkatachalam, had, on December 15, 1997, ordered a
CBI probe and directed Ms Jayalalitha, Mr Chidambaram and Mr Muthiah to pay a compensation of Rs 28.29 crore to the government. Against this order, the three filed an appeal and a Division Bench of the Madras High Court had prepared a portion of the judgment in respect of payment of compensation. As per the high court order, the
CBI took up investigation and filed the charge sheet today. |
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SC order on mess employees NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — The Supreme Court has ruled that employees of cafeteria or hostel mess maintained by the universities be treated as regular employees of the universities entitled to all regular benefits at par with other employees. “The regulations pertaining to hostel accommodation and the supply of food do not warrant any other conclusion than to treat it as an essential requirement so far as the inmates of the hostel are concerned. The involvement of the Vice-Chancellor, the warden and the food managers who admittedly all belongs to the universities as employees thereof cannot negate the cry of the labour force asking for a parity in their scale of pay”, the court said. Rejecting the plea of heavy financial implications involved in the implementation of the apex court’s verdict, a two-judge Bench comprising Mr Justice S.B. Majmudar and Mr Justice U.C. Banerjee in their judgement observed, that pragmatism should not lead to deprivation of the legitimate claims of the weaker sections of the society. The significant ruling is the fallout of the court’s dismissal of appeals of the G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Nainital, with regard to the regularisation of the services the employees of 14 hostel mess or cafeterias maintained by the university. A labour court had upheld the claim of employees which was confirmed by the Allahabad High Court. The judges directed the university to regularise the services of the employees concerned in terms of the awards passed by the labour court by 31 August, 2000, so as to entitle them to obtain monthly wages at par with the other employees of the university. “The arrear of salary, if there be any payable, as per the directions, as confirmed by the high court, be paid to the canteen staff concerned in 12 equal monthly instalments along with the regularised salary”, the judges ordered. Delivering the judgement, Mr Justice Banerjee stated: “Admittedly, cafeteria employees need
succor for livelihood — would they continue to remain half-fed and half clad as long as they live — is this the society we feel proud of: Is this the guarantee provided by the Founding Fathers of our Constitution?” “Economic justice is not a mere legal jargon but in the new millennium, it is the obligation of all to confer this economic justice to a seeker: Society is to remain, social justice is the order and economic justice is the rule of the day”, the judge added. |
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Paswan’s announcement
‘breach of privilege’ NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — There was a flutter in the Rajya Sabha today over the announcement of guidelines for national long-distance telephony as the CPM member, Mr Nilotpal Basu and Congress member, Mr Suresh Pachouri, moved a privilege motion over the issue. The members pointed out that since the announcement had been made outside Parliament it amounted to breach of privilege of the members. The Chairman, Mr Krishan Kant, however, held back his ruling on the issue saying he would give it only after going into the matter. Responding to members’ allegations, the Communications Minister, Mr Ramvilas Paswan, clarified that the announcement of the guidelines on August 13 did not amount to the breach of privilege as guidelines were a matter of procedure and certainly not a policy which warranted announcement in Parliament first when in session. Mr Paswan said the National Telecom Policy was announced as early as March, 1999, and the guidelines which were to be put in place by January, 2000, were announced only in August. Also, the guidelines which were finalised on August 12 keeping in line with Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s promise to announce it by Independence Day could not be brought before the House as it was not in session from August 13 to 15, he said. Dissatisfied with the minister’s clarification during zero hour, Mr Basu and Mr Pachouri maintained that the announcement was a violation of the privilege of the House as the original National Telecom Policy provided for opening up national long distance telephony only to fixed service providers and not to other private operators as announced. |
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Review wage board
proposals: scribes
NEW DELHI, Aug 18 (UNI) — Criticising the final report of the Manisana Singh Wage Board of Working Journalists and Non-Journalists as ‘anti-employee’, the Indian Journalists’ Union (IJU) has called upon the government to thoroughly review its recommendations and ensure that justice is done to newspaper employees. In a press statement issued here, IJU president Suresh Akhouri said the report had come as a ‘rude shock’ to the journalist community because it had made departures from its tentative proposals and was adverse to their interests. It also reneged on the established wage policy of linking DA to the all-India consumer price index (CPI). By recommending linkage with regional CPIs instead, the board had sought to erode the concept of a uniform national wage structure for journalists and met halfway the employers’ long-standing bid to force regional wage systems on newspaper employees and thus, divide their community along regional lines. “The IJU is determined to fight out this diabolical attack on the community and its unity and wage a struggle jointly with other newspaper and news agency employees unions to secure the restoration of the linkage of DA with the all-India CPI,” Akhouri said. The IJU would also continue its struggle for 100 per cent neutralisation of the rise in the cost of living, which the wage board had rejected without assigning any valid reason. The neutralisation at the highest level had been pegged at as low as 40 per cent. |
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Deendar Anjuman
to be dealt with firmly: Advani NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — The Union Home Minister, Mr L.K.Advani, today told the Lok Sabha that the Centre would take strict action against the Deendar Anjuman, which was responsible for a series of bomb blasts in Christian institutions in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa. Replying to a debate on the atrocities on linguistic and religious minorities, Mr Advani said 35 members of the Deendar Anjuman had been arrested so far in connection with attacks on churches in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and 65 per cent of the culprits had been identified. He said the government would take stringent action against the Deendar after consulting the states where the organisation had been active. IUML leader, G.M.Banatwala said the government should take action against the organisation as also the ISI. He said the Muslims did not consider the Deendar Anjuman as part of their religion. Mr Advani said the communal riots were fewer under the present government. He however, admitted that atrocities against the Christians had increased. |
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Rain forecast in UP hills NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — Monsoon has been active in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Rainfall: Rain or thundershowers have occurred at many places in the plains of Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, eastern Rajasthan and the hills of western Uttar Pradesh. Weather was mainly dry in the rest of the region. The chief amounts of rainfall in
cm are: Haryana: Ambala and Jagadhari 1 each, Himachal Pradesh: Baijnath 10, Punjab: Anandpur Sahib 1, Uttar Pradesh: Ayodhya 12, Fatehgarh 7, Ankinghat, Lucknow and Shardnagar 6 each, Bareilly 5, Ballia, Kalp and Varanasi A.P. 4 each, Bani, Bhatpurwaghat, Banda, Chillaghat, Dehra Dun and Elginbridge 3 each, Etawah, Hamirpur, Mohana, Regoli and Shahjina 2 each and Basti, Balrampur and Haripur 1 each. Forecast valid until the morning of 20th: Rain or thundershowers will occur at most places in the hills of western Uttar Pradesh, at many places in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the plains of Uttar Pradesh, at a few places in Punjab and eastern Rajasthan and at isolated places in the rest of the region. Heavy rainfall warning: Heavy rain is likely at a few places with isolated very heavy falls in the hills of western Uttar Pradesh during the next 48 hours. Isolated heavy rain is also likely in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the plains of Uttar Pradesh during the same period. Forecast for Delhi & neighbourhood valid until the morning of 20: Generally cloudy sky with one or two showers/thundershowers. Possibility of thunderstorm in some areas. Farmers weather bulletin for Delhi: Forecast valid until the morning of 20th: Light to moderate rain will occur at many places. Outlook for the subsequent two days: Slight increase in rainfall. |
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Motor Vehicles
Act amended NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — If you are driving a vehicle which has been altered in any manner, including change of tyres of higher capacity, then beware. You can be fined. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2000, which seeks to amend the principal Act of 1988, has been given presidential assent and has become a law with immediate effect. The silver lining is that the alteration of vehicles with a view to facilitating the use of eco-friendly fuel, including LPG, will no more be considered illegal. The Act also brings buses run by educational institutions within its purview by requiring them to obtain permit. The amending Act became essential in the overall interest of securing road safety and maintaining clean environment. The President has also given his assent to, apart from the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2000, the Indian Companies (Foreign Interests) and the Companies (Temporary Restrictions on Dividends) Repeal Bill, 2000, the Cotton Cloth (Repeal) Bill, 2000, and the Iron and Steel Companies (Amalgamation and Takeover Laws) Repeal Bill, 2000. |
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Bhagwat’s plea
dismissed NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — A two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Mr Justice B. N. Kirpal and Mr Justice Shivaraj V. Patil today dismissed the special leave petition of Mr Vishnu Bhagwat, former Navy Chief, challenging his unceremonial removal from service. The judges while dismissing Mr Bhagwat’s petition against the Bombay High Court order dismissing his challenge of the government’s action said: “We see no reason to interfere with the order of the high court”. The judges dismissed the petition despite the fact that Mr Vishnu Bhagwat had amended it by removing his allegations made against the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, and had confided his challenge only to the doctrine of the “presidential pleasure” to remove him or to sack him without giving him an opportunity to give his
defence. |
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Ruling on Cr P.C.
provisions MUMBAI, Aug 18 (PTI) — In a landmark ruling, a special court has held that provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) do not strictly apply to cases which fall under the purview of special statute or law enacted by the state or the Centre. Rejecting the bail plea of Uday Acharya, proprietor of C.U. Marketing, and facing a charge of duping investors to the tune of Rs 450 crore, Special Judge Roshan Dalvi yesterday observed that the Maharashtra Protection of Investors Deposits (MPID) Act had an overriding effect over the CrPC. |
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