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| Thursday, August 24, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Peres to brief India on talks New Delhi, Aug 23 — A smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes, Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, Ranga to his friends, has left an indelible mark with regard to his political acumen. Repeat of Nandankanan at Darjeeling Zoo feared India praised for role in ‘Operation Purple’ |
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| SC: foreign verdicts enforceable in India NEW DELHI, Aug 23 — A person who has obtained a decree from a court in a foreign country can approach an Indian court for enforcement of the said decree under the Civil Procedure Code, the Supreme Court has ruled. CPM complains to President
Akali leaders ‘creating problems’
for UP Sikhs NEW DELHI, Aug 23 — Office-bearers of the Indian Youth Congress have given a call for a one-day fast in all state capitals tomorrow to protest against the “dictatorial” attitude of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. 2 held for forging property papers Heavy rain claims 44 lives in AP
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Peres to brief India on talks NEW DELHI, Aug 23 — Israel’s Minister for Regional Cooperation Shimon Peres is arriving here tomorrow to apprise the Indian leadership about Tel Aviv’s stand on the stalled West Asian peace process. Mr Peres, who had also served the Jewish state as head of government, will meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh during his two-day stay in this country. As a key functionary in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s Cabinet, the visit of Mr Peres comes close on the heels of that of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Chairman Yasser Arafat who urged Mr Vajpayee to use India’s good offices in accelerating the independence of Palestine. The Israelis have also been globe-trotting to drum up support and counter the Palestinian charge that Tel Aviv has been putting roadblocks and reneging on its part of the deal. With Indo-Israeli ties having touched a new high and bilateral cooperative endeavours showing an upward graph, the interface that Mr Peres will have with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance leadership assumes importance. It is not without reason that New Delhi has refrained from offering any comments on Mr Arafat’s wide ranging discussions with Mr Vajpayee last week on some contentious issues including Jerusalem. Obviously, considering the delicate stage of the peace process the NDA leadership did not want to give any impression of taking sides. Mr Arafat underlined the frustration of the Palestinian people at having to constantly postpone the declaration of statehood. The deadline of September 13 might have to be extended by a few more months. Palestinian sources admitted they did not expect the US brokered Camp David summit between Mr Barak and Mr Arafat to succeed as it lacked the necessary preparation on both sides. Major powers have cautioned Mr Arafat not to declare statehood unilaterally in the overall interests of the Palestinians. Similarly, the seasoned and war hardened Mr Peres as Mr Barak’s influential minister at large will affirm Tel Aviv’s point of view. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians want to make Jerusalem their capital and continue to adopt extremely hard postures on its sovereignty. Following the failure of the Israel-Palestine Camp David summit, the two sides have expressed their keenness to resume the talks. Washington has made it clear it will not host a second Camp David West Asia peace summit until Israel and the Palestinians are ready to take the tough decisions considered imperative for peace. While facing a tough time at home, Mr Barak has warned Mr Arafat not to declare Palestinian statehood unilaterally. His government in Tel Aviv does not have a majority in Parliament at present. Mr Barak might have no option but go in for fresh elections in the next two months if the intransigent attitude of the various parties in Israel continues. Despite making a last-ditch effort, the chances of Mr Barak being able to revive his coalition government appear slim. |
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Ranga, a
dynamic leader New Delhi, Aug 23 — A smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes, Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, Ranga to his friends, has left an indelible mark with regard to his political acumen. He swung from one end of the political spectrum to another with ease and was fearless in his independent stand. The ease with which he switched from the Congress to the BJP raised many questions. Politically, he was written off by many, but the 48-year-old leader from Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, forced them to eat their words. Born on May 12, 1952, Ranga was active in the student movement and was founder-president of National Students Union of India, the student wing of the Congress. Taking active interest in trade unionism, Ranga became a noted labour leader and plunged into politics in 1975 when he became a prominent Youth Congress activist. Hailing from an illustrious family of politicians and public figures in Tamil Nadu, Ranga was a third-generation politician. Ranga’s grandfather P. Subbaroyan was a Congressman who was in the Cabinet of Pandit Nehru. His father Mohan Kumaramangalam, the Communist-turned-Congressman, was in the Cabinet of Indira Gandhi and did considerable trouble-shooting for her during her turbulent days in the early 1970s. He died in an aircrash in Delhi in May 1973. His uncle was Gen P.P. Kumaramangalam, the former Army Chief who died recently. His aunt was Parvathi Krishnan, who had held the post of general secretary of the CPI. Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, who joined the BJP on the eve of the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, had been a Member of Parliament since 1984 except for a small break from 1996 to 1998 when the Congress was routed in the general election. First inducted into the Union Council of Ministers by Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Ranga made a mark as Minister of State for Science and Technology and Parliamentary Affairs. He resigned his ministership in 1993 after Assembly elections in UP, MP and Rajasthan attacking certain parts of the economic reforms programme like the proposed “exit policy.” Ranga deserted the Congress when Arjun Singh and N.D. Tiwari floated a new outfit Congress (Tiwari) in 1996. Disillusioned with the new outfit, Ranga joined BJP in 1998. He was made Minister for Power and Parliamentary Affairs in the second Vajpayee coalition government in 1998-99. He retained the power portfolio in the present NDA government. Born of a Tamil father and Bengali mother, Ranga was fluent in English, Tamil, Hindi and was conversant in Bengali and thus embraced a liberal, cosmopolitan character and outlook, having been educated in both Chennai and Delhi to take his degrees in science and law. With an avid interest in science and technology, especially electronics, Ranga worked tirelessly to improve power generation in the country. He has penned a book on the student movement in India. |
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Repeat of
Nandankanan at Darjeeling Zoo feared CALCUTTA, Aug 23 — After Bhubaneswar’s Nandankanan, now it is at Padmaja Naidu zoo in Darjeeling where unknown diseases have become frequent ‘killers’ of some rare animals of that famous sanctuary. In fact in the past one month or so, altogether three red pandas, one snow-leopard and a goral (hill goat) at the Darjeeling zoo died of mysterious disease-the goral at the zoo was the lone living animal of that rare species in the country, which is in the extinction. The deaths of white tiger at Nandankanan in Bhubaneswar caused uproar in various circles but so far, the incidents of animal-death at Darjeeling’s Padmaja Naidu Zoo, kept a closely-guarded secret by the Bengal government’s Forest Department. Tourists who used to visit the zoo during their trip to the hills, had missed the chance to have a glimpse of these rare animals and they were told that these animals had been sent to Calcutta zoo for the time being. The incident of death as well as the causes had been kept a secret. But only recently, the matter was brought to the knowledge of the city’s two
practicing veterinary doctors, who had filed a public litigation case at Calcutta High Court, demanding criminal actions against those persons responsible for sudden death of several rare animals at the zoo under mysterious circumstances. The matter was raised and heard at the Chief Justice’s Division Bench on Monday which directed the state government to file affidavit within two weeks’ time explaining to the court the government’s stand. But in the meantime, on the basis of a prima facie inquiry report of the District Magistrate, the Director of the Zoo was summarily transferred by the Forest Minister, Mr Jogesh Burman and a departing probe was ordered. According to the DM’s report, recently, two rare Markhar birds, gifted by the Finland government and a yak which had been of great attraction to the hill tourists, met mysterious death at the Darjeeling zoo. Not only that, the report of their deaths was not conveyed to the government by the zoo authorities. Darjeeling zoo is famous all over the country as an animal-sanctuary of several rare species and it has a special attraction to the foreign tourists who frequently visit the hills and have a long stay in this foot hills of the Himalayas. The snow-leopard died on July 19. It was caught in a jungle in the militant-infested state of Kashmir by an Army’s patrolling party and was flown down to the Darjeeling zoo on June 24 at the instance of Defence Minister, George Fernandes. At that time, the Union Minister, Mrs Maneka Gandhi, who known for championing the cause for wild-life protection, took
personal interest in rearing of the rare animal. |
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India praised for role in ‘Operation Purple’ NEW DELHI, Aug 23 — India, a leading producer of potassium permanganate, a critical cocaine processing chemical, has won the admiration of the international community for its role in preventing the chemical from falling into the hands of drug traffickers despite the country finding itself in the middle of “golden triangle” and “golden cresent”, the main poppy growing areas. “I would be remiss if I did not commend the outstanding effort made by our Indian officials in support of Operation Purple,” the Chief of Chemical Control Section of the US Department of Justice and Chairman of the Steering Committee, Mr Marc B. Golubock, said. The pat on the back of India came during the two-day meeting of the Steering Committee of the “Operation Purple”, an international law enforcement initiative supported by regulatory authorities from 32 countries and aimed at preventing the use of potassium permanganate for the processing of cocaine, which concluded here today. “As India is a major producer of pottassium permanganate, it is a critical country in this operation and I would particularly like to commend the efforts of Central Bureau of Narcotics of India,” Mr Golubock said. “Operation Purple” was developed from an idea put forth by German authorities and at a conference in Madrid in February 1999 it was agreed amongst the countries present that they would take the unprecedented step of voluntarily sharing, on a real-time basis, information regarding the commercial movement of potassium permanganate. The launch of the operation reflected the international community’s concerns over the growing illegal use of this easily available chemical for processing the deadly “cocaine” drug. According to information gathered from the International Narcotics Control Board, which oversees the operation, during the first phase of the operation, from April through December last year, 248 shipments of potassium permanganate were tracked across the globe. As a direct result of this operation, 32 shipments of this chemical have been either stopped or seized, which totalled over 22,25,000 kg or 29 per cent of all the shipments monitored. According to Mr Gabriel Merchan Benavides, Minister for Justice of Colombia, which tops the list of the largest producer of the deadly drug cocaine, said the “Operation Purple” is an effort to awaken the international community for curbing the illegal use of chemical having no plant base for processing and manufacture of deadly drugs like cocaine. “The majority of the illegal shipment of potassium permanganate across the globe lands in Colombia as the drug cartels, most of them located in the jungles of Southern Colombia, pay huge money for it,” he said. In Columbian black market, 1 kg of potassium permanganate is worth $ 45 to 90, whereas the actual cost of the chemical in the market is just $ 1,800 per tonne. “The huge economic gain induces the drug traffickers to indulge in smuggling of this chemical,” Mr Benavides said adding “the ‘Operation Purple’ will help in checking the misuse of this chemical.” The meeting was attended among other by representatives from Japan, China and Germany. |
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SC: foreign verdicts enforceable in India NEW DELHI, Aug 23 (PTI) — A person who has obtained a decree from a court in a foreign country can approach an Indian court for enforcement of the said decree under the Civil Procedure Code, the Supreme Court has ruled. “Section 44A of the Code enables a foreign decree holder to execute a foreign decree in this country,” a division Bench comprising Justice S.B. Majmudar and Justice Umesh C. Banerjee said dismissing an appeal of Merchant Vessel A.L. Quamar against an Andhra Pradesh High Court order. The High Court had held that it was competent to issue attachment orders against the merchant vessel on the basis of a decree against it issued by the High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division Admiralty Court in an action by Tsavliris Salvage (International) Limited. Relying on decision by New Zealand Supreme Court and an Australian judgement, Justice Banerjee, writing the judgement for the Bench, said a foreign decree holder could invoke the jurisdiction of an Indian court under Section 44A of the Code. Justice Banerjee said, “One can conclude that whereas the domestic law, execution scheme is available under Sections 37, 38, 39, 41 and 42, Section 44A depicts an altogether different scheme for enforcement of foreign judgements through Indian courts.” The court said when decree obtained from an Indian court was sought to be enforced in the country two years after it was obtained, “there is existing a mandatory obligation to serve a notice to show cause against the execution.” However, the court said in case of Section 44A, which enabled a foreign decree holder to approach an Indian court for execution, requirement of show cause notice was not mentioned even if the decree was over two years old. “In fine, the legal fiction created by Section 44A makes the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the court which passed the decree and as such competency of the High Court to entertain the execution proceeding cannot be doubted in any way,” Justice Banerjee said. The court said the dismissal of the appeal would not preclude m v a l Quamar to obtain release of the attached ship on furnishing a bank guarantee of a nationalised bank for suitable amount to the satisfaction of the Registrar of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, pending the execution proceedings. |
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CPM
complains to President NEW DELHI, Aug 23 — The CPM has accused the Centre of treating the entire class of government employees as a “non-productive organisation”. Expressing deep concern over an “unhealthy and undemocratic” trend being adopted by the Union Government, the CPM has asked President K.R. Narayanan’s to intervene in the arbitrary rejection of various awards of the Board of Arbitration by the Centre. In a letter to the President dated August 18, the CPM Lok Sabha MP, Mr Basudeb Acharya said while earlier some favourable awards given by the Arbitration Board used to get implemented, of late the successive governments in order to wriggle out of the deepening economic crisis created by their own policies, were trying to deprive the central government employees their due benefits which they got out of arbitration. The Centre had started arbitrarily rejecting the awards undemocratically using the democratic institution like Parliament on the extraordinary plea that “implementation of such awards will involve huge expenditure that will lead to diversion of scarce resources from development expenditure to non-productive expenditure and will thus adversely affect the national economy and principle of social justice”, Mr Acharya said. The Union government had suddenly come to a conclusion that the entire class of government employees were a non-productive organisation, the CPM leader said. |
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SC order on ad hoc appointments NEW DELHI, Aug 23 (PTI) — In a significant judgement, having bearing on hundreds of employees, the Supreme Court has held that if a qualified person appointed to a post fulfilling all formalities and continues in that post for a “fairly long time”, his appointment cannot be termed as ad hoc. “In the service jurisprudence, a person who possesses the requisite qualification for being appointed to a particular post and then he is appointed with the approval and consultation of the appropriate authority and continues in the post for a fairly long period, then such appointment cannot be held to be stop-gap or fortuitous or purely ad hoc,” it said. This ruling was given by a five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Mr Justice G.B. Pattanaik, Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu, Mr Justice D.P. Mohapatra, Mr Justice Doraiswamy Raju and Mr Justice Shivaraj V. Patil while quashing the seniority list of Delhi Higher Judicial Service (DHJS) prepared by the high court. Promotee officers in the DHJS had challenged the list drawn by the high court on the ground that their continuous appointment as Additional District and Sessions Judge was not taken into account even though they were appointed after due consultation with the high court. The Bench said, “The reasoning and basis on which, the appointment of the promotees in the DHJS in the case in hand was held by the high court to be ‘fortuitous/ad hoc/stop-gap’ are wholly arroneous and therefore, exclusion of these appointees to have their continuous service for seniority is erroneous.” The Bench said, “We are of the considered opinion, that the high court of Delhi, in drawing up the seniority list,.... committed error by excluding the persons, on the ground that they held posts on an ad hoc basis or for fortuitous reasons or by way of stop-gap arrangement even though the appointments were made after due approval.” “It is on this score, the ultimate seniority list, drawn up, stands vitiated, “Mr Justice Pattanaik said writing the judgement for the Bench. Defining various categories of appointment, the Bench said if the appointment order itself indicated that the post was created to meet a particular temporary contingency and for a period specified in the order, then the appointment to such a post could be aptly described as “ad hoc” or “stop-gap”. “If a post is created to meet a situation which has suddenly arisen on account of happening of some event of a temporary nature then the appointment of such a post can be described as ‘fortuitous’ in nature,” he said. |
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TN to release militants CHENNAI, Aug 23 (PTI, UNI) — The hostage crisis in Tamil Nadu has reached a decisive stage with the government taking steps to withdraw all cases pending against five militants, whose release has been demanded by outlaw Veerappan before he sets free Kannada filmstar Rajkumar and three other captives. “The cases are being withdrawn and these five will be released as soon as the ongoing negotiations with Veerappan reach a conclusive stage. It all depends on the message from the emissary, Mr R.R. Gopal,” Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi told reporters here today. Stating that he was expecting a message from the jungles on the status of the negotiations this evening, he made it clear that the end of the negotiations and release of the militants are inter-linked. Mr Karunanidhi said the government had wanted the militants to come out on bail, but they had insisted on “total freedom”, that is, withdrawal of all cases against them, and all arrangements were being made for this. He confirmed that the Centre had permitted the withdrawal of cases relating to offences against central installations like radio stations and post offices. |
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Pak test-fired Ghauri missile on Aug 15? NEW DELHI, Aug 23 (PTI) — A US-based intelligence consulting company today said Pakistan was likely to have test-fired Ghauri-III missile on August 15, when India was celebrating Independence Day.
Seven objects streaking through the skies in Balochistan on August 15 were perhaps Ghauri-III missiles, tested deliberately by Pakistan on India’s Independence Day, Pakistan daily, The News, quoted the
company as saying. The News report said the Pakistan air force operates a major base just west of Quetta and has used the surrounding land as a missile test range. Stratfor, the prestigious US-based intelligence consulting company, claims the development of Ghauri-III has
quietly taken place and the engine of the missile was successfully tested at Kahuta on September 30, 1999. The report said thousands of villagers witnessed unidentified objects flying from west to east and crashing into the mountains east of Quetta on August 15. The missile-like objects flew “in formation” or “in a row” before disappearing into Pakistan’s western mountains. The report said the objects were about 15 metres’ long, flying perhaps 5,000 to 7,000 feet high. The sighting could be
explained by a meteor show or a satellite returning to earth, the newspaper quoted the report. |
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Akali leaders
‘creating problems’ for UP Sikhs NEW DELHI, Aug 23 — The Vice-Chairman of the Minorities Commission, Mr Tarlochan Singh, today appealed to the leaders of Akali parties not to oppose the creation of Uttaranchal as it would jeopardise the interests of Sikhs living in the proposed state. Mr Tarlochan Singh said a large number of Sikhs living in Dehradun, Mussoorie and Hardwar had met him and pointed out that they were very happy with the creation of the new state. They pointed out that contradictory statements by Akali leaders in Punjab were creating problems for them among the local residents. A delegation of Sikhs has also given a memorandum to the President supporting the creation of Uttaranchal, Mr Tarlochan Singh said. |
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IYC gives call for
protest fast today NEW DELHI, Aug 23 — Office-bearers of the Indian Youth Congress have given a call for a one-day fast in all state capitals tomorrow to protest against the “dictatorial” attitude of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh.
In a press note issued, here today Mr Zubair Khan, Treasurer of the party, said the All-India Youth Congress President, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, along with over 40 workers was lathi-charged on August 22 in Varanasi while he was on his way to meet the Divisional Commissioner on problems relating to Poorvanchal. Mr Surjewala and the others were hospitalised following the “attack”. In addition to this, they alleged that false case had been registered against the protesters and they were jailed. |
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2 held for forging
property papers NEW DELHI, Aug 23 — The Delhi Police has arrested two accused, Deepak Sabharwal and Deepak Bhargava, on charge of cheating a Hindi writer, Vishnu Prabhakar.
The writer, living in the Ajmeri Gate area of the walled city, had rented his another house in Pitampura to the accused in 1999. The monthly rent of the house was Rs 3, 500, the police said. The accused allegedly stopped paying the rent to the writer after a few months and subsequently got forged ownership papers of the house in the name of Deepak Sabharwal. Instead of paying the rent they dragged the writer to court alleging that he had tried to evict the house forcibly. |
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Devotees throng temples on Janamashtami NEW DELHI, Aug 23 (PTI) — Janamashtami, marking the birthday of Lord Krishna, was celebrated across the Capital with traditional gaiety and enthusiasm.
Thousands of devotees thronged the famous Laxmi Narain Temple, where the main function was held, to offer prayers. The temple was specially decorated and illuminated for the occasion and police had made tight security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident. “Jhankis” (tableaus) depicting the life and times of the divine cowherd who gave “Bhagvadgita” (the song celestial) to mankind attracted the young and old alike. |
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Heavy rain claims 44 lives in AP HYDERABAD, Aug 23 (UNI) — At least 44 persons were killed in Andhra Pradesh following heavy rain which lashed most parts of the state since last night, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu informed the state Assembly tonight.
Making a statement on the heavy rains in the state, he said the worst-affected Guntur district accounted for a maximum of 25 deaths. The Chief Minister informed the House that two Indian Air Force helicopters rescued all 43 passengers, perched on top of a road transport corporation bus stranded in a flooded rivulet in Guntur district and landed them in Cuddapah district. |
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