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| Saturday, September 16, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Veerappan
case hearing on Sept 19 Resume talks
with Pak: Karan Singh Accidents ‘not’
due to planes’ age Fall in membership
‘not due to Sonia’ Funds’
bungling: probe ordered |
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‘Develop’ heritage villages in HP Centre's
warning to West Bengal Charges against Judge framed BJP ‘stunting’
growth of Prasar Bharati JD (U) Gen Secy quits HC notices to
DGDE, Defence Ministry Meeting on poll
code today JMM to organise
victory celebrations
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Veerappan
case hearing on Sept 19 NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (PTI) — The Supreme Court today fixed September 19 for hearing of a petition which challenged the decision of the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Governments to drop charges against 51 associates of forest brigand Veerappan in order to facilitate release of Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar. When Solicitor-General Harish Salve, appearing for the State of Karnataka, submitted the state as well as Tamil Nadu had filed their responses to the petition, a Bench headed by Chief Justice A.S. Anand directed listing of the case before the appropriate Bench on coming Tuesday. Meanwhile, the 51 detainees under various charges, whose release was indefinitely stayed by the apex court on September 1, filed writ petitions through advocate Bhim Singh seeking quashing of the charge sheets against them in various cases on the ground that they had been languishing in prison for a long time in violation of their constitutional rights. Another petition filed by Women’s Voice, a Bangalore-based non-governmental organisation, has filed a petition seeking intervention in the case on the ground that of the 51 detainees there were 12 women who, except one, had been in judicial custody for the past four to six years. The NGO said the common charge against the women was they had provided food to Veerappan and his gang and passed on information to them, which they might have done out of fear, and hence the Supreme Court should not interfere with their release orders passed by the Special Judge of Mysore on August 19 this year. The Supreme Court on September 1 had indefinitely stayed the release of 51 associates of Veerappan while coming down heavily on the Karnataka Government for agreeing to the bandit’s “illegal and unreasonable” demands. Unimpressed by arguments that there could be grave consequences if anything happened to the 72-year-old actor, a three-Judge Bench of the apex court bluntly said if the present state government could not maintain law and order it must quit and make way for others who could do it. The order came on a petition of Abdul Karim, father of a policeman, who was killed along with Superintendent of Police Harikrishna in 1992 by Veerappan and associates. The petition, filed through Mr Badri Nath Babu, sought quashing of a Mysore Special Judge’s August 19 order which allowed dropping of TADA charges against the accused to facilitate their release. |
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Resume talks with Pak: Karan Singh PATNA, Sept 15 (UNI) — Eminent scholar and Rajya Sabha MP Karan Singh has suggested the resumption of dialogue with Pakistan, saying that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s call for suspension of negotiations with Islamabad was affecting the nation’s image globally. Disagreeing with the stand taken by the Prime Minister during his US tour that “dialogue and militancy” could not go side by side, Dr Karan Singh said Mr Vajpayee should hold a composite dialogue with Pakistan as the issue could be solved only through proper negotiations. He said both countries had entered into agreements on several occasions to solve the bilateral issues. He alleged that Mr Vajpayee’s statement had tarnished the country’s image which had improved after the Kargil war. He strongly opposed the proposal for tripartite negotiations and said the agreement reached between the two neighbouring countries could effectively solve many problems. He also advocated negotiations with Pakistan according to the Lahore Declaration and discussing all eight points mentioned in it. Dr Karan Singh said the government should ensure safe return of Kashmiri Pandits who had been rendered homeless in their own country. He said it was unfortunate that hostile circumstances had forced more than 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits to take shelter in safer places. He said the present Union Government should not ignore the human face of the liberalisation policy and strive for generating employment and the uplift of those living below the poverty line. |
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Accidents ‘not’ due to planes’ age MUMBAI, Sept 15 (PTI) — Director of Airworthiness R.P. Sahi has told the Mumbai High Court that the main cause of accidents involving old aircraft was not their age factor but other reasons. “So long as the aircraft is fly worthy, its age is immaterial”, he affirmed in an affidavit filed yesterday in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) that alleged use of old aircraft, whose economic life had already expired, thereby endangering passenger safety. Mr Sahi denied PIL'S allegation that the certificates of airworthiness were issued in violation of rules. The accidents that have occurred until now in India were not due to old aircraft but other reasons such as bird-hit, technical snags, foggy conditions or pilot error. But the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had never been implicated so far, Mr Sahi said in the affidavit. He also pointed that the President and the Prime Minister of the country also travelled by aircraft whose age had crossed 20 years. In other parts of the world, 30-year-old aircraft were in use, he said. Mr Sahi further said that 5243 aircraft of Boeing company were today flying all over the world. Of them 3668 were more than 20 years old. This figure constituted 64 per cent of the total aircraft of this company. He clarified that when certificate of airworthiness was issued, strenuous tests were undertaken. There were regular checks and the aircraft had to follow a certain procedure before claiming such certificate. The PIL, filed by j. kapur, submitted that Indian Airlines and Air-India were born in 1953 and 1947, respectively, to cater to the needs of domestic and international travellers. It alleged that economic life of 12 aircraft in Alliance Air was “precarious”. Of them, four aircraft were 20 years vintage, another four 19 years old and the rest 18 years. If flying hours were examined they may have far exceeded the prescribed limit under Aircraft Rules, 1937. With regard to Indian Airlines, four of the Airbus 300 have already exceeded the economic life as they have been flying for 24, 22 and 21 years, respectively. Another two airbuses were 20 years old and may have exceeded their life in terms of flight hours. Two others were 18 years old. Thirteen aircraft were 11 years old and another six over 10 years. In the last six years, Indian Airlines has not purchased any new airbus. In the case of Boeing 737/200, of the six, two were 20 years old which was the prescribed economic life of the aircraft although they may have exceeded the flying hours. Two other aircraft were 19 years old and the rest 18 years, the PIL alleged. The bench headed by the Chief Justice b.p. singh has adjourned the PIL until November 16 next. The PIL alleged that Air-India had its first air disaster in the same year when it was incorporated. Shortly thereafter in 1950 it met with a second disaster. In all Air-India had eight air crashes. Indian Airlines had its first air crash in the first year of its birth in 1953 and another two years thereafter, the PIL said. They were followed closely by air crashes in 1956, 1958 and 1959. Altogether there were 20 air crashes. Both airlines had a bad track-record of air disasters because of which precious human lives were lost. Both were flying extremely aged aircraft which had crossed their economic life as stipulated by the manufacturer. For instance, the ill-fated aircraft which crashed in Aurangabad in 1993, claiming 55 lives, was 19 years old, the PIL alleged. The provisions of the Aircraft Act 1934 and Aircraft Rules 1937 (particularly those relating to airworthiness) were not being adhered to. Even if they were followed, it was done mechanically without taking sufficient care or inspection of the aircraft, the
PIL contended. |
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Fall in membership
‘not due to Sonia’ NEW DELHI, Sept 15 — The Congress party’s membership, which has fallen by 50 per cent, was not as a result of Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, the Chairman of the party’s Central Election Authority (CEA), Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha said here today. The number of primary members had come down by more than half from 4.56 crore to 2.20 crore but the these were only “tentative” figures and information from some of the states was yet to come, he said. Disagreeing that the reduced enthusiasm in the enrolment drive was due to the leadership of Mrs Gandhi, he said one of the reasons for the depleted membership was the new provision under which members had to pay three years’ fee and active members had to subscribe to the party journal — “Congress Sandesh”. While the membership had increased only in three states — Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan — it had fallen by half or more than half in Bihar, Gujarat and Kerala as compared to the last enrolment drive. Answering a volley of questions, Mr Mirdha said the membership figures were less this time as the drive was “much more genuine” than earlier which was a “very healthy development”. In the past sometimes the number of members was “bloated”, he said. The data on membership is yet to come from 11 states and union territories, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Goa. Mr Mirdha denied the party poll at the national level was being postponed. |
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Funds’
bungling: probe ordered DEHRA DUN, Sept 15 — The Social Welfare Department of Uttar Pradesh has begun a high-level probe into the large-scale bungling and misappropriation of funds meant for allocation of grants in the form of stipend to the Dalit students. This action has been initiated by the state government following a news item published in The Tribune on September 3 this year. The Social Welfare Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mrs Premlata Katiyar, said the preliminary inquiries had revealed large-scale bungling and misappropriation of funds which might go beyond Rs 100 crore. There were many educational institutions existing only on paper, yet receiving grants from the Social Welfare Department on the basis of fake documents. On the basis of preliminary inquiry, 41 fresh FIRs have been registered against the accused. Earlier, 162 FIRs were already registered at the district level against the persons involved in the fraud. The minister said out of the total 203 FIRs registered so far 104 cases had been referred to the Home Department for further investigations and recommendations for penal action. These include 15 institutions of Kanpur, 14 of Allahabad, 32 of Agra division, 21 of Azamgarh and 11 each of Lucknow and Ranipur. She said, 192 members of the ministerial staff, eight Principals and one PCS officer had been suspended on charges of misappropriation of funds. In reply to a question, she further said there was a nexus between the officials, clerical staff of the Social Welfare Department, managers of the schools, Principals and teachers of the educational institutions. The state government has now decided to prepare a computerised programme for future disbursement of stipends and maintain a register with photographs of the beneficiaries. Written orders regarding this have already been dispatched to all district education officers and the offices of the Social Welfare Department in the state. She added the state government had proposed to distribute a sum of Rs 386 crore as stipend to about 90 lakh SC/ST and backward class students during the current financial year. These students had been identified on the basis of the last census. The minister also said 45 institutions which could not be traced on physical verification had been
derecognised. |
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‘Develop’ heritage villages in HP AGRA, Sept 15 — The states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, should formulate an integrated tourism policy to take maximum advantage of this fast growing sector of the economy, experts said. “Although, it is desirable that northern states should plan their own strategies for developing tourism products, it would be in their interest that they pool their resources and project this region as one compact tourist destination,” Dr Gulshan Sharma, the Director of Institute of Tourism and Future Management Trends, Chandigarh, has said. The values and aspirations of the local communities should be taken into consideration and they should be involved actively and symbiotically in planning and developing tourism in the state, he added. The Union Tourism Minister, Mr Ananth Kumar, said the Centre would like to have tourism summit in each state before formulating the new tourism policy. Such an interaction at the state level would not only enable the government understand the needs of each state, their potential, the views of the state governments, private sector and the community at large, it would also enable the formulation of an action-oriented policy based on facts and not mere assumptions, he said. The tourism that has developed in Himachal has been need-based rather than research based, Dr Sharma said, adding that fragile eco-systems were under threat and once destroyed it could not be easily restored to their original condition. The Himachal Government is
focusing on developing the Buddhist circuit and Punjab, which has sculptures, seals and remnants of Buddhist stupa dating back to the first century in Sanghol could take advantage of the pilgrim circuit by integrating its tourism policy with Himachal, he said. The tourism policy expert said Haryana had shown the way to harness the village tourism. Punjab and Himachal should develop heritage tourist village, which would not only enable the visitors to understand and participate in customs, traditions and lifestyles of the local communities, but would also give a fillip to the development of handicrafts and other local produce. Experts said the states should identify those aspects which they can market without degrading the environment or creating social unrest or targetting only at a particular segment of the tourist population. According to the WTO, India ranked 46th among the world’s top 60 tourist destinations and 52nd among the top tourism spenders. Tourism, globally, happens to be the largest industry accounting for more than 10 per cent of the world GDP and employment. The travel and tourism economy in India accounts for 5.6 per cent of the GDP, supports 5.8 per cent of total employment and generates 10.8 per cent of total exports from the country. Capital investment into this industry is merely 6.4 per cent of the GDP compared to a world average of 11.8 per cent. |
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Centre's
warning to West Bengal
NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (PTI) — In a stiff warning to the West Bengal Government, the Centre today accused it of failure to “satisfactorily deal” in checking the spate of political violence in the state and directed it to take firm steps to bring down violence. Citing six instances of political violence among 33 such incidents which were specifically brought to the notice of the state government, Union Home Minister L.K. Advani, in a letter to Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, said “our concerns have not been satisfactorily dealt with by your government”. On Mr Basu’s remarks that his government was fully aware of his constitutional responsibilities, Mr Advani said “this duty has not just to be recognised but also fulfilled effectively and convincingly”. |
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Charges against
Judge framed MUMBAI, Sept 15 (PTI) — A special court today framed charges against suspended Judge
J.W. Singh, who has been booked under a stringent Maharashtra law in a case of alleged extortion and nexus with the underworld. The charges were explained to him by the designated Judge
A.P. Bhangale who rejected Judge J.N. Singh’s plea to defer the framing of charges until the Mumbai High Court decides his petition seeking bail and quashing of proceedings under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act
(MCOCA). Judge J.W. Singh, who stepped into the witness box, denied the charges levelled against him. |
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BJP ‘stunting’
growth of Prasar Bharati NEW DELHI, Sept 15 — Former Information and Broadcasting Minister and Congress MP Jaipal Reddy today accused the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre of stunting the growth of Prasar Bharati Corporation. Mr Reddy, who was responsible for promulgating the Prasar Bharati Act while he was the Information and Broadcasting Minister in the United Front government pointed out Prasar Bharati, which completed three years of its existence today, would have been a healthy, vigorous baby, but the BJP had sabotaged it. Mr Reddy alleged the BJP had not allowed the corporation to grow to its full stature and from day one it had been stunting its growth through both stifling and starvation. He said the government had purposely been weeding out eminent people who had been on the Prasar Bharati Board and despite making promises that their replacements would be found, the posts remain vacant. Mr Reddy said at the moment one Special Secretary in the ministry was handling six different jobs, which was beyond the capabilities of any human. Besides, Prasar Bharati was also totally under control of the minister, who has actually been changed at every opportunity, he said. In the past two years, Prasar Bharati has been handled by three BJP ministers. Before a minister learns the ropes, he or she is replaced. If the reports are to be believed, it is likely to witness a fourth one in the near future, he said. The former Union Minister pointed out the government had been putting off filling vacancies on one excuse or the other. |
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JD (U) Gen Secy quits PATNA, Sept 15 (PTI) — The crisis in the faction-ridden Janata Dal (U) further deepened today with its national unit General Secretary Narendra Singh, MLA, resigning in protest against the ‘arbitrary’ style of functioning of party President Sharad Yadav. Mr Narendra Singh, considered close to Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said he had resigned from the post to register his protest against the “dictatorial attitude” of Mr Yadav and the manner in which he was handling the affairs of the party bringing it closer to disintegration. He demanded the resignation of Mr Sharad Yadav from the party post to pave the way for the installation of a senior leader who could save the party from impending vertical split. |
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HC notices
to DGDE, Defence Ministry NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court yesterday issued notices to the Defence Ministry and the Director General of Defence Estates (DGDE) on the continued possession of precious defence land in Calcutta by a society of ordinance services officers on a monthly lease of Rs 10. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice D.K. Jain, also issuing notice to the Ordinance Services Officers Welfare Society
(OSOWS), directed all respondents to file replies by November 9 to indicate how unauthorised constructions on the land measuring 1.45 acres was allowed to come up by the authorities concerned. The direction came on a public interest litigation
(PIL) alleging that the OSOWS had turned its club into a commercial centre and several unauthorised construction had come up on the land which was allotted to the society in 1935. The Army Headquarters at Calcutta instead of making efforts to recover the land, had renewed the lease agreement with the
OSOWS in 1958, while the society had opened its membership to other than defence officials in 1947, the petition filed by advocate B.L. Wadhera alleged. No steps were initiated by the ministry to recover the land even after a report by the Director, Defence Estates, Calcutta, that the
OSOWS Club had “assumed the shape of a commercial establishment”, the
PIL said, adding the Director had even recommended charging of annual rent at the rate of Rs 23.40 lakh per acre from the club since March 31, 1996. |
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Meeting on poll
code today NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (UNI) — An all-party meeting has been convened by the Election Commission here tomorrow to thrash out the contentious issue of the date from which the model code of conduct should come into force — the announcement of the poll schedule or its formal notification. While the Election Commission stand, upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, is that the code comes into effect from the date the poll schedule is announced, the Centre has contested this view. In 1997, the National Front Government moved the Supreme Court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgement, contending that the code should become effective when the poll is notified. The present government has continued to maintain the special leave petition in the apex court. |
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JMM to organise
victory celebrations NEW DELHI, Sept 15 — The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is organising victory celeberations in Ranchi on October 15 to press home its advantage for chief minsterial claim. Speaking to mediapersons at the occasion of the launch of its new party office in the Capital, the JMM President, Mr Shibu Soren, said the issue of the Chief Ministership of the newly created Jharkhand would be decided at the level of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, when he returns from his US visit. Demanding immediate convening of a meeting of the NDA partners to select a Chief Minister for Jharkhand, Mr Soren said the NDA convenor, Mr George Fernandes, had earlier assured him that the Chief Minister of Jharkhand would be from the JMM.
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