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October 16, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Bihari girls sold to work in Punjab Chandigarh ranks 2nd in fatal mishaps Sec 32-A of NDPS Act unconstitutional: SC Forest cover up marginally Baba Amte plans
peace mission to Pakistan |
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Maximum grant to Delhi colleges Jethmalani’s book
on conspirators Vajpayee is doing fine Divide UP into small states: morcha
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Bihari girls sold to work in Punjab PATNA, Oct 15 — Hundreds of young girls from Bihar are being sold and forcibly taken away to cities like Chandigarh, Agra and Meerut to work as maids. Thousands of poor and illiterate Bihari villagers are forced to work as bonded labourers in the countryside of Punjab. Girls are sold by their fathers to agents and single boys to land them in big cities where they power the household and farm requirements. Recently, the DM of Katihar district of Bihar sent a request to the Deputy Commissioner of Sangrur district in Punjab to enquire about a case of bonded labour. It was done following the complaints received by the DM that around dozen agricultural labourers of Bihar were kept confined as bonded labour by a transport company owner in Sujapur and Ansa Diyara villages of Sangrur. Two of them had escaped from Punjab and back home registered the complaint with the district administration. In the past too, there have been complaints of missing labourers in Punjab and their exploitation by middlemen and owners there. The two states have not made any move to take up the task at higher levels. Given the massive migration of Bihari labourers in Punjab, there is need to create a state-level mechanism to regulate the flow of labourers. The Bihar Government has recently initiated the move to keep the statistics of the migrant labour. The Punjab Government might also create a cell to monitor the influx of Bihari labourers. In the meantime, there are reports of girls being sold and sent forcibly to Punjab and Delhi. It has been learnt that those who migrate to other states are not given daughters in marriage in Bihar. A number of such incidents was reported from Giridih district. The scare of distance desists them from marrying their daughters. These boys have to buy the girls by paying a hefty amount to the poor fathers who oblige. Some Bihari men work as agents for these elements and pose as eligible bridegrooms and buy the girls. They then sell them to the dubious elements and they take them to states where the girls are either forced to work as maids or land in the brothels. The Ranchi police had recently busted such a racket when they stopped a group of 100 tribal girls at the railway station en route to New Delhi. They said they were going there in search of work and better future. |
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Chandigarh ranks 2nd in fatal mishaps NEW DELHI, Oct 15 — City Beautiful, Chandigarh, is the second most dreaded city for deaths from accidents among the union territories in the country. The city ranks third at the all-India level. While the country recorded 2,58,409 accidental deaths in 1998, Chandigarh had a share of 34.8 per cent of this. It is an increase of 31 per cent over the previous year, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau. Bihar also recorded a significant increase in accidental death cases, an indication of the state of law and order in the state known for the presence of various private senas. The state had recorded an increase of 47.1 per cent in accidental deaths during the year as compared to the previous year, the report said. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, known for their pristine beauty and coral reefs, tops among the union territories for accidental deaths. The island territory recorded an increase of 38.1 per cent of accidental deaths. Maharashtra is the largest contributor, with nearly one-fourth (22.7 per cent) of such deaths in the country. On the other hand, the share of Uttar Pradesh which is the most populous state is 8.8 per cent and it stood at the third position after Maharashtra. The states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat also reported significant shares of deaths due to accidents in the country. Each state had a 6.8 per cent share in the deaths. The report said Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Goa and UTs like Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Pondicherry, Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Delhi were more accident prone. The traffic accidents have a 32.6 per cent share in the accidental deaths in comparison to last year which recorded 34.5 per cent. It shows a decline of 1.9 per cent in fatal traffic accident cases. The traffic accidents comprises road accidents, rail-road accidents and the railway accidents. The report has clubbed all natural and unnatural causes of deaths under the accidental death category. The natural causes include avalanche, cold and exposure, cyclone or tornado, starvation or thirst, earthquake, epidemic, flood, heatstroke, landslide, lightning and torrential rains. The unnatural causes include collapse of structure, drowning, electrocution, explosion, falls, factory or machine accidents, fire, fire-arms, sudden deaths, killed by animals, mines of quarry disaster, poisoning, stampede, suffocation and traffic accidents. |
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Sec 32-A of NDPS Act unconstitutional: SC NEW DELHI, Oct 15 — The Supreme Court has ruled in a significant judgment that Section 32-A of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 is unconstitutional to the extent that it takes away the right of the court to suspend the sentence of a convict under the Act. The court, however, held that a sentence awarded under the Act could be suspended by the appellate court only and strictly subject to the conditions spelt out in Section 37 of the Act. Bail can be granted and sentence suspended in a case under Section 37 of the Act where there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offence for which he is convicted and he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail and during the period of suspension of the sentence, the court said. A three-judge Bench comprising Mr Justice K.T. Thomas, Mr Justice R.P. Sethi and Mr Justice S.N. Vairav further held that Section 32-A did not in any way affect the powers of the authorities to grant parole. Delivering the judgment for the Bench, Mr Justice Thomas observed, “Holding Section 32-A as void insofar as it takes away the right of the courts to suspend the sentence awarded to a convict under the Act, would neither entitle such convicts to ask for suspension of the sentence as a matter of right in all cases nor would it absolve the courts of their legal obligations to exercise the power of suspension of sentence within the parameters of Section 37. Mr Justice Thomas also ruled that there was no voice of unconstitutionality in the section (32A) insofar as it took away the powers of the executive conferred upon it under Sections 432 and 433 of the Criminal Procedure Code to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of a convict under the Act. The judge explained that declaration of Section 32-A to be unconstitutional insofar as it affected the functioning of the criminal courts in the country would not render the whole of the section invalid, as the restriction imposed by the offending section was distinct and severable. Section 32-A took away the powers both of the appellate court and the state executive in the matter of suspending, remitting and commuting the sentence of a person convicted under the drugs Act other than for an offence under Section 27 of the Act. Reiterating that judicial review was the heart and soul of the constitutional scheme, Mr Justice Thomas said that there was no international agreement to put a blanket ban on the power of the court to suspend the sentence awarded to a criminal under the Act, notwithstanding the constitutional principles and basic concepts of the legal system. The court while disposing of two writ petitions of convicts against the Union and the state of Maharashtra asked them to approach the high court and the authority concerned for relief in accordance with the law laid down in this judgment. |
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Forest cover up marginally DEHRA DUN: The forest cover in the country has increased by about 3,896 sq km since the last survey conducted in 1997, but the annual rate of forest plantation has come down to 1,528,000 hectare during 1,997-98 from 1,590,000 hectare during 1992-1997. According to a comprehensive assessment of the forest resources by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) compiled in the State of Forests Report 1999 released recently, the forest cover in the country has increased to 6,37,293 sq km from 6,33,397 sq km in 1997. In terms of percentage, the forest cover has increased to 19.39 per cent of the country’s total geographical area, from 19.27 per cent in 1997. The dense forest (crown density more than 40 per cent) and open forest (crown density 10 per cent to 40 per cent) occupy above 11 per cent and 8 per cent of the geographic area, respectively. Mangroves, occurring in the intertidal coastal region, occupy 0.15 per cent of the geographical area. Dense forest cover has increased by 10,098 sq km and mangroves by 44 sq km, whereas open forest had decreased by 6,246 sq km. The report has revealed that 17 states and union territories have registered gains in the forest cover, while 11 others have lost forest cover. The states that have registered gains are: Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Orissa, Karnataka, Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir. Losses, on the other hand, have been observed in Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra-Nagar Haveli and Goa. In the four union territories — Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, Lakshwadeep and Pondicherry — there was no change. According to Dr J.K. Rawat, Director, Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, “Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have all gained. In Haryana forest increased by 300 sq km in Punjab by 25 sq km and in Himachal Pradesh by 22 sq km. In Gurgaon and Mahendragarh areas in Haryana there has been tremendous progress. The FRI has established many seed divisions in North India for setting up nurseries at the
grassroots level”. A district wise analysis of the forest cover further reveals that 31 districts of the country are devoid of any discernible forest, 168 have less than 5 per cent and together constitute only 2 per cent of the country’s cover. Fiftyseven forest rich districts each having more than 50 per cent forest cover, account for 40 per cent of the total forest cover. The increase in forest cover is largely on account of large block plantations, practice of joint forest management, protection and preservation of certain species and natural regeneration. Decrease in the forest cover is mainly because of shifting cultivation, encroachments, urbanisation and felling of trees. The decline in the annual rate of forest plantation was because of the paucity of funds and lack of interest show by state governments. The forest cover in 95 hill districts of the country is 2,15,219 sq km which reflects a marginal increase of 600 sq km compared to the 1977 survey. This constitutes 37 per cent of the geographic area as against 66 per cent envisaged in the National Forest Policy, 1988. In 137 tribal districts, the forest cover is 4,16,827 sq km which accounts for about 65 per cent forest cover of the country. A marginal decrease of 247 sq km was observed here. The report brings out an important fact that around 1,70,000 villages having a population of 14.68 crore are located in the vicinity of forests. |
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Baba Amte plans
peace mission to Pakistan NAGPUR, Oct 15 (PTI) — Octogenarian social activist Baba Amte, a recipient of Asia’s prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, intends to embark on a “peace mission” to Pakistan shortly in an attempt to restore peace across the border and bring the two countries closer. Speaking at his sprawling complex “Anandvan”, about 130 km from here, near Chandrapur, a home for leprosy patients, Mr Amte told PTI yesterday that “if Germans can break the strong Berlin wall which kept them divided and had never dreamt of reunification, why can’t India and Pakistan come closer?” Mr Amte intends to cross the Wagha border in his especially fabricated Tata ambulance with his wife, Sathana Tai, and personal staff along with a few hundred countrymen drawn from various parts of the country on bicycles. “Nearly 700 persons from various walks of life have already applied for visas to accompany me in my mission”, Mr Amte said. Mr Amte said if everything progressed as scheduled, he might celebrate his 87th birthday in Pakistan on December 26. He would start from Delhi and travel via Chandigarh, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar to enter Pakistan via the Wagha border and reach Lahore. “I wish to meet the Pakistani military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf, to remind him that of the two years which he had set as the deadline for restoring democracy in his country, one year has already elapsed”, Mr Amte said. |
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Maximum grant to Delhi colleges NEW DELHI, Oct 15 — The University Grants Commission (UGC) gives more grant to 55 colleges in Delhi than it gives to the 233 state universities in the country. Admitting that the situation was alarming, UGC Chairman Hari Gautam said steps would soon be initiated to rectify the imbalance. He said in 1999-2000, the UGC provided Rs 257 crore to Delhi colleges which was far in excess to the total amount of Rs 184 crore given to all state universities. Indicating that the funds to Delhi colleges might not be slashed, Dr Gautam said some other ways would be found to remove the glaring imbalance. Talking to TNS, Dr Gautam said several measures had been introduced to maintain academic standards and ensure academic and financial discipline. He said the scheme to depute the UGC
observer to monitor the process of promotion of reader to professor under the career advancement scheme had evoked
encouraging response. The observors have been sent to over 20 universities so far and have found something to report back. In one case, for example, it was found that half of the candidates empanelled did not have the requisite minimum qualification. Though the UGC
observer is neither a member of the selection committee nor entitled to express opinion on the subject concerned, he sends his report to the UGC Chairman. The report is sent within a week of the selection interview. If some guidelines or rules have not been adhered to, the UGC Chairman writes his opinion to the Vice-Chancellor concerned. UGC officials said grants to universities which did not comply with the rules would be stopped and salaries would not be given to those promoted in violation of the norms. In case no letter was received from the UGC within a month, the universities had been told to finalise the promotions. Though, the move on observors has been resented by teachers’ association in Delhi, UGC officials said it had been welcomed by many other universities. They said though Delhi University got funds of about Rs 120 crore from the UGC annually and the Delhi colleges get over Rs 250 crore against Rs 184 given to other state universities, yet most complaints come from Delhi teachers. Referring to other new projects, UGC officials said a committee had been constituted to finalise the content and other details on courses in Vedic astrology and karma kanda. He said these courses could be introduced even up to
PhD level. Asserting that the introduction of these courses would provide job opportunities to hundreds of youth both in India and outside, he said courses would also be introduced in other religions later. |
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Jethmalani’s book
on conspirators NEW DELHI, Oct 15 (PTI) — Bitter over the way he was sacked from the Union Cabinet and the way a section of media reported the whole episode, former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani plans to present his side of the story through “Big Egos and Small Men”, which he says is a book on three conspirators. “I want to present to people the whole story in one compact form. At least, my book will go to those who should read my book - important judges in India and abroad and well-known lawyers - and judge the incident,” Mr Jethmalani told
PTI a week before the release of the book. Asked who were the conspirators, the former minister said, “Chief Justice of India
A S Anand, Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee and Union Minister Arun Jaitley - who played a key role in my ouster from the Cabinet.” |
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Vajpayee is doing fine MUMBAI, Oct 15 (PTI) — The condition of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, convalescing at Breach Candy Hospital following a left knee replacement surgery on Tuesday, was described as “fine” today. “The Prime Minister’s condition is fine and improving,”
PMO sources said here. Mr Vajpayee underwent routine physiotherapy and exercise, sources said, adding that he had normal breakfast and meals. However, no visitor was allowed as per the strict instructions of medical experts, they said. The New York-based renowned orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Chittaranjan Ranawat, who performed the surgery on Mr Vajpayee, left for the USA last night. Dr Ranawat, who is coming to India to attend a conference in Jaipur some time in the next fortnight, will check up Mr Vajpayee again during his
visit. |
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Divide UP into small states: morcha LUCKNOW, Oct 15 (UNI) — The Uttar Pradesh State Reconstitution Morcha has decided to intensify its agitation for further division of the state by the creation of new states of
Purvanchal, Harit Pradesh, Bundelkhand and Avadh Pradesh to remove poverty and backwardness from these areas. Addressing a press conference here, leaders of different political parties today voiced concern over growing regional imbalance and lack of adequate development in these areas for want of "appropriate political management from Lucknow." |
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