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| Tuesday, October 17, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Buta to file appeal in HC today No hike in rail fare: Mamata Advani's stand on RSS
view sought Rajkumar may be taken to Chennai Vajpayee walks with walker Kerala HC’s orders stayed |
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Chowdhury floats
Marxbadi Manch Indians in Israel, PNA safe: govt Girl killed for
spurning marriage offer BJP destroying
economy: Basu Indo-British talks
begin today Balayogi addresses
world assembly Kumaon evolves tea industry
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Buta to file appeal in HC today NEW DELHI, Oct 16 (IANS) — Former Minister Buta Singh will file an appeal in the Delhi High Court tomorrow against a lower court’s order that has awarded him three years’ imprisonment on charges of bribery and criminal conspiracy. “Our appeal is ready and we are filing it tomorrow,” Buta's lawyer Satish Tamta said here today. The appeal would be filed before noon so that it is listed for admission the very next day, he said. Buta, who held important ministerial portfolios in the governments of Rao and his predecessors, Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi, was sentenced on Thursday along with former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao for bribing four Members of Parliament (MPs) in 1993 to secure their support to defeat a no-trust vote against Rao’s minority government. Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke had, however, let them off on bail till November 8 so they could file an appeal. While Buta's appeal is due on Tuesday, Rao’s counsel R. K. Anand had indicated last week that he would file his appeal later this week. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had asked for a bigger sentence during its prosecution of the two leaders in the lower court, has decided not to appeal against the quantum of sentence awarded. “We are not appealing against the sentence,” CBI’s special prosecutor R. M. Tiwari said. “But we will be filing our replies to their (Rao and Singh’s) appeal within this week,” he added. Mr Tiwari had urged Mr Bharihoke last Wednesday for the maximum sentence of seven years, as prescribed under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) under which the two leaders have been convicted. Mr Tiwari also said the CBI was likely to file fresh criminal charges later this week against the three of the four MPs, belonging to the regional Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party, who had been bribed by Rao and Singh. The fourth MP, Shailendra Mahato, would not be charged as he was granted pardon after he turned a state witness. A constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court had let off these four MPs in 1998 after it found they had parliamentary immunity against prosecution. But Mr Bharihoke said last week they should still be prosecuted under the Act for possessing wealth disproportionate to their known source of income. Bharihoke had then ordered CBI to file the fresh charges. The infamous bribery scandal, dubbed by the media as the ‘JMM bribery case’, arose when Delhi-based lawyer-turned-crusader Ravindra Kumar traced Rs 16 million in seven accounts of the four former MPs in a Delhi bank and filed a public interest litigation in the high court. While initially it was seen as stonewalling investigations in the case despite directions by the high court, the CBI was forced to take up prosecution after the Supreme Court rejected its plea against it and directed it to file charges. The prosecution based its case on Mr Mahato’s testimony that detailed how Rao and Singh bribed him and other MPs, Suraj Mandal, Shibu Soren and Simon Marandi. But through the course of the trial, Mr Mahato often retracted many of his statements — made to the CBI while giving evidence, during cross-examination, at press conferences and even in Parliament — and said he made them under pressure. Buta’s appeal would now demolish the prosecution’s case by pointing out Mahato’s self-confessed “unreliability”, Mr Tamta said. |
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No hike in rail fare: Mamata NEW DELHI, Oct 16 — The Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, today said that there would be no increase in the passenger fare and freight charges in view of the recent hike in prices of diesel and other petroleum products. Replying to a question at the Economic Editors Conference here today, Ms Banerjee said that an additional burden of Rs 275 crore was likely to be borne by the Railways this year due to the increase in diesel prices announced in September-end. The interest of the consumers and rail-users would be kept in mind, she said. Ms Banerjee said that she was hopeful that the Prime Minister would keep his word on re examining the hike in prices of petroleum products. "This is a Central government policy. I have always been hopeful. I have always been optimistic. The Prime Minister has given a written assurance and I am grateful. He is unwell. We wish him a speedy recovery. If he gives his word, he always keeps it. Don’t consider me a minister. I am a commoner.’’ The minister said her experience in the railways made her believe that the solution does not lie in conventional ideas of raising fare and freight to bridge the resource gap. She added that the non-traditional sources of revenue and innovative conventional ideas are worth exploring. Replying to a question on doubling of the Jalandhar-Jammu line in view of the large number of pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi every year, Member (Traffic), Mr Shanti Narain, said, "The doubling project is a priority and funds will be provided for patch doubling on the Jalandhar-Pathankot sector.’’ Ms Banerjee said that the Railways would give additional funds also for doubling of the line. She also made a mention of the freight arrears given by the Punjab government. Mr Shanti Narain said that the Punjab Government had paid Rs 100 crore to the Railways both towards arrears and future supplies. The Railways Minister said that austerity measures initiated last year yielded over Rs 850 crore. "We hope to generate Rs 865 crore by austerity measures." She said that the freight loading performance of Railways had been satisfactory. "The freight loading has increased by 1.48 MT resulting in an excess earning of Rs 41 crore till September. We are, however, facing a difficult situation since the working expenditure is going up by Rs 275 crore due to the recent hike in diesel price." The minister said that the Indian Railways had exceeded passenger earnings by about Rs 100 crore over the proportionate target till September. Ms Banerjee said that the Railways had executed an action plan to remove corruption. "In the current financial year, 1446 inspections were made in parcel and store offices resulting in punitive action against 956 Railway officers. As part of this drive, 1026 touts were also arrested," she added. |
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ADMK protests petro price hike CHENNAI, Oct 16 (PTI) — Hundreds of AIADMK workers today held demonstrations in various parts of Tamil Nadu to protest against the Centre’s decision to hike the prices of petroleum products recently. In Chennai, hundreds of AIADMK volunteers, mainly women, demonstrated for over an hour. They were carrying kerosene and gas stoves on their heads, while empty gas cyclinders were brought in small carts. The demonstrators shouted slogans against the Centre and the Tamil Nadu Government for hiking the prices. Party’s Women’s wing President Sulochana Sampath was among those who led the action. In Madurai, AIADMK presidium Chairman K. Kalimuthu led the demonstration, held in front of the Tallakulam post office. In Salem, a similar demonstration was held in front of the head post office led by the party’s district President G.
Govindasamy. Demonstrations have been reported from other parts of the state also. Meanwhile, the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) today said it was planning to launch a joint agitation with the cooperation of all secular parties in Tamil Nadu against the recent hike in the price of petroleum products. |
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Advani's stand on RSS
view sought NEW DELHI, Oct 16 — The Congress today said that Home Minister L. K. Advani should clarify whether he endorsed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh stand on Indianisation of churches and its "patronising advice" to minorities, specially Muslims. Reacting to remarks of RSS chief K. S. Sudershan at the Rashtriya Raksha Mahashivir in Agra, Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said that since Mr Advani had attended the RSS rally, he should tell the nation if he agreed with the prescription of the
Sangh. Asserting that the presence of the Home Minister at the rally had sent a wrong signal and added a serious dimension, Mr Sharma said the Home Minister is expected to ensure security of the citizens, specially the minorities. "The pronouncements made at the mahashivir will only embolden the fanatics within the Sangh Parivar who have targeted the Christian minority in recent months," he said, adding that the nation was well aware of the terror campaign to intimidate the religious minorities carried out by the VHP and Bajrang Dal. Expressing concern over the statements of the RSS chief, Mr Sharma said that the sense of insecurity among the religious minorities would be heightened. He alleged that the statements were also calculated to create disaffection and distrust among different religions. The Indian Youth Congress chief, Mr Randip Singh Surjewala, has also condemned the statements of the RSS chief. Referring to the claims of the NDA government on the completion of its one year in office, Congress spokesperson Anil Shastri said that big advertisements had been inserted in newspapers only to hide the non-performance of the government. Talking of the violent incidents in Delhi, including killing of a scooterist by police and the death of a couple in custody, he asked what steps the government was taking to instill confidence in people. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr Subash Chopra, today held a dharna at Jantar Mantar in protest against the increasing police brutalities. |
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Rajkumar may be taken to Chennai BANGALORE, Oct 16 — Expectations are running rather high even though 24 hours have elapsed since it became known that the release of Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar, abducted by forest brigand Veerappan 79 days ago, is “imminent.” The Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, S. M. Krishna and Muthuvel Karunanidhi, have been in constant touch with each other over the telephone. Mr Karunanidhi has “very confidently” informed Mr Krishna that an end to the kidnap drama was quite certain. “Karunanidhi spoke to Krishna this morning as well as a couple of times yesterday and is very confident about Rajkumar’s release. He has told him that Tamil Nadu would like to bring Rajkumar from the forest to Chennai, and get him medically checked up. After all, the incident has taken place in Tamil Nadu and they are bound to take mileage out of his release,” a senior official, who did not want to be named, told IANS. “We are waiting for information from both the governments. As soon as we get any news we will be leaving for Chennai,” Puneet Rajkumar, the youngest of the three sons of the matinee idol said. Rajkumar is expected to be taken from the first human habitation outside the Satyamangalam forest range — Bhavaninagar — to Erode and then on to Chennai, police officials said. Tamil Nadu has made arrangements to take the matinee idol by road, a drive of about seven hours, as both the governments expect the hero of 210 Kannada films to be released only in the night. “We don’t expect them to be released during the day because Veerappan would, naturally, expect to be attacked,” an official said. Rajkumar, his son-in-law Govindraj, and two others were kidnapped from the actors’ farmhouse in Gajanur on the night of July 30. Veerappan had initially made a series of demands that the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu readily acceded to. Veerappan then upped the ante, demanding the release of 126 of his associates. One hundred and twenty-one of them are being held in jails in Mysore — of whom 51 are being held under a defunct anti-terrorist law. Another five, believed to be cadres of the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Tamil Nadu Retrieval Forces (TNRF), two fringe extremist organisations, are being held in jails in Chennai. The Karnataka Government had moved a court in Mysore to release the detainees as it was dropping the charges against them. This was, however, challenged in the Supreme Court by retired police official Abdul Kareem, whose son, sub-inspector Shakeel Ahmed, had been gunned down by Veerappan. The Supreme Court, which has held three hearings on the case, has slammed the Karnataka Governments for bending over backwards to accede to Veerappan’s demands. The Court had also asked the Karnataka Government for details about the steps it had taken for securing Rajkumar’s release. Nagappa, an assistant director with Rajkumar’s film company, who was among those kidnapped, had slipped away under mysterious circumstances on the night of September 29. Since then he has been incommunicado. A petition urging that the police examine Nagappa has been filed in the Karnataka High Court. The petition alleges that the entire kidnap drama has been “stage-managed.” R.R. Gopal, editor of the Tamil magazine ‘Nakkeeran,’ had been conducting the negotiations for Rajkumar’s release on behalf of the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Government. He has thus far made five visits to Veerappan’s hideout in the Sathyamangalam forest range. The first four were solo efforts. P.Nedumaran of the regional Tamil Nationalist Party (TNP) and rights activists P.Kalyani and G. Sukumaran have joined him on the fifth visit. The first sign that the kidnap drama might be ending came when Nedumaran sent word to his Chennai unit that the negotiations were proceeding on the right track and some “good news” could be expected late Sunday night. Officials here also claimed that their expectations were based on indications from the police network. However, A. Kamaraj, the associate editor of Nakkeeran, said he was yet to hear from Gopal.
— India Abroad News Service |
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MUMBAI, Oct 16 (IANS) — Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who underwent a knee operation at Breach Candy Hospital here, can walk again with the help of a walker, according to the hospital authorities. Mr Vajpayee is undergoing a round of physiotherapy at the hospital. After he is able to balance himself properly, the Prime Minister will walk with the help of a cane. It will be three months before he begins to walk normally, according to doctors. Chittaranajan Ranawat, the doctor who performed the surgery for severe osteoarthritis, left for New York on Saturday night. He is stated to have performed more than a dozen knee surgeries on different persons, including Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee, during his stay here. Dr Ranawat will return to India in a fortnight when he is scheduled to attend a conference in Jaipur. He will perform a check-up on Mr Vajpayee on his next visit, say doctors at the hospital. The Prime Minister, who has now spent a week in the hospital, has begun to see visitors, according to hospital officials. Over the weekend, several top functionaries of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government visited the Prime Minister. Petroleum Minister Ram Naik called on him on Sunday afternoon. He was followed by BJP President Bangaru Laxman the same evening. According to party sources, Mr Naik discussed the international prices of petroleum with the Prime Minister and presented him with a yearly progress report of his ministry. The Prime Minister was not allowed to see visitors till Friday, though that day was also the first anniversary of the NDA government that he heads. Several ministers in Mr Vajpayee’s Cabinet had to return from the special visiting room of the hospital without being allowed to meet him. Mr Vajpayee, however, has returned the telephone calls of important dignitaries like President K.R. Narayanan and Vice-President Krishan Kant, according to hospital sources. |
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Kerala HC’s orders stayed NEW DELHI, Oct 16 — A three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court today stayed two directions of the Kerala High Court issued by the latter in its judgement of June 1 holding that the enforcement of “hartal” by resorting to force and intimidation would tantamount to an unconstitutional act. The Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Dr A S Anand, Mr Justice R C Lahoti and Mr Justice Shivraj V Patil ordered interim stay of the high court directions while issuing notices on two special leave petitions against the impugned judgement filed by the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The judges issued notices to the Institute of Social Welfare, the petitioner before the high court, the State of Kerala, the Chief Election Commissioner and two others after hearing arguments by Mr K Parasaran, senior counsel, appearing for Congress, Mr Rajiv Dhavan, Senior Counsel, appearing for CPM and Mr Abhisekh Manu Singhvi, for the petitioner before the high court. The high court by its two directions which were stayed by the Supreme Court, had directed the Election Commission to entertain complaints of violation of Section 29 A (5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 by any political party or association and deregister or cancel their registration as also to dispose of complaints against political parties and associations allegedly found enforcing “hartals” and “bandhs”. The SLPs filed by the Congress and the CPM raised for consideration the issue whether the high court under Article 226 of the Constitution was competent to direct the Election Commission to start proceedings for the deregisteration of a political party when under the 1951 RP Act there was no provision for deregistration. |
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Chowdhury floats
Marxbadi Manch CALCUTTA, Oct 16 — Mr Saifuddin Chowdhury, a former CPM MP and party’s Central Committee member, has floated an anti-CPM front, Marxbadi Manch, and has asked all like-minded people to join it. The manch will be formally set up at a convention in the city on October 22. This was disclosed to reporters by Mr Chowdhury here today. He was expelled by the CPM leadership on charges of anti-party activities a few days ago. Mr Chowdhury said the manch would be later converted into a party which would contest the forthcoming assembly elections against the Left front in West Bengal. He said he himself would be a candidate. Mr Chowdhury claimed that some prominent CPM leaders who were dissatisfied with the party’s “dictatorial functioning” would also join the manch. He, however, refused to identify the leaders. But, according to people close to Mr Chowdhury, the state Transport and Sports Minister, Mr Subhas Chakraborty, Mr Tarit Topdar, MP, and Mr Samir Patutundi, the South 24-Parganas district committee secretary and a host of other leaders and workers had also agreed to join the front. Mr Chakraborty, Mr Topdar and Mr Patutundi had been already criticised by the CPM state committee for their “anti-party activities”. They, however, categorically denied that they had been involved in any anti-party
activities. |
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Indians in Israel, PNA safe: govt NEW DELHI, Oct 16 — The government today said that Indian nationals residing in Israel and Palestine National Authority (PNA) were safe and secure. Briefing newspersons, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said that the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Indian Representative with the PNA have contacted as many Indian nationals as they could to ascertain about their welfare. |
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Girl killed for
spurning marriage offer THANE, Oct 16 (PTI) — In a macabre incident, a 16-year-old girl was stabbed to death by a youth in front of hundreds of onlookers at Palghar in Thane district of Maharashtra, for spurning his marriage proposal, the police said today. The police said Rajesh Laxman Date (21) had requested Aarti Rambahadur Raut to marry him. A couple of days back, the two were involved in an altercation over the matter as the girl did not pay any heed to his proposal. Last Saturday, when Aarti set out to go to school in the afternoon, Rajesh stabbed her with a knife, inflicting multiple injuries. She shouted for help but nobody came to her rescue. Even after the gruesome killing, the accused did not leave the scene and stayed there to ascertain that the girl was dead, the police said. When policemen rushed to the scene, the youth threatened that he would stab himself and commit suicide if they tried to nab him, according to the police. |
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BJP destroying
economy: Basu CALCUTTA, Oct 16 — “There has been a failure on all fronts”, remarked Mr Jyoti Basu on the completion of one year of the Vajpayee government. Mr Basu alleged that “they have destroyed the country’s economy, broken up the country in the name of religion and made all preparations for selling out the country to the foreigners”. But he regretted that “still the people vote them to power. The Chief Minister was talking to newspersons at Writers’ Buildings today. Mr Basu said “we will now seriously try to oust the BJP from power as their staying any further would bring more disaster to the nation.” Mr Basu will leave for Kerala tomorrow to attend the party’s three-day conference in which the CPM will discuss the strategy to be followed to bring all the secular forces into one platform and oust the BJP. |
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Indo-British talks
begin today NEW DELHI, Oct 16 — Foreign Secretary-level consultations between India and the United Kingdom will begin tomorrow. The British Permanent Under Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Mr John Kerr, arrived here today for the consultations that are held annually. Mr Kerr met the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and National Security Adviser, Mr Brajesh Mishra. Mr Kerr and the Foreign Secretary, Mr Lalit Mansingh, would hold discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues. India and Britain had decided to set up regular Foreign Office-level consultations a few years ago to develop bilateral relations in a long-term perspective. Since then, the relations have been growing satisfactorily. |
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Balayogi addresses
world assembly NEW DELHI, Oct 16 — The Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi, has urged the developed countries to recognise the right of the starving millions for a decent and dignified existence as the most fundamental human right and poverty eradication cannot be the exclusive responsibility of developing countries in the globalised economy. Speaking at the World Assembly of Parliaments in Jakarta today, the Speaker told participants from 138 member-countries that human rights should not be perceived as only a political concept. |
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Kumaon evolves tea industry NAINITAL, Oct 16 — The tremendous success achieved by the tea industry in the Kumaon region during the past few years can prove to be a good source of income for Uttaranchal. The tea produced by Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) under the Uttarakhana Tea Development Scheme has not only received a good response from the domestic market but attracted American, Canadian, European and Arab tea merchants. In view of this, KMVN has fixed a target of raising tea production to one lakh kilograms by the end of 2006 from the Kausani tea gardens developed by it. The KMVN also has plans to develop quality tea plants in a 200-acre nursery at Kausani. To give a boost to the tea industry the KMVN selected terraced lands and leased them for a period of 30 years. The landholders were provided jobs in the tea industry. With Kausani as the base many tea gardens have been developed in a radius of 30 km at Garur, Baret, Siankot, Majhera, Lamjingra, Gawaidam, Danuthal and other adjoining villages. After plucking the leaves are carried to Kausani for processing. According to Mr R.S. Adhikari, Managing Director (Tea), KMVN, the industry has provided regular jobs to 450 labourers while 250 labourers are employed on daily wages. Tea plantations have also changed the economic status of rural women by providing jobs to them near their homes. |
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West
Bengal clashes BARRACKPORE, Oct 16 (UNI) — At least 14 persons, including four police personnel, have been injured in a clash between law enforcement officers and a mob at Birati under Nimta Police Station in North 24 Parganas. A police jeep was also damaged during yesterday’s clash, the police said. |
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Rama Pilot quits
Assembly seat Pleas against power tariff hike dismissed Woman, 2 kids commit suicide Tikamgarh scion dies of meningitis Three killed in gang war 4 members of Hyder gang held Over 200 tortoises seized |
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