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| Saturday, October 28, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Petroleum
dealers’ commission hiked Cadre division: officers unhappy Killing of Indian jawans ‘Review imprisonment system’ Divali celebrated with fervour |
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RSS seeks President’s rule in WB More powers for heads of
Central forces
9 shot dead by ULFA in Assam Encroachment: notice to Centre Balayogi meets Israeli envoy Hooch accused exposes bigwigs Kesri cremated with state
honours A relentless revolutionary Jhumpa to tie knot with
Alberto in Jan 4 murder cases in Delhi Indo-Iraq panel
to hold meeting
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Petroleum dealers’ commission hiked NEW DELHI, Oct 27 (PTI) —The government today increased dealers’ commission on petrol, diesel, cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene meeting the long-pending demand of petroleum product dealers for higher remuneration on account of increase in product prices. The commission on diesel has been increased by Rs 6 per kilo-litre
(kl), that for lpg distributor by 94 paisa per cylinder and that for kerosene by Rs 44 per kl, an official release said. The new rates would be applicable from October 1, 2000. The last revision was undertaken on November 6, 1997. The commission on high speed diesel
(HSD) has been increased from Rs 271 per kl to Rs 277 per kl. Commission on petrol (motor spirit- 87) to Rs 478 per kl from Rs 462 per kl and Rs 512 per kl from Rs 500 per kl on ms-93. Lpg distributors’ commission has been revised to Rs 14.57 per cylinder from Rs 13.83 per cylinder while commission payable to wholesale dealers of kerosene has increased from Rs 126 per kl to Rs 170 per kl. The government had earlier increased the dealers’ commission on
HSD to Rs 271 per kl from Rs 257 per kl with effect from January 5, 2000, in view of price revision of
HSD undertaken in April and October 1999. LPG distributors’ commission has been revised from Rs 13.83 per cylinder to Rs 14.28 for the period from April 1 to September 30, 2000, and to Rs 14.57 per cylinder from October 1, 2000. Dealers’ commission payable to wholesale dealers (form-XIII) of kerosene would be Rs 170 per KL while the same for other wholesale dealers has been revised from Rs 83 per kl to Rs 127 per kl. The Centre has asked state governments to take requisite action in the matter of further changes in the rate of commission payable to wholesale dealers of kerosene, the release added. From Our Correspondent BHOPAL, Oct 27 — Most of the 100 IAS officers of the Madhya Pradesh cadre had a gloomy Divali yesterday. They have been assigned to Chhattisgarh against their wishes and without telling them why. They have not yet received any formal order but have been told to reach Raipur (temporary capital of the new State) and report for duty to whom they do not know. It is being done through a macabre procedure. They are being called, individually or in small groups, to the chamber of the GAD Secretary, Mr K.M. Acharya, and told about their new assignments. The Chief Secretary, Mr K.S. Sharma, breaks the news to senior officers. An IAS officer told this correspondent that he had asked Mr Acharya about the norms evolved for the division of the cadre between Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Mr Acharya’s reply, according to him, was “The norms adopted for the division is a secret with the Union Government and the government may make them public when it deems it fit to do so.” When the officer asked for a formal order, Mr Acharya reportedly replied: “No need for a written order; you should reach Raipur by October 28 when the notification (on cadre division) will be issued.” Many officers feel that the allotment of 100 IAS and 59 IPS officers to Chhattisgarh has been done arbitrarily and they blame the Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, and the Chief Secretary, Mr K.S. Sharma, for this. Their argument is that a majority of the officers assigned to Chhattisgarh are those who did not find favour with the top functionaries of the state government. An officer, due to retire in a year or so, had made a two-page submission to the Chief Secretary listing his family problems and requesting that he be allowed to retire in Bhopal, the place of his present posting. He received a jolt when called to Mr K.M. Acharya’s chamber. Later he observed ruefully: “I have cultivated neither the Chief Minister nor the Chief Secretary.” Division among the Class III and IV employees is proving more cumbersome because of the threat by their associations both in Madhya Pradesh and the Chhattisgarh region, to start agitation if any employees are forcibly transferred to Chhattisgarh. Apparently apprehending trouble when the first Governor of the new state will be sworn in at the midnight of October 31, the Raipur district administration had announced that prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Cr PC will come into force in major parts of Raipur town from November 1.  RSS seeks President’s rule in WB VISAKHAPATNAM, Oct 27 (UNI) — The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) today demanded the imposition of President’s rule in West Bengal, alleging breakdown of law and order in that state. Talking to newsmen on the deliberations at the ongoing three-day meeting of the “Divali baithak” of the 112 RSS pracharakas here, national executive member and RSS spokesman M.G. Vaidya and Andhra Provincial President Siva Prasad claimed that West Bengal was a “fit” case for the imposition of the President’s rule. “The ruling CPM men, abetted by the Left Front government had let loose reign of terror against those who did not subscribe to their political ideology. The Trinamool Congress and the BJP workers were targeted by these groups killing many of them”, they alleged. They said the RSS was not for signing the CTBT till the USA signed it and the nuclear powers destroyed their stocks. India should continue testing of nuclear weapons. Parrying a question on who would be the better Prime Minister Mr Vajpayee or Mr Advani, the RSS leaders said, “We do not weigh personalities, but policies”. They said the RSS, however, had reservations on some decisions of the Centre on the economic front which favoured unrestricted entry of foreign capital and removal of the ban on the import of 1400 items at the cost of the indigenous industry, which was bound to weaken the Indian market. The RSS leaders said the organistion was not opposed to liberalisation so long it encouraged the indigenous industry. They also censured the BJP-led government’s policy to open up the insurance and other sectors to global players. Reiterating the idea of indigenisation of the church, the RSS leaders said the church needed to develop a secular outlook towards other faiths in the country, which they claimed, was lacking with the Vatican as was evident from a recent papal encyclical. They said the mass contact programmes of the RSS through its 30,000 and odd (units) would continue till January 2001. |
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Killing of Indian jawans NEW DELHI, Oct 27— Myanmar authorities have assured India to conduct an inquiry into the border incidents in which three Assam Rifles jawans were killed and two others were injured on Wednesday night in Mon district of Nagaland, officials said here today. While the Ministry of External Affairs spokesman said Yangoon had assured an inquiry into the incidents, the Home Ministry spokesman said a flag meeting between the Myanmar local army commander and the Indian Army commander was held yesterday to seek better coordination and ensure that similar incidents did not recur. The two countries are in touch at the diplomatic and field levels and Myanmar will keep New Delhi informed about the inquiry, the spokesman said adding that no time frame about the inquiry has been informed. The flag meeting between the field commanders was held at a forward border post close to Lungwa in the district on Thursday and decided to have regular local contacts to avoid recurrence of such incidents. The Myanmar commanders had said their border troops had “mistaken Indian border guards for Naga insurgents as the NSCN (K) ranks often donned olive green fatigues similar to Indian formations”. The Myanmarese commanders, who submitted an unqualified apology, said their troops were combing the Yaschung area across Lungwa in hot pursuit of NSCN (K) insurgents when they came across the Assam Rifles border patrol and “mistakenly” opened fire at them.
‘Review imprisonment system’ NEW DELHI, Oct 27 — The former Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, Ms Leila Seth, today called for a review of the imprisonment system in the country. “An institution devised for the needs of the 18th and 19th centuries carried on with only minor modifications in the 20th century must be reviewed in the 21st cyberspace century,” Ms Seth said, delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture here. The conditions prevailing in the 95 Central jails, 270 district jails, 270 prisons for women and 547 sub-jails accommodating the 2.70 lakh inmates had to be improved, she said, delivering a lecture on “Prisoners, punishment and human rights.” “Accountability, transparency and a positive approach are necessary. With a strong political will, this can and must be done as almost 80 per cent of the total jail population comprises undertrials and not convicts,” the first woman Chief Justice of a High Court said. The present imprisonment system, she said provided a setting in which abuse of human rights could be carried on. “It is inefficient and quite often gives rise to more problems than it can solve and does not fit into modren thinking. It poses a threat to our future. It is also extremely expensive,” Ms Seth said, adding “we need to look for alternative methods, especially as most prisoners are young, poor, male and inadequately educated.” The former Chief Justice said more money and resources should be spent on violence prevention rather than building stronger and better jails. Quoting from various studies on prison systems, she said it destroyed people’s lives and despite heavy financial costs, failed to rehabilitate criminals. In India, imprisonment, as a form of punishment, was introduced by the British in 1773 and the more than 100 years old Prison Act of 1894 was still the law, subject to slight amendments. The National Human Rights Commission had been working on a new Bill to be called the Prisons (Administration and Treatment of Prisoners) Act. But it was still far from becoming a law, she observed. Sardar Patel, during 1930 spent a number of days in different prisons. His diary, narrating his prison life in Sabarmati Jail, stated that he “slept on blankets spread on the floor, shared a cell with murderers, was locked in for the evening and the night and denied a lantern for reading. The jowar roti supplied daily had to be soaked in water before it could be eaten.” “This was the position of prisons in India then. Not much has changed in many of these in the past 70 years,” she observed. More powers for heads of
Central forces NEW DELHI, Oct 27
(UNI)— The Directors-General of all Central paramilitary forces have with immediate effect been delegated full powers to purchase stores and spend up to Rs 1 crore on equipment and fabrication of vehicles without prior sanction of the Home Ministry. A ministry spokesman today said the objective of the decision of October 25 was to enable the ministry to concentrate on policy matters. The enhanced delegation of financial powers would equip the forces to procure their requirements of stores and other equipment immediately. The spokesman said an exercise had been taken to consider delegation of financial powers in the area of procurement of stores and other equipment in a phased manner. The dgs earlier had powers to spend up to Rs 5 lakh to procure clothing, machinery and equipment which was been raised to Rs 50 lakh on April 1 last year. From January 1 this year, financial powers of procurement in respect of certain other items like fabrication of vehicle bodies, piece equipment table and similar items was delegated up to Rs 50 lakh. Other officers — Inspector-General, Deputy Inspectors-General, Commandments and so on have also been delegated financial powers for procurement of stores.
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Divali celebrated with fervour NEW DELHI, Oct 27 (PTI) — Divali, the festival of lights, was celebrated throughout the country yesterday with religious fervour and gaiety, as tinkling of pooja bells, gentle chanting of prayers and the soothing fragrance of scented incense sticks wafted through the air amidst bursting of crackers. Colourful ‘diyas’ and multy coloured candles adorned the houses which wore a festive look as the sky turned dark. Exquisite geometric designed ‘rangolis’ adorned the doorsteps of many a household to welcome Laxmi — the goddess of wealth. Hundreds thronged temples to invoke the blessings of the deities and exchanged greetings and offered sweets to people. In Chennai, people after having an oil bath and attired in their colourful best welcomed the break of dawn by setting off crackers. In Mumbai, devout Hindus had ‘Pahli Angol’ (the first bath) and children fired crackers at the break of dawn to usher in the festival. Elaborate prayers were held in several households and silver coins with a picture of Laxmi embossed were distributed to mark Laxmi pooja. In the Capital, the houses were illuminated with colourful lights as sounds of crackers boomed the air. A large number of people yesterday visited Rashtrapati Bhavan to exchange greetings with President
K.R. narayanan and first lady Usha Narayanan on the occasion of Divali. Vice-President Krishan Kant and Home Minister
L.K. Advani were among the dignitaries who called on Mr Narayanan to greet him on the occasion, official sources said. In his message, the president said “may the festival of lights usher in gaiety, goodwill and prosperity to our people and illumine their hearts with compassion for those who are deprived and poor.” WASHINGTON (UNI): For the first time the United States President has greeted Indian Americans, one of the largest immigrant community here, on the eve of Divali, indicating the warmth that has developed recently between the USA and India. In his message released from the White House yesterday, Mr Clinton said Divali presents us with an opportunity to reflect on the talents, history and traditions of the Indian people who have contributed to American national life and cultural heritage. And we give thanks for the extraordinary diversity that is America’s greatest strength, he remarked. America had become home to people across the globe, whose skills and perspective had enriched our culture, enhanced our economy and broadened our vision of the world, he said. pti: In a move to woo the Indian Americans, Democratic Presidential candidate and Vice-President Al Gore has greeted the community on Divali assuring them he would work to expand investment in America’s Indian business community. He said the Indian American community provided the country with key leadership and vision in areas like civil rights and community service. “I wish to join the Asian Indian American community in celebration of Divali. I offer my best wishes and a joyous new year to the community,” Gore, in a statement from the Gore-Lieberman headquarters in Nashville (Tennessee), said. “For our children, I will fight to improve education and promote new measures to help reduce crime in our communities. “I hope all Americans will join me in celebrating Divali and a culture that has enriched our past, strengthens our present and brightens our future,” he said. |
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Divali night spells doom for owls NEW DELHI, Oct 27 (UNI) — More than 1000 owls are trapped and killed between Dasehra and
Divali by practitioners of black magic in the country, according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature-India (WWF-I). Senior programme officer WWF-Traffic India Abrar Ahmed said here that the festival of lights spelt darkness for the nocturnal birds, which, ironically were identified with Goddess Laxmi, in whose honour the festival is celebrated. The new moon night (Amavasya) of
Divali is regarded as the most auspicious for the “tantriks” (black magicians), moulvis and sorcerers who sacrifice the birds at secluded places in the graveyards in the hope of gaining magical powers. Mr Ahmed said this was one of the main reasons pushing various species of owls to the brink of extinction in the country. Out of 26 species of owls in the subcontinent, 11 were in the trade. The Brown fish owl is the most sought-after one and fetched more than Rs 10,000. Due to deep-rooted beliefs and lack of awareness, frustrated people sought the help of witch doctors for curing all sorts of maladies, including bad luck. “The tantriks kill the owl, the symbol of bad omen, reportedly to propitiate the evil power and hoodwink the person in the bargain,” Mr Ahmed, who has been studying the birds since 1993, said. |
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Cong flays move on
nationalised banks NEW DELHI, Oct 27 — The Congress today criticised the Centre’s move to reduce its holding to 33 per cent of the total share in public sector banks saying that the NDA government’s move “lacks transparency and clarity of purpose.” “We are greatly concerned about the manner in which the Union Government has decided to dilute government’s control over the public sector banks by reducing government’s holding to 33 per cent of the total share,” a Congress spokesman Prithviraj Chavan told reporters here. He said the manner in which the government was going in for disinvestment of public sector units, including banks, lacks transparency and clarity of purpose. Stating that the Congress during its regime had ensured that the public sector character of the nationalised banks was safeguarded, he said the party by amending the law it ensured that the government’s share was not diluted below 51 per cent. The spokesman said the Congress had laid down certain guidelines to protect the lending facilities of the weaker sections from the bank to improve their economic condition. “But there is no undertaking by the NDA government to ensure how the bank’s responsibilities to the weaker sections would be safeguarded.” Instead of resorting to ad hoc decisions, we have been constantly demanding a white paper on the objectives and rationale, the method of sale and the system of evaluation for such public sector disinvestment, he said adding that the questions raised by the party in Parliament have remained unanswered. “It is high time the government set down their precise objectives instead of allowing the confusion to persist,” he added.
Encroachment: notice to Centre NEW DELHI, Oct 27 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court has issued a show-cause notice to the Centre and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on the alleged encroachment of government land in at least 70 locations reserved for green belt in the Capital. Major portions of the land measuring 765 acre and declared protected for development as forests, gardens and parks had been encroached by the “builder mafia” in connivance with unscrupulous officials, a Bench comprising Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice M.K. Sharma was informed in a public interest litigation (PIL) earlier this week. Taking serious view of the authorities’ callous attitude towards the encroachment of public land in the city, the Bench directed the Land and Development Officer (L&DO) of the Union Urban Development Ministry and the DDA to submit their replies within three months. The PIL filed by the All-India Lawyers Forum for Civil Liberties (AILFCL) alleged that despite the L&DO and the DDA notifying these 70 plots of land at different locations in the city as reserved land for development as green belt in July, 1974, several unauthorised constructions had come up on all worth billions of rupees during the past 25 years. Accusing the L&DO and DDA officials of failing to do their duty, the petitioner’s counsel O.P. Saxena said while there was worldwide awareness about environment protection, the authorities were least concerned about developing forests, parks and gardens considered as “lungs” of Delhi where the pollution level was alarmingly high. Seeking a direction to the Centre and the DDA to demolish all illegal constructions on the reserved plots, the petitioner said Delhi, which was facing pressure from the growing population mainly due to the influx from various parts of the country, had virtually become a concrete jungle. Developing these plots as forests and parks would not only help maintain the ecological balance, but also add to the beauty of the city, which was becoming “uglier” each day because of the haphazard structures being allowed to come up here and there, the petition said. “If sincere efforts are not made to preserve environment and maintain the ecological balance, the citizens of Delhi will face serious health problems,” the PIL said. Referring to the Court’s August 21 order in the Girdhari Lal case, directing the authorities to demolish all illegal structures on a public land, the petitioner said it had served notices on the L&DO and DDA for taking possession of the land after demolition of the unauthorised constructions. The petitioner also requested the court to order a CBI probe into the large-scale encroachment of public land in the Capital. |
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Balayogi meets Israeli envoy NEW DELHI, Oct 27— Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi today urged both Israel and the Palestine National Authority to exercise restraint. Mr Balayogi made the appeal during his meeting with the Israeli Ambassador, Mr David Aphek, who called on him today, an officer on Special Duty to the Speaker, Mr A.A. Rao, said in a press release here. The Speaker said India was interested in peace and development in West Asia and the complex problem in the region “can only be resolved” through a just, comprehensive and long lasting peace in the region based on the principle of “land for peace” and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Mr Aphek said Israel was genuinely interested in peace in the region and the efforts of the Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak were thwarted by renewed of violence. GUWAHATI, Oct 27 (UNI) — At least nine persons were gunned down by suspected ULFA extremists at Nalbari in Assam today. Offical sources said here that the militants came in a Tata Sumo and pumped bullets on Marwari traders in a crowded market, killing all of them on the spot. In West Tripura, the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) guerrillas targeted the Debendra Sardar market under Teliamura Police Station and pumped bullets indiscriminately, killing five non-tribesmen on the spot and injuring four others. Senior police officials along with security personnel had rushed to the site. An intensive search operation had been launched to nab the ultras. |
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Hooch accused exposes bigwigs THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct 27 (UNI) — Public disclosure by Hairunnisa, the key accused in the recent twin hooch tragedy in the adjoining Kollam district, on making regular “donations” to political parties, has left leading parties in Kerala scurrying for cover. Soon after the arrest, the elderly woman made no bones about her “regular payments’’ to politicians, police and excise officials, putting in a fix all vociferous parties which were blaming each other for the tragedy that claimed 32 persons. While she had mentioned both the CPM and the Opposition Congress as the beneficiaries, the former suffered more embarrassment as her claims marked a re-surfacing of earlier allegations about the ruling party’s links with the liquor lobby. The claim about the ‘nexus’ comes at a time when the CPM is mired in allegations of having conspired to kill a prohibition activist by goons of the liquor mafia right in front of the police, writing off of the arrears of Abkari contractors, and accepting contributions from the liquor barons for the party-promoted television channel, “Kairali”. “I have been giving regular donations to all political parties. The amounts varied from Rs 5,000 to 10,000. I used to send my buses to pick up people for their rallies and meetings,’’ claimed Hairunnisa, who has four mini-buses. Though the Congress mounted pressure on the ruling Marxist party for its alleged nexus with the liquor lobby following the liquor tragedies, she said payments were made to the Congress as well. She went to the extent of saying that the marxist men were “at least satisfied’’ with what was given, while the congressmen, especially its youth wing, “always demanded more.’’ Hairunnisa claimed that she had contributed Rs 10,000 to the Kairali channel, but said she was “yet to receive any share certificate.’’ Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar sought to play down the allegation on donations, saying it was not just the CPM which got them. “All parties have had their share,’’ he noted. Excise Minister T. Sivadasa Menon, whose resignation was demanded by the Opposition parties in the wake of the liquor tragedy, too dismissed her claim. But the Congress is undeterred. PCC chief Balakrishna Pillai and senior party leader oommen chandy dared the government to probe all the “political connections” of the accused. Opposition leader and former Chief Minister A.K. Antony said the beneficiaries, “whoever they be’’, should not escape the net. When this was pointed out, PCC vice-president K. Muraleedharan, MP, said his party was ready to publicly announce that it would not accept contributions from the liquor dons. Hairunissa had disclosed that the first person she approached after the news spread about tragedy was a local CPM leader. She went to him “because he had helped me on many occasions,’’ she said. Incidentally, one person, whose spirit tankers were recently allowed free passage allegedly on the intervention of the Excise Minister’s office, was reported to be Rafi, an agent who supplied spirit to joints in Kollam district. An Abkari contractor named Manichan, another kingpin in the hooch tragedy, had also warned from his hide-out about going public about his links and donations to political parties. Hairunissa (50), who reportedly made big money from her illicit liquor business to the level of owning a palatial bungalow and several buses and cars, had been accused in about 65 Abkari-related cases since 1986. As many as 47 cases against her had been compounded by the Excise Department earlier. Hairunissa had, so far, been convicted in eleven cases and acquitted in nine. She was sentenced to six years imprisonment in a case in which one person died after drinking liquor from her outlet in 1996. She had come out on bail in April this year. Since then she had been continuing with her illicit liquor operation without let or hindrance. The Opposition alleged that the ruling front had encouraged the illicit liqour trade in a bid to foil the ban on arrack imposed by the previous Antony government in 1996. |
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Hooch takes life of jawan THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct 27 (UNI) — In yet another hooch tragedy, a CRPF jawan died and 22 persons were hospitalised today after consuming a ‘killer brew’ from an unauthorised joint near a CRPF camp in this district of Kerala. The deceased was identified as G.V.K. Nair (50). Many of the affected were from the Pallipuram CRPF camp, the police said. The owner of the shop was taken to the Medical College Hospital here in serious condition. According to initial reports, all victims had consumed the hooch last evening. The news about the death spread panic in Appolo Colony at Pallippuram where the incident took place. This is the fourth hooch tragedy in the state after the ones in Kalluvathukkal, Pallickal and Pattazhi areas in Kollam district since Saturday last in which 32 persons had lost their lives. |
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Narayanan is 81 NEW DELHI, Oct 27 (PTI) — President K.R. Narayanan turned 81 today.
Vice-President Krishan Kant, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi and a host of other dignitaries called on the President and wished him a happy and healthy life. Former President r.venkataraman, three service chiefs Gen s. padmanabhan, Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis and Admiral Sushil Kumar, several union ministers, mps and others also visited Rashtrapati Bhavan and wished the President many more years of service to the nation. The President received birthday wishes from all over the country. |
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Intolerance worries President NEW DELHI, Oct 27 (PTI) — President K.R. Narayanan has said there is “scattered intolerance” in the country which is “worrying” and keeping silent against the campaign of intolerance will not help. In a rare interview to Malayala Manorama on the occasion of his 81st birthday today, he said: “it is not as if everyone has become intolerant. A majority of people are tolerant. But what is happening is that important persons are not condemning intolerance enough”. He said he had once remarked that leaders always condemned intolerance even if it was rhetoric. But sometimes many leaders did not even strongly condemn intolerance for the sake of condemning. “It is very important that leaders and opinion-makers must strongly argue against the spirit of intolerance where people are made to attack each other in the name of faith, language or for any other reason. “Earlier, our national leaders always made public their support for tolerance and mutual respect because keeping silent when someone preaches intolerance does not help to fight intolerance,” he said. On the Constitution, the President said several streams had come together to create it. The President said: “Its (Constitution) dynamism lies in constant interplay between these streams which include Gandhian thought, our ancient civilisation, parliamentary democracy, liberal spirit of our people and a strong current of socialism.....” About India’s relationship with the rest of the world, he said the country had become a greater force in the international arena now than ever before. He said after the Pokhran blasts during his visit to Germany, he was apprehensive about the image of India. But, the President said, after his interaction with leaders and ordinary people, he was convinced that India had got over the worst repercussions of Pokhran. Similarly, during a visit to France, he found that the world was “sitting up and taking notice of India”. There was no doubt that the bad effects of Pokhran was wearing off. Kesri cremated with state
honours PATNA, Oct 26 (PTI) — The mortal remains of former Congress President Sitaram Kesri, who died in New Delhi on Tuesday, were consigned to flames today with full state honours. Mr Santosh Kesri, the veteran leader’s grandson lit the funeral pyre at Bansghat on the bank of the Ganga river here. Earlier, his body was brought to Sadaquat Ashram, the Congress state headquarters here, from his ancestral home in Danapur and kept there for two hours to enable people pay their last respects. Several top politicians, including RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, Bihar ministers S.P. Tekriwal, Shivanand Tiwari and Ramchandra Purve, besides Cogress leaders Motilal Vora, Mohsina Kidwai, BPCC President Chandan Bagchi, General Secretary Premchandra Mishra, former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, attended the funeral. Bihar Assembly Speaker Sadadnand Singh and former Speaker, Radhanandan Jha were also present.
A relentless revolutionary MANMATHNATH
GUPTA saw the little candles burning in the white heat of melting wax through his thick optical lenses, brooded for a while and retired to his bed on Divali night. And then he slept and slept — and slept. Maya, his wife, discovered his death, remembered the massive man's last looming posture on the verandah of their house in New Delhi's Nizamuddin in the soft immensity of a velvety night punctuated by self-consuming luminous sticks. And she began to "do the needful" — informing her two sons and me, among others. She is Ramakrishna's biographer and has the Swami's peace. Her tears flow in as her fine arts flow out. Manmathnath Gupta was happy to have "breathed and lived upon this gloomy earth", she said on the telephone in a calm voice and measured tone and ordered me not to be driven for the funeral in a hurry. I had a five-generation link with him. My grandfather, a British stooge, hated him when he conversed with my father, his soul-mate, who died young. I was part of his psyche, my son called him Bade Dadaji and my little grandson sat on his lap and played with his spectacles — and vision —in Chandigarh. Many of our readers will ask: "Keda or kaun Manmathnath?" Briefly, the 91-year-old relentless revolutionary, freedom fighters' think tank, an authentic historian of the freedom movement, a writer of about 120 books of fiction, literary criticism and satire and works of plain truth in Hindi, English and Bengali, spent more than 20 years in British jails — mostly in "Kalapani" — because he was convicted at a very young age and, therefore, could not be hanged like Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah, Roshan Singh and Rajendranath Lahiri. He was released when freedom came. Manmathnath Gupta (known as Baba to thousands of people) edited, with Mr H.Y. Sararda Prasad, the Planning Commission's prestigious publications and no lesser person than the venerable H.Y.S.P. can speak authentically of him. He hated "lyrical eunuchs" and showed them the way by writing understandably suggestive and transparent novels like "Toram Phoram", "Din Dahare" and "Shahadatnama". You can identify all the major characters — mostly crooks — in them. We often used to talk of his favourite author Vladimir Mayakovsky in whose style he used to say: For the sake of a single expression you expend thousands of tonnes of verbal ore. But how much more heat arises from the combustion of those words than from the smouldering of raw verbal material! Words send in motion millions of hearts for thousands of years. adieu, adieu and adieu.
— Kamaleshwar Sinha
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Jhumpa to tie knot with
Alberto in Jan CALCUTTA, Oct 27 — Pulitzer prize winner Calcutta-born Jhumpa Lahiri will tie the knot with Latin American youth Alberto Bhur Bhulias at a simple ceremony in Calcutta on January 15. The groom is a journalist by profession and has been attached to the Times magazine as a sub-editor. Jhumpa, a post-graduate scholar from Boston university, who is a freelance writer and a novelist, has been in love with Alberto for past some time. The marriage ceremony will be performed in the traditional Hindu Bengali way to which the Alberto family has no objection. On the contrary, they are keen to see Alberto in the typical dress of a Bengali groom. Common friends of Jhumpa and Alberto will fly from Boston to Calcutta in the first week of January. Alberto’s father (the mother died recently) along with his two daughters and sons-in-law, will witness the solemnisation of a Bengali Hindu marriage. Governor Vireen J. Shah, Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and a few Bengali poets and writers, among others, may also be present at the ceremony to be performed at Singhabari at Ghariahat in south Calcutta. Jhumpa’s maternal uncle is preparing the list of the invitees on behalf of her parents., Dr Amar Lahiri, Dean of Faculty of Arts at Rodisland University and Tapati Lahiri, now settled in the USA. |
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4 murder cases in Delhi NEW DELHI, Oct 27 — Four murder cases were reported from different parts of the Capital today. Manjit Singh (48), an ex-serviceman, allegedly shot dead his 35-year-old wife, Sushila, following a quarrel last night at their residence in Sangam Vihar in South Delhi. He has been arrested. They were married about a few years back. They had a one-and-a-half-year old daughter. The accused suspected the fidelity of his wife consequently they often quarreled, the police said. In the second incident, a six-month-old girl was murdered by an unidentified person in Swaroop Nagar area of North West Delhi. The mother of the girl found him dead on the bed with injury on right side of the neck caused by a sharp-edged weapon. In the third incident, an eve-teasing incident reportedly led to the murder of a youth in Rajouri Garden in West Delhi. Chander Bhan (27) allegedly had teased a girl last night. The brother of the girl, Ramu and his friend Gyan Chand caught Chander and hit him on the head. He was taken to DDU hospital where he was declared brought dead. The accused have been arrested. In yet another incident, three youths, who robbed Rs 3500 from Shiv Kumar of Kartar Nagar in North-East Delhi, shot dead Manish when he along with the victim and their friend tried to caught the youth, the police said. |
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Indo-Iraq panel
to hold meeting NEW DELHI, Oct 27— The bilateral relations with Baghdad are expected to improve with India and Iraq deciding to hold a meeting of the joint commission next month here. The two sides agreed to hold the meeting of the joint commission during the visit of the Indian delegation led by the Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr K.V. Rajan to Iraq this week. A spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs said after the meeting of the joint commission, the Iraq Vice-President, Mr Yaseen Ramadhan would visit India. Mr Ramadhan’s visit, which was scheduled earlier, was postponed because of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tight programme. Mr Rajan, who led a high-level delegation consisting of officials from the Ministries of Finance and Petroleum and officials of the Reserve Bank of India, Exim Bank and Indian Oil Corporation, had fruitful discussions with the Permanent Under Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, Dr Nabil
Najam. |
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