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| Thursday, December 7, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Cong asks NDA allies to come clear Sangh Parivar barbaric: Basu Centre, postal staff talks fail Polluting units have no place in Delhi: SC |
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Cong men up in arms against eunuch MLA Govt notifies scribes’ new scales Nation pays homage to
Ambedkar Can circumcision keep HIV at bay? MPs’ salaries to be doubled
Students, teachers
take to streets Kidney transplant
racket unearthed Tributes paid to
Bhai Vir Singh
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Cong asks NDA allies to come clear NEW DELHI, Dec 6 — Strongly reacting to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statement that
the Ram Janambhoomi movement was manifestation of national sentiments and the work on the temple was yet to be completed, the Congress today asked the NDA allies if they agreed with the views of Mr Vajpayee. Describing the Prime Minister’s statement as shocking and unfortunate, Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said that the statements of BJP leaders showed that while demolishing the mosque was their first job, construction of temple was on their agenda now. ‘‘The NDA manifesto is a mere mask and the BJP has come out with its real agenda,’’ Mr Sharma said. Refuting the Prime Minister’s assertion that Mr Advani and other senior leaders were trying to control the mob on December 6 and were not involved in pulling down the structure, Mr Sharma quoted press reports of December 1992 to say that Mr Advani was not only mobilising people for the kar seva at Ayodhya but had described Ayodhya movement as ‘‘jehad against the pseudo secularists.’’ He said that all three Union Ministers, whose resignation was being sought by the Congress, were present in Ayodhya three days before the demolition. Referring to the Prime Minister’s statement that case of Union Minister Hiren Pathak’s resignation could not be compared with that of Mr Advani and other ministers, Mr Sharma said that both the cases were booked under the IPC. ‘‘The mosque demolition case is also a criminal case,’’ he said. Mr Sharma said that the Prime Minister had tried to give a clean chit to Mr Advani and others when the case was subjudice. ‘‘Mr Vajpayee should clarify if the rule of law would be respected and if the three ministers would appear before the court,’’ he asked, alleging that the government did not believe in the independence of judiciary. The Congress, he said, would not relent on its demand for a discussion on the under Rule 184 in Lok Sabha. The party had also given a notice for discussion in the Rajya Sabha. ‘‘Though the Parliament has not been able to work for three days, there has been no response from the government,’’ he alleged. Mr Sharma said that the demolition of mosque had hit the foundations of democracy and secularism in the country. He critricised the BJP for ‘‘equating’’ the Ayodhya incidents with the freedom struggle. ‘‘While the freedom struggle was a unifying movement, Ayodhya incidents were divisive and led to loss of thousands of lives,’’ Mr Sharma said and demanded an apology from the BJP over its statements. Sangh Parivar barbaric: Basu NEW DELHI, Dec 6 (PTI) — Veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu today launched a scathing attack on the Sangh Parivar and justified his description of RSS-BJP-VHP as “barbaric and uncivilised”, saying that demolition of Babri Masjid and attacks on Christians could not be described otherwise. “An ideological battle has to be launched against the evil forces led by the BJP which are unfortunately in power in India,” he said releasing a book on the RSS and the BJP by noted columnist A.G. Noorani here. Lamenting that the electoral laws did not bar parties from using religion to get votes, Mr Basu said the communal forces were “circumventing” even the prevailing laws to contest elections. Describing the 8th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition as “a shameful day for India”, the former West Bengal Chief Minister charged the BJP with using its “influence in power to completely do away with our idea of unity in diversity and national integration.” This was Mr Basu’s first public function here after he quit the office of Chief Minister. Stating that the Parivar was “not only insulting other religions like Islam, Sikhism and Christianity, but Hinduism too”, Mr Basu said “I have also read the works of preachers like Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramhansa. They have never said you destroy places of worship, you attack members of other faiths or organise riots.” Narrating a discussion he had with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Calcutta last year when the latter asked him why he had described the Parivar as “barbaric and uncivilised”, Mr Basu quoted the Prime Minister as having said the Babri Masjid demolition was “an accident”. To this remark of Mr Vajpayee, Mr Basu said, “I told him I didn’t expect this from you. You are a well-educated person.” Mr Basu said he gave Mr Vajpayee taped speeches of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, told him about his talks with Mr L.K. Advani to dissuade him from taking out the rathyatra and about the communal riots that followed. |
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Ayodhya issue rocks LS, RS NEW DELHI, Dec 6 — Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned today over the Ayodhya issue as the Opposition demanded the resignation of Home Minister L.K. Advani and two other Union Ministers chargesheeted by the CBI in the Babri Masjid demolition case. In the Lok Sabha, opposition members went to the well of the House and raised slogans. As soon as the House assembled, opposition members recalled the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya on this day and rushed to the well, raising slogans and compelling Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi to order that cameras be switched off. “We want resignations, “ the members shouted amidst uproarious scenes. Mr Satyavrat Chaturvedi of the Congress was seen tearing a paper and throwing the pieces near the Parliamentary reporters’ table. Congress and Samajwadi Party members had forced adjournment of the House for the past two days on the same issue after the question hour. Today, the opposition members did not allow even the question hour and the Speaker adjourned the House. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was in the House when the protests began. He was to make a statement regarding loss of lives and property due to floods, drought and other natural calamities in various parts of the country. Repeated pleas by Mr Balayogi to opposition members to return to their seats fell on deaf ears. The scene was much the same in Rajya Sabha as Congress members ignored Chairman Krishan Kant’s appeals. “We will not allow the chargesheeted Home Minister to speak on the Ayodhya issue, which has put our heads to shame,” said a Congress member. BJP members shouted back, “Voton ki rajniti nahi chalegi,’’ (we will not allow politics of vote bank). Mr Krishan Kant said he appreciated the feelings of the members and would allow them to speak after the question hour. The Chairman finally adjourned the House for the day after 15 minutes. |
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Rallies mark
mosque demolition anniversary NEW DELHI, Dec 6 — The eighth anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid passed off peacefully with rallies and demonstrations taken out by some organisations. Some Hindu organisations celebrated it as gallantry day. Rallies were taken out and demonstrations staged at Jantar Mantar where hundreds of people participated. Strict vigil was kept by the Delhi police and other security agencies in the Capital, particularly in sensitive areas like the walled city, some areas of trans-Yamuna and South-Delhi. These are concerned as trouble-torne areas. Peace prevailed in Ayodhya also, where the mosque was demolished on December 6, 1992, triggering widespread violence in some parts of the country and neighbouring Faizabad district. Personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and the police were deployed in strength in these districts to maintain law and order. The Delhi Pradesh Nationalist Congress Party, the Babri Masjid Reconstruction Front and the Awamy party demanded that the mosque should be built at its original place. Meanwhile, the Delhi unit of the Shiv Sena took out a rally at Jantar Mantar today. |
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VHP: transfer ownership of Ayodhya land AYODHYA, Dec 6 (PTI) — The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today said a “dharam sansad” to be held at Allahabad during the Mahakumbh Mela next month would demand the Centre should transfer ownership of 67 acres of acquired land in Ayodhya to facilitate construction of the Ram temple. The land is needed to build the temple with four big ‘gopuram’ as designed by Architect Sompura at Ahmedabad, VHP president Ashok Singhal told reporters here. He said the stone carving for the temple was likely to be completed by March next and the newly formed Sri Ram Janambhumi Nirman Samiti under the presidentship of Mahant Ram Chandra Das would plan the temple construction programme. A new temple was constructed after demolition of the disputed structure in 1992 and now a magnificent temple would be built at that site, he claimed. He said the Centre should transfer the acquired land to the VHP to end all controversies and enable the temple construction in a peaceful atmosphere. To a question, he said, “We will abide by the decision of the saints and mahants regarding the temple construction, as it was on their direction the shilanayas and kar seva of the temple was held.” The temple construction also would be held as per their decision. |
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Centre, postal staff talks fail NEW DELHI, Dec 6 — The strike by postal employees entered the second day today with services throughout the country remaining paralysed, while talks between the government and the striking employees failed to break the ice. The Communications Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, was closeted with the union leaders for nearly two-and-a-half hours, but the meeting failed to break fresh ground. Mr Paswan said while some of the demands of the employees had already been settled, others like changing the name of extra departmental (ED) employees and pensionary benefits to them involved some legal hurdles and could not be decided without seeking legal opinion. The federation members on their part said the strike would not be withdrawn till the government met all demands affecting the postal employees. “The government has accepted a few demands which will affect only 10 per cent of the employees, while majority of the demands covering 90 per cent are still pending,” Mr Y.S. Yadav, Secretary-General, Bharatiya Postal Employees Federation (BPEF), told newspersons after the meeting. The demands, which have been accepted, include time-bound promotion for those related to the account departments, covering about 2000 employees, Mr Yadav said. One of the main demands was to provide pensionary benefits to the ED employees, besides changing their status from agents to rural postal employees, he said. The employees have also been demanding wage revision for non-gazetted employees and implementation of Justice Talwar report with effect from 1996 instead of 1997. Mr Paswan said there were differences in the interpretation of some of the demands, especially with respect to implementation of the Justice Talwar report and added that a group of ministers was looking into it. Since the government was looking into the demands of the unions, there was no reason for harassing the general public, Mr Paswan said, urging the union representatives to withdraw the strike immediately. Meanwhile, the federation leaders said the employees unions would march to Parliament tomorrow. This would be followed by a meeting of the joint action committee to decide the further course of action. |
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Polluting units have no place in Delhi: SC NEW DELHI, Dec 6 (PTI) — Sounding a stern warning, the Supreme Court today observed polluting industrial units deserved no mercy and had to relocate as the health and well-being of residents of Delhi was paramount. “Polluting industries cannot be tolerated and we want action immediately,” a three-Judge Bench comprising Mr Justice B.N. Kirpal, Mr Justice Doraiswamy Raju and Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar said while hearing contempt cases against the Chief Secretary of Delhi and the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Even as the MCD sought a week’s time to find out the number of polluting units operating in Delhi in violation of rules, the Bench said, “We are making it very clear that the polluting industries must go.” Appearing for the Union Urban Development Ministry, the Additional Solicitor-General Mr Kirit Raval, contended it was childish on the part of the Delhi Government to say the Centre was stonewalling its efforts to relocate when they had no intention to obey the orders of the court. Referring to the change of stand of the city government after the violence on November 20, Mr Raval said “I represent a government which wants to govern led by a leadership which wants to lead and not to be misled by motivated manifestation of
mobocracy.” |
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Cong men up in arms against eunuch MLA BHOPAL, Dec 6 — The realisation seems to have dawned on the only eunuch member of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly that eunuchs are not acceptable to other members of the House on equal terms. A petition has been drafted and signed by Congress members, to urge the Speaker to disqualify Shabnam Mausi from being a member of the Assembly. The allegation against Shabnam Mausi is that she has lowered the dignity of the House. Shabnam Mausi says it is the result of the gender bias that she has been experiencing for some time. The apparent provocation over the Congress members’ action is not a fight between Shabnam Mausi and Mr Bisahulal Singh, Congress MLA from Anuppur Constituency in Shahdol district. Shabnam is said to have taken out her chappals to his Mr Singh who had allegedly made some derogatory remarks about her. When asked, Shabnam admitted her role in the fight and said she was not the one to take the insult lying down. The real reason, though, is the clout that Shabnam Mausi has started wielding. The beans were spilled by Mr Bisahulal Singh at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) last night. He was reported to have observed in a choked voice that he had been a Congressman for such a long time but the ministers and officials of this government were paying greater attention to “this eunuch” and the works recommended by her had been attended to with alacrity. The reports received here indicated that the people of Anuppur (Mr Bisahulal Singh’s constituency) also approach Shabnam Mausi for getting their works done which was causing embarrassment to Mr Bisahulal Singh. Shabnam Mausi was elected as an Independent, in a byelection from Sohagpur constituency (adjoining Anuppur constituency) of Shahdol district early this year. She had defeated Mr Brijesh Singh of the Congress. Mr Brijesh Singh is the son of late Mr Krishnapal Singh, who was Governor of Gujarat and before that a minister having held various portfolios in Madhya Pradesh Government for over 15 years. Mr Bisahulal Singh, MLA from Anuppur, was PWD Minister in Mr Digvijay Singh’s first government (1993-98). An interesting fallout of the fight between Mr Bisahulal Singh and Shabnam Mausi was the revelation made by the latter that she was persuaded by Mr Bisahulal Singh to contest in the byelection to defeat Mr Krishnapal Singh’s son. She said, “I was not prepared to enter politics and contest the election. But Mr Bisahulal Singh persuaded me to contest and also promised to give me the money needed to contest the election. But he did not pay even a single paisa and lost his temper whenever I made the demand”. While the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr M.S. Gill, had described Shabnam Mausi’s election to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly as a manifestation of the strength of Indian democracy “which enabled even those afflicted by grave social discrimination to participate in the electoral process”, the feeling of Congress leaders was echoed by the MP Assembly Speaker, Mr Shreenivas Tiwari, who saw it as a “challenge to political parties as it reflects the deterioration of the ethics and commitment of political parties”. More recently, the newly elected President of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Radha Kishan Malaviya, had announced that no eunuchs would be admitted to the Congress so long as he was the President of the party. |
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Govt notifies scribes’ new scales NEW DELHI, Dec 6 (PTI) — The government today notified a new wage structure for journalists and non-journalists on the recommendations of the R.K. Manisana Singh Wage Boards, providing for pay hike of up to 50 per cent and a rise in various allowances. The notification follows a Cabinet decision on November 16 to accept wage boards’ recommendations with some changes, including providing for a dearness allowance formula based on the all-India consumer price index. As per the notification newspapers, and agencies have been categorised in nine classes with the Press Trust of India
(PTI) and the Times of India in the top class — 1-B. United News of India
(UNI), The Hindustan Times and The Hindu are among the organisations figuring in the next lower level — class 1A — under the notification. The wage boards were set up in September 1994. Newspapers and news agency employees would be given a 100 per cent neutralisation for dearness allowance for basic salary up to Rs 5,000 followed by 80 per cent neutralisation for salary ranging between Rs 5001 to Rs 7000. A minimum neutralisation of 50 per cent for
DA would be accorded for basic pay of over Rs 12,500 and above. The
House Rent Allowance (HRA) for newspapers and news agencies falling in classes 1B and 1A is 30 per cent and 25 per cent of the basic pay per month in metropolitan cities respectively, subject to a maximum of Rs 4,500. Leave
Travel Allowance (LTA) would be determined at the actual basic pay, while city compensatory allowance
(CCA) for the top two classes for metropolitan cities has been fixed at Rs 260 and Rs 240, respectively. The rates of night shift allowance have been fixed at Rs 40 per night shift for class 1B and Rs 30 for class 1A, while medical allowance has been fixed at Rs 500 per month per employee in these two categories. Hardship allowance introduced by the wage boards has been fixed at Rs 250 per month. The wage award would be effective from April 1, 1998, for news organisations falling in class 1B to class three, while for classes four and five it would be effective from June 1, 1999, and for the rest April 1, 2000. HRA,
CCA and hardship allowance would be effective for class 1B to class five from June 1, 1999, and for the rest from April 1, 2000. The payment of arrears would be staggered over a period of 18 months in three equal instalments in blocks of six months each, according to the notification. Scanner operators will be placed in the working journalist category in group
iii-A along with planners and proof-readers. |
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Nation pays homage to
Ambedkar NEW DELHI, Dec 6 (PTI) — Vice-President Krishan Kant, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi payed homage to the architect of Indian Constitution B.R. Ambedkar on his 44th death anniversary today. The leaders offered floral tributes at Ambedkar’s statue on the lawn of the Parliament this morning. Union Ministers Pramod Mahajan, Satyanarayan Jatiya, Kashiram Rana, Ram Naik, T.R. Balu, Maneka Gandhi, Congress leaders Madhavrao Scindia, Manmohan Singh, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit also paid homage to Ambedkar. A large number of supporters of Ambedkar thronged the lawns of Parliament. |
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Ambedkar
award for Baba Amte NEW DELHI, Dec 6 (UNI) — Veteran social worker Murlidhar Devidas Amte,
popularly known as Baba Amte, was today conferred the prestigious Dr Ambedkar International Award for Social Change in recognition for his services in espousing the cause of exploited and underprivileged and his fight against injustice and inequality. The award, which carries an amount of Rs 15 lakh and a citation, was presented by President K.R. Narayanan at Rashtrapati Bhavan at a ceremony in the presence of Vice-President Krishan Kant, Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi and several other eminent personalities. Baba Amte, who is the recipient of several international and national awards, including the Magsaysay Award, Gandhi Peace Prize and Padma Vibhushan, has worked tirelessly to check “religious fundamentalism, linguistic and territorial bickerings and communal hatred” and undertook a “Bharat jodo yatra” in 1985 from Kanyakumari to Jammu. |
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Can circumcision keep HIV at bay? AHMEDABAD, Dec 6 (PTI) — Doctors and researchers working on AIDS among several African tribes have observed that circumcised men are less vulnerable to contracting HIV infection. According to Dr Paras Shah, chief sexologist of a Rajasthan hospital, there is a growing body of evidence that circumcision not only protects a man from becoming infected with HIV, but also prevents it from being transmitted to women. Dr Shah a postgraduate student in sexual medicine in Washington who is on the American board of sexologists, said several doctors had made the observation during the course of their research in Africa. Mr Robert Baiely of the University of Illinois, Chicago, in his presentation at the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, said: “I believe that the evidence is now compelling enough to consider adding circumcision to the limited armament we already have against AIDS”. “It may be time for health officials to think about promoting circumcision in Africa as a way of helping to prevent the spread of HIV,” he said. Mr Bailey studied the Luo, a group of three million people in Kenya which did not practice circumcision and who had an unusually high prevalence of HIV infection — around 30 per cent in women and 25 per cent in men. “This is two to three times higher than in other areas,” Dr Shah said. “Previous research has shown that circumcision helps hygiene by preventing the growth of bacteria behind the foreskin”, he added. Dr Shah, Mr Bailey and other researchers found that Africans who often practiced circumcision believed it was a hygienic habit. Mr Richard Hayes of the London school of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said he and colleagues had done a meta-analysis — looking at 30 other studies and putting the findings together — and found that circumcised men, both Muslims and non-Muslims, were less likely to be HIV-infected. Mr Craig Cohen of the University of Washington at Seattle said he had found a connection between circumcision, sexually transmitted bacterial disease and HIV infection. “The infection is more common in women with uncircumcised partners,” he said. |
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MPs’ salaries to be doubled NEW DELHI, Dec 5 — A unanimous cheer can be expected to echo in Parliament on December 22, the last day of the winter session, when the lawmakers’ salaries will be more than doubled from Rs 4,000 to Rs 11,900. The salary excludes various allowances and other special benefits which members of Parliament (MPs) are entitled to for serving as “people’s representatives”. The revised salary will be fixed for five years. According to a senior MP, the salary of a member in 1951 was Rs 400. Over the years the salaries and allowances of MPs were revised several times keeping in view the growing cost of living. Every time there is a hike, it is mandatory for the government to get Parliament’s approval. On Monday, Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi held a meeting with leaders of all political parties to discuss the revision of salaries and allowances. The lawmakers unanimously approved the revised pay scale, but a formal decision will be taken after the cabinet gives its approval, a senior government leader told the IANS. The leaders decided not to revise the travel and medical allowances and pensions. There is a change, however, in the telephone allowance. Currently, every MP is entitled to make up to 150,000 local calls free every year. The meeting decided that MPs living more than 1,000 km away from New Delhi will be entitled to an additional 20,000 free calls. Given the enormous paperwork involved in their jobs, the stationery allowance has been hiked from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per month. The allowance for letters has been fixed at Rs 1,000 and for secretarial work Rs 6,000. Every MP is allowed to hire a senior assistant with a fixed salary of Rs 10,000 per month. The MP can hire more than one person within that salary limit. Taking into account the increase in petrol prices, the transport allowance has been revised from Rs 6 per km to Rs 8 per km. Members can claim reimbursement at Rs 8 per km when they travel from the airport or railway stations to attend Parliament sessions in New Delhi. Irrespective of the time spent in the House, every MP gets an allowance of Rs 400 per sitting. This has been hiked to Rs 500 per sitting. This amount can be claimed when Parliament is in session or when the members have to travel to the capital from their constituencies to attend meetings of parliamentary committees or to attend to other Parliament-related business when the House is not in session. MPs are also entitled to a pension. On completing four years as an MP, one is entitled to a pension of Rs 2,500. But the amount goes up by Rs 500 every year. This means that if an MP completes five years, he or she will get Rs 3,000. A lawmaker cited the example of the seniormost MP, Mr Indrajit Gupta of the Communist Party of India, who has been in Parliament for nine terms or almost 40 years. Mr Gupta apparently draws a pension of anywhere between Rs 18,000-22,000. However, the pension scheme is virtually discontinued after the member’s demise. The spouse is entitled to just Rs 1,000 after the member’s death. One senior MP has recommended that, like in western countries, every MP should get a fixed amount of, say Rs.50,000, which would be sufficient for him to live comfortably. A section of MPs felt if salaries were fixed, members would be discouraged from hunting for other sources of income. Despite a major debate the MPs could not evolve a consensus on the issue and the old structure therefore continues.
— IANS |
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Third front
may materialise on Dec 10 CALCUTTA, Dec 6 — The grand reception to be accorded to the grand-old Marxist leader, Mr Jyoti Basu (87), in Calcutta on December 10, will be the venue for discussions the formation of a third front to fight the BJP and other “communal forces”. Four former Prime Ministers, Mr V.P. Singh, Chandra Sekhar, Mr Deve Gowda and Mr I.K. Gujral, will be present at the reception along with Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav and the Bihar Chief Minister, Mrs Rabri Devi. The invitation list also includes the AICC chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Prakash Singh Badal, besides other leaders. The Bangladesh Prime Minister, Ms Sheikh Hasina, and her Foreign Minister, Mr Abdus Sattar, have been specially invited to grace the occasion. The Pather Pathali, a CPM-controlled social welfare organisation, headed by the state Transport Minister, Mr Subhas Chakraborty, and his wife, Mrs Romala Chakraborty, is organising the reception as a mark of respect for Basu’s sacrifice and service to the people. However, he does not think the reception will be a venue for bringing all secular forces on one platform to fight the BJP, though leaders of various parties who differ politically and ideologically, will have the opportunity to meet together at the reception. The Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharyya, is confident that the leaders will certainly discuss the formation of the third front regarding which Basu has already taken some initiatives. The Politburo member and the party state unit Secretary, Mr Anil Biswas, also thinks some positive steps will be taken at the leaders’ meeting with Mr Basu regarding the formation of the third front. According to CPM sources, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav has already taken an initiative to set up the third front with Mr Basu as its leader and has held two rounds of meetings. |
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Students, teachers
take to streets PATNA, Dec 6— Jharkhand got the taste of the first case of attack on Christians, threatening to disturb the communal poise of the state as the Kurpania incident snowballed on Monday into a major law and order crisis. Thousands of students and teachers took to the streets in protest against the attack by a group of criminals on a Christian missionary- run school at Kurpania near Bokaro. The hoodlums reportedly attacked St. Anna School, looting property and misbehaved with nuns and teachers. However, the alleged rape of the cook of the school enraged the students and they damaged and looted shops in Ranchi and squatted on the main road. Six persons have been arrested and a police official suspended. The medical report of the victim, which does not confirm rape, has complicated the matter as students and teachers allege that the report is ‘‘doctored’’. The victim has been sent to Ranchi for another medical test. The Jharkhand area was reported tense yesterday and the incident might take communal colour. The police, however, claims to have arrested and identified the culprits. The attackers are said to be members of a criminal gang. Interestingly, the number of rape cases in Bihar has risen alarmingly. According to police records, 1,200 women were raped in undivided Bihar this year till September. In 1990, the figure was 733. |
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Kidney transplant
racket unearthed NEW DELHI, Dec 6 — The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has unearthed a kidney transplant racket in the Capital with the arrest of nine accused, including two doctors. The Crime Branch received information that one Ranky Reddy would be coming from Hyderabad on December 2 by G.T. Express train along with some prospective donors. A trap was laid at the railway station and Ranky Reddy along with the donors was arrested, the police said. Following their interrogation the other accused, Dr Jeevan, Dr Amit, Ravi Kumar, Kata Kumar, Bddhita, K. Janak Ram, Antonio and one more accused were arrested. A case under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, has been registered, the police said. |
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Tributes paid to
Bhai Vir Singh NEW DELHI, Dec 6 — Paying tributes to Bhai Vir Singh, a famous saint-poet, on his 128th birth anniversary at a function organised by Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan here, speakers stressed the need to translate Bhai Vir Singh’s writings into various Indian and foreign languages in view of their growing relevance to the present times. Releasing the latest publications of the sadan, Mr M.S. Saathi, Delhi Finance and Revenue Minister, lauded Bhai Vir Singh’s concern for nature and environment and the moral and spiritual basis in his writings. Mr Saathi said the Delhi Government would give more grant to the sadan for this purpose. Dr J.S. Neki, general secretary of the sadan, announced that the sadan had taken up projects to translate Bhai Vir Singh’s writings in various languages. Bhai Vir Singh’s birth anniversary was also celebrated at Bhai Vir Singh Nivas Asthan in Punjab, besides at Kanpur, Mumbai and Dehra Dun. Among those present were Lt-Gen J.S. Arora, Maj-Gen Joginder Singh and Dr Mohinder Singh. |
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40 arrested RANCHI, Dec 6 (PTI) — The police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse supporters trying to enforce the CPI (ML)-sponsored Jharkhand bandh here as the 12-hour bandh began
amid elaborate security bandobast here today. The bandh has been called to demand the removal of Governor Prabhat Kumar from office for his alleged involvement in the Babri Masjid demolition. Mr Kumar was at that time, the Home Secretary of Uttar Pradesh. |
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16 Assam militants
lay down arms GUWAHATI, Dec 6 (PTI) — As many as 160 militants, 153 of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and seven of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, today surrendered before the Assam Governor, Lt-Gen S.K. Sinha (retd), and the Chief Minister, Mr Prafulla Kumar Mahanta here. While a few ULFA militants were Bhutan-based, the rest, mostly hardcore, belonged to the district units of the banned outfit. The surrender ceremony at the Dispur parade ground here was led by Captain Ramen Nath of ULFA and included a woman cadre Amiya-Rabha. Most of those who surrendered were self-styled corporals, lieutenants and sergeant majors. |
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