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| Thursday, January 11, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Massacre puts Bengal Govt on mat Bihar abolishes 4,000 posts Samata shelves
merger plan Rebel SP MLA to form third front Chinese leader Li Peng in Mumbai |
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Dalai Lama to visit Kumbh Mela? Shah discharged from hospital Faux pas
lands Jain in soup Defence land encroached upon, admits govt Cops nab kidnappers of jeweller LTTE threat to leaders: Swamy Jitendra Prasada’s
condition critical BKU merges with
Lok Janshakti Narmada authority fails to decide on bypass tunnel Cong session in
Bangalore Sectt turns into
battlefield AIADMK abstains
from meeting
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Massacre puts Bengal Govt on mat KOLKATA, Jan 10 — The Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharya and the CPM leadership find themselves on the “political backtrack” over Garbeta massacre of 12 Trinamool Congress supporters as the mystery remains unresolved even after four days of the carnage, committed allegedly by the CPM activists. Mr Jyoti Basu feels that the party has been put in an embarrassing situation. He has advised the Chief Minister to direct the police to resolve the mystery at the earliest. He, however, charged Ms Mamata Banerjee with “inciting and indulging in violence” which might be the main reason behind the killings at Garbeta. Mr Bhattacharya, who had initially denied any such killing in the Hemnagar village of Garbeta, now admits that some ‘serious incident’ might have occurred which the district police failed to unearth. He ordered probe by the CID. He, however, rejected the demand of the TMC and the BJP for a CBI inquiry. The Railway Minister has not only been sticking to her demand for a CBI probe but has reiterated the demand for President’s rule with Article 356 which the NDA team had also endorsed. The members of the team also collected human skulls, broken teeth, clothes with blood stains, empty cartridges of 303 rifles etc from a house at Hemnagar village which still bore the marks of killing and burning. The MPs' team today returned to Delhi to submit their report to the Home Minister. The demand for President’s rule has been supported by the Congress party’s state leadership. The Congress party’s concurrence is needed at the national level for application of the Article 356. Mr Priya Das Munshi, the party’s chief whip in Lok Sabha said he would convince Ms Sonia Gandhi about the need of supporting the demand by the AICC (I). The Garbeta carnage was an outcome of the clash between the CPM and the TMC over grabbing of areas in Midnapore-Bankura-Birbhum and elsewhere for which both parties had been striving for the past few months. But of late, Garbeta’s Hemnagar and Chotaangaria villages went under the possession of the local TMC workers and supporters who, with the help of a factional group of CPI (M-L), an arch rival of the CPM, had entered the areas only recently. This has not only been stated in the police report, but also indicated in the admission of the CPM minister from the area, Mr Sushanta Ghosh. TMC leader Mamata Banerjee also admitted that “some leaders of the CPI (M-L)” had joined them recently. Whereas Ms Banerjee had claimed that all victims belonged to them, the CPI (M-L) in an official statement said the 12 of their men who had taken shelter inside a hutment of Chotaangaria village of Hemnagar, had been brutally murdered by the armed CPM cadres for being evicted from the area. It is beyond any doubt that there had been a massacre at Garbeta which the CPM leadership initially wanted to hide and the local police also acted accordingly that have aroused suspicion both in political and administrative circles. But now the Chief Minister as well as his party have come to realise that it will be a serious political blunder on their part, particularly, on the eve of the forthcoming Assembly elections, to make any further attempt to suppress the news. |
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Bihar abolishes 4,000 posts PATNA, Jan 10 — Faced with a resource crunch after the division of Bihar and to take drastic steps to avoid the slur of being a broke state, the state government has abolished 4,000 government jobs and gone for a massive drive to do away with the unnecessary and wasteful non-plan expenditure, resolving not to exceed the Rs 450 crore mark that it has to spend on pay and perks of employees. To ensure better planning and implementation of development schemes, the state has asked Planning Commission to send in a team of economists and experts to the state. The new Chief Secretary, Mr Mukund Prasad, has launched the “cut-expenses” campaign with a bang, abolishing jobs, 2,000 in the Irrigation Department itself. The state government has also decided not to regularise the services of those staff that were employed in the centrally-sponsored schemes, now discontinued. Thousands of employees of more than two dozen corporations and projects have not been getting salaries for the past many months ranging between six months and three years. The earlier government steps to do away with the loss-making corporations and wasteful projects were met with failure owing to lack of political will and opposition from unions. In an attempt to tone up the administrative efficiency of various departments, the state government has gone for total computerisation of the state secretariat, involving a cost of Rs 10 crore. The Chief Secretary has asked the Statistics Department to update the records, as these have become obsolete. The Institutional Finance and Programme Implementation Department has been toned up too. The Chief Secretary has instructed the Planning Secretary and the Development Commissioner to realistically decide the plan size of the state and ensure allocation of the fund for “projects” and not the “schemes.” It may be mentioned here that Bihar is notorious for the non-utilisation of funds marked for plan head up to 50 per cent. Often the state has to surrender the plan money to the
Centre. |
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Samata shelves
merger plan NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (UNI) — the Samata Party yesterday appeared inching away from a split after shelving its merger with the Janata Dal (U), but the deadlock over the continuation of its Bihar unit President remained. The proposed meeting between Defence Minister George Fernandes and the dissidents had been rescheduled for January 15 following his preoccupation in Orissa the previous day. “Now it has been clearly spelled out that there is no proposal for a merger with any political outfit though our door remains open for people willing to come in,” dissident leader and Bihar unit President Raghunath Jha told
UNI today. The Samata leaders, who attended the National Council meeting at Mysore yesterday after boycotting the inaugural session, welcomed the statement of Mr Fernandes ruling out the possibility of a merger. Mr Fernandes clarified that there was no proposal of a merger with any political party, Mr Jha said. |
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Rebel SP MLA to form third front DEHRA DUN: The Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttaranchal is likely to lose the hot seat of the Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly with Mr Munna Singh Chauhan, a rebel party MLA from Chakrata constituency, having finally decided to part away from the Samajwadi Party, paving a way for the formation of a third front in the state. Talking to this correspondent on Tuesday morning, he said talks were in progress with the Left parties, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and Uttarakhand Mahila Manch to form a third front in the state. He also did not rule out the possibility of including the Samajwadi Party in the third front but, he said, this was possible only if party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav tendered apology for his earlier comments against the hill folk of the state and changed the party policies to better suit the hill folk. He has demanded from the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to allot him a separate seat in the Assembly. In a House of 30 members, the ruling party BJP enjoys the majority of 23 members, followed by two each of the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and the BSP. Mr Chauhan is likely to be declared an Independent MLA according to his demand. Ironically, Mr Chauhan has become the most precious political figure among all parties who will like to get him along with them. Although the think-tanks of the ruling party BJP were trying to get him along with them but the declaration of the formation of a third front in the state has forced them to rethink as the elections are supposed to be held by the end of this year. Meanwhile, the Congress and the BSP would take time to draw its strategy on the challenge put before them by the rebel Samajwadi Party MLA by inviting the formation of the third front. Recently, Mulayam Singh Yadav nominated Mr Ram Singh Saini as the leader of the Samajwadi Party in the Assembly. With this, Mr Chauhan’s chances of becoming the Leader of the Opposition have increased. In the present political situation, there is no possibility of either the Congress or the BSP supporting Mr Saini to become the Leader of the Opposition. |
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Chinese leader Li Peng in Mumbai MUMBAI, Jan 10 (UNI) — Visiting Chinese leader Li Peng said today his visit to India would contribute to the continued healthy and sound development of Sino-Indian relations. “The purpose of my visit is to enhance trust, boost friendship and strengthen cooperation. I am looking forward to an extensive and candid exchange of views with Indian leaders on bilateral relations and other issues of common interest,” Mr Li, who arrived here yesterday on a week-long visit of the country, told reporters here. Mr Li, who is Chairman of the National People’s Congress, said he wanted to meet MPs and people from all walks of life. Mr Li, the second most powerful leader in China, said he also wanted to visit famous scientific and technological facilities and places of historical interest and scenic beauty. He said China and India had fostered splendid and longlasting civilisations and made an indelible contribution to the development of society. Both Chinese people and Indians eventually won their national independence despite their similar experience of ups and downs in their pursuit of freedom. Mr Li met Maharashtra Governor
P.C. Alexander yesterday and attended a dinner hosted in his honour. He also met Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Dalai Lama to visit Kumbh Mela? NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (UNI, PTI) — Vishwa Hindu Parishad Vice-President Acharya Giriraj Kishore today said Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama would visit the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad and would give his blessings to the VHP activists. Talking to reporters here, the Acharya said the Dalai Lama, who would visit Allahabad to attend a religious programme during the Mahakumbh, would also be coming to the VHP camp on the parishad’s invitation. Asked whether the Nobel Laureate had also been invited to the Dharma
Sansad, which would decide the date for construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya, the VHP leader said since the Dalai Lama would be visiting Allahabad on January 25 there was no question of his attending the Dharma Sansad which would conclude on January 21. He, however, evaded a question whether the Tibetan leader had already confirmed his participation, saying “I won’t say anything on that. Just wait and
see”. KUMBHNAGAR: Thousands of devotees took a holy dip at the
"sangam" and other ghats on "paush purnima" today on the second day of the Mahakumbh here. The
"paush purnima "bathing, which began yesterday morning, became more auspicious today with the occurrence of the lunar eclipse from 2 am to3am . Yesterday, about three million people took a bath at
"sangam" and other ghats at the start of the month-long first Mahakumbh of the millennium. More pilgrims are arriving here for the next important bathing day,
"Makar Sankranti", on January 14, which also happens to be the first
"shahi snan (royal bathing)". Devotees here will miss the
"darshan" of the holy banyan tree called "Akshaya
Vat" which stands inside the military-guarded Allahabad Fort. Hindus believe that the worship of
"Akshaya Vat" or immortal tree, cleanse sins, and there has been a long-standing demand to open the site for public to perform the "
pujan". Mela administration’s assurance to have negotiations with Army officials on the matter produced no results. The massive
fort, built by Emperor Akbar in 1583 AD, stands on the banks of the Yamuna near the confluence site. Flanked by high towers, the fort is at present used by the Army and only a limited area is open to visitors. The immortal tree at the Patalapuri temple in the fort has found mention in several ancient scriptures. It stands in a deep niche above an underground shaft. The Patalpuri temple is believed to have been visited by Lord
Rama. The "shahi snan" of the Naga sadhus belonging to the
various "akharas" in the Kumbh has not only been surrounded by controversies leading to bloody clashes at times, they have also been a subject of major attraction and curiosity for the devotees. In fact, the holy baths at any Kumbh start only with the royal bath of the Naga sadhus of the various
"akharas", and their processions resemble the armies of the ancient The sadhus carry weapons like
"trishuls", swords, spears and kirpans and also perform traditional dances. Justifying the carrying of weapons, mahant of Niranjani Akhara Ramanand
Puri, says the "weapons are our strength" and are typical of the Naga sadhus known for their aggressiveness.
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Shah discharged from hospital MUMBAI, Jan 10 (PTI) — Film financier and leading diamond trader Bharat Shah was discharged from J.J. Hospital here late last night where he had been admitted following complaints of acute chest pain. The film financier, who had been arrested for his alleged links with underworld don Chhota Shah, was later whisked away by sleuths of the crime branch for interrogation, the police said. Shah whose arrest had sent shockwaves among the film industry and the diamond market where he holds large investments, has denied that he had any links with the underworld and claimed that the money invested in the film “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke” was his own. Police Commissioner M.N. Singh said yesterday that the sources of Shah’s funds would be probed. However, he clarified that no investigation was being conducted into his dealings with the stock market or the diamond market. Mr Singh said no ongoing projects in which Shah had invested money would be “affected”, unless it was proved that the projects were connected with the underworld. Faux pas lands Jain in soup MUMBAI, Jan 10 (PTI) — A “slip of tongue” by Dr J.K. Jain, owner of a satellite channel, today landed him in hot soup and led to exchange of words with mediapersons after he called Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee “a liar”. A press conference convened by him at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh virtually turned into a hot debate after he stated: “I am in possession of documentary proof that the Prime Minister while denying my allegations had lied”. However, when one of scribes stood up to get a clarification on the statement, he did a somersault by denying that he had made any such remark to the surprise of the journalists. He claimed that there had been a “communication gap” and he had actually accused the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra of lying and not Mr Vajpayee. However, on finding that he had landed himself in a sticky situation as angry mediapersons told him that there had been no communication gap, he came up with a clincher by saying, “If the press finds my statements objectionable I withdraw them.” |
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Defence land encroached upon, admits govt NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (UNI) — The government today admitted that about 2,788 acres of defence land had been encroached upon. In an affidavit filed before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice D.K. Jain, Deputy Director of Defence Estates Prachur Goel said a number of socio-political factors had contributed to the coming up of encroachments on defence lands. Among those is rising population, inflow of migrant population into urban centres, and homelessness which lead to development of jhuggi jhopri clusters on unused vacant land and to which defence land is no exception, he said. According to Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate B.L. Wadehra, effective steps are needed to recover 2,787.6 acres of encroached defence land across the country. It also calls for holding those defence estate officers and military commanders responsible during whose tenure the encroachments took place. The petitioner said illegal encroachments spread over 1.527.18 acres in Central Command, 337.33 acres in Southern Command, 266.41 acres in Northern Command, 163.62 acres in Western Command and 493.05 acres in Eastern Command till December 31 last year. Under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act 1971, the Director-General of Defence Estates is empowered to sanction prosecution of encroachers. Mr Wadehra said judicial intervention has become essential without which the chaos created by the defence ministry will be further compounded. |
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Cops nab kidnappers of jeweller NEW DELHI, Jan 10 — The Delhi police claimed to have arrested three members of a Dubai-based underworld gang who were reportedly involved in the kidnapping of a jeweller of Rajkot in Gujarat. The accused, Sanjay, Pradeep and Suraj Prakash, alias Rajesh, were arrested from Mundka village in North-West Delhi. They operated in Delhi and other states on directions given by Fazlu in Dubai. The accused abducted a leading jeweller of Rajkot in Gujarat, Bhasker Parekh and his friend Paresh Shah on November 11 last year, the police said. Paresh Shah was released by the Rajkot police on November 26 following an encounter at Thawa Camp in which one criminal, Rajsi Mehr, alias Raja, was killed. The Rajkot police had informed the Delhi police that the kidnapped jeweller was taken to Delhi and a Zen car having a registration number of the Capital was used in the crime. However, before the Delhi police could react, Bhasker Parekh was freed by the abductors following payment of ransom amount of Rs 3 crore. The ransom money was sent to Fazlu in Dubai through hawala. The jeweller told the Rajkot police that he was kept near IGI airport in Delhi and was released near Radisson Hotel. He also disclosed that he was blindfolded but he could sense the presence of a lot of speed breakers on the way. The accused, during interrogation disclosed their involvement in the abduction of the jeweller. The police said the accused operated in Delhi and other states in co-ordination with interstate gangsters of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Gujarat. Their involvement came to light with the arrest of a criminal of Shahjahanpur in UP, Karamveer Singh. Karamveer Singh, who allegedly went to Rajkot to kidnap the son of an MLA from there, was sent back by his associates, Raja and a press reporter after the abduction of the jeweller and his friend, the police said. Karamveer had identified Raja who was killed in the encounter by the Rajkot police. Meanwhile, the police arrested a gangster of Haryana, Ravinder, who was involved in the kidnapping of a businessman of North-West Delhi. |
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LTTE threat to leaders: Swamy NEW DELHI, Jan 10 — The Janata Party president, Mr Subramanian Swamy, today met the Union Home Minister, Mr L. K. Advani, and apprised him of the threat to certain political leaders in Tamil Nadu from the LTTE. After his meeting, Mr Swamy told reporters that he sought adequate security to those leaders. Mr Swamy also drew attention of the Home Minister to the sale of Indian antiques in Europe. Speaking about the political situation in the country, he said in the interest of putting up a strong fight against the BJP, the Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, should resign from the post of leader of Opposition. “So long as the Congress is headed by Ms Sonia Gandhi, it will not be in a position to challenge the BJP,” he said. Mr Swamy also claimed that the RSS would force a mid-term parliamentary poll in November and the BJP would try to draw maximum mileage out of the temple “hysteria” to get absolute majority in the Lok Sabha. |
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Jitendra Prasada’s
condition critical NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (UNI) — Senior Congress leader Jitendra Prasada continued to be in coma and a “very critical condition” at the neuro-intensive care unit of Apollo Hospital here today. Mr Prasada was admitted to the hospital yesterday after suffering from a brain haemorrhage. He continued to be on ventilatory support and in coma this morning, Dr Vijay Sheel Kumar, who is treating him, said. Meanwhile, his younger brother Jainendra, who collapsed and suffered a head injury yesterday on hearing of Mr Prasada’s illness, was stated to be in a stable condition in the
ICU at Apollo. Mr Jainendra Prasada was operated upon for removal of a blood clot. A team of neurosurgeons also operated upon Mr Jitendra Prasada yesterday for drainage of fluid from the cavity of the brain to release blood and decrease brain pressure. |
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BKU merges with
Lok Janshakti NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (UNI) — The Bharatiya Kisan Union today merged with Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Janshakti with all office-bearers led by Choudhary Rishi Pal Ambavat joining the newly floated outfit. According to Lok Janshakti Vice-President Ramvir Singh Vidhuri, nearly 500 office bearers of the BKU from across the country were present at the formal function. Choudhary Rishi Pal said the Lok Janshakti was the only party capable of winning the confidence of all sections of society. The party would cement national solidarity and work for the development of all sections of society. Narmada authority fails to decide on bypass tunnel NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (UNI) — The Narmada Control Authority (NCA) today failed to take a decision on the Gujarat Government’s proposal for constructing a bypass tunnel at Sardar Sarovar Dam but agreed to complete the dam’s construction by June 2005 as proposed by the authority. The NCA has also endorsed the tribunal and the Supreme Court verdict to expedite the construction of a full reservoir level at 455 feet. The other important decision taken by the NCA was endorsement of a rehabilitation and resettlement action plan and construction time schedule prepared by the authority, besides agreeing to complete R and R of project-affected families up to elevation of 100 metres and 110 metres by December 2001 and December 2002, respectively. With this decision, it will be possible to reach the crucial level of 110 metres in about two-and-a-half years, providing benefits of irrigation, potable water and power generation to people of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Regarding sharing the cost of resettlement and rehabilitation, all states have agreed to make suitable provisions in their budgets and also to approach the Centre for assistance. With regard to the irrigation bypass tunnel, there was agreement among Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan but Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister expressed his reservations on the issue. |
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Cong session in
Bangalore NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (UNI) — The first plenary session of the Congress after Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s re-election as AICC President will be held in Bangalore from February 14 to 16. This was announced here today by the party’s general
secretary Oscar Fernandes. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee was one of the PCCs which agreed to host the session. Its request has been accepted in view of the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry expected to be held in May. During the three-day session, there will be debates on developments on the political, economic and international fronts. Senior leaders will participate in the
discussions, the sources said. Sectt turns into
battlefield THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Jan 10 (UNI) — The Kerala Secretariat was today turned into a veritable battlefield as employees belonging to the pro-ruling Marxist-led organisations and pro-Congress (I)-led Opposition unions clashed, forcing the police to resort to lathicharge at the main entrance to the Chief Minister’s office. In the clash, one employee sustained stab injuries and 15 others were seriously injured in stone-throwing, manhandling and lathicharge. The trouble arose when the supporters of the one-day strike by government employees led by pro-Marxist-led organisations turned violent while trying to close the canteen run by the Indian Coffee House inside the Secretariat. They clashed with the employees of rival unions who objected to the closure. CHENNAI, Jan 10 (PTI) — Cracks appeared to have developed in the AIADMK-led secular front in Tamil Nadu, with the AIADMK abstaining from a meeting called by Dravidar Kazhagam general secretary K. Veeramani to observe January 22 as communal harmony day. The meeting was convened by Mr Veeramani to decide to observe January 22 as communal harmony day as it was on this day in 1999 that Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two children were burnt to death in Orissa. Mr Veeramani told reporters after the meeting that he did not know the reasons for the AIADMK’s absence.
Smog disrupts flights NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (PTI) — A thick blanket of smog continues to envelop the Capital and the adjoining areas with a number of trains rescheduled and flight schedules thrown out of gear as the Delhi airport was closed for nearly 11 hours”, an airport official said, adding that the dense fog reduced the runway visibility range to as low as 125 metres at around 1 a.m.
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