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| Wednesday,
January 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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SC ruling pushes labourers out of Delhi Wheat, rice for poor at Kumbh Removal of luxury tents stayed Cops throw net around
Republic Day parade venue Census to begin on Feb 9 |
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NSCN to spare civilians Uttaranchal Speaker’s
election challenged LJP for Central
rule in Bihar Mauritius PM meets Vajpayee Memory fails Uma on Babri
issue Spy held, remanded to
police custody Qutab Minar is magnificent: Hawking NHRC for policy
on rehabilitation of displaced Centre to form
border panel West Bengal EC rejects 20 lakh
applications Fire breaks
out in mela area
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SC ruling pushes labourers out of Delhi PATNA, Jan 16 — “Delhi se nikale gayen hein ab Surat ja kar rahenge”, was the comment of the first group of migrant Bihari labourers that came bag and baggage from Delhi at the Patna junction. After the closure of the factories they worked in at Delhi following the Supreme Court ruling to relocate the industries from there, thousands of Bihari migrant labourers are coming in groups to their native places in the state but only to say hello to their family members. Soon they will land in Surat, Chandigarh, Kolkata and even Jaipur in search of bread and butter. They are part of the 50 lakh migrants from the state, always on the move. According to the Union Labour Ministry, of the 234 lakh out migrants in the country, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh account for 41.4 per cent of them and Bihar alone has 50 lakh. Delhi happened to be the most heavily Bihari populated place. The SC ruling might have come as for trouble for them but they are not overly worried.
“Jab ghar chhor diye hein toh kahin kam kar lenge”, said Ram Naresh Mahto, coming from Delhi and heading for his home in Gaya district. For the migrants, trouble comes as a way of life. Even the Union Labour Ministry admits to the massive exploitation of the labourers. It admits that migrants from backward areas, specially, tribesmen, are subjected to inhuman work conditions, low and unequal wages and even sexual exploitation. The high incidence of middlemen and exploitation by the contractors who move the labourers are rampant. The ministry also rued the growing cases of forced labour and bonded labour in the migrants. The SC move has come as a blessing for the migrants who had to work in extremely exploitative conditions at Delhi. A worker of such household factories said that Labour Laws and Acts are nothing but a scrap of paper in these factories. Many migrants had to come home with diseases after working for few years in such factories. Even the Labour Ministry admitted that laws such as the Minimum Wages Act 1948, Payment of Wages Act 1936, Workmen’s Compensation Act 1923 and Industrial Dispute Act 1947 are not enforced in such places where migrant labour is preferred to the locals because of their weak bargaining power. The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act 1979 has been specially formulated to suit the needs of the migrants but the ministry regrets that the enforcement agents — the states — do not properly oversee the enforcement of the Act. As most migrants work in unorganised sectors, the exploitation is high. May be, the displaced Bihari labourers find better work and life at other places than Delhi. The hope never dies, that is why the Bihari migrants never say no. |
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Wheat, rice for poor at Kumbh NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — The Union Cabinet today approved the allocation of 13,500 tonnes of wheat and 7,800 tonnes of rice at BPL rates for meeting the demand during Mahakumbh Mela in Allahabad. The Union Minister for Information Technology, who also doubles as the Cabinet spokesman, said the foodgrains would be placed at the disposal of the Uttar Pradesh Government. The state government had demanded the extra allocation as it had been estimated that around two crore pilgrims would be attending the mela. A majority of the pilgrims are from the poorest sections of society who are not in a position to buy foodgrains at higher rates. The Cabinet also approved the establishment of the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development at Imphal in Manipur. This would be an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology. The institute, which will have state-of-the-art biotechnology research facilities, is expected to cost Rs 14.56 crore over a period of five years. The North East region is a genetic treasure-house of plant, animal and microbial resources. This region forms a distinctive part of the Indo-Burmese hotspot and ranks sixth among the 25 biodiversity hotspots of the world. The Indo-Burmese hotspot is home to 13,500 plant species. An agreement on phytosanitary quarantine and vegetation protection with Algeria was also given approval by the government. This agreement will enable India to take advantage of the $ 2.5 billion annual food import market of Algeria. It also approved the signing of an agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with Algeria. Another decision taken at the Cabinet meeting included the extension of the tenure of the National Statistical Commission for six months from January 19, 2001, to July 18, 2001. The commission, headed by the Andhra Pradesh Governor, Dr C. Rangarajan, is looking into the deficiencies of the existing statistical system. The Cabinet approved the signing of an agreement on combating international illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, international terrorism and organised crimes with the Government of Croatia. |
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Removal of luxury tents stayed NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — The Supreme Court today in a significant order stayed till January 18 removal of the 74 luxury tents set up with all modern facilities by Cox & Kings (India) Ltd at the holy confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati at Allahabad for foreign tourists during the Mahakumbh. A three-Judge Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Dr A.S. Anand, Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Shivarak V. Patil granted the interim stay while disposing of two special leave petitions against a judgement of the Allahabad High Court of January 12 dismissing writ petitions challenging orders cancelling the allotment of sites for the tents. The judges while disposing of the SLPs by the multinational Cox & Kings and Mr Anil Agarwal directed the Allahabad Divisional
Commissioner, the highest authority for the mela, to hear the petitioners at 10 a.m. on January 18 and pass appropriate orders. The petitioners were earlier directed to approach the Chief Justice for necessary orders after two Benches of the apex court refused to hear the SLPs in view of the sensitivity of the matter. The Bench headed by Chief Justice Anand noted in its brief order the main issue pressed by the petitioners was they had not been put to notice and heard before the cancellation of the allotments made to the petitioners for installing tented accommodations during Mahakumbh Mela. The judges also noted the submission of the Advocate-General of UP that the cancellation orders had been passed in view of the law and order situation developing at the site. “Till the matter comes up before the Commissioner, the orders dated January 10 given by the Mela Officer shall not be implemented and the Commisisoner shall pass appropriate orders on merits uninfluenced by the January 12 orders of the high court”, the judges ordered. The judges directed that the SLPs and connected documents would be considered by the Commissioner as objections to the cancellation orders and asked the petitioners to be present in his office at Chathem Line at 10 a.m. on January 18. No separate notice would be required to be given to the parties , the order stated. |
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Cops throw net around
Republic Day parade venue NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — In the backdrop of the Red Fort attack incident and the threat wielded by the Jammu and Kashmir-based militant outfits, the Delhi Police is taking no chance and has made unprecedented security arrangements for the Republic Day celebrations. The Delhi Police, which has sought 40 companies of paramilitary forces, including the agile Rapid Action Force and the daring National Security Guards commandos, has already thrown a police net around the main parade venue, Rajpath, India Gate, Red Fort and also the places through which the marching contingents will pass on Republic Day. While the VVIPs, including the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, who will take the salute, will be seated inside a bullet-proof enclosure, sharp-shooters of the NSG and the Delhi Police will keep a hawk’s eye from the high-rise buildings lined along the parade route to ensure an incident-free Republic Day parade. For the first time, Delhi Police Commandos will march along with the marching contingents from Vijay Chowk to Red Fort, where the parade culminates. The Delhi Police on its part started the security drill one month in advance and is still carrying out anti-landmine checks with the help of sniffer dogs and bomb disposal squads. It has put its Police Control Room (PCR) teams on high alert and has set up a special communication network to ensure a foolproof and snag-free communication for police officials on duty. As per Delhi Police Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma’s directive, Deputy Commissioners of Police of various districts will be entrusted with specific jobs. The Joint Commissioners under direct control of the Commissioner himself will monitor the entire security arrangements and VVIP movements. According to a senior police official, maximum thrust is being laid on access control. Metal detectors will be positioned at all entry points to the parade venue and the police will adopt multi-checking strategy to prevent anti-social elements from entering the venue. As part of its security drill, the police is maintaining a strict vigil on all entry and exit points in the capital, including railway stations, inter-state bus terminus and airports and has also sought the help of its counterparts in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in filtering intelligence inputs about terrorist groups. Mounted police and crack commando teams will also be deployed at strategic and sensitive places and also on the radial roads leading to the parade venue for crowd management and also to meet any eventuality. For the smooth flow of traffic, the Delhi Traffic Police personnel will be deployed in adequate numbers and any vehicle without proper parking pass will not be allowed anywhere near the parade venue. The Special Branch and the Crime Branch personnel in co-ordination with the district police are also checking all the suspected hideouts of militants and anti-social elements like guest-houses, hotels and motels. While the main focus of the security arrangements will be in and around the parade venue the city police has also lined up its men to ward off any trouble across the Capital, the official said. |
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Census to begin on Feb 9 NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — The Census of India 2001, the first census of the 21st century and that of the third millennium, will begin on February 9. The biggest ever exercise, the Census of India 2001 will be unique in itself as it will throw up benchmark data on the state of human resources inhabiting this land, their demography, culture and economic structure at a juncture, which marks the transition from one century and millennium to the next. The vast geographical expanse, the linguistic and cultural plurality and the sheer size of the population makes the Indian census one of the most challenging and single largest administrative exercise in the world. The reference date of the census will be 00.00 hrs (midnight) of March 1, 2001 and thus will provide a snapshot of the population of the country as on March 1. The task of processing the data that will be collected during the census will also be stupendous as more than 250 million schedules covering about one billion population have to be processed. The population enumeration, the second phase of the census, will be conducted all over the country from February 9 to February 28, with revisional round from March 1 to 5. The houseless population will be enumerated in the night of February 28. The first phase, houselisting operation has been completed successfully between April-September, 2000, an official spokesman of the Union Home Ministry said today. In the 1991 census, 1.7 million persons were engaged as enumerators and supervisors and this number will exceed two million during census 2001. One of the new features of Census 2001 is the canvassing of individual particulars in the household schedule instead of separate individual slips used during the 1991 census. For the first time in the history of census the signature/thumb impression of the respondent and his relationship to the head of the household will be obtained. In addition to the normal question that have been canvassed in the past censuses, several new questions have been added in Census 2001 such as a question of disability by type, age at marriage for both males and females, travel to place of work and mode of travel and a question for household engaged in cultivation and plantation. Another key feature of Census 2001 will be focused approach towards gender issues. In order to improve the recording of work participation of women and ensure their complete coverage, several steps such as sensitisation of census functionaries at all levels, imparting appropriate training with the help of special modules and widespread publicity measures have been taken, the spokesman said. Census help lines will also be set up across the country at the time of enumeration, which will mainly aim at providing technical assistance to the enumerators and clear their doubts at the time of actual field work, he added. |
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NSCN to spare civilians NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — In a fresh fillip to the peace initiative in Nagaland, the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) has under the revised ground rules of the ceasefire between the group and the Centre agreed not to harass or injure civilians or damage their property. The agreement was reached during a meeting held between the two sides on January 13. The Centre was represented by the Special Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr M.B. Kaushal, and the NSCN (I-M) by Mr V.S. Atem. Until now, the NSCN(I-M)’s suspension of offensive operations such as ambush, raid and attacks was limited to the Army, the paramilitary forces and the Nagaland police. The new set of ground rules also includes a commitment from the Naga outfit for notifying the list of all its camps to the Ceasefire Management Group (CFMG). These would be declared as “designated camps” and the NSCN(I-M) armed cadres wanting to move from one such camp to another would have to give prior intimation to the security forces. The Centre agreed there would be no offensive operations by the security forces. However, patrolling by the security forces would continue to prevent infiltration of militants and arms as hithertofore but patrolling within 1 km of the NSCN designated camps will be carried out with intimation to them. The designated camps will not be located in populated areas and/or near highways. The protection of convoys and patrolling of roads would continue to be undertaken by the security forces. Interestingly, during the meeting the NSCN representative denied that forcible collection of money on essential supplies and intimidation of individuals, including government officials, were taking place. However, in the interest of promoting the peace process the NSCN representatives agreed the above activities would be prevented, the sources said. On the reports of forced recruitment of armed cadres, the NSCN representatives said they had not and do not resort to forced recruitment. |
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Uttaranchal Speaker’s
election challenged DEHRA DUN, Jan 16 — The rebel Samajwadi Party MLA, Mr Munna Singh Chauhan, challenged the Speaker’s election for the possible Violation of Article 170 and 171 of the Constitution on the second day of the Uttaranchal Legislative Assembly session. Raising the issue during zero hours he said former MLCs of UP who were nominated by the Governor were not eligible to sit in the provisional Assembly. By violating Article 170 and 171 three nominated members, including the Speaker, took the oath of office reading the pledge as “elected” members of the House. He even quoted Article 330 of the Constitution and Uttar Pradesh Re-organisation Bill-2000 in support of his argument. He argued that the House should rectify this mistake to prevent the possible constitutional crisis at the time of elections of the members of the Rajya Sabha. He said anyone who is either nominated by the President in Parliament or by the Governor in the Legislative Assembly/Council except the members belonging to the Anglo-Indian community does not enjoy the right to vote in the elections for the Rajya Sabha members. Mr Chauhan said the proceedings of the House conducted in the presence of former nominated members of the UP Legislative Council who were deemed to have been inducted as members of the new Assembly stood void and unconstitutional. In reply to the issue raised by the rebel SP MLA, Mr Nityanand Swami, Leader of the House, referred to Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution to protect the seat of the Speaker from political attacks by the Opposition. He said such members under the provisions of the UP Re-organisation Bill-2000 were deemed to have been declared
members of the new Assembly. |
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LJP for Central
rule in Bihar NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — The Lok Janashakti Party (LJP), a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has called for the immediate dismissal of the Rabri Devi government in Bihar and the immediate imposition of President’s rule in the state. Charging the ruling the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of masterminding the killings of seven LJP workers in Rosera in Bihar yesterday, the LJP said “this dastardly act should be investigated by the CBI and the persons found guilty should be meted out exemplary punishments”. The LJP demanded that the government should give compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of each deceased persons and at least one family member of the deceased persons should be given a government job. “It is a matter of public knowledge that ever since the advent of the Rabri Devi government there has been a sudden and unprecedented spurt in the attacks on the life and property of innocent people of Bihar”, a statement issued by the LJP said. The LJP will hold a demonstration outside the Prime Minister’s house on January 18, demanding the immediate dismissal of the Rabri Devi government and an independent probe by the CBI into Monday’s killings. |
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Mauritius PM
meets Vajpayee NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — The Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee today told the visiting Mauritius Prime Minister, Mr Anerood Jugnauth, that India remained acutely sensitive to the security concerns of Port Louis and “stands ready to address them”. At the dinner hosted in honour of Mr Jugnauth, the Prime Minister said New Delhi was ready to address the security concerns of Mauritius and also endorsed Port Louis’s right to sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. Earlier, Mr Jugnauth and Mr Vajpayee held wide ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues and discussed ways to strengthen the economic cooperation further. They also discussed the Mauritius plan to set up a cyber city. Later, in his dinner speech, Mr Vajpayee stressed that “even our substantial economic co-operation is not commensurate with our profound political equation. There is much more to be done and it is my hope that our entrepreneurs will look to Mauritius as a bridge between India and Africa”. Earlier, the visiting Prime Minister was accorded ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He had arrived here yesterday on a 10-day official visit. Mr Jugnauth also called on the President, Mr K.R. Naryanan, who hosted a lunch in his honour. |
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Memory fails Uma on Babri issue NEW DELHI, Jan 16 (UNI) — Union Sports Minister and senior BJP leader Uma Bharti today failed to remember any relevant facts about the demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. Deposing before the Liberhan Commission of Inquiry into the demolition of the disputed structure, Ms Bharti failed to recollect any of the speeches attributed to her in various newspaper reports on the demolition that were brought to her notice by commission counsel Anupam Gupta. Ms Bharti claimed that on being asked by Mr Advani, she did appeal to karsevaks “once or twice’’ to show restraint and apart from that she did not remember shouting any slogans or making inflammatory speech exhorting karsevaks to demolish the structure. Though the BJP leader could recollect the exact time when a photographer clicked her hugging Murli Manohar Joshi on the morning of December 6, 1992, on most other questions about the demolition, Ms Bharti expressed ignorance or said her memory failed her. She claimed that the photograph exhibited was not depicting open jubiliation of the two leaders on the demolition of the mosque, but was taken in the morning between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. when she was greeting Mr Joshi after reaching the manch. She had even failed to notice the mood of the people when the domes of the mosque fell as “she was seated very far away from the disputed structure at Ram Katha Kunj Manch.’’ However, she said she noticed the reaction of only one person, Mr Advani, as she had talked to him for two-three minutes at that time and, he was tense and worried. Although denying reports of her claiming credit for demolishing the disputed structure, Ms Bharti admitted having once said on December 6, the anniversary of the demolition of the disputed structure, that number six was good for her. She said it was because her birthday fell on third and six was a multiple of that figure. “Moreover, since Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar’s death anniversary falls on December 6, I had said while addressing a public meeting on that occasion, that even though Baba Saheb died on that day, I got a new life after coming back from Kedarnath I will follow in his footsteps and dedicate myself to the cause of the downtrodden,’’ she said. Spy held,
remanded to police custody JAIPUR, 15
(UNI) — The Rajasthan police claimed to have busted a Pakistani espionage ring allegedly involving some serving Army personnel with the arrest of a Karachi-based resident here. The alleged spy, Mohammad Shahid, nabbed by the police on January 14, has revealed that some serving Army personnel were also involved in the racket. The accused has been remanded to police custody till January 20. |
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Qutab Minar is magnificent: Hawking NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — “I wanted to see Delhi. I did not know about this tower but it is magnificent,” said the world renowned wheel-chair bound physicist, Professor Stephen W. Hawking while marvelling at the silhouette of the 72- metre tall Qutab Minar from the Imli gate today. Professor Hawking placed on record his appreciation by choosing each word carefully from the list of words on his computer. He then read out his brief text message through his voice synthesiser. The foundation of the five-storeyed minar was laid by Qutubudin- Aibbak towrads the end of the 12th century. The construction left incomplete due to his demise was continued by his son-in-law Iltutmish after 1210. The Qutab Minar is a world heritage monument. Accompanied by his wife, Elaine, a team of nurses and Indian hosts, the 59-year-old British physicist spent over an hour at the Qutab Minar. Disability rights activist Javed Abidi and his colleage Aqeel Qureshi who are paraplegic enjoyed the splendour of the Minar with the help of ramps. Professor Hawking who was scheduled to reach the Red Fort at 3 p.m. today changed his programme at 4.30 p.m. and chose to go to the Qutab Minar instead. He managed to reach the Qutab Minar at 5.10 p.m. before sunset when the minar closes down. He was received at Qutab Minar VIP gate by Captain R S Thakur, the Security Officer in charge of the ASI protected monuments in Delhi, with a bouquet of flowers. He took a round of the Alai Darwaza and the Ashoka iron pillar. The Alai Darwaza is described as one of the most treasured gems of Islamic architecture. It is said to have been built by Alauddin Khilji in A.D 1311. Professor Hawking saw the tomb of Imam Jami, a saint of the contemporary period. Mrs Hawking described Professor Hawking as “inconquerable and positive”. Asked whether they had expected so many mediapersons, Mrs Hawking said, “We are unhappy that people are being so forceful.” |
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NHRC for policy
on rehabilitation of displaced NEW DELHI, Jan 16 (PTI) — Concerned over the plight of the people displaced by various projects, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed that provisions for resettlement and rehabilitation of such people be made a part of the Land Acquisition Act or a separate legislation be enacted so that such provisions were made “justiciable”. The commission was of the view that the government should, while recommending the policy, provide in the policy itself for it to be incorporated into an appropriate legislation within a given time-frame, the NHRC said in a directive today. The commission said it was pursuing the matter with the Ministry of Rural Development for an early finalisation of the draft policy on the subject. The NHRC received a petition by the National Committee for the Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR), wherein it was mentioned the LCA, 1984, which was still in force and proposed to be amended by the government, did not contain any provision for resettlement and rehabilitation of the people affected by projects. The commission would consider the issue on January 23. The NHRC was requested to consider the matter in its entirety and make suitable recommendations to the government, especially when a comprehensive amendment was being considered to the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, which lacked these provisions. |
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Centre to form
border panel NEW DELHI, Jan 16 (UNI) — The Centre has agreed to constitute a border commission to resolve border disputes between the states of Assam and Nagaland. This was stated by Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee in the Supreme Court before a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice A.S. Anand during the hearing of cross original suits by both states seeking resolution of the disputes between them. When the court asked about the response of the contending states, senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the state of Assam, asked for time to seek instructions. The court, therefore, adjourned the hearing by six weeks. Several attempts by the two states earlier to resolve the disputes proved futile, leading to the filing of the suits in the court. |
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West Bengal EC
rejects 20 lakh applications KOLKATA, Jan 16 (UNI) — The Election Commission has rejected nearly 20 lakh applications for inclusion in the voter’s list for the current year in West Bengal. State Chief Electoral Officer Sabyasachi Sen told reporters here today that out of the 32 lakh and more applications received a little over 13 lakh names were included in the final list. Mr Sen said as per the final electoral role, the number of total voters in the state had gone up to 4.86 crore from 4.81 crore, a growth of 1.16 per cent. He said though a little over 13 lakh new names were included, nearly 8 lakh names were deleted from the previous electoral roles because of objections, death and shifting of places. So, the actual increase in the voters list was nearly 5.60 lakh. |
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KUMBH NAGAR, Jan 16 (UNI) — A fire broke out at the camp of Allahabad Mayor in the Kumbh Mela area here tonight. The fire, which broke out in the camp situated in Sector One at about 8.30 p.m. was controlled by the fire brigade in 20 minutes, the police said. A Swiss cottage was gutted in the fire along with the furniture in it. There were no reports of any injury. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. |
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