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| Thursday, January 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Chris Patten arrives today Podium collapse Basu cautions govt on Central rule NHRC pulls up WB rights panel |
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NC warns govt not to back
Sansad decision Sheila, Jagmohan talks mooted Restrain Mamata, MP asks Centre Folk dancers from Punjab perform at the Republic Day Folk Dance Festival, after it was inaugurated by President K. R. Narayanan at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.— PTI photo Envoy to
Cyprus 69 lakh hit by drought IPI conference to
discuss Indian media
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Chris Patten arrives today NEW DELHI, Jan 24 — European Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten will arrive here tomorrow on a four-day official visit for further consolidating relations between the European Union and India. While the main focus of the visit will be on political dialogue, Mr Patten will engage his Indian counterparts on a range of bilateral, regional and international issues, a EU Press Service release said here today. Indo-EU ties have been consistently growing ever since the first ever summit held in Lisbon in June last year. The leaders of the two largest democracies discussed a variety of issues such as a new WTO round, climate change, terrorism and nuclear proliferation. The EU is India’s largest trading and investing partner and the economic ties are going to grow with the increasing evolution of the EU. The two markets in India and the EU will compromise 1.5 billion people after the enlargement of the EU which means literally a quarter of world population. Mr Patten’s visit will focus on ways to further strengthen trade and investment ties. Apart from meeting the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Murasoli Maran, the National Security Adviser, Mr Brajesh Mishra, Mr Patten will also call on the Leader of the Opposition, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Dr Manmohan Singh. On January 25, Mr Patten will deliver a lecture on “The role of the EU on the world stage” at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. He will address the Indian business community at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on January 29. The Commissioner and his wife will go to Rajasthan for two days at the invitation of the External Affairs Minister on January 27. On this occasion, Mr Patten will visit a school as well as NGO projects supported by the EU in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. The EU is India’s biggest trade partner accounting for one fourth of India’s imports and exports. It is the largest source of current foreign direct investments into India. The European Commission and its member states are India’s leading partners in development cooperation programmes. EC development assistance to India totals more than two billion Euros since its start in 1976, the release said. |
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Podium collapse PATNA, Jan 24 (PTI) — The Union Communications Minister, Mr
Ram Bilas Paswan, the Union Minister of State, Ms Uma Bharati, Mr Jainarayan Nishad, MP, and the Opposition leader in the Bihar Assembly, Mr S.K. Modi, today escaped unhurt when the podium erected for a conference here suddenly collapsed. As Mr Paswan, Ms Bharati, Mr Nishad and Mr Modi arrived on the podium and waved to the crowd on the occasion of Backward’s conference to mark the birth anniversary of former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, Janshakti activists rushed to the podium erected at a school ground. The overcrowded podium collapsed but no one was injured. Later, addressing the gathering, Mr Paswan alleged there was a conspiracy behind the podium collapse and called for a high-level probe. He said earlier also several abortive attempts had been made on his life during his visit to Bihar during the Laloo-Rabri regime but he had escaped with minor injuries “by the grace of God”. |
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Basu cautions govt on Central rule KOLKATA, Jan 24 (UNI) — Former West Bengal Chief Minister and CPM Politburo member Jyoti Basu today said the people of the state might take recourse to violence if the Centre dared to clamp President’s rule in the state. However, the ruling Left Front would move the court if the elected government in the state was removed under Article 356, Mr Basu told mediapersons here. “But the court is not the final authority. The people are the ultimate authority and they will not tolerate such an action by the NDA government,’’ Mr Basu said. He said it was only the Trinamool Congress and not the NDA, which had been demanding President’s rule. “The Trinamool Congress has been creating a law and order problem in the state so that Article 356 is imposed as the party knows that it will not be able to come to power in the state by winning election,” he said. |
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NHRC pulls up WB rights panel NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (PTI) — The controversy between the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the West Bengal Government over alleged human rights violation in the trouble-torn Midnapore district took a new turn today with the National Commission ticking off the state Human Rights Commission over the politically sensitive issue. In a strong-worded directive, the NHRC pulled up the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) for remarks on NHRC probe into the incidents of violence in the state and said “prior clearance of the state commission is not needed by the NHRC to exercise its function in any part of India.” “It also needs to mention that the ‘protection of Human Rights Act’ (POHRA) does not exclude any part of India from the jurisdiction of the NHRC nor does it prohibit any person from approaching the NHRC in respect of violation of human rights anywhere in the country, simply because a state commission exists for that area,” the NHRC said. The matter, placed by the secretary general, was taken up in the full commission meeting here after receiving a copy of resolution of the WBHRC which questioned the need for a NHRC probe into the incidents of violence in the state despite its (WBHRC) being there. Describing the remarks made by WBHRC Chairman as “unfortunate”, the NHRC said “there appears to be some misunderstanding in the WBHRC about the meaning and purport of Section 36(1) of the POHRA, which may have led to this stance of WBHRC.” Meanwhile, the commission was also sending its report on the incidents of violence in West Bengal’s Midnapore district to know the response of the state government within one week. The commission decided to take up the issue only after receiving the response from the state government on its report, which was prepared by a two-member NHRC team after visiting the violence-hit areas of the state. UNI: The National Human Rights Commission sent its investigation report about the alleged human rights violation in West Bengal to the state government and directed the government to send its reply within one week. NHRC sources said here that after considering the report, received from its Director General (Investigation) Y.N. Shrivastva who had visited Midnapore district to collect facts about complaints of serious human rights violations in the state, the commission directed its Secretary General to send a copy of the report to the state government in confidence. The NHRC has asked for its response, if any, on the report, within one week. The commission would take up the report, which has been kept in sealed cover, for consideration only after getting the response from the state government. The date of hearing would be intimated to the original complainant advocate Tamali Sengupta and Mr Somnath Chatterjee, and Mr Vijay Goel who had approached the commission on behalf of the Committee of MPs which had submitted it report after visiting the state. The Chief Secretary and the DGP of West Bengal would also be informed about it, the sources said. |
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NC warns govt not to back
Sansad decision
NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (UNI) — Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Omer Abdullah has threatened that the National Conference may withdraw support to the Vajpayee government if it fails to disassociate itself from the decision of the Dharma Sansad to take over the disputed site at Ayodhya next year. Participating in “The Big Question” on Doordarshan’s national network last night, Mr Abdullah said the BJP should “distance itself at the earliest” from the decision of the sansad. Asked if this was the view of other alliance partners, he clarified that he could only speak for the party (National Conference) and the state he represented (Jammu and Kashmir). He added that his party cadre was largely representative of the minority Muslim community. Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar of the Congress and Marxist member Nilotpal Basu also agreed that the government should condemn the decision since the matter was in court. |
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Sheila, Jagmohan talks mooted NEW DELHI, Jan 24 — The Supreme Court today suggested a meeting between the Urban Development Minister, Mr Jagmohan, and the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, to sort out the problems relating to the closure and shifting of industries in the national Capital in view of criticism against the closure of units both by the ruling party in the Delhi Government and the Congress opposition. A Bench of three judges comprising Mr Justice B.N. Kirpal, Mr Justice Shivaraj V. Patil and Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar advised that both should forget their political affiliation and put their minds together to see how best they could help all parties concerned — the affected industrial units, their workers and the citizens of Delhi. The court asked the Urban Development Ministry to continue as the nodal agency for supervising the closure and relocation of the polluting units and directed the Delhi Government to submit by January 31 an action plan for closing the remaining about 58,000 polluting industries in the non-conforming areas in the capital. Adjourning the case relating to closure of the polluting industries to January 31, the court said that the action plan had to be prepared in consultation with the Urban Development Ministry, appointed as the nodal agency to supervise their shifting. The judges gave the direction on being informed that nearly 19,000 polluting units out of a total of 77,000 had already been closed. The judges also issued notices, returnable by February 5, on petitions filed by some of the affected industries challenging their closure without giving them an opportunity of hearing. The court reiterated that the polluting units must be shifted without taking any notice of the political colour being given to the issue. Even setting up of effluent treatment plants by some polluting units would be no ground to allow them to operate either in non-conforming or conforming areas in the capital, the court added. Additional Solicitor-General Kirit Rawal, appearing for the nodal agency, submitted that the Delhi Government and other agencies had launched a hate campaign against the nodal agency which was carrying out the court’s orders. Additional Solicitor-General Mukul Rohatagi, appearing for the Delhi Municipal Corporation, submitted that in compliance with the court’s order of December 7, 97,000 industries operating in the non-conforming areas had been identified. Merely 4 lakh workers were employed in them, he added. Mr Rohatagi said that 19,000 polluting units had been closed so far, nearly 9,000 had moved out on their own and about 20,000 were yet to be closed. Senior counsel, K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Delhi Government, sought time till January 31 to file an action plan in consultation with the nodal agency for closure of the remaining polluting industries. |
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Restrain Mamata, MP asks Centre NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (UNI) — Communist Party of India (Marxist) member of Parliament Dr Biplab Dasgupta has requested Home Minister L.K. Advani to ensure that Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee does not interfere in the state and district administration in West Bengal. In a two-paged letter faxed to Mr Advani, Mr Dasgupta has requested him that Ms Banerjee be told to desist from encouraging violence in Midnapore district. The letter points out that the Government of West Bengal does not see it as an aberration of an individual minister, but as interference by the Union
Government in the affairs of a state since the ministers are guided by the principle of collective Cabinet responsibility. It further states that while seven out of 400-odd police stations in West Bengal had been affected by violence, in all seven it had been inspired by one of the partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Mr Dasgupta’s letter claims that the recent spate of violence began in Midnapore from January 3, 2001, when Ms Banerjee convened a rally at Keshpur and to which she brought her supporters from all over Bengal in 1500 vehicles. He also questions the source of her funding. |
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Tightest-ever vigil in Capital NEW DELHI, Jan 24 — Amidst threats from Pakistan-backed militant outfits to the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and other Cabinet Ministers, the Delhi Police has mounted vigil, the
tightest-ever, in the Capital on the occasion of Republic Day celebrations. “The Republic Day celebrations this year are being held in the backdrop of plans by Pakistan backed militants to cause disturbances, hit VIPs and damage sensitive government buildings and vital installations,” the Joint Commissioner of the Delhi Police (Security), Mr R.S. Gupta, said here today. He, however, did not identify the Cabinet Ministers who faced threat from the militants. “Intelligence inputs about threat to VIPs have assumed special significance in view of the Red Fort shootout, armed assault at the Srinagar airport and the rifle grenade attack on Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah”, Mr Gupta said. Addressing the media, he said, the militant outfits “Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen have stepped up violence in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere. They have been making bold and public pronouncements against the PM and his senior Cabinet colleagues”. The Joint Commissioner said: “There is another intelligence report on the presence of a group of militants in Delhi led by Ejaz Rasool, alias Dinesh Sharma. His accomplices have been identified as Hashim Beg, Usman and Sikandar”. “In view of these threats, the security arrangements have been made in co-ordination with various civil, military and paramilitary forces. Besides, Central intelligence agencies are providing information on the militants activities.” Mr Gupta said contingency schemes had been drawn up for handling any emergency and the help of the Fire Brigade, medical teams and ambulances obtained from different hospitals in the Capital. For incident free Republic Day celebrations, 55,000 officers and men of the Delhi Police would be on duty and had been assigned different tasks pertaining to security, law and order and traffic. Algerian head arrives NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (UNI) — Algerian President Abdelaziz Boutefilka, who will be the chief guest at the first Republic Day parade of the new millennium arrived here tonight on a six-day state visit. Mr Boutefilka, the first Arab Head of State to be the chief guest at the Republic Day function, is accompanied by four senior ministers and six advisers. He was scheduled to arrive at 2000 hours but arrived at 2045 hours at the Air Force Station, Palam. During his stay here he will hold wide-ranging talks with President K.R. Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on a broad spectrum of bilateral relations and regional and international issues. During the visit India and Algeria will sign three agreements, including one on avoidance of double taxation.
Envoy to Cyprus NEW DELHI, Jan 24 — A career diplomat and renowned author Pavan Kumar Varma will be India’s new High Commissioner in Cyprus. A Press note of the Ministry of External Affairs said here today that Mr Varma, Joint Secretary (Africa) in the Ministry, would succeed Mrs Shyamala B.Cowsik in Cyprus and was expected to take up his assignment shortly. Mr Kailash Lal Agarwal, till recently India’s Ambassador to Suriname, has been appointed Ambassador to Croatia. He succeeds Mr Udai Singh. Mr Atish Sinha, High Commissioner to Nigeria, has been accredited as High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Cameroon. |
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69 lakh hit by drought DURG (Chhattisgarh), Jan 24 — To mitigate sufferings of the people of Chhattisgarh who have been hit by an unprecedented drought, the Ajit Jogi government in the new state has embarked on a series of water-harvesting projects to check migration from villages and solve the problem of water shortage. Officials say that nearly 69 lakh people in 11 districts have been affected by the drought which has hit the state in the first few months of its inception. The state has a total of 16 districts with a population of about two crore. The state government has sought Rs 570.62 crore from the Centre to meet the calamity. |
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IPI conference to
discuss Indian media NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (PTI) — The International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress and 50th General Assembly being held here from January 26 to 29 will discuss the media scenario in India, conflicts in the Indian subcontinent and “dangers” of the global information revolution. Being hosted by India after 35 years, the four-day conference will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on January 27.“India seems to the rest of the world a
miracle.... We want to analyse how much media here represents pluralism,” Johann P. Fritz, Director, IPI, said at a press conference. |
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