 |
Friday,
March 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
SC comes to rescue of witnesses Chautala favours smaller states
More ‘tehelkas’ to tumble out of Zee’s kitty
Poll pact in WB: Sonia meets Congress men |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
‘Afghan women’s status below animals’ Exert pressure on MPs: NHRC Chairperson Mixed response to transport strike Sunil Dutt
recovering Patrolling along canals planned Court pulls up jail official 16 kg of gold looted from shop Meet ‘mental health’ needs
|
|
SC comes to rescue of witnesses New Delhi, March 29 “We make it abundantly clear that if a witness is present in court he must be examined on that day,” a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice K.T. Thomas and Mr Justice T.P. Sethi said. “Witnesses tremble on getting summons from courts, in India, not because they fear examination or cross-examination in courts but because of the fear that they might not be examined at all for several days and on such days they would be nailed to the precincts of courts awaiting their chance of being examined,” Mr Justice Thomas said summarising their plight. Admonishing the trial courts for granting adjournments on flimsy grounds much to the inconvenience of the witnesses, Mr Justice Thomas, writing the judgement for the Bench, said, “It is high time that trial courts should regard witnesses as guests invited (through summons) for helping such courts with their testimony for reaching judicial findings.” He said the witnesses kept aside their avocation and went to the courts and waited for hours to be told at the end of the day to come again and wait like that. Terming the condition of the witnesses as worse than that of the litigants, the Bench said, “The courts must know that most of the witnesses could attend the courts only at a heavy cost to them, after keeping aside their own avocation.” Mr Justice Thomas said the meagre allowance given to the witnesses for attending the court on each occasion was “a poor solace for the financial loss incurred by him”.
PTI |
|
Chautala favours smaller states New Delhi, March 29 Talking to newspersons here, Mr Chautala said that Uttar Pradesh should have been divided into smaller states much earlier but this did not happen due to certain reasons. The kisan rally was scheduled to take place on March 31 at Niloha near Meerut. Giving the example of Haryana, he claimed that people of the area had made fast progress after it was formed into a state. Mr Chautala said that while a state like Haryana could be toured several times by a Chief Minister to review development works, it would not be easy for the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh to do so. Talking of the steps his government had taken for the benefit of the farmers, Mr Chautala said that 45 lakh tonne of foodgrain were procured last year from farmers. Laying emphasis on the role of Food Corporation of India in the procurement exercise, Mr Chautala said that the state governments could not manage the procurement, storage and marketing of foodgrains. “We will convey our inability to do so if the Centre insists on this”, Mr Chautala asserted. Replying to a question on the SYL canal, Mr Chautala said that Punjab had politicised the issue and the solution in the given situation could come only through the verdict of the Supreme Court. Asked if the Tehelka episode had dented the image of the NDA alliance, Mr Chautala said that there might be doubts in the minds of some people but all these would vanish once the outcome of the probe comes. “The NDA will come out cleaner”, he said. Mr Chautala, who had earlier sought a probe into the conspiracy part of the Tehelka expose, expressed his reservations over the manner the expose had been done. The way it has been done can have a bearing on the morale of the forces, the Chief Minister said. He said that while the NDA government had instituted a time-bound inquiry and promised to take action on the findings, the Congress had never implemented the findings of the inquiries on scams surfacing during its rule. Maintaining that Haryana would come among the top few states in IT industry, the Chief Minister said that Haryana had been identified as the favourite investment destination by a 60-member Japanese delegation. Mr Chautala, who had paid a visit to South East Asia recently, would visit the UK, Canada, and USA to seek investment in the state. |
|
|
More ‘tehelkas’ to tumble out of Zee’s kitty New Delhi, March 29 “We are receiving more such tapes from different quarters. We will show those tapes depending on their credibility,” said Mr Raju Santhanam, content head of Zee News, told reporters here today. Stating that the decision to show the four-and-a-half hour tape as entirely one and in no way politically motivated, he said, “We were earlier accused of being saffron. After the Tehelka telecast we are being linked with the Congress. It is a catch-22 situation.” He said the tapes, aired in 15 of Zee’s channels over four days, were seen by over 30 million people and had set off the process of focusing public attention against corruption. Asked about the news network’s stake in the dot.com company, Mr Santhanam said, “We hold no stake as of now. But due diligence (economic evaluation) is going on and if it makes good business we will think about it.” |
|
|
Poll pact in WB: Sonia meets Congress men New Delhi,
March 29 Mrs Gandhi, who was away to Hong Kong on a brief visit was told about the progress of seat adjustment talks with the Trinamool Congress by Mr Kamal Nath who was accompanied by state Congress leaders. The leaders were scheduled to meet Mrs Gandhi again in the evening. Congress leaders say that while the party has identified 40 seats which it would like to contest, it is in the process of identifying 35-40 more. Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee has been pressing the Congress for an early decision on the seat adjustment between the two parties. Though Mr Kamal Nath would be leaving shortly for Kolkata to talk to Mrs Banerjee, party leaders say that the final number of seats is likely to be announced after one-to-one meeting between Ms Banerjee and Mrs Gandhi. Meanwhile, the Congress today said that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should clarify if he personally knows R.K. Gupta, who figures in the tehelka tapes on defence deals. Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy said that Mr Gupta had claimed in the tapes that he knew Mr Vajpayee for the past 17 years. |
|
‘Afghan women’s status below animals’ Jaipur, March 29 Feryal Ali, a UN population fund Goodwill Ambassador, was here as a delegate from her country to participate in a workshop on women of South Asian countries. Delegates from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh are participating in this workshop. Sri Lanka was also invited to the workshop, but no delegate came from there. Ms Feryal observed that Taliban has banned even the clapping of hands and playing music. Hair cut is not permitted even for men. Ms Feryal, a film producer, is also a member of the Film Censor Board of Pakistan. She said that a woman is considered a commodity and women, children and animals are considered one. About Pakistan, she said, in Benger’s regime too nothing was done to improve the status of women. The workshop was jointly organised by the Women’s Resource Centre of HCM, Rajasthan State Institute of Public Administration and American Resource Centre. The coordinator of the workshop, Ms Kanchan Mathur, said such workshops would be held in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, New Delhi and Chennai. Ms Maryam Bibi of Pakistan said unless illiteracy and poverty are removed, nothing positive can be expected in favour of Women. Ms Maryam Bibi set up the first women-run development NGO in the NWFP. Ms Nazneen Akhtar of Bangladesh said that status of women in all the South Asian countries was similar. Their conditions would change only when men understand that development of women was in their interest. Ms Pramda Shah of Kathmandu said that things were worse in Nepal. Women there are legally inferior and even tortured on the alibi of their being witches. |
|
Exert pressure on MPs: NHRC Chairperson New Delhi, March 29 “If no productive work is done in Parliament, it is people outside the Parliament who are to be blamed,” Justice Verma said while delivering the key-note address at a South Asia workshop on women’s empowerment here on Thursday. The former Chief Justice of India also stressed the need for implementation of laws. Referring to the lackadaisical attitude in the implementation of various laws like sexual harassment of women at work place, he said “There is no dearth of laws. But, I don’t discourage you from making new laws either.” On Parliament’s failure to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill, Justice Verma said, “I don’t blame only those who are in Parliament. Perhaps, society does not want it.” He said gender-based issue could be tackled only with creation of “proper mindset” and proper education. “To achieve these, I can only emphasise the role mothers could play. You cannot bring an overnight change in the people or the system,” he said. |
|
Mixed response to transport strike New Delhi, March 29 While the Taxi Auto-rickshaw Driver Sangharsh Samiti president, Mr Somnath, said the strike was successful, a few CNG TSRs were seen on Delhi roads. He claimed that private taxi and TSR operators’ unions supported the call positively. The Federation of Transport Union Congress (FTUC) claimed that only 1 per cent of the 50,000 autos and 20,000 taxis were plying. Even those taxis and autos which had switched to the CNG were off the roads to express their solidarity with the union. However, Delhi Transport Corporation buses, private buses and buses under the kilometre scheme were running normally. The president of the Tourist Taxi Operators Union, Mr Jasbir Singh, said had the private bus operators supported the strike it would have been much better. However, no tourist taxi came on the roads today. The people who wanted to go to the airport and railway stations were affected by the strike. Several people were seen looking for autos and taxis at the New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations. |
|
|
Sunil Dutt recovering Mumbai, March 29 Dutt, who was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital after he suffered leg and shoulder injuries following the incident, had undergone a successful foot operation yesterday. The actor would be examined for spinal cord problems after three days, a family employee said. Meanwhile, Capt Sohail Handa, pilot of the Piper Apache aircraft which crashlanded in an open field following engine failure, was stated to be “stable”. Handa had suffered major eye injuries, jaw bone fractures and spine fractures, according to Dr Sanjay Aggarwala, Chief of Surgery at Hinduja Hospital. However, possibility of complete vision restoration or partial vision restoration still appears unclear, he said. Snehal, daughter of MP Mukesh Patel, one of the survivors of the crash had undergone inter-dental wiring for jaw fractures and been put on cast for a foot fracture.
PTI |
|
|
Patrolling along canals planned Sriganganagar, March 29 To ensure that the limited water resources are not squandered or misused, the Area Magistrates will conduct regular patrolling along canals with the help of the police. Violators are likely to be booked. Rajasthan is in the grip of a severe drought for the third successive year and in several districts trains carrying water have already been pressed into service. The problem has been compounded with decreased canal water from Punjab due to a poor monsoon and the depleting water-level in reservoirs. Today a high-level meeting was chaired by Ms Kiran Soni Gupta, District Collector (DC), where steps to initiate regular water supply to earmarked villages were discussed. A report in this context has been sought by the state government by March 30. The Public Health Department has drawn a comprehensive plan in this context keeping in view the summer ahead when water supply deteriorates. The plan envisages hiring of equipment for sinking tubewells and wells besides hiring diesel pump sets and water tankers. A sum of Rs 87.24 lakh is likely to be spent on this exercise in the district alone, sources reveal. Among those affected, 781 villages fall in Sriganganagar and 272 in Hanumangarh. Meetings were also held among senior officers of the Public Health, Irrigation and Indira Gandhi Nehar Pariyojna (IGNP) of the three districts comprising Bikaner Division. The IGNP is a virtual lifeline for the division since it meets the drinking and irrigation needs of lakhs of people. Sources said officers were unanimous that the limited means and the amount of water generated by steps like sinking of tubewells and water tankers would not be enough to meet the demands of nearly 39 lakh people in villages in some of the most inaccessible terrain of the arid state. In view of the gravity of the situation, a meeting of senior officers was convened at Jaipur on March 24. It was decided that the availability of water in the IGNP would be closely monitored so that the district authorities could plan for its optimum utilisation in all major and minor outlets of the division. While the Irrigation Department has been asked to ensure water supply in the canals, the Public Health Department would install water pumps to supply water to villagers by water tankers. Similarly, the contingency plans entail the supply of water through trains and this responsibility has been entrusted with the Divisional Chief Engineer. The officials will hold meetings to access the situation and make changes accordingly. Canal water will be used for filling the Bichwal reservoir near Bikaner and, thereafter, used for other purposes. Officials said if the IGNP authorities ensured that the water reached the tail-end of various major and minor canals, the job of ensuring water would be made easy. Punjab has already expressed its inability to bail out the state in view of the falling water-level in its reservoirs. |
|
Court pulls up jail official Mumbai, March 29 Additional Sessions Judge M.L. Tahilyani ordered the Superintendent to arrange for medical examination of Faiyaz Chougale, who was suspected to be suffering from liver cancer. The judge directed that the accused be taken along with police escort to government-owned J.J. Hospital tomorrow. The Superintendent and the jail doctor, who were summoned by the judge, submitted that the judicial clerk had not informed them about the court’s order which directed them to arrange for medical examination of the accused. The judicial clerk concerned had committed a lapse by not informing the prison authorities about the court order. A departmental inquiry was proposed to be conducted into his conduct, the court was told. The judge, however, was not satisfied with the reply tendered by the Superintendent and directed that no further delay should be caused in examining the accused. The court also ordered the prison authorities to file medical reports of the accused on April 2. Chougale, who runs a communication centre in Bandra, had pleaded for bail through his lawyer Majeed Memon on medical grounds .
PTI |
|
16 kg of gold looted from shop New Delhi, March 29 Two persons came to the shop in a Maruti car this afternoon and asked for gold rings. While they were asking about the rings, their two other associates entered the shop. While they were talking to a sales girl, Shaina, owner of the shop Kishan Kumar sensed something wrong and called the accused inside his cabin. Instead of going to the cabin, the accused fished out revolvers and locked the girl and owner in one cabin. They ransacked the shop for about half an hour and decamped with the jewellery in white Maruti car. The owner later broke open the cabin and telephoned the police. The police cordoned of the area. The Maruti car was found abandoned in Defence Colony. |
|
Meet ‘mental health’ needs New Delhi, March 29 The World Health Organisation has dedicated this year’s World Health Day (April 7) to address the medical research, care policies and ethical issues related to mental health. The UN Secretary General said that despite enormous social and economic burdens posed by mental health problems, more than 40 per cent of the world’s countries had no articulated mental health policy and over 30 per cent no mental health programmes. Mr Annan said that some 400 million people suffer from mental and brain disorders today. “Schizophrenia, alcohol use, bipolar and obsessive compulsive disorders are among the diseases responsible for the highest
disability ratings in the world. Moreover, these numbers are expected to rise sharply over the next few decades, particularly among people in the developing world,” he said. “It is time for us individually to face our fears and overcome our misconceptions about mental disorders. Through honesty and understanding, we can break down the walls of social stigma that surround mental illness. On this World Health Day, let us commit ourselves to these tasks to
nurse those who suffer from mental illness no longer suffer in silence,” the message reads. |
|
Solar eclipse
on June 21 Mumbai, March 29 Dr Adur, who works at the Nehru Centre here, is leading a 20-member delegation of experts and amateurs to Africa, to witness this celestial event. The solar eclipse will not be visible in India. The eclipse will be visible from Angola, Zambia, Madagaskar as well as Maritius. “The totality will be for around three minutes.”
UNI |
|
BJP
Secretary defends expose New Delhi, March 29 “I believe that tehelka.com has done a good job so far as journalism is concerned. We in the BJP are not against Tehelka for exposing corruption in the system. Naqvi, party’s national secretary, said in an interview to the controversial
Web site.
PTI |
|
‘3 crore urban Indians diabetic’ New Delhi, March 29 The study, conducted by the Noyo Nordisk Education Foundation, in association with the Diabetes Society of India, shows that the disease strikes during the most productive stage of one’s life (30-39 years) where the prevalence has been found to be 7.6 per cent. UNI |
|
|
Thakur to open conference on
drug-harm New Delhi, March 29 The theme of the five-day conference is community development for harm reduction. Delegates from all over the world are expected to attend the meet.
|
|
|
Health awareness
drive from April 16 Hanumangarh, March 29 He said with any kind of sexual disease, the possibility of being HIV positive rose to 8 to 10 per cent. The district council chief, Ms Damyanti Beniwal, said because of the conservative attitude and lack of education, such diseases could not be diagnosed in women, therefore, there remained a danger of their being HIV positive. This campaign would diagnose the disease in far-flung areas and treatment would be
provided. |
|
|
Public help must to tackle crime : SP Hanumangarh, March 29 He said “satta” could not be stopped by the police without public cooperation. To control the rising crime, the SP, asked people to give photograph and information about the person they employed so that the police could verify the fact. Over the suggestion of holding “thikri pehras” he said these could be held only in emergency situation and not on a routine basis. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
