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| Tuesday,
April 3, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Cong, Trinamool reach
accord on 276 seats EC rejects WB
Govt’s plea Tehelka probe report this
week Jaya moves HC
for stay of conviction |
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Police holding out
against Shahabuddin Economists’ open letter to PM Saints come out openly against VHP supremo US envoy’s wife
faces legal action 20 yrs’ service
mandatory for pension benefits Media council may replace
Press Council
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Cong, Trinamool reach accord on 276 seats Kolkata, April 2 Emerging from a meeting with Trinamool Chairperson Mamata Banerjee here, AICC General Secretary, in charge of the state, Kamal Nath told reporters: “I am happy to inform you that agreement is complete on 276 seats. The Trinamool and the Congress will support each other in these seats.” Negotiations were still on regarding the remaining 18 seats, he said. Both Trinamool Congress chief and Mr Kamal Nath refused to give the break up of the share of the two parties in 276 seats on which agreement has been reached saying that this would be disclosed after an accord was arrived at on the remaining 18 seats. Stating that talks regarding 18 other seats were on, Ms Banerjee said, “The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the United Communist Party of India are with us. We are discussing the issue of allocating some seats to them also.” Avoiding a straight reply to a question regarding the demand of the state Congress that all 43 sitting MLAs should get renomination, the AICC General Secretary said, “When I speak, I speak on behalf of the Congress party and not of any individual.” On arrival from Delhi, Mr Kamal Nath drove straight to his residence here and held parleys with WBPCC President Pranab Mukherjee and CPP Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi. The state Congress leaders had a meeting with the WBPCC President earlier in the day and requested him to try to get nominations for all 43 sitting MLAs of the party. WBPCC Vice-President Pradip Bhattacharya, who attended the meeting, said the party should try hard to get tickets for the sitting legislators. Mr Kamal Nath also held talks with Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay who escorted him to Nizam Palace, the central government hostel, where the Trinamool Congress chief was camping. Mr Kamal Nath said the two parties would fight the May 10 assembly election under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee who would be the Chief Minister if the alliance is voted to power. To a question why did they take such a long time to arrive at the agreement, Ms Banerjee quipped: “How can we finalise 294 seats in one day.” Appealing to workers of both parties, Mrs Nath said they should work for each other to reverse the history of the 24-year Left Front rule.
PTI
EC rejects WB
Govt’s plea New Delhi, April 2 The state government sought the commission’s permission to carry out a number of transfers in the Excise Department but the commission said that no transfer should be carried out till the elections were over in the state on May 10, commission sources said. Similarly, the commission asked the West Bengal and Assam Governments to transfer all Deputy Commissioners and Collectors posted in their home districts or in a district for over four years except Darjeeling and Kolkota. PTI |
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Tehelka probe report this
week New Delhi, April 2 Sources in the Army said the three-member Court of Inquiry headed by Lt. Gen S.K. Jain, who is Director, EME has apparently found the four Army officers, including two of the rank of Major-General, guilty. The Army is likely to begin its Court Martial proceedings against the four once the Court of Inquiry report is submitted. The four officers, who had been mentioned in the Tehelka tapes and were video-taped while accepting gratification, were Maj-Gen P.S.K. Choudhury, who was the Additional Director-General, Ordnance and Supply, Maj-Gen Manjit Singh Ahluwalia, Director General of Ordnance and Supply, Brig Iqbal Singh, Prospective Procurement Officer, and Col Anil Sehgal, Director in the Directorate-General of Ordnance and Supply. The sources said the Court of Inquiry was expected to give its report within the next few days. It has already completed the process of recording the summary of evidence, which is the final step before the beginning of the Court Martial. Apparently the view prevailing within the Army Headquarters (AHQ), is not to spare the officers, who the Court of Inquiry felt, have not only acted irresponsibly but have directly been responsible for bringing down the credibility and morale of the forces. Reports said the men, who have been found guilty could face punishment ranging from “suspension of service” to “rigorous imprisonment”. Suspension from service could well mean that the officers lose all their retirement benefits, including pension. The AHQ had already placed Maj-Gen P.S.K. Choudhury under suspension the next day after Tehelka brought out this sensational expose. He was placed under suspension after he apparently admitted to having accepted gratification from Tehelka reporters posing as representatives of a company wanting to sell defence equipment in India. The Court of Inquiry was carried out in the backdrop of Army chief Gen S. Padmanabhan’s warning of dealing with the guilty in a stern manner. The sources disclosed that General Padmanabhan, who has an unblemished record of service, has been very upset and annoyed after the expose. He and his close aides were of the opinion that the guilty should not go scot-free and face stern action. |
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Jaya moves HC for stay of conviction Chennai, April 2 Ms Jayalalitha, who has been sentenced to two prison terms of three years and two years, respectively, in two corruption cases involving land belonging to the state-owned Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation (Tansi), filed the petition under Section 389 of the CrPc that deals with pleas against conviction.
PTI |
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Police holding out
against Shahabuddin Patna, April 2 On the surface, the Siwan police, aided by its Uttar Pradesh counterpart, has opened a new front against the don MP of Siwan and beneath it the same ‘hurt quarters’ have launched a ‘media campaign’ to spill the beans of political-administrative nexus that went a long way in bailing out the ruling party MP. The new Siwan SP, Mr N.K. Azad, in a letter to top police officials of the state has stated that many police officers and police stations are on the “hit list” of supporters of the Siwan MP. The SP has alerted all officials and SHOs of the police stations. A day before, the Uttar Pradesh police had said Mohammad Shahabuddin had been patronising and giving shelter to hardened criminals from UP, Jwala Yadav and Jahid Mian. This would naturally change the “martyr” image now acquired by the don MP after the political society gave him the “clean chit”. A report quoting police sources said the Uttar Pradesh police had got ample proofs that the MP was sheltering and patronising hardened criminals. A few days before the Siwan incident, a truck carrying sophisticated Chinese weapons had escaped the UP police dragnet and entered the Bihar area. The UP police had planned to raid Shahabuddins house. It was decided on March 14 that the UP-Bihar police would jointly raid the village. On March 15, the DGP of Bihar, Mr R.R. Prasad, reportedly gave permission for the raids. According to police source, however, on the mid-night of March 15, the DGP reversed his orders. Now it was for the judicial panel to inquire as to what was the reason behind the ‘unruly and rebellious’ behavior of the Siwan district constabulary? It had been reported earlier that the constabulary ‘forced’ the top officials to order raids. |
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Economists’ open letter to PM New Delhi, April 2 In an open letter to the Prime Minsiter here today, 13 eminent economists of the institute said it was a matter of great concern that “ close to 50 million tonnes of foodgrains are lying idle in the Central Government’s
godowns, against a background of widespread hunger across the country”. These stocks should be used without delay for income-generation
programmes, especially in drought affected areas, the letter added. “ The case for immediate use of idle food stocks for income generation purposes is overwhelming. Bold intervention at the highest level is imperative to avert widespread deprivation and misery”, the letter said. The letter has been signed by Prof Jean
Dreze, Prof Pulin Nayak, Prof V Pandit, Prof Badal Mukherjee, Prof Om
Prakash, Dr Sudhir Shah, Dr Aditya Bhattacharjea, Dr Ashwinini
Deshpande, Dr Paramjit, Dr Abhijit Banerjee, Dr J V Meenakshi, Dr Puran B Mongia and Dr Shreekant Gupta. Pointing out that half of Indian children are under-nourished while half of all adult women suffer from
anaemia, the economists said alarming cases of starvation deaths had already been reported in several states. “Against this
background, it is shocking to see massive public resources being used to store food out of reach of the poor. The Central Government spends more than Rs 10,000 crore a year on the so-called
food-subsidy.Only a small proportion of this subsidy, however, benefits the poor”, the letter said. Justifying the argument for an expansion of the existing public distribution system, they said if surplus food stocks are used to fund income-generation
programmes, it would not add to the Budget deficit since the stocks in question have already been bought. The stocks, which have gone well beyond the official “buffer-stock” norms of 17 million
tonnes, are a burden on the economy as there is no possibility of exporting more than a small proportion of stocks. |
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Saints come out openly against VHP supremo Hardwar, April 2 Having failed to take the Hindu fundamentalist leaders along with him to Tehri on March 30 to save the river from the onslaught of the dam, he lashed out at the saints a day after in Hardwar. He was surprised when all the saints came out openly against him. At a meeting of the saints last evening a group of mahants resolved not to let Mr Singhal enter their ashrams for his narrow political gains. Political observers say that they have come to realise that with the commissioning of Tehri dam there would be no effect on the course of the Ganga. With the developments within the Hindu religious leaders in Hardwar one would not be surprised that Mr Singhal’s efforts to carve out another big issue after the Babri Masjid demolition might prove, to be its waterloo. Sources close to mahant Govind Das, Chief of the All-India Akhara Parishad, say that if Mr Singhal pushes hard the issue of the dam, the saints might turn out to bring a “fatwa” against him. On the other hand, the oustees of the Tehri dam have come to realise that the announcement of Mr Singhal’s fast unto death was a mere stunt to gain political mileage. Just hours before when he was supposed to sit on the fast, he reverted his decision by welcoming the move of the Union Government to constitute a committee of experts and religious leaders for drawing a consensus on the scientific management of the Ganga. Meanwhile, the Power Minister of Uttaranchal, Mr Bhagat Singh Koshiyari is trying to avert the confrontation between Mr Singhal and the saints of Hardwar. Even yesterday, he accompanied Mr Singhal during the latter’s meeting with the saints. But Mahant Govind Das and Mahant Vasudeo Giri of Mahanirvani Akhara refused to go in hands with the VHP supremo on the dam issue and walked out from the meeting. It is worth mentioning that these two groups of saints are the largest sub-sects with lakhs of followers. Reports from Tehri say that the agitation of oustees continued for the fourth day at the dam site. |
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US envoy’s wife
faces legal action New Delhi, April 2 Animal rights activists are upset over the fact that Mrs Lundquist returned the shahtoosh shawl to the trader instead of handing it over to the Wildlife Commissioner. She is said to have bought the shawl in 1997. Under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, killing and hunting of chiru (endangered Tibetan antelope) and trading in shahtoosh can attract imprisonment of six years and a fine of Rs 25,000. Animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi told TNS that Mrs Lundquist ought to have returned the shawl to the government. “She has violated the Wildlife Protection Act by returning it to the vendor and not to the Wildlife Commissioner. If you buy cocaine, you will not return it to the cocaine dealer. You will return it to the government.” Mrs Gandhi said no Indian citizen had bought shahtoosh in the past two years. It was being bought only by foreigners. “If somebody is spotted wearing a toosh shawl, it is reported to us. Mrs Lundquist was told six months ago to surrender the shawl. She sought time and we sent her a reminder. In December, she promised to return the shawl to a person from the Wildlife Trust of India, but again sought two weeks time.” Sources in animal welfare organisations said Mrs Lundquist is said to have worn the shawl during the New Year celebrations in Jaipur. Mrs Gandhi told TNS that it takes eight chirus to weave one shawl. She explained that since the Tibetan antelopes have no hair, they are shot and their under hair pulled out with a tweezer. “They do not breed in captivity and cannot be relocated from the Shantung plateau. Tibetans bring the chiru skin to India and exchange it for tiger bones. So, we are also losing tigers in the process.” Mrs Lundquist was not available for comments. |
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20 yrs’ service mandatory for pension benefits New Delhi, April 2 A Bench comprising Mr Justice M.B. Shah and Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, allowing government’s appeals, said: “In our view, for grant of pensions BSF members governed by the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, which nowhere provide that a person who has resigned before completing 20 years of service is entitled to the pensionary benefits.” The question before the court was “whether members of the BSF who have resigned from their posts after serving for 10 or more years but less than 20 years are entitled to pension/ pensionary benefits under the relevant provisions of the BSF Act, BSF rules and CCS (pensions) rules”. The High Court of Himachal had allowed the petitions of a BSF constable, who served the force for nearly 13 years, and directed the authorities to compute his pension from the date of resignation.
PTI |
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Media council may replace
Press Council Bhubaneswar, April 2 The proposed media council would be given adequate teeth to look into the violation of media codes, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj said here today. She said discussions were on with political parties in this regard and thereafter the government would bring the forward necessary legislation in Parliament. |
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