 |
| Saturday,
April 21, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
Samba spy
case order stayed by SC NORTH INDIA IN
PARLIAMENT Deduction
of pension from salary upheld Jaya
nomination: EC to follow 1997 norms |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Cong men
unhappy with party strategy Polluted
water supplied to homes Pilibangan
faces water shortage Row over
MC budget hits development work German
delegation to visit India Shila that
makes wishes come true
|
|
Samba spy case order stayed by SC New Delhi, April 20 The Bench comprising Mr Justice
S.P. Bharucha and Mr Justice Doraiswamy Raju admitted the petition on the plea of the Centre that the high court had erred in appreciating the evidence. The Centre pleaded that the matter had attained finality as the dismissed Army officers had lost in three rounds of litigation earlier in the high court and the Supreme Court and their petitions should not have been entertained by the Delhi High Court. The high court should not have interfered with the findings of the martial proceedings, the Centre stated and added that the findings pertaining to non-supply of all documents relating to court martial proceedings were not sustainable as an earlier order of the high court maintained that all documents in the matter had been filed. The high court last December in its III-page judgement had exonerated two former Captains,
R.S. Rathaur and A.K. Rana, who had been court-martialled by the Army and quashed the Army orders dismissing seven other officers. The high court had held that all nine officers who had been detained for years on charges of spying for Pakistan were now entitled to all “consequential benefits” since the action taken by the Army against each of them was void in law. The high court had come to the conclusion that Rathaur and Rana had been convicted in the court martial proceedings without any evidence. The court had further held that the Military Intelligence Directorate which had initiated action against the officers could not assume the role of a prosecutor and judge in its own cause. |
|
|
NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, April 20 The minister said that the government did not propose to conduct a survey on this route. He explained that due to a large shelf of pending sanctioned new line projects and severe constraint of resources, it is not possible to consider construction of the said line for the time being. As such, the government did not think that a survey was necessary at this stage. FMD:
Minister of State for Agriculture, Debendra Pradhan, told the Rajya Sabha that farm animals of Punjab, especially in border villages, have not got infected with foot and mouth disease, according to information given by the Punjab Government. The Minister said that cases of foot and mouth disease had been reported in Ghaloti village of Ludhiana district in February this year. He said that the Punjab Government and the Department of Animal Husbandry at the Centre had taken steps to save the livestock from foot and mouth disease. Tractors: Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Dr Vallabhbhai Kathiria, informed the Lok Sabha that 13,544 tractors were manufactured by Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), Pinjore in 2000-’01, 16355 in 1999-2000 and 18,700 in 1998-99, respectively. The Minister said that the prices of HMT tractors were competitive in the market and equal to or lower compared to those manufactured to their competitors. |
|
Deduction
of pension from salary upheld New Delhi, April 20 The court delivered the ruling while dismissing the appeals of the Presidents of the District Consumer Forums, Mr M.S. Chawla and others against a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissing their writ petition, essentially on the ground that the appellants knew while, joining the post of President that the pension received by them as members of the superior judicial service would be deductible from their salary. Dismissing the challenge to the legality of the Punjab Government’s order of January 25, 1996, the court held that the government’s order and the High Court’s judgment did not suffer from any infirmity. |
|
Jaya nomination: EC to follow 1997 norms Chennai, April 20 A Division Bench comprising Mr Chief Justice
N.K. Jain and Mr Justice K. Sampath reserved orders on the PIL filed by advocate
K.M. Vijayan on behalf of VOICE, a consumer care council, while dismissing another PIL, filed by a voter, seeking a direction to the Chief Election Commissioner to disqualify AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalitha from contesting elections for six years, following her conviction in two TANSI land deal cases. When the bench sought assistance of the Election Commission during the course of the argument on Mr Vijayan’s PIL, Mr
G.Rajagopal, counsel, submitted that the full commission had on April 17 decided to abide by the 1997 guidelines.
UNI |
|
|
Cong men unhappy with party strategy New Delhi , April 20 The party, which has had to climb down from its original demand of the Prime Minister’s resignation on the Tehelka issue, now stands isolated even on the demand for a JPC. Not only that, its leaders feel that the party is being seen by a large number of people as largely responsible for the current impasse in Parliament. Congress leaders say that issues were not handled judiciously from the day the party was invited for an all-party meeting by the Prime Minister. The party had boycotted the meeting protesting against the manner in which the government referred the complaint of Mr Subramanian Swamy to the CBI. |
|
|
Polluted
water supplied to homes Hanumangarh, April 20 Sources say polluted water from industrial cities situated along the Sutlej and the Beas is being supplied from the Harike Barrage to the Rajasthan and Sirhind feeders. Also water from water-logged areas is reportedly being fed to these feeders. Hence, water-borne diseases have started gripping the area. In the district jaundice so far has claimed two lives. In the Sadulshehar tehsil of Sriganganagar district, 30 cases of jaundice have been identified. Patients are undergoing treatment from quacks and private nursing homes. A senior officer of the Irrigation Department said the practice of channelising polluted water into the canals of Rajasthan had been on for years. Now the water level in the canals was low so the pollution could be detected, he said. Though the PHED authorities claim that only clean water is being supplied to houses and there has not been any death due to a water-borne disease in the district, at a meeting held recently over the control of seasonal diseases, the Collector ordered the PHED to test water samples. |
|
|
Pilibangan faces water
shortage Hanumangarh, April 20 Officials of the local Public Health and Engineering Department said water was made available to the Water Works Department through the PBN canal, but that was not sufficient as the canal also had low level of water. The sources explained water was supplied in the PBN canal for eight days and after that supply was kept closed for 24 days. So only one reservoir out of two in the area had been filled. There are about 3,000 water connections in the Pilibangan area and a minimum of 2,000 kiloliters is required every day. A water supply scheme costing Rs 2,86,58,000 has been sent to the state government for approval. |
|
|
Row over MC budget hits development
work Hanumangarh, April 20 On March 17, a meeting was called to pass the revised budget for 2000-2001 and he proposed budget for the current financial year. At the meeting the chairperson walked out declaring both budgets passed, but opposition councillors, allegedly by threatening the Executive Officer, succeeded in getting a report submitted that the budget had not been passed. Going by the provision, if the budget is not passed, the government gives only 10 per cent of the budget of the last financial year to the municipal council and that has to be spent on recurring expenses, which include expenditure on administration, education, medical facilities etc. The state of affairs is that the municipal council will only be able to pay salaries and meet other permanent expenses, but no money would be spent on construction works and development projects. Also, as per a ruling, if the budget bill is rejected by the council once, it cannot be tabled again before three months. In case it is tabled before this time, two-thirds majority is required to get it passed. The strength of the council is 40 and the ruling Congress party does not have the support of 27 members required to get the budget passed within three months. It will be a tough task for the council to clear the excess expenses incurred in the last financial year. Contractors of the city have already started a strike as they have not been made payments. Meanwhile, both the Opposition and the ruling party are blaming each other for the failure to get the budget passed. |
|
|
German delegation to visit India New Delhi, April 20 During their stay in the Capital, the members of the committee will hold talks with Minister of Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Tourism and Culture Ananth Kumar. The committee, headed by Mrs Monika Griefahn, will also meet the Director General of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations. |
|
|
Shila that makes wishes come
true Hanumangarh, April 20 One such place is the Shila Mata or Shila Pir in Hanumangarh. It is said by cleaning the shila with katchi lassi, skin diseases get cured. People of different communities and religions visit the place and it is believed that their wishes have been fulfilled. Situated near the historical, Bhatner Fort, this rock-built shila is 6 feet long, 2.5 feet wide and 2 feet high. “Allah Bismillah Ryce Bismillah” are engraved on the shila. There is also an incarnation of a man on it. It is said its old name was Shavat Pir. Nobody knows from where this shila came. According to one years ago because of a flood, many human beings and animals died and then there was an attack of diseases. Somebody advised that the shila be washed with salt and water. So, since then, people skin diseases started visiting the place and many have been cured. Bhisham Kaushik, a resident of the city, had some spots on his hand. But after visiting the place and washing the shila, the spots disappeared slowly. Another story says the shila came here in the flow of the Ghaggar and women started washing clothes on it. One day a pir appeared in the dream of a woman and told her that he was a pir and ‘Kalma’ written over him. So, nobody should wash clothes there. When that woman informed others about her dream, people went to the shila and found that what she said was true. So, from that day, they stopped washing clothes on the shila and started
performing the puja on it. A boundary wall was constructed, but every time a roof was put on, it fell down. Then again the pir appeared in the dream of the same woman and asked her to let the place remain open. After that, no roof was built at the place. It is said for a long time, puja at the shila was performed by Hindu traditions only. Later, Muslims also adopted it. So the place has become a symbol of religious unity. A fair is held every Thursday at the place, as also on the occasion of Muharram, in the name of urs. People from the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana visit the place. The shila is also recognised as a place where wishes are fulfilled. |
 |
| 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 | |
