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Friday,
May 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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No new
taxes in Uttaranchal Budget SC rejects plea of Delhi
Judicial Services Assn Russian Foreign Minister
arrives Another woman falls prey to child adoption racket |
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Fencing project on B’desh
border Jessica murder
case Bihar invokes ESMA to end druggists’ stir Quake hits Andaman and Nicobar islands Officials demand bribe, allege farmers
Mamata rides Sonia wagon to dislodge
Left KERALA DIARY Ray campaigning for
Cong CANDIDATE OUTSTANDING Panthic parties to jointly fight SAD (B) ASSEMBLY POLL ASSAM Campaigning gains momentum in
TN INLD to contest poll from west
UP Repoll ordered in 260 Bihar
booths Dibrugarh poll
countermanded
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No new
taxes in Uttaranchal Budget Dehra Dun, May 3 The first annual plan of this hill state has been proposed at Rs 1,429.50 crore and no direct or indirect taxes have been introduced. Efforts have been made to rationalise the system of trade tax collection thereby bringing in transparency and computerisation of the department. This aims at tax collection of Rs 800 crore, which is Rs 225 crore more than the last financial year. Reading the Budget, the Finance Minister said the Uttaranchal Government had to repay total loans of Rs 2,590 crore along with the interest. Of which Rs 1,605 crore debt was inherited from the parent state of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from this the state government had to pay Rs 288 crore to the National Savings and Rs 697 crore to other creditors. This accounted to the repayment of Rs 250.96 crore as principal amount and Rs 530.68 crore as interest during the current financial year. Mr Nishank revealed that the 11th Finance Commission had fixed Rs 1026.74 crore for the united Uttar Pradesh (including the new Uttaranchal state). Comparatively, this amount was much less than the other states like Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 11,211.19 crore), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 4,549.26 crore), Manipur (Rs 1,744.94 crore), Meghalaya (Rs 1,572.38), Mizoram (Rs 1,676.30 crore) and Nagaland (Rs 3,536.24 crore). However, he welcomed the decision of the Union Cabinet to grant special economic status to the new state. Education has been kept on the top priority of the proposed Budget and 15 per cent of the total annual plan amounting to Rs 680 crore has been proposed to improve the standards of education in the state. The Finance Minister also revealed that the literacy rate of Uttarnachal had gone up to 72.28 per cent in 2001 from 57.75 per cent in the year 1991. To improve primary education Rs 3.56 crore have been proposed as assistance to the external agencies i.e NGOs and Rs 10 crore for the construction of new buildings and the repair of the old ones. At the middle education level Rs 6.50 crore have been proposed for the introduction of computer education and Rs 10 crore for the improvement of buildings. For higher education Rs 4.40 crore for the construction of new buildings and Rs 1.50 crore for improving the standards of laboratories have been proposed. The Budget allocations for other departments are Rs 200 crore for the Water Supply Department, Rs 180 crore for the Health and Family Welfare Department, Rs 107 crore for other welfare schemes, Rs 220 crore for roads and bridges, Rs 150 crore for employment schemes, Rs 95.15 crore for local bodies and Rs 33.98 crore for disaster management. Apart from this Rs 10 crore have been proposed for the improvement at communications system in the rural areas. Rs 7.28 crore for the welfare of widows of the slain security personnel. At least 40,000 women would be benefited from this welfare scheme. To give a boost to the tourism industry in the hill state, the Finance Minister announced the relaxation of entertainment tax for five years to those interested in
establishing rope-ways and entertainment parks. |
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SC rejects plea of Delhi
Judicial Services Assn New Delhi, May 3 “The Delhi Higher Judicial Service having been framed in consultation with and on recommendations of the High Court and the rules having provided for filling posts in the Delhi Higher Judicial Service by promotion as well as direct recruitment with the rider that the direct recruits cannot be more than one-third of the total number of posts, violates Articles 14, 16 and 233 is wholly misconceived”, the court held. A three-judge Bench comprising Mr Justice G.B. Pattanaik, Mr Justice S.N. Phukan and Mr Justice B.N. Agarwal, settling at rest the one-and-a-half decade old raging controversy in regard to the filing of posts, said, “It is futile to contend that the posts could be filled under the pre-amended rules, merely because the posts had been created while the amended rules have not come into force.” Referring to Rule 7(b) of the Delhi Higher Judicial Service Rules, the judges ruled, “The embargo under the proviso is that the High Court, while it is entitled to fill the posts in the Delhi Higher Judicial Service both by promotion and by direct recruitment from the Bar, cannot make direct recruitment so as to exceed one-third of the total number of posts in the service.” Explaining the legal position, the judges pointed out, “Necessarily, therefore, the rules provide a maximum number of posts which could be filled by direct recruits and it does not say that one third of the number of vacancies at a given point of time is required to be filled up by direct recruits.” Disposing of the writ petitions pending for final settlement involving three rounds of litigation since 1987, the judges stated, “At the relevant point of time, when the advertisement was issued, the total number of posts in the service being 53, 39 permanent and 14 temporary and the number of direct recruits at that point of time in the Delhi Higher Judicial Service being 8, the advertisement issued by the High Court being for recruitment by direct recruits for 10 posts would not constitute an infraction of the proviso to Rule 7 (b). Delivering the judgment, Justice Pattanaik rejected all grounds of challenges made by the Delhi Judicial Service Association to the relevant appointments made by the Delhi High Court. |
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Russian Foreign Minister arrives
New Delhi, May 3 Mr Ivanov, who was received by Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer at Delhi Airport, told reporters that his discussions with Indian leaders would also prepare the ground for the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Moscow, slated later this year. He will call on the Prime Minister tomorrow and later have extensive parleys with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh on international, regional and bilateral issues of mutual concern. “My visit is aimed at increasing cooperation with India in the international arena and also in enhancing bilateral cooperation,” Mr Ivanov said.
PTI |
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Another woman falls prey to child adoption racket Hyderabad, May 3 She rushed back to her hometown, near here, from her workplace in Delhi, only to confirm the doubts that there was something fishy about the very credentials of the institution. ‘Precious Moments’, the Miyapur-based child adoption centre, where her two children were supposed to have been taken care of, was found closed as it did not have a valid licence. Luckily for Ms Kavitha, the siblings, who were being planned to be sent abroad for an issueless couple in the USA, had been shifted to the government-run Sisu Vihar in the city. Narrating the traumatic experience at a press conference at the Sisu Vihar today was the middle-aged woman herself, bringing to light one of the ways the child adoption racket in the state had been flourishing in the recent past.
UNI |
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Foreigners ‘can’t directly
adopt Indian kids’ New Delhi, May 3 The clarification follows speculation in the media that Indian children given in inter-country adoption may be exploited for immoral purposes or sold illegally for huge sums to foreigners. |
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Fencing project on B’desh
border New Delhi, May 3 The project for construction of jeepable road and erection of barbed wire fencing, initiated by the Union Home Ministry in 1986 along the 4095.7-Km-long stretch on the international border of India and Bangladesh, covers the states of Assam (262 km), Meghalaya (443 km), West Bengal (2216.7 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Tripura (856 kms). “Border fencing in Rajasthan and Punjab have helped a great deal, in checking infiltrators. |
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Jessica murder
case
New Delhi, May 3 Manu Sharma had allegedly shot dead Jessica on the night of April 29, 1999 at Tamarind Cafe near Qutab Minar after she refused to serve him liquor saying that the bar had already been closed. Witness Shyan Munshi, main eyewitness to the incident and complainant in the case as he, according to the police, along with Jessica was serving liquor to people visiting the bar on that night. Deposing before Additional Sessions Judge H.R. Malhotra, Munshi said, “It is incorrect to suggest that the accused Manu Sharma present in the court is that person who was wearing white T-shirt and had asked drinks from Jessica Lal taller than Manu Sharma.” Soon after he was declared hostile, several police officers, Jessica’s mother and sister came out of the court room angrily shouting “the witness has been bought over. He has also family members and how could he become hostile”. Though the prosecution had said Munshi, who had appeared before the court along with a counsel, was doing a part time job at the restaurant owned by noted socialite Bina Ramani and was with Jessica when she was shot at. He was also at Apollo Hospital where she was declared brought dead. After the statement, special prosecutor
S.K. Saxena wanted to cross-examine him saying “the witness is resiling from his statement earlier made to the police”.
PTI |
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Bihar invokes ESMA to end druggists’ stir Patna, May 3 The move follows official reports yesterday that non-availability of life-saving drugs had so far claimed 32 lives. As many as 13 persons have died in Patna, three each in Nawada, Saran, Muzaffarpur and Gaya, two each in Gopalganj, Vaishali and Darbhnaga, and one in Aurangabad district. The state government had invoked ESMA for ensuring uninterrupted supply of drugs so that patients did not face any difficulty. |
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Quake hits Andaman and Nicobar islands New Delhi, May 3 The quake was centred at 12.3 North latitude and 92.0 degrees East longitude in the Indian Ocean, the Meteorological Department sources said here.
PTI |
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Officials demand bribe, allege farmers Hanumangarh, May 3 They alleged that to approve additional water supply for gardens, bribe was being demanded from them. A delegation of farmers from Sriganganagar recently met the Chief Engineer (North) and brought to his notice the alleged irregularities for approving water supply for the gardens. The delegation demanded a probe into the matter. The delegation also demanded to transfer the files of all their cases from Sriganganagar to here. The Chief Engineer (North) was informed that in the fields belonging to M.S. Gurdarshan
Kaur, Mr Gurwind Singh and Mr Jagtar Singh in Chak 2 LLK, a drip was installed in September, but the Executive Engineer of the department rejected the case, saying the drip was not installed, though the patwari and jiledar had confirmed the same. The delegation said in October, 1991, after an announcement by the government regarding the supply of additional water for drip and fountain irrigation farmers got reservoirs constructed in their fields after purchasing the required equipment from the Agriculture Department. |
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KERALA DIARY Kottayam, May 3 *** Interestingly, former chief minister and ageing war horse K Karunakaran was conspicuous by his absence during the Congress President’s hour-long stop over in
Kottayam. The rebel leader had, however, made his presence felt in Kannur yesterday where Sonia Gandhi addressed a rally on Tuesday. Despite his serious differences with the Congress high command, Mr Karunakaran had spent a major part of the day in Cherthala constituency campaigning for the Congress-led UDF’s chief ministerial aspirant A K Anthony. At least now Mr Karunakaran cannot be accused of showing disrespect to the numero uno of the Congress. The erstwhile member of the Congress Working Committee is like a wounded tiger on the prowl and can be quite a thorn for anyone occupying the chief minister’s chair in
Kerala. *** For all practical purposes and intents, there is no love lost between Mr Karunakaran and Mr Anthony. These are the only two Congress leaders in Kerala who have held sway for nearly three decades unlike in other states where the party high command has summarily changed leaders at the drop of a hat. That is also indicative of the strong hold of these two leaders in the faction ridden Congress. Mr Karunakaran has been opposing Mr Anthony’s candidature for the post of chief minister in case the UDF bounced back to power. While he has been insisting that the Congress legislators will elect the leader of the legislature party, Congress general secretary incharge of Kerala Ghulam Nabi Azad has been insisting that this issue will be decided by none other than Mrs Sonia
Gandhi. *** Kerala is quite different in its approach to elections. There are no larger than life cut outs of leaders as seen in neighbouring Tamil Nadu , Karnataka or Andhra
Pradesh. In fact even the graffiti on the walls are few and far between. The excitement connected with Assembly elections is sadly lacking though the percentage of polling has always been upwards of 70 per cent. This is despite the fact that people in this highly literate state are politically savvy. *** There is a strong section of opinion among the electorate that by its machinations the Marxist-led LDF has allegedly managed to keep out at least one million voters which might create a delicate situation for the
UDF. Most of the people have photo-identity cards. The Election Commission has now decreed that people not having photo identity cards can exercise their franchise by showing some other valid identification like ration cards, passports, driving licence and the kind. |
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Ray campaigning for
Cong Kolkata, May 3 He says his love for the Congress and the people of Kolkata have forced him to extend all possible help to the Congress men in fighting the Marxists, now in power in West Bengal for the past 24 years. He is Siddhartha Shankar Ray, once a heavyweight politician during Mrs Indira Gandhi’s regime. He later became the Governor of Punjab and Indian Ambassador to the USA. Mr Ray admits that he volunteered to do electioneering for the Congress, which some leaders have welcomed but others are annoyed. They have reasons to get annoyed of Mr Ray because of his high-handedness and dictatorial style of running the West Bengal Government as the Chief Minister and the state Congress as the WBPCC President, in the past. Mr Ray, however, says that he had done wrong to none. What he did as the Chief Minister as well as party President had the support of the AICC and Ms Indira Gandhi, personally. “This is unfortunate that I have been always misunderstood. But I must not stop explaining to the people how a continued propaganda against me by the enemies (hinting at the Marxists) and other vested interests, have damaged the image of the party, Mr Ray said. “I’m Congressman by birth and the Congress blood is in me (he is the grandson of C.R.Das, one of the founders of the Congress) and as long as I am alive, I will fight for the Congress and for the country, no matter, if others like it or not”, Mr Ray declares. The barrister-turned-politician has now settled down in New Delhi at his Friend’s Colony bungalow for satisfying his professional needs — keeping himself away from the active participation in the Congress politics. But still he often flies down to Kolkata and spends days at his ancestral house at Bhowanipore. Now, Mr Ray has come here to stay for a month and to take part in the
electioneering, which he began on May 25. He had canvassed for Dr Sudipta Ray of the Trinamool Congress, who is also the Congress candidate, at Tallah Park in Belgachia constituency. He says that Ms Mamata Banerjee and WBPCC(I) president Mr Parnab Mukherjee had asked him to campaign for their party and arranged meeting for him. Moreover, some candidates have personally invited him to take part in the campaign, which he has accepted, Mr Ray adds. Mr Ray feels that the condition is now ripe for the Congress to come to power. “I had been the last Congress Chief Minister in Bengal and now it is Ms Mamata Banerjee’s turn to dislodge the Marxist-dominated Left Front government”, Mr Ray said. He is confident that Ms Banerjee would lead the Congress government successfully for next five years from now. |
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CANDIDATE OUTSTANDING Kolkata, May 3 In 96 elections, Subrata fought as Congress candidate and now he is fighting as Trinamool candidate. In the present Assembly, he is Congress MLA and at Calcutta Municipal Corporation, the same person has been a TMC Mayor a peculiar contradiction of himself a contradiction, which the politician Subrata follows in his personal life that would surprise all. But Subrata does not have any regret. Nor does he want to pretend that has been maintaining a dual role in politics. “What is important is to see if I am successful in my purpose or not and for success, a little adjustment some permutation and computation are always acceptable,” Subrata feels. He says he does not regret that he has been a TMC Mayor and at the same time an MLA of the Congress party. “Necessity has compelled me to follow the dual line and I did it conscientiously”, admits Subrata. As a young Congress worker in the seventies, Subrata had been a blessed boy of Siddhartha Sankar Ray who brought him to his ministry (1972-76) with an important Information and Culture portfolio and for that matter, Subrata says he was grateful to “Manuda” (Ray’s call name). But in the later days, it was Subrata who fought tooth and nail against Ray’s reentry to Bengal politics and for that matter, Subrata says he did not have any regret either as what he thought right, he did. And now when his own persons raised eye-brow at his joining with Mamata Banerjee for Mayoral post, Subrata simply ignored them and he continued to remain closed to Ms Banerjee for Mayor’s post. Though in the Assembly he remained a prominent Congress leader. In 96 elections, Subrata won the seat by defeating Janata Dal candidate, Manotosh Pal and its time also his main contender has been from the JD Mohammed Zakir Hossain a new candidate in the fray. The prestigious Chowringhee has been always a safe seat for the Congress in the past, prominent political personalities like Dr B.C. Roy, Mr Siddhartha Shankar Ray and Mr Bholonath Sen fought and won the battle. However, in 91 poll, the film hero, Anil Chatterjee won the seat as CPM candidate. It is interesting enough the CPM does not take Chowringhee election so seriously this time perhaps it is because the candidate has been Subrata Mukherjee, who has free access into Joyti Basu’s bed room. As trade union leader also (Subrata has been the INTUC president for two long decades), he has been close to prominent leaders of all political parties the CPI, the RSP, Forward Bloc and even Naxalites. His critics say, Subrata has been always allowed to fight a safe MLA seat which he manages to retain because of his close proximity with Jyoti Basu and other leaders. In the Congress also Subrata manages to make his foes friend and he does not hesitate to join hand with the enemies to get the thing done for him. This is not unethical in any way for him as he feels in politics, you are allowed to do, what reality would demand and that is the way of Subrata’s success as politician. Subrata says he has not done anything wrong in switching over to the TMC and he did it purposely as he felt the situation had so demanded, “Now everybody wants Mamata Banerjee to lead the anti-Marxist forces in Bengal”. Accordingly, he joined hands with Mamata Banerjee and there was nothing wrong in doing so, he felt. “What is our purpose? To dislodge CPM for power and for that matter, what is needed is to strengthen Mamata Banerjee’s hand. And I personally feel all Congress men should have joined hands with her much earlier, Subrata says. “But it is better late than never and now that we all the Congress men have understood that need, it has been better for us, better for Bengal”, he remarked. |
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Panthic parties to jointly fight SAD (B) New Delhi, May 3 Though the Assembly poll in the state are due only early next year, the political outfits have their eyes on the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) elections scheduled to be held in October as well. The task of uniting the panthic parties has been undertaken by the former SGPC chief and the head of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD), Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. The SHSAD chief has held talks with the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), the Democratic Akali Dal and the Panthic Akali Dal. |
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ASSEMBLY POLL ASSAM Guwahati, May 3 Even as political parties use all resources at their disposal to court the voter, the hype and hoopla associated with a state going to the polls are palpably missing in the city. There are four Assembly constituencies within Guwahati, including Dispur where Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta himself is in the fray. The other three seats here are: Guwahati East, Guwahati West, and Jalukbari. The pre-poll promises are all hoax. We do no believe in them, says Arun Baruah, a school teacher, who perhaps echoes the sentiments of hundreds of others. Incessant rain for the past couple of days has only added to the woes of the political parties with campaigning activity getting severely thwarted and also exposing the weaknesses in the basic infrastructure facilities such as drainage and sewerage. Basic development has been completely ignored. Even Guwahati, ranks poorly in terms of fundamental indices of development. There are thousands of unemployed graduates and none of the political parties have come out with a definite plan to tackle the issue, an auto-rickshaw driver, himself a graduate, said. The lack of a viable political alternative also appears to have added to the collective apathy towards the elections. The ruling Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has failed to deliver the goods. On the other hand, the Congress, which had been in power in the state for the best part of past 50 years, does not hold out much promise. And the last-minute pre-poll alliance between the AGP and BJP has only added to the lack of interest of voters, says, Mr Anubhav Dutta, a political analyst based in Guwahati. After week-long deliberations last month, the AGP reached a pre-poll agreement with the BJP under which the BJP would contest 44 seats, and the AGP and its ally, the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), 71 and 11 respectively. It was also agreed that the AGP and the BJP would enter into friendly contests in 10 of the 44 seats allotted to the BJP. The tie-up, however, led to a revolt in the state unit of the BJP with senior leader, Mr Hiryana Kumar Bhattacharya, floating a new party. “I am disgusted with the BJP’s blind surrender to the AGP. We did not build the party from a scratch to hand it over on a platter to Mahanta”, Mr Bhattarchaya said. The party is contesting 60 seats. The Congress, which had won 10 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the 1999 poll, however, has not shown sure signs of consolidation. Voices of dissent have become audible enough, even though there has been no open revolt against the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President (APCC), President, Mr Tarun Gogoi. And if the recent ransacking of the party office in the heart of Guwahati is any indication, Mr Gogoi has a difficult agenda on his hands. These complex political equations, however, may not have helped the cause of the voter much — especially in a city like Guwahati where there is high political awareness and 100 per cent literacy. |
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Campaigning gains momentum in TN Chennai, May 3 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha have been the star campaigners for their respective fronts. The arrival of CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan and CPM general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet has pepped up the AIADMK front’s campaign. But for public meetings of these leaders, there have been no street corner meetings, as the candidates preferred door-to-door campaigning. DMK candidates, instead of going in for big posters and graffiti, have printed booklets, listing their achievements for supplying them to the electorate. Booklets of Karunanidhi’s services, listing out the works done for his Chepauk constituency have been distributed to every house in the constituency. With the Election Commission strictures on expenditure, big posters and buntings are missing. During his campaigning, Mr Karunanidhi has sought to strike an emotional chord with people, saying this was the last election he would be contesting. “Due to my age, I will not be in the fray in the next elections”, the 76-year-old leader, who has never lost an election, tells voters. On the other hand, Jayalalitha, who launched her campaign on the plank of secularism, changed tack, following the rejection of her nominations in four constituencies. She has alleged that the DMK had “hatched a conspiracy” to get her nomination papers rejected. “I prefer to seek justice from the public rather than from DMK government,” she says. However, most of the firepower in her campaign had been lost following Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill’s announcement that the rejection of Jayalalitha’s papers and acceptance of former Kerala Minister R. Balakrishna Pillai’s nomination was according to law. TMC president G.K. Moopanar’s remarks that Jayalalitha could become the Chief Minister, even without being a member of the state assembly, quoting the precedence of late K. Kamaraj, has created a controversy. DMK leaders described the remarks as unfortunate, saying it had lowered the prestige of a great leader.
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INLD to contest poll from west
UP Rattia (Fatehabad), May 3 When mediapersons asked him about his recent interest in the politics of western Uttar Pradesh and his forthcoming public rallies at Kosi and Muzaffarnagar, Mr Chautala said the people of the area, particularly the farmers, had been fighting for the creation of a separate state. He said he has always been an advocate of smaller states as these could ensure better development of the area. He said his party would contest the forthcoming Assembly elections from western Uttar Pradesh. To a question whether the INLD intended to enter into an alliance with a party there or go it alone, Mr Chautala said it would depend on whether any other political party shared the INLD’s stand and stood for the same issues as his party. |
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Repoll ordered in 260 Bihar booths Patna, May 3 The decision to hold the repoll in other districts from where similar complaints had been received would be taken later, the commission sources said today. Districts where the repoll will be held on May 6 are Nalanda (63 booths), Sheohar (5), Bhagalpur (28), Munger (16), Begusarai (6), Supaul (120), Katiha (8) and Khagaria (14). The counting of votes would be taken up only after the repolling was completed, the sources said. Over 75 persons were killed in widespread violence during the six-phase panchayat elections in the state.
PTI |
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Dibrugarh
poll countermanded
Dibrugarh,
May 3 A communique received from
the Election Commission today said that the EC had countermanded and
adjourned the poll to the constituency scheduled for May 10 under
Section 52 of the representation of People’s Act, 1951. PTI |
9 TADA DETAINEES RELEASED ON BAIL KAUL ADDL JUDGE OF DELHI HC FAKE COINS RACKET BUSTED 3 MORE BODIES FISHED OUT OF ALAKNANDA BID TO BLOW UP RLY STATION FOILED 4 JAWANS SUSPENDED FOR CUSTODIAL DEATH LIGHTNING KILLS 9 PERSONS 6 DIE IN ROAD MISHAPS 7 MORE PEACOCKS DIE IN RAJASTHAN |
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