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| Thursday, July 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
EC likely
to visit Punjab Beevi’s
letter: Cong objects to leakage Mamata is
Cong ‘friend’ till she rejoins NDA |
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Nine
Manipur parties form anti-truce forum Hearing
on Prabhakar’s bail plea adjourned
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Jessica case: another witness turns
hostile Spurious
medicine unit unearthed Flamingos
flock to Ana Sagar lake VHP:
India needs ‘divine conspiracy’ First
eco-friendly housing society Forgotten
glory of Southwood 2.4
crore cases to be disposed of in 5 yrs Breach
of vow to marry ‘amounts to cheating’ 2 get
life term for girl’s abduction Jailed
for keeping 3-yr-old as surety RITES
gets new MD BJP to set up village power
centres Govt
employees’ body to start stir
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EC likely to visit Punjab New Delhi, July 4 His visit will be finalised after he holds a threadbare discussion on the issue with the Chief Electoral Officer of the state, commission sources said here today. With elections due in March 2002, the Punjab Government has already speeded up the process of issuing voter identity cards to the left out electorate. According to information available from the commission, Punjab has issued voter identity cards to 11,241,744 voters as on May 14, 2001, which is 72.03 per cent of the total electorate. The Election Commission has already made it very clear that future assembly elections and the general election will be on electronic voting machines and compulsory identification of voters will be a must either through the voter identity cards or other identification documents approved by the Election Commission. Last week, Mr Tandon had visited Himachal Pradesh and had reviewed the status of issue of voter identity cards and revision/cleansing of electoral rolls there. The Himachal Pradesh Government has so far issued 26,51,217 voter identity cards and has speeded up the process of cleansing the electoral rolls of dead, absent and non-resident voters. During the current year, the Chief Electoral Officer of Himachal Pradesh has initiated yet another move to cleanse the electoral rolls further by deleting the names of the electorate having dual or multiple registration. So far, the Election Department of Himachal Pradesh has identified about 45,000 such electorate through a computer software in respect of four districts — Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti, sources said. Mr Tandon during his visit had expressed happiness over the progress made by the state Election Commission in getting rid of dead, absent and non-resident voters and asked it to explore the possibility of having common electoral rolls for assembly and panchayat elections, sources said. Meanwhile, the Election Commission has made considerable progress on the delimitation of constituencies in the newly formed Uttaranchal and seat adjustments in Uttar Pradesh, where elections are due by early next year, even as it awaits approval from the Union Home Ministry of the five names forwarded by the Uttaranchal Government for inclusion as associate members in the delimitation committee. |
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Beevi’s letter: Cong
objects to leakage New Delhi, July 4 Asserting that the report was a “confidential document” which is sent to the President with its copies only to the Prime Minister and Home Minister, Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, former Governor of Uttar Pradesh, wondered how union ministers could be “discussing and showing” the report in public. The meeting, which would be attended by about 12 Congressmen who have been governors, would discuss the entire episode leading to removal of Ms Fathima Beevi. The party had opposed the Centre’s decision to recall the Governor. Party insiders say the Congress was not only exercised over the removal of the Governor but about the manner in which important institutions were being taken lightly by the NDA government. The party is of the view that it was wrong on the part of the Centre to hold the Governor “responsible” for the actions of the state government. The issue of whether the Centre could ask the Governor to file a time-bound report and if the Governor could do anything more than relying on the state government machinery for her own report would also come up for discussion. The view in the party is that a Governor heading a state with an elected government had a very limited role as per the laid down norms and the Constitution. Objecting to the comments of Law Minister Arun Jaitley in which he had compared the reports of the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary and the then state Governor and had termed them as identical, the Congress leaders say that this was unprecedented. They say the report of the Governor could not even be tabled in the Cabinet meeting and only a note on it could be sent. Congress leaders say the government could perhaps refer to the Governor’s report in its comments but to disclose its contents amounted to breach of all conventions and norms. The party will decide tomorrow if it will approach the President on the issue. Mr Vora today had an informal discussion with about seven former governors. Tomorrow’s meeting is expected to be attended by 12 former governors, including Mr Arjun Singh, Mr Mahabir Prasad, Mr Bali Ram Bhagat, Dr Karan Singh, Mr Khursheed Alam Khan, Ms Chandrawati, Mr Mohammad Shafi Qureshi and Mr A.R. Kidwai. |
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Mamata is Cong
‘friend’ till she rejoins NDA New Delhi, July 4 Reacting to conflicting reports about Ms Banerjee having severed her ties with the state Congress, party spokesman Jaipal Reddy said that till Ms Banerjee forged links with the NDA, the party would treat her as a friend. He said the Congress had two objectives in mind while deciding on an alliance with the Trinamool Congress. While the objective of keeping the “communal forces” at bay had been achieved, that of fighting the CPM could not be achieved, Mr Reddy said. |
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Nine Manipur parties form anti-truce forum Imphal, July 4 The parties are the BJP, Samata Party, Janata Dal (U), Janata Dal, Janata Party, Manipur State Congress Party (Nipamacha), Manipur State Congress Party (Chaoba), Federal Party of Manipur and the NCP. Mr Haobam Bhuban Singh, senior JP leader and MLA, was elected the forum’s chairman, Mr Sharma said in a statement. The forum would act as a coordinator of various organisations and groups demanding the immediate withdrawal of the ceasefire from the state and its line of action would be declared soon, he said. Two representatives from each party would be included in the executive committee of the forum, he added. Meanwhile, the anti-ceasefire stir today spread to West Imphal district, with over 10,000 protesters holding a rally defying prohibitory orders. The rallyists, including Nagas and Kukis, held a public meeting at Konthoujam, near here, and pledged to “protect Manipur territory at all costs”, official sources said. At Khwairamband, over 5,000 women vendors shouted slogans even as security forces kept a watchful eye on them, the sources said. Large-scale protests were also reported from different areas of the state during the curfew relaxation period, the sources said. Meanwhile, welcoming the Naga ceasefire extension to Manipur, peace rallies were organised in four hill districts of Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul today. The rallies started around 11 a.m. at the respective district headquarters and ended at noon time. The marches were organised under the directive of the United Naga Council.
PTI, UNI |
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Hearing
on Prabhakar’s bail plea adjourned Dehra Dun, July 4 “Both courts, which are hearing bail pleas of Manoj Prabhakar in the chit fund scam have adjourned the hearing till tomorrow,” a police spokesman said. Counsel of Prabhakar pleaded in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate of Nainital and that of Judicial Magistrate of Haldwani that the former cricketer be given bail keeping in view his health. Meanwhile the Indore police has sent a team to Haldwani to bring Manoj Prabhakar for questioning in connection with a chit fund case registered in June here, a report from Indore said. The City Superintendent of Police, Indore, Virendra Singh, told PTI that the team will seek permission from the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Haldwani and a transit warrant, to arrest and bring back Prabhakar. Prabhakar, arrested on Monday, is now in judicial custody. The Indore police had filed an FIR against Prabhakar and three others on June 5, 2000, on the complaint of Shreyas Singhal that the four had duped him of over Rs 1 lakh.
PTI |
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India, Portugal sign pact
on ocean sciences New Delhi, July 4 They were signed in Lisbon today after talks between the two delegations headed by the Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, and his Portuguese counterpart, Prof Jose Mariano
Gago. The significant aspect was the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two ministers for cooperation in ocean sciences and technology. Considering the importance of the oceans and their resources to the present and future generations of mankind and the need to develop sustainable marine and coastal development based on a better scientific understanding of oceans and seas, the two sides identified a number of areas for collaboration. These include ocean energy, ocean dynamics and
modelling, oceanographic multi-disciplinary studies, remote sensing for ocean observation, environmental quality, pollution and contamination processes, integrated coastal zone management, marine and eco-sensitive coastal areas, underwater instrumentation, remotely operable autonomous vehicles and systems for underwater exploration, exploitation and scientific research, marine living and on-living resources as well as seabed mining. The two sides will establish a joint committee on ocean sciences headed by co-Chairmen from both sides. The committee will adopt procedures for its operation and meet regularly to review the progress. The MoU also paves the way for exchange of scientists, research workers and specialists. Scientific and technical information and documentation will also be exchanged between the two sides. They will also develop joint research programmes and projects for implementation. Dr Joshi and Professor Gago also signed a programme of cooperation in the field of science and technology for the years 2001-02, in pursuance of the agreement concluded in New Delhi in December, 1998. The areas of cooperation broadly identified include computer software and applications, cellular and molecular biology, biotechnology, physical and material sciences and ocean science and
technology. |
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Jessica case: another witness turns hostile New Delhi, July 4 After three star witnesses, Mr Shyan Munshi, Mr Shiv Das and Mr Karan Rajput, who turned hostile earlier last month, Mr Sagar also today followed them by going contrary to his statement, during the testimony in the case, which he had given to the police in May, 1999. Deposing before the Additional Sessions Judge H.R.
Malhotra, Mr Sagar retracted from his earlier statement that he had seen all accused, including the main accused Mr Manu Sharma, who allegedly shot ramp model Jessica
Lal, during the party on the intervening night of April 29-30, 1999. UNI |
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Spurious
medicine unit unearthed New Delhi, July 4 The manufacturing unit of medicines was owned by Devraj Pradhan in the name of D.K. Laboratories. A total of 13 machines were installed in the unit. Devraj Pradhan has been arrested, the police said. The police seized two trucks of medicines from different godowns in Bhagirath Palace. The spurious medicines of Nise, Alprax, Althrocin, and Crocin were seized. The other suspects were identified as Arun Jain, Tanesh Kumar and Deepak Kumar, the police said, adding that more arrests were likely. The medicines were seized following a complaint made to the North district police by the Indian Pharmaceutical Association. A decoy customer was sent to Neeraj Surgical Store at Bhagirath Palace. A deal was struck for spurious medicines worth Rs 1,000, the price of the original
medicine being Rs 10,000. The decoy customer was told that the medicines would be delivered near Moti Cinema. The medicines were delivered by Deepak Kumar, who was arrested by the police. His interrogation led to the arrest of other suspects and recovery of spurious medicines, the police said. |
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Flamingos
flock to Ana Sagar lake Jaipur, July 4 Though flamingos have been visiting the lake in the past too, usually they arrive in the winter. This time they arrived in June when the summer was at its peak and monsoon rains had begun. Monsoon generally arrives in Rajasthan in the first week of July. Explaining this rare phenomenon of arrival of flamingos in large number in summer, wildlife photographer Subhash Bhargava says these birds are generally seen in Gujarat during this time of the year but because of lack of water this year, they have opted for other areas where there is enough water and food. Ana Sagar is one such place, according to him. Another wildlife lover, Suraj Ziddi, says that flamingos can be seen mostly in salt-producing areas like Sambhar, Deedwana, etc. This time these birds have
arrived early and, for lack of water in their usual halting places, have opted for places like Suratgarh and Ana Sagar in Ajmer. Since the rains have arrived in Rajasthan, the flamingos are now expected to move on to Sambhar and Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur. |
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VHP: India needs ‘divine conspiracy’ New Delhi, July 4 A “divine conspiracy” is needed to ward off these threats, VHP working president Ashok Singhal said at a function here. Christian leader Thimpu Walson said religion, which should be a binding force, was being used to divide people. |
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First eco-friendly housing society Kolkata, July 4 The Centre has given nod to the project which will use solar power to light up its households. Agency Director S.P. Gon Choudhury yesterday said the detailed project report of the country’s first such venture which would make provisions for
channeling the effluent from the households into a treatment plant for re-use, would soon be ready. While as per initial estimates, Rs 15 lakh was expected to be spent to set up every house of the cluster, 15 per cent of the expenses would be borne by the Centre, Mr Choudhury said. He said every roof of the housing society would have one solar panel which would, in turn, generate two kilowatts of power. Asked on other eco-friendly plans of the agency within or near the metropolis, Mr Choudhury said about 25 autorickshaws fitted with solar rechargeable panels would soon ply within the Salt Lake area.
PTI |
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Forgotten
glory of Southwood Mussoorie, July 4 Reduced to the status of a CPWD guest house today, Southwood Estate was the home of Abbas Tayyabji, a freedom fighter who was second in command to Gandhi during the Dandi March. Spread over more than an acre, it became the hub of political activity in the years that he spent here. Important leaders such as Moti Lal Nehru, Gandhi and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad met Tayyabji frequently at Southwood which has been a CPWD guest house for the past several decades now. On June 9, when the 65th death anniversary of Tayyabji was observed in Mussoorie where he spent the last years of his life before he died in 1936, his home continued to check in its guests. “It is unfortunate that nobody has tried to do anything about the place, which should be a national monument, but is just a run-of-the-mill guest house which people visit without any knowledge about its glorious history,” says
Paripoornan and Painuli, a freedom fighter and former MP. “This is a fit case to be raised in Parliament,” says Mr Painuli, who is the president of the Uttarakhand Freedom Fighters Forum. Born in Baroda on February 1, 1854, Tayyabji was barely 10 when he topped his matriculation. He grew up to become the first Indian barrister. Fifteen years after Tayyabji’s death, the estate was handed over to the President of India by Tayyabji’s daughter, Sharifa, who wanted her father’s home to be used for lodging important national leaders. The President of India was made the trustee through an instrument of a deed. How and why it was turned into a CPWD guest house is anybody’s guess. “We are taking up the issue with the Union Urban Development Ministry,” says Mr Painuli. “A memorial must be constructed in the place and the house preserved as a heritage building.’’ Neglect on the part of the CPWD has led to the deterioration of the condition of the estate over the decades. Southwood is located in one of the most beautiful wooded areas of the hill resort. Tayyabji retired in 1913 as Chief Justice of the high court. He was married to Amina Begum, daughter of his uncle Badruddin Tayyabji. Abbas Tayyabji worked hard for the uplift of the downtrodden and contributed greatly towards education of girls.
UNI |
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2.4 crore cases to be disposed of in 5
yrs New Delhi, July 4 Sources in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs told TNS here today that the government planned to set up 1,734 fast track courts throughout the country. Of these, 1300 would be functional by March 2002. Sources said priority would be given to trial of cases of petty offences. This had been prioritised because the government spent about Rs 361 crore every year on 1,80,000 undertrials. The fasttrack courts would also try cases of murder and heinous offences which had 70,000 undertrials. Sources said 182 fast-track courts had started functioning in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and 36 would be set up in Gujarat before August 15. While undivided Uttar Pradesh had the dubious distinction of the highest number of pending cases at 3.2 million, Gujarat had three million pending cases, followed by Maharashtra (2.5 million). Under the action plan to clear the pending cases, Rs 25 crore, Rs 54.08 crore and Rs 70.22 crore had been sanctioned for Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, during 2000-2005. Sources said the Gujarat High Court had been given instructions for setting up 36 fast-track courts before August 15. |
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Breach
of vow to marry
‘amounts to cheating’ New Delhi, July 4 Holding that “breach of promise to marry amounts to cheating”, Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau in a recent judgement found a diploma engineer working with New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) Dharam Singh guilty of cheating. She said, “The offence of cheating in cases of inducement on account of promise to marry is applicable to both men and women equally and it is also in public interest to declare such an act as criminal in order to safeguard the interest of the persons so deceived who are mostly youths”. The woman, also an NDMC employee, had complained against the engineer in 1988 alleging that he had sexually abused her on the promise of marrying her and extracted Rs 8,000 from her on the plea of pursuing higher studies. Referring to the physical relation between the lady and the engineer, the judge said, “He induced the complainant to do an act, which otherwise she would not have done”. While convicting Dharam Singh for house trespassing, theft and inducement, the judge said the quantum of sentence would be pronounced on July 7. While accusing Dharam Singh of getting her pregnancy terminated twice, the complainant had said the accused and his friend had come to her house to threaten her and decamped with money and jewellery.
PTI |
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2 get life term for
girl’s abduction New Delhi, July 4 Additional Sessions Judge
R.K. Gauba, in his order, held Ajay, alias Satranjan, and his brother Vijay, guilty of abducting the minor
girl. Mr Gauba also slapped a fine of Rs 400 on each of them for the offence. He rejected the defence plea that the accused were falsely implicated as they were demanding their wages from the father of the girl, Mr Santosh
Aggarwal, who has a hosiery business. Mr Gauba said: “It is unbelievable that a father would involve his toddler in a case of such serious implications, only to save money in the range of around Rs
10,000.” Richa was abducted on February 21, 1999, while playing in a park near her South Delhi residence. The police has registered a case of abduction at Kalkaji police station and launched a hunt to trace the accused. However, two days later, Richa’s father, Mr
Aggarwal, received a telephone call from the accused, demanding Rs 10 lakh as ransom. The girl was recovered by the police from a place near
Nainital. The police had also recovered a countrymade revolver from the accused.
UNI |
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Jailed
for keeping 3-yr-old as surety Balangir (Orissa), July 4 According to the Superintendent of Police, Mr R.K. Sharma, the loan was taken for the medial treatment of the toddler’s father Shyamlal Tandi of Kundabudulu village in this drought-hit Orissa district a few months ago with the money-lender Ram Prasad Mangaraj taking away their child as surety. The mother has recently taken back her daughter from Mangaraj after her husband repaid Rs 1,500. But the money-lender of Mamia village under Bangomunda block later insisted that the girl be given back to his as the loan has not been repaid in full. Mangaraj even pressurised Shyamlal’s father-in-law to get the child back, the SP said. Shyamlal then submitted a petition to the District Collector alleging harassment of his family by the money-lender. On the basis of an FIR lodged by Shyamlal, a case under various Sections of the IPC and the CrPC was registered against Mangaraj. He was subsequently arrested and presented before a court which remanded him in judicial custody.
PTI |
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RITES gets new MD New Delhi, July 4 A press release issued by RITES here today said Mr Mishra had been the Executive Director of the company. He has piloted the export of railway rolling stock to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tanzania, Vietnam, Myanmar and the USA. He has undertaken the technical upgradation and management assistance to foreign railway systems, including Zambia, Egypt, Nepal, Cambodia and Tunisia. As Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Mr Mishra undertook the detailed engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning of machinery, plant and equipment of a new state-of the-art rail coach manufacturing workshop. |
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BJP to set up village power
centres Hanumangarh, July 4 The scheme, which is on an experiment basis, will be launched from Rajasthan and if the results were favourable it would be introduced in other parts of the country. This was stated by the district BJP president, Mr Ram Krishan
Bakhar, in a press conference here last evening. Mr Bhakhar said the scheme would be started from Hanumangarh and in a week’s time the centres would be opened in 29 district council zones of the district. He said 251 rural units of all three panchayat samitis of the district would work under these
centres, which would be controlled by 14 circles. Mr Bhakhar said at a training camp of the party held on April 22, 23 this year under the supervision of Mr Narendra
Modi, national Secretary of the party, a broad discussion was held on strengthening the rural units. He said during the discussions it was revealed that the information about the policies and other programmes of the party was not reaching lower levels. Considering this view a decision was taken to establish a four-level organisation set up by opening village power centres with district councils as base. He said presidents would be appointed in the respective zones and other members would include poling agents of the party in the last elections, a party member of the district council or candidate of last elections, member of panchayat
samiti, sarpanch concerned and the rural unit president. Mr Bhakhar said if the scheme proved to be a success, it would be launched in all parts of the country. He said with the introduction of this scheme, problems which were earlier faced because of the bigger size of circles would be solved and representatives from panchayati raj institutions would also be given responsibility in the organisation. |
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Govt employees’ body to start stir New Delhi, July 4 Talking about the meeting of the federation here, Mr Verma said the members complained of “saffronisation” of government employees’ organisations in the states where the BJP was in power. They also complained of victimisation of the employees’ leaders in several states. |
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