 |
| Saturday,
July 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
Summit
will be a good beginning: Qazi Documentary
proof of Musharraf’s house
Karunanidhi
hospitalised Tamil
film stars’ houses attacked |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malini grilled in Jessica case Key
accused in bank scam held Tehelka
probe: Army officers’ plea rejected Aishwarya
pleads for rhino Shift
capital to Gairsen: UKD Hydroelectric
project in Andamans Centre
to waive part of SEB dues Rajasthan set to check birth
rate PWD refuses
to maintain
BRTF roads Adult
education board result
|
|
Summit will be a
good beginning: Qazi New Delhi, July 6 Mr Qazi, who paid tributes to kisan leader Devi Lal at an ICSSR-organised function here, said the “summit going to be hard work but progress was possible as the two countries were aware of each other’s problems. If the two countries take cognisance of mutual views and begin to trust each other, then solution to problems would not be very difficult, Mr Qazi said. Maintaining that the “differences between the two countries though huge, were not insuperable, “Mr Qazi said the two countries should talk about approaches at the summit. “We should try and understand why we did not make progress in the past,” he said. The High Commissioner said though Mr Vajpayee and Mr Musharraf came from different backgrounds, both were gifted leaders and good communicators. Mr Vajpayee, he said, was among the tallest leaders in the subcontinent for decades, and people from India who had interacted with President Musharraf, had been impressed by his sincerity and frankness. Mr Qazi said the two leaders will have almost one-and-a-half days to themselves in an informal setting which will make communication easier. Hinting that immediate solutions may not be possible, Mr Qazi said the two countries were sharing their problems even if it takes long time to solve them. Making an oblique
reference to the Kashmir issue, he said it would be wrong to ignore the difficult issues as these were the real impediments in the bilateral relations. Asked later if the Pakistan High Commission had invited the Hurriyat leaders for an audience with President Musharraf, Mr Qazi refused to comment. “I am not going to make any statement,” he told The Tribune. Lauding the work being done by the Indian Council of Social Science Reaserch (ICSSR) to improve interaction between people of the two countries, Mr Qazi said ICSSR was preparing the basis for a new era in Indo-Pak relations. The ICSSR has invited about 50 social scientists from Pakistan as part of the groundwork being done for making the Agra summit
successful. |
|
Pak High Commissioner meets BJP
chief New Delhi, July 6 Talking to reporters after the 45-minute-long meeting, Mr Krishnamurthi said: “We agreed that both sides should take up confidence-building measures for creating a conducive atmosphere”. Mr Qazi, however, declined to elaborate on his talks with the BJP chief saying; “I called on Mr Krishnamurthi to pay my regards”. Both, however, avoided reference to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s letter to Hurriyat Chairman Abdul Ghani Bhat expressing his desire to meet the leaders of the 36-party separatist conglomerate. Over the past few weeks, Mr Qazi has been meeting leaders of different political parties. He has already called on Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav, CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury, CPI General Secretary A.B. Bardhan and BSP leader Mayawati. Mr Qazi was full of praise for the arrangements being made by India for General Musharraf’s visit to Agra, Jaipur and Ajmer. “We are grateful for this”, he said. |
|
Documentary
proof of Musharraf’s house New Delhi, July 6 The 1946 “taqseem-nama” or partition deed of the 24,817 square feet mansion, where Gen Musharraf was born belonged to his great-grand father Qazi
Motamusaddin, who had three sons and two daughters, one of whom was Musharraf’s grandmother Amina
Khatoon. According to the partition deed, available with the one of the occupants of the
haveli, the Gola family, who also has the blueprint of the haveli as it existed in 1946, Musharraf’s grandmother Amina Khatoon owned portion five of the
mansion. Syed Nazim Ali Nizami, the ‘gaddi-nashin’ or in-charge of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia shrine in Delhi, who has translated the deed written in chaste Urdu, says that the deed has the signature of Gen Musharraf’s father, Musharaffuddin whose mother is described as a widow in the document. According to
Nizami, Musharraf’s grandmother and her sister Syeda Khatoon lived in adjacent portions five and six of the property that was divided into eight portions. The other portions were held by the three brothers of Amina Khatoon — Qazi Motamuddin Ahmed Tahir (who was blind) (portions one and eight), Qazi Mohd Nizamuddin (portion two) and Qazi Moizuddin Ahmed (3 and 7). While there is no trace of the descendants of Musharraf’s grand uncles, who lived in the area, today there is no discernible part of portions one, two and three. The 1966 sales deed of portions four, five and part of six, now under the occupancy of the Gola family, says that the said portions were the property of Husna Begum, who was the daughter of Syeda Begum, Musharaffuddin’s aunt. It is held that
Musharaffuddin, who had signed the partition deed as his father died in November 1946, gave away his portion of the property to his cousin sister before migrating to Pakistan. According to Sandeep
Gola, whose father Premchand Gola purchased the house from one Subhas Chander
Nishat, who signed the 1966 sales deed which has the signatures of Husna
Begum. Husna Begum, a resident of Meerut city, according to the papers was a lecturer at Meerut City College, says
Gola, showing the property papers that are now the possession of the Gola family, which claims to be the real owners of the portions of the
haveli, and “where it is most likely that Gen Pervez Musharraf was born.” The General was less than five years old, when his father is supposed to have migrated to Pakistan. it is undertaking, the Golas point out that the family seemed to be pretty educated as few of the signatures, including those of
Musharaffuddin, in the partion deed are in English. PTI |
|
Jinnah House may become Pak consulate Mumbai, July 6 Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has expressed himself in favour of setting up the Pakistan consulate at this quaint landmark perched majestically on the posh Malabar Hill in south
Mumbai. The mansion with the postal address of No. 2, Bhausaheb Hirey Marg (formerly Mount Pleasant Road), is located opposite to the official residence of the Maharashtra Chief Minister. It was proposed to be rented out to Pakistan for housing the consulate way back in 1977-78 by the then Janata Party government at the Centre. However, the plan was hastily dropped in the wake of a sharp public outcry. The building, which has been under the care of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations
(ICCR) since February 1997, is guarded by sentries and not open to tourists. Believed to have been built brick-by-brick under the personal supervision of Barrister Jinnah who was a practising advocate at the Bombay Presidency High Court, the mansion has a built-up area of 1,694 sq metres and a garden spread over 4,358 sq
metres. An intangible pre-independence era old world charm pervades the majestic structure. The momentous
Gandhi-Jinnah talks were held here and a host of nationalist leaders, including Pt Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose were among the distinguished visitors. Mrs Jinnah had also hosted many an elegant party in the premises. Historian Sharda
Diwedi, talking to mediapersons here, said, “It is a beautiful colonial bungalow-style home overlooking the Arabian sea”. It is listed grade II-A type building (very very important). “Jinnah stayed here till Partition, before moving to Pakistan”, she added. Famous British architect Claude Barley was involved in the construction of the mansion. After Partition, it served as the residence of the British Deputy High Commissioner. The building, constructed at a cost of Rs 2 lakh, had been lying vacant since 1982 after the British Deputy High Commissioner moved out. It was then transferred to the Central Public Works Department
(CPWD), before being entrusted to the ICCR some four years ago. Says Teesta
Setalvad, Editor of “Communalism Combat” who is striving for Indo-Pakistan friendship, “We have to live with the reality of Pakistan. If we want friendship, we need cultural exchanges. For this, a consulate in Mumbai is a must. And Jinnah House will serve that purpose”.
UNI |
|
‘Dargah darwaja’ to be opened for Pervez? Jaipur, July 6 The Dewan of the Dargah who calls himself a direct descendent of Khwaja Sahib had proposed that the “zannati darwaja” should be opened for General Musharraf. But the Anjuman Syedzadgan has strongly opposed the suggestion. Anjuman is the representative body of “Khadims” of the Dargah Sharif. The Anjuman registered its protest to Dewan’s suggestion today when the foreign ministry officials visited the shrine along with the local police and district officials. The “zannati darwaja” is opened only four times in a year during Khawaja’s Urs, on Id-ul-Fitar, Sixth of Id and Bakrid. It is considered by faithfuls that one who passes through the “zannati darwaja” gets his seat reserved in “Zannat” (heaven) after death. Moreover seven rounds of the “Darwaja” gives “sawab” equal to Haj pilgrim. Those who cannot afford to go for Haj come here when the “darwaja” traditionally remains open and pass through it seven times. This is called poor men’s Haj. S.F. Hassan Chisty, Gaddi Nashin of the Khwaja says that the “Darwaja” was not opened even when the late Zia-ul-Haq had come to visit the Dargah Sharif when he was President of Pakistan. Nor the gate was opened when Benazir Bhutto came for “ziarat”. He says that even for our own Prime Ministers like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi the “darwaja” was not opened. “How can a departure be made now during General Musharraf’s visit?” he asks. |
|
Stalin granted bail Chennai, July 6 “The way in which the complaint has been lodged, FIR registered and time taken to decide the arrests, without examining witnesses and not interrogating them after their arrest would go to show that the FIR had been lodged with an ulterior motive and meant to put them behind bars immediately,” Principal Sessions Judge Ashok Kumar said, in his order, granting bail. The Judge directed the accused to furnish a personal bond for Rs 10,000 each with two sureties for like amounts and to present themselves before his court every Monday. As regards Stalin, Judge Ashok Kumar held that since the Crime Branch-CID could not interrogate him as he had surrendered, the investigating agency, if it wanted to interrogate him, should issue him a notice a day earlier specifying the place and time for his appearance. Two counsel of his choice should be permitted to accompany him, the Judge said. He said his directions regarding Stalin were given keeping in mind how Mr Karunanidhi was treated at the time of his arrest, over which a controversy was going on. Stalin, the prime accused in the “Rs 12-crore scam”, had surrendered before the Judge on June 30 and was remanded in judicial custody till July 10. He has been lodeged in the Madurai prison. Mr Karunanidhi, an accused in the “scam”, was also arrested on June 30. He was released on July 4.
PTI |
|
Karunanidhi
hospitalised Chennai, July 6 He would undergo several tests at the hospital, his personal physician Dr Gopal said. Meanwhile, a press statement from Apollo Hospital said, Mr Karunanidhi’s condition was stable.
UNI |
|
Tamil film stars’
houses attacked Chennai, July 6 The house of popular Tamil actor and DMK star campaigner Saratkumar at Kottivakkam was stoned early this morning. Rocks were also thrown at the residences of actress Vijayshanthi and comedian S.S. Chandran, who had spoken in favour of the AIADMK after Mr Karunanidhi’s arrest. Saratkumar had condemned the recent arrest of former Chief Minister through a private television channel. This is the second time that his house had been targeted, the first instance being just after the Assembly elections. His wife Radhika, also an actress, said she would submit a petition to the Governor regarding the continuing attacks. The police suspect the involvement of AIADMK activists in the incident. On the other hand, Ms Vijayshanthi, a BJP leader, had justified the arrest. In a similar incident late last night, the residence of AIADMK platform-speaker, Mr Gundukalyanam, was also targeted.
UNI |
|
Malini grilled in Jessica case New Delhi, July 6 Daughter of socialite Bina Ramani, Malini was today recalled by the court for further cross-examination which began yesterday in the court of Additional Sessions Judge H.R. Malhotra. Malini was grilled by the defence counsel for nearly three hours today.
UNI |
|
Key accused in bank scam held New Delhi, July 6 Vardarajalu alias M.V. Raja, alias MVR, who was absconding for the past four years, was nabbed on July 4 by the French authorities following a tip off by CBI’s Interpol wing, a CBI spokesperson told newspersons here today. He was produced before the Magistrate at Nanterre in France yesterday and placed in detention pending extradition to India. The CBI will soon send the necessary extradition papers by diplomatic channels to the General Public Prosecutor Office in France for the extradition of the accused, he said. Detailing about the arrest, he said, “We had information that Vardarajalu was residing in Paris under an assumed name for the past few months. We passed on the information through the Interpol network and the Paris authorities immediately swung into action and nabbed him.” The MVR Group, floated by
Vardarajalu, is one of the major defaulters in the Indian Bank scam which caused a total loss of more than Rs 1,300 crores during the tenure of the then Chairman-cum-Managing Director M
Gopalakrishnan, he said. The CBI had issued a red corner notice through the Interpol against
Vardarajalu, who hails from Thiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu and has a permanent resident status in Singapore under Indian passport, on November 18, 1998. His Indian passport has since been cancelled. “We will now seek his
(Vardarajalu’s) extradition to India and we are sure that the French authorities will expedite it quickly,” the spokesman said. A total number of 13 cases involving 15 companies in India and three companies in Singapore have been registered by the CBI against the MVR Group of Companies and out of these 13 cases, the investigating agency has filed chargesheets in 10 cases which are under trial at Chennai and
Bangalore. Three cases are still under investigation. Since the CBI took up the cases against the MVR Group of Companies in 1997, Vardarajalu fled from Singapore where he was staying at that time and was also frequent visitor to India. After his escape from Singapore the CBI was on trail and a red corner notice was issued in 1998. Since then he has been travelling under assumed names to the countries like Dubai, Hong Kong, Thailand, Netherlands, etc on different passports. The spokesman said the CBI investigators have also mustered evidence about Varadarajalu’s nexus with the then Indian Bank Chairman-cum-Managing Director
Gopalakrishnan. |
|
Tehelka
probe: Army officers’ plea rejected New Delhi, July 6 Col Sehgal through his counsel had sought exemption from appearance before the commission in the light of the Army’s ongoing proceedings against him and some other officers in the Tehelka scandal. Commission Chairman Justice K. Venkataswami also rejected the pleas by Maj-Gen (retd.) S.P. Murgai, Lieut-Col (retd.) V P Sayal and P. Sasi for the supply of unedited video and audio tapes and transcripts and copies of affidavits filed by other notices. On the application by Col Seghal for protection under Article 20 (3) of the Constitution and exemption from deposing before the commission, Justice Venkataswami in his order said the “prayer is premature, if not misconceived.” The Article states that a person who is accused of any offence may not be compelled to be a witness against himself. On the unedited tapes, the commission said “it is premature and to a certain extent anticipates the issuance of notice under Section 8-B of the Commission of Inquiry
Act.” |
|
Aishwarya
pleads for rhino Mumbai, July 6 The beauty queen has written a letter to Mr David Laylin, president of Speedtech Instruments, Virginia, asking him to refrain from selling his black rhino for use in “canned” hunting outside a ranch in Johannesburg. “I am writing..... to ask you neither to sell Baixinha, an endangered rhino in South Africa, to a hunter so that she can be killed and have her head mounted on a wall nor hold her hostage for money,” she said in her letter. “The slaughter of an animal so magnificient and rare would be a terrible tragedy. Making it even more tragic is the fact that Baixinha is tame. She has no fear of humans and even takes food from a child’s hand. How horrible to contemplate betraying this gentle animal’s misplaced trust in humans,” the letter added.
PTI |
|
Shift capital to
Gairsen: UKD Uttarkashi, July 6 The president of the party, Mr Diwakar Bhatt, while addressing a public meeting held at Hanuman Chowk here today insisted upto the imposition of Article 371 in the state. Describing the BJP government as incompetent, he declared that an agitation would be launched within a month against the government’s failure to implement land-ceiling laws. Alleging that the land mafia was making inroads into the state in a big way, Mr Bhatt said the government was extending support to them. The dreams of the people were being betrayed, he claimed. He demanded that the capital of the state should be shifted to Gairsen and that the delimitation of Assembly constituencies be done on the basis of geographical area and the 1971
census. |
|
Hydroelectric
project in Andamans New Delhi, July 6 The unit has been temporarily connected to the local grid. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) completed the project 16 months ahead of schedule. Commissioning of the project would minimise the use of diesel for power generation, the NHPC said. |
|
Centre
to waive part of SEB dues New Delhi, July 6 As per the new formula bonds will be issued for the remaining amount. The decision was taken at the Empowered Group of Chief Ministers here today which was Chaired by the Union Power Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu. The meeting was attended by Union Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha, Power Minister Suresh Prabhu, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission K.C. Pant, Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Energy Ministers of Rajasthan and West Bengal. |
|
Rajasthan set to check birth
rate Sriganganagar, July 6 In this context, the state government has directed the health authorities to initiate the necessary measures on a war footing so that the birth rate is brought down to 68 per cent by 2016. According to sources, the medical infrastructure is set to be revamped to provide better facilities. Stress has been laid on developing facilities at the primary level in the state so that women can easily avail of pre-natal, post-natal treatment and better childcare facilities. Increased awareness about birth control and easy availability of medical-termination-of-pregnancy facility too have been
emphasised by the government. Stress is being laid on improving the pre-natal services to 90 per cent, MTPs by 75 per cent and other related services by 50 per cent by 2010. At present, the scenario is dismal with the state providing pre-natal services (11. 6 per cent), immunisation (43 per cent), distribution of tablets among pregnant women (49 per cent). Other allied facilities are almost non-existent, the sources pointed out. Providing all these facilities is a tall order, but there are no alternatives. According to 1997 estimates, the state has a pregnancy rate of 4. 11 per cent, birth rate of 32. 1 per cent, incidence of family planning (38. 5 per cent), death rate ( 8. 9 per cent) and infant morality rate (85 per cent). The aim is to bring these rates to 2.1 per cent, 18. 4 per cent, 68 per cent, 7 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively. Confronted with such a daunting task, the authorities are trying hard to initiate the measures which will not only require great administrative acumen but adequate resources as well, which, given the precarious financial position of the state, are hard to come by. But the clock is ticking and officials estimate that there is little they can do to stop the state’s population from crossing the 6 crore mark by 2003. The state has inadequate resources to meet the ever-increasing demands. The state is facing the third consecutive drought and crops have failed in most of the districts. The steps to be initiated in this regard include increasing the literacy rate and spreading awareness about the consequences of child marriage. The parents of the bride and groom will be asked not to go in for such marriages. This too is a daunting task since a survey in 1993 revealed that only 20 per cent of the people surveyed knew that child marriage was illegal, besides being harmful for the health of the couple, the sources said. The target now is to reach 80 per cent of the population with new awareness campaigns by 2005. Besides this, the focus will also be to increase the age of the bride to 18 years from the present 15 years by 2010. Better emergency facilities will be provided and the stress will on educating and imparting training to midwives in all the villages of the state by 2016. The infant mortality rate too will be tackled by vast immunisation campaigns which will be increased from the present 38 per cent to almost 90 per cent by 2007. |
|
PWD refuses
to maintain
BRTF roads Hanumangarh, July 6 About three years ago, the BRTF had asked the PWD to take the responsibility of the Hanumangarh-Pakka Sarna-Padampur road (50 km approx), Hanumangarh bypass (11 km), the Bhadra bypass road (4 km) and the Hanumangarh-Malout road (55 km), but the department did not respond, officials of the BRTF said. On the Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh areas, there had been a heavy rush of Army vehicles, so the federation had laid down roads there, but because of increase in civil traffic on these roads, Army vehicles no longer ply on these roads. |
|
Adult education
board result New Delhi, July 6 According to an information released by the Board, 18,000 candidates out of the 25,000 who took the examination conducted in 23 centres all over the country have passed. |
 |
| 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 | |
