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| Tuesday,
July 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Kerala
Opposition stages walkout KASHMIRI SIKHS-IV Abdul Khan
left disappointed Arya
Samajis pray for peace |
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Begum
Sehba dazzled by Agra Fort Begum
visits Shahjahan’s cell
Bandh
against truce extension hits life Maneka:
funds for SCs underutilised Workshop
on ‘access for all’ Centre
dedicated to Devi Lal
Stalin’s
aide commits suicide with family Leakage in ONGC
pipeline Haryana
farmer gets award Who
will tame kala-azar in Bihar? 8.77 cr
for drinking water scheme
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Kerala Opposition stages walkout Thiruvananthapuram, July 16 They also shouted slogans against Speaker Vakkom Purushothaman during the sit-in for about 15 minutes at the entrance to the Assembly hall. The trouble began during the Zero Hour when CPM member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, rising on a point of order, complained that contrary to the general practice, the Chair today allotted the two calling attention motions to the ruling front members — Mr V.K. Ebrahim Kunju and Mr P.T. Thomas, both of the Congress. The usual practice was to allot one of the two calling attention motions taken up during the Zero Hour to the Opposition. He pointed out that this practice was followed even when the Congress had just nine members in the 140-member Assembly in 1967. Mr Balakrishnan also complained that the Chair allotted to the Opposition only two of the six submissions allowed today. Mr Vakkom Purushothaman dismissed Mr Kodiyeri’s contention and defended his action. In this context, the Speaker pointed out that on February 24 and March 12, 1981, when the CPM-led government was in power, both calling attention motions were allotted to the ruling front members. Therefore, there was nothing wrong in his action. The Speaker said the calling attention motion was allotted on the basis of the individual strength of the political parties and not on the basis of the strength of the front as a whole. Mr Purushothaman ordered the expunction of certain remarks made by Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan against him, and stood firm in his decision. In protest against this, Mr Achuthanandan led his colleagues out and staged a sit-in at the entrance. Talking to newsmen there, Mr Achuthanandan accused Mr Purushothaman of infringing on the rights of the Opposition. The greatest opportunity available to the Opposition to bring to the attention of the government, was the calling attention motion and submissions.
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KASHMIRI SIKHS-IV Mohan Nagar (Raisinghnagar), July 16 They had no option but to take up odd jobs or toil hard to level and till the sand dunes that had been given to them in lieu of lush orchards and vineyards nestled amid one of the most beautiful places on earth. While many settled down to do the latter, the young men primarily, fanned out in search of other jobs to supplement the meagre income from the arid farm land. For a community that had little skill other than farming, the going was tough. The locals were wary of them and reluctant to trust them. Initially, the jobs they landed were as helpers at wayside dhabas, tyre repair shops or cleaners on passing trucks. With the passage of time, they managed to open their own eateries and many who worked as cleaners went on to become truck drivers. Since the Kashmiri Sikhs are very religious-minded, a large number of them studied Guru Granth Sahib under their elders working in gurdwaras in the villages in the countryside and became granthis or formed kirtan jathas. So their major professions today can be broadly classified as dhaba owners, truck drivers, granthis and small land owners, in that order. Due to the poor literacy rate, not many had the chance to complete higher studies but many of them are in the local constabulary and the Army. Granthi Sehaj Singh, who works as a granthi in Gurdwara Kalgidhar and belongs to Bagla Sikhan village in Muzzafarabad (now in PoK), says his father and uncle and many members of the family were killed by Pathans en route to India. One of my son works as a granthi at Dalewal village, two others are truck drivers while the fourth is studying, says he. This is a common feature in most of the villages of Sriganganagar and surrounding villages which have gurdwaras. A majority of the granthis are Kashmiri Sikhs. It has taken them nearly half a century to stand on their feet doing things their own way and not just surviving on the land given by the government. Such was the condition of the land given to them that it is still barren even after the advent of a vast network of canals criscrossing Rajasthan during the past 30 years. Community elders recall that they had to survive on bread made of bajra for many years as it was the only thing that grew here in the old days and this crop too was at the mercy of the monsoon. The dust storms were terrible adding to the problems that had to be overcome. While the men worked in the fields the women went out as labourers to pick cotton in the fields of rich landords. It was something which they had never done in the past but in view of the tough struggle for survival, they too wanted to contribute their share in keeping the hearth fires burning. For a proud people, no job was too menial or too low, the essence of what the Gurus had preached. Everybody worked hard and their hard work paid off and today they can hope to send their children to schools and ensure that they stand a fair chance in the changing world. A few fortunate ones could make it as professionals and one such person is Chak 22 NP resident Dharampal Singh Sudan who is a doctor and currently in Libya on a government assignment. His cousin, Charanjit Singh, too is a doctor and is posted at Government Hospital at Sribijaynagar. Mr R S Raina retired as a Sub-Inspector with the Rajasthan Police recently, while Harbhajan Singh Sudan is a lawyer-journalist who was recently honoured in Canada by the Rajasthan Cultural Society. But they are still struggling to be a political entity. Mrs Kamaljit Kaur Rana was elected as Sarpanch while another made it as Deputy Sarpanch. That is about it. A visit to the villages inhabitated by the Kashmiri Sikhs is an indicator of the progress made by them. The mud houses with thachted roofs have given way to tin or asbestos ones, but the lack of power, drinking water, sanitation is still the same as it was in 1952, when they first came here. Since the area is surrounded by high sand dunes and has unmetalled roads, one has to walk large distances on foot as no bus service exists. Their only hope for convenient travelling is by train. To
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Abdul Khan left disappointed Ajmer, July 16 But the thick wads of currency notes that they passed him before leaving make former Pakistan President late Zia-ul-Haq and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed difficult to forget. Abdul’s forefathers have for generations been taking care of devotees’ footwear at the Nizam gate, the main entrance to the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin
Chisti, all for a monthly salary of four annas (25 paise). He was again at his job today in anticipation of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s visit. But at the end of the day he remained a disappointed man as the President cancelled his visit to the shrine. “The responsibility was passed on to me by my father about 30 years ago,” he says. “I take off the visiting dignitary’s shoes and present them with clean rexine slippers which they can wear inside the shrine.” When they return they offer “nazrana (devotional gift), I happily accept whatever they give,” he says. The “four
anna” salary paid by the Dargah Committee has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. Dargah Committee administrator Shakeel Ahmad says the salary was fixed during the reign of
Akbar, the Mughal emperor who was an ardent devotee of Khwaja Gharib Nawaz. According to Abdul, both General Zia and Ms Sheikh Hasina gave him Rs 5,000 each. Indira Gandhi, when she visited the shrine in 1976 gave him Rs 7. “She dipped her hand in her purse and gave me whatever she found,” he says. Ms Benazir Bhutto was not the Prime Minister when she visited
dargah, nor was her bete noire Nawaz Sharif. Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, Mr
P.V. Narasimha Rao, Mr V.P. Singh, Ms Khaleda Zia and Mrs Sonia Gandhi all came to him before stepping into the
dargah. However, only Mr Chandra Shekhar arrived to pay obeisance as an ordinary devotee, he says.” This was when he came to Ajmer for a party function after he became the Prime Minister. He came on an unscheduled visit, so the dargah could not be vacated, as is traditionally done for a head of state or
government”. Jehangir came to pay obeisance in 1613 AD, and Aurangzeb in 1658, after victory over his brother Dara Shikoh near Ajmer. He offered Rs 5,000 to the ‘khadims’ (servitors) at the
dargah. Prior to the Mughals, the Slave Sultans were also great patrons of the shrine. Mohammed Bin Tughlaq prayed here in 1324 AD and Mohammed Khilji in 1455. Sher Shah Suri, better known for his land reforms and the GT Road, came here in 1545.
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Arya Samajis pray for peace Jaipur, July 16 Acting chief of Rajasthan Arya Pratinidhi Sabha Satyavrat Samvedi said the ‘yajna’ was held to pray for “good sense to prevail upon Musharraf and Pakistan-backed militants who were killing innocent persons in the name of jehad”. He also asked General Musharraf to desist from adopting a “confrontationist” attitude towards India.
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Begum Sehba dazzled by Agra Fort Agra, July 16 Savouring the beauty of the Taj Mahal from the “Khaas Mahal” of the fort, she said the fort was “bahut lajwaab” and an experience in itself. The Begum, who visited the Jahangiri Mahal first, praised the inlay work and carving on the brackets which reflect the Rajputana Mughal work, the guide, Mohammed K.K., told reporters. Pakistan’s first lady also toured other parts of the fort, the only one in the country to figure in the list of world heritage sites. Impressed by the distinctive Islamic-Persian features of the ‘Khaas Mahal’, a structure built entirely in marble and flanked by golden pavillions, she asked if the inscriptions were original. Dressed in a light coffee coloured salwar-kameez, Begum Musharraf pleased the cameramen, who requested her to pose for them, by making an “adaab” gesture while taking a round of the beautiful octagonal “Musamman Burj”. The Begum also visited “Sheesh Mahal”, “Macchhi Mahal’, “Diwan-e-Khaas” and “Diwan-e-Aam”, the guide said, adding that he also explained the similarities and differences between the Agra Fort and Lahore Fort, also built by the Mughals. However, during her nearly half-an-hour stay at the fort, Begum Musharraf gave a miss to the private mosque, built by Emperor Shahjahan for the ladies of his court, where the staffers were ready with cloth shoes for their distinguished guest, if she decided to go there.
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Begum visits Shahjahan’s cell Agra, July 16 The Musamm Bhuj, from where Emperor Shahjahan used to look at the Taj, the Takht-e-Jahangir, Sheesh Mahal, Jahangir Mahal and the marble inlay work were some of the notable areas that caught Begum’s eye during her visit to the Agra Fort this morning. Dressed in a beige colour salwar kameez, a relaxed looking Begum arrived at the 16th century Agra Fort, accompanied by Mrs Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, wife of the Pakistani High Commissioner and Mrs Malini Nambiar, wife of the Indian envoy in Islamabad. The delegation was shown around the majestic 16th century fort, built by Emperor Akbar, by Superintending Archaeologist K.K. Mohammad. Among the other places that she visited were the Khas Mahal, Banglai Darshani, Dewan-e-Khas and Dewan-e-Aam.
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Effigy burnt
Jaipur, July 16 |
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Tremors in Delhi,
Islamabad
New Delhi, July 16 The quake, measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, was epicentred near Bhaun in Pakistan. A strong earthquake jolted the Pakistani capital of Islamabad today night. There was no immediate information about any damage. Residents rushed out of their homes and birds flew out from the trees which were also shaken by the tremor at 9:08 p.m. (local time), witnesses said.
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Bandh against truce extension hits life Guwahati, July 16 However, no untoward incident was reported till the last reports at 1 p.m. with security beefed up throughout the state. Shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed and attendance in offices and banks was thin and vehicular traffic in the capital town and in other major towns was also affected by the bandh, the sources said. Long distance buses and trains plied as usual. Police escort was provided to the buses at some places. Trains ran on time and there was no rescheduling or cancellation, the railway sources said. All the flights of Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines from Lokopriyo Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport also operated on schedule, airport officials said. AJYCP president Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee claimed that the bandh was so far successful and peaceful and the people had “spontaneously responded to the bandh call as the issue was so sensitive.” “We did not have to resort to any pressure tactics.... people have responded to the bandh call spontaneously and agreed to support us without any reservations,” he claimed. Bhattacharya said the AJYCP’s aim was to make people aware of the problems and threats arising out of the areas to which the Naga truce extended. The bandh was being supported by the six-body United Committee of Manipur (UCM), which is spearheading the anti-ceasefire agitation in that state. The AJYCP held a meeting with representatives of the UCM here yesterday wherein it was decided that a convention would be held soon to discuss the ceasefire extension issue, besides lending support to the bandh. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had earlier appealed to the AJYCP to call off the bandh in view of the announcement made by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that the ceasefire extension would be reviewed.
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Maneka: funds
for SCs underutilised New Delhi, July 16 Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee here today, Mrs Gandhi said the corporation had approached state agencies/corporations other than SC/ST Finance and Development Corporation dealing with specific sectors like handlooms, handicrafts, dairy development, textiles, leather, electronics and small industries to act as state channelising agencies. She said states were being encouraged to come up with new projects to take advantage of credit schemes of the NSFDC and other corporations. She said that micro credit scheme had been taken up for providing small loans to the target groups through SCAs and non-government organisations. The minister said the states had been requested to prepare projects covering technically feasible and commercially viable activities by dovetailing subsidy up to a ceiling of Rs 10,000 out of Special Central Assistance with concessional loan under the NSFDC scheme for assisting SC families living below the poverty line. Mrs Gandhi also mentioned several initiatives that had been taken to ensure better coverage by the five apex Finance and Development Corporations. |
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Workshop
on ‘access for all’ New Delhi, July 16 Dr Uma
Tuli, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, told TNS experts in the field of disability representing the government and the NGO sector would train 40 persons from six states during the
workshop. States represented in the workshop include Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal. Dr Tuli said the master trainers comprised resource persons from Handicapped International headquartered in France, architects from Germany, experts from the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, National Association for the Blind and Samrathya, a Delhi-based NGO. All these resource persons had been trained by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP). She said persons trained at the workshop would go back and start access audit of various private and public buildings in their respective places and train more persons in access audit at the district level. They would then make recommendations for modification of the buildings and give feedback to the CCPD for intervention. Dr Tuli said her office planned to hold four more workshops by March 2002 to cover all states and UTs. Mrs Gandhi reiterated the need for providing barrier-free access in all important buildings. She said her priority would be to provide barrier-free access in all government buildings in the Capital and the districts, hospitals and workplaces. The minister also laid emphasis on disabled-friendly bathrooms in restaurants, railway stations, airports and government buildings. Mrs Gandhi told TNS it was very important to make main buildings in India barrier-free “The point is not to attempt to reform every building but to modify those which the less privileged disabled need the most,” she said. |
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Centre dedicated to Devi Lal New Delhi, July 16 Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar unveiled a bust of the former Deputy Prime Minister at the centre in the presence of the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. The Centre, which houses the offices of various international agricultural organisations, national scientific societies, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, symposia halls and agricultural science museum would be the pre-eminent locus for academic interaction between national and international agricultural scientists. Speaking at the annual general meeting of the ICAR, Mr Nitish Kumar urged the council to develop one hectare area models in different regions as living examples by appropriately including different professions of agriculture and allied sectors. The minister said increase in production in the future would mainly come from productivity enhancement by use of improved and sustainable agricultural practices. On the occasion, the minister also gave away 55 awards in 11 different categories to scientists, farmers, journalists and institutions for their outstanding contributions in the area of agricultural research. Among the 55 awards, 31 have gone to ICAR institutes, 19 to the state agricultural universities and five awards have gone to other institutions and individuals outside the ICAR system. |
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Laloo’s bail
extended New Delhi, July 16 The bail was extended by a three-judge Bench comprising Mr Justice K.T. Thomas, Mr Justice S.S.M. Quadri and Mr Justice U.C. Banerjee as the bail granted to him earlier expired today.
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Stalin’s aide commits suicide with family Chennai, July 16 A suicide note purported to have been written by the deceased Ramesh was found at his residence and it said he was taking the extreme step as “his image had been spoilt by the foisting of the complaint against him,” the police said. Ramesh, his wife Kanchana and daughters aged 10, nine and an 11-month old, ended their life by consuming soft-drink mixed with poison. Contractor
Deivasigamani, who lodged the complaint, had alleged he had paid a bribe of Rs six crore to Stalin and former state Highways Minister T. Kirutinan through Ramesh for getting road maintenance contract in the city and suburbs. The police, who rushed to the residence of Ramesh on a complaint lodged by his brother, seized some bottles of soft-drink and a packet of insecticide, the release said.
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Leakage in ONGC
pipeline
Mumbai, July 16 “An ONGC team has carried out verification of safety and environmental impact and it was established that the leakage was detectable only within a radius of two metres. Divers will go for a further check tomorrow”, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Ram Naik told reporters after visiting the leakage site, here today. He said the leakage was first suspected by an Indian Petrochemical Corporation Ltd survey team on last Saturday, which in turn alerted the ONGC team.
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Haryana
farmer gets award New Delhi, July 16 Dr Nanda, professor in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has developed 16 high-yielding and disease-resistant wheat varieties. Dr S.K. Gupta of Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, has made significant contribution in the management of saline lands. Dr G.S. Shekhawat, Director, Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, has developed eco-friendly and economically sustainable management schedule for various potato diseases. As a result, the area for disease free potato seed production increased manifold in the country. Dr P.P. Gupta of Punjab Agricultural University has made outstanding contribution in the field of mycology. The biennial award for 1999-2000 carries a cash reward of Rs 3 lakh each. Fiftyeight scientists, two farmers and three institutions were awarded at an ICAR award function here. The two agricultural institutions— University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, and the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology and V.K. Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora, have been given Sardar Patel Outstanding Institutions Awards. Randhir Singh Sheokand of Jajanpur village in Kaithal district, Haryana, has bagged Jagjivan Ram Kisan Puraskar for his innovative farming practices. He has developed farming practices to maintain sustainability in natural resources management by the application of locally available natural manure, which increased the production and yield of six vegetable crops. |
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Who will
tame kala-azar in Bihar? Patna, July 16 The Union Health Minister, Dr C.P. Thakur, an expert in kala-azar treatment, has ordered a probe into the state Health Minister, Mr Shakuni Chowdhary’s allegations that the drug supplied by the Centre to Bihar for kala-azar treatment was spurious that killed many. The state Drug Controller, Mr S.K. Sinha, said the sodium antimony gluconate (SAG) injections, a first line drug for the treatment of kala-azar were being manufactured by Chandigarh-based company, Toshika International Limited, and supplied to the state government by a Kolkata-based firm, Medical Depot Store. The drugs were released to the state malaria officers. The SAG injections were alleged to be spurious and the state government had stopped its use and had sent the samples for a lab test outside Bihar. As the probe is on, at least 40 deaths have been reported from all over Bihar in the past five months, owing to the alleged use of the spurious drug SAG. Five kala-azar deaths have been reported from Sitamarhi district and one from Madhubani district in the past two days. Though Mr Chowdhary maintains that the Centre is supplying spurious kala-azar and malaria drugs, it is also a reality that even after the expenditure of crores of rupees by the state government over a World Health Organisation (WHO)-backed scheme to tame kala-azar, there is no improvement and the number of patients has only risen. The state government is naturally passing the buck of its failure on the alleged spurious drugs. A look on the kala-azar victims figures reveal that the menace has spread mainly in North Bihar districts. The government figures, that are often the tip of the iceberg of a problem, too are disastrous. In Vaishali district, adjacent to the state capital, so far 80 persons have died in the past three years (since 1998) and at present 2,538 persons are infected. Unofficial figures make the kala-azar deaths in the district in the past 20 years as at least 1000. In Madhubani district, the official figures put the death toll at 17 for the same period. Similarly, Samastipur, Madhepura and Motihari districts have 1000, 404, 408 affected persons. |
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8.77 cr
for drinking water scheme New Delhi, July 16 The funds are to be utilised by the respective state governments under Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) in Desert Development Programme (DDP) areas. An amount of Rs 422.84 lakh has been released to Andhra Pradesh as the first instalment under ARWSP in the DDP areas. The ministry has also released Rs 454.32 lakh as the first instalment under the ARWSP in desert areas of Haryana. The ARWSP aims at providing safe and adequate drinking water facilities to the rural population by supplementing the efforts made by the state government/union territories under the state sector Minimum Need Programme
(MNP). |
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Raising Day celebrated Sriganganagar, July 16 Various functions marked the occasion, but the event of the day was a breathtaking motor cycle performance by the Dare Devils of the Corps of Signals. The volunteer despatch riders presented an hour- long show which was watched by the GOC of the division, besides a large number of senior officers. |
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