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July 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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PM urged to form
all-party body Gujral’s 4-pronged strategy |
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No-trust motion against Speaker fails
Karunanidhi to be provided security Mumbai serial blasts
trial concludes Shibu Soren loses
RS membership 5,000 govt teachers sacked in Assam
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Orissa floods claim 35 lives Bhubaneswar, July 19 Union Minister for Agriculture Nitish Kumar today made an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts of even as Army and Air Force personnel stepped up relief and rescue operations in the state. Mr Nitish Kumar, accompanied by four Central ministers from Orissa and state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, later described the flood situation as “pretty bad”. According to reports received here, about 10,000 panic-stricken persons from the low-lying areas of Kendrapara district had left their homes and taken shelter on the express highway linking Daitary and Paradip Port. The water in Mahanadi and its tributaries, which are still flowing above their respective red marks, are likely to rise again by tonight, following the flow of about 15 lakh cusec of water in the river at 9 a.m., official sources said. Besides, Kendrapara, other districts to be hit hard are Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack and Puri. A large number of people of Tirtol, Ersama and Kujang areas of Jagatsinghpur district had also moved to the Cuttack-Paradip highway and other river embankments apprehending fresh inundation. In spite of inclement weather and rains at a few places, IAF helicopters flew sorties this morning, dropping food packets in the marooned areas. Apart from about 10,000 villages which had remained marooned for the past three to four days, water has also entered some towns. Road communications continued to be disrupted to several areas as over 50 important roads remained under flood water.
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PM urged
to form all-party body New Delhi, July 19 In the letter addressed to the Prime Minister, committee president, D.N. Sinha has applauded him for his peace initiative and also for the firmness with which he dealt with the Pakistan President. The dissection which followed the failure of the Agra summit has revealed the lack of preparation for the big event as one of the reasons for the failure. The committee is of the view that an all-party body will do effective work before the Prime Minister’s visit to Islamabad and find out the weakness of the Indian side so that an accord for peace and development can be signed. Mr Sinha has added that it is essential for Pakistan to be aware of India’s heavy investment in the development of Kashmir.
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Gujral’s 4-pronged strategy New Delhi, July 19 For any summit talks in future to be meaningful, they should be preceded by adequate preparatory work at ministerial and official levels, Mr Gujral said here. He said the process of negotiation, including summit-level talks, must continue despite differences in he basic approach on bilateral relations and on Pakistan’s narrow and segmented approach. Taking part in the round table discussion on ‘India-Pak dialogue — What next’, he said cross-border terrorism and militancy should be firmly dealt with, sustained efforts should be made simultaneously to isolate militants who largely comprise Afghans and Pakistan nationals, and efforts made to win the confidence of the local population, particularly of the valley. The former Prime Minister said the government should come out with a special economic package for Kashmir and ensure its time-bound implementation. The public and private sector should be encouraged and provided incentives to set up industries in the state. Mr Gujral said Article 370 would not come in the way, as the state government would welcome such efforts as they would create the much-needed job opportunities for the youth of the state. Responding to a question on Article 370, he said India should work for unity amidst diversity and not for uniformity. Any effort to bring about uniformity by law or force would be counterproductive, he said. Calling for the need to strengthen democratic forces in the state, he said the state should not be reorganised leading to trifurcation. He said India should take an active initiative in strengthening SAARC and in making the South Asia community as an economic zone with or without Pakistan. |
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No-trust motion against Speaker fails Kolkata, July 19 Trinamool Congress and Congress MLAs protested by shouting and raising slogans for not being satisfied with the police inquiry concerning the Sports Minister, Mr Subhas Chakraborty’s link with criminals in the stadium scandal. The inquiry report which the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadev Battacharyya, presented in the Assembly during discussion on the home (police) budget, gave a clean chit to the minister. The Assembly which met at 11 a.m. to discuss the no-confidence motion against the Speaker, had been adjourned soon after two MLAs, belonging to the Trinamool Congress and the Congress, suddenly fell sick inside the House. One of them suddenly fell down near his seat, while another felt cardiac pain. Doctors were called and both were taken for check-up. The House was also adjourned for an hour by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Anil Mukherjee in chair. But after the initial check-up and treatment, both were found to be all right and the House sat again after an hour. The no-confidence motion was moved against the Speaker, for his alleged partisan role. It was however, rejected. Participating in the discussion on the police budget which continued till late evening, the Chief Minister denied that the Sports Minister was involved with the criminals. Mr Bhattacharyya said the CID which had inquired into the arrest of 16 criminals from the stadium guest house, however, found some stadium staff “guilty” for allowing the criminals to stay inside without proper authority. He said a departmental inquiry would be conducted on how the outsiders could stay inside the stadium premises and necessary action would be taken. Mr Bhattacharyya’s statement did not satisfy the MLAs who demanded a CBI probe. Their demand was rejected. The Chief Minister admitted that there had been a series of incidents of political violence in the districts and blamed the Trinamool Congress for creating law and order problems in Midnapore district and elsewhere. But still the law and order situation in state was far better than any other state, he claimed. |
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Karunanidhi to be provided security Chennai, July 19 Mr Karunanidhi told newspersons at the party headquarters here today that he had received information on this. Asked whether the NSG was entrusted with the task, the DMK leader said: “I don’t know what kind of security.” The Centre’s decision to provide security to the 78-year-old leader comes in the wake of alleged police excesses on him while he was arrested in the wee hours of June 30 in connection with the Rs 12-crore “mini-flyover scam’’. It may be recalled that the NSG had provided AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalitha, now Chief Minister, with ‘Z’ category security when she was in the Opposition after being voted out of power in 1996. UNI |
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Mumbai serial blasts
trial concludes Mumbai, July 19 On the concluding day yesterday, the ailing parents of an absconding accused Tiger Memon deposed before the designated judge P.D. Kode. Abdul Razak and his wife Hanifa, on interim bail, came to the TADA court on wheelchairs to give their statements. The trial is a grim reminder of the serial explosions which rocked the metropolis on March 12, 1993, killing 257 persons and maiming 713 others besides damaging property worth Rs 30 crore. A record number of 13,000 pages have been recorded as evidence by 684 witnesses examined by the CBI. Altogether 3,80,70 questions were put to the accused to record their statements. In all, 124 accused are facing trial, which commenced on June 30, 1995. The charge sheet was filed on November 4, 1993, against 136 accused. Thirtyone accused are in custody while the rest, including Sanjay Dutt, are on bail.
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Shibu Soren loses RS membership New Delhi, July 19 A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice A. S. Anand, Mr Justice R. C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Shivaraj V. Patil upheld the Patna High Court order which had cancelled Mr Soren’s election. The Bench dismissed Soren’s petition challenging the High Court’s order. The High Court had held that Mr Soren was holding an office of profit under the state government as the Chairman of Interim Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC), hence disqualified to contest under Article 102 (1) (a) of the Constitution. The High Court had declared Mr Dayanand Shahay as elected in place of Mr Soren. The court said it fully agreed with the proposition that holding an office of profit under the Government of India or under the government of any state would be a disqualification only if that office was not declared by the Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder. “No such disqualification was removed by the Parliament as the JAAC Act has not been included in the schedule to the 1959 Act. The state legislature is not competent to remove any disqualification in respect of a member of the Parliament,” Mr Justice Anand said, writing the judgement for the Bench. Mr Justice Anand said Mr Soren was not only appointed by the state government to the post of the JAAC Chairman but also made the appointment subject to “the pleasure of the state government”. “Thus, not only was Mr Soren appointed by the state government, it was the state government which has the right to remove or dismiss the holder of that office besides controlling the manner of functioning of the interim JAAC and providing funds for the interim JAAC out of which honorarium of Rs 1,750 per month was paid to Mr Soren,” he said. The High Court was justified in setting aside his election and we are not persuaded to take a contrary view either,” the Bench said.
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5,000 govt teachers sacked in Assam Guwahati, July 19 The unprecedented action was taken in Nalbari district, where nearly 5,000 teachers were appointed under political patronage during the last months of the AGP government. The district administration which had ordered an inquiry into the appointment process found that against 266 valid posts, nearly 5,000 teachers were appointed by a select group of education officials, on the direct intervention of AGP leaders of the district. Colossal amounts were reportedly taken as bribe in the process. The Director of Elementary Education, Assam, in an order issued yesterday, terminated the service of all the lower primary school teachers appointed by the Deputy Inspector of Schools, Nalbari, Mr Girin Haloi, in March, 2001, with effect from July 18. As a result, at least 4,776 newly appointed teachers, including 266 legally appointed ones of the district, lost their jobs with effect from yesterday. The Director, in his order, directed the block elementary officers, headmasters and the Deputy Inspector of Schools to sack the appointees and not allow them attend duties henceforth, warning that if any controlling officer allowed such appointees to attend duties after the receipt of the order, he would be responsible for payment of salaries to them. The action was taken following a magisterial inquiry conducted by the Additional Deputy Commissioner and submitted by the Deputy Commissioner,
Nalbari, into the irregularities in appointments in Nalbari district. UNI |
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