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Tuesday,
July 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Houses condole Nepal King’s death
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Indo-Pak issues: India rejects US mediation New Delhi, July 23 In a clear rejection of US offer of its good offices to resolve Indo-Pak issues, India today stuck to its stand that outstanding differences with Pakistan had to be resolved bilaterally.
Violence continues in Manipur |
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No clemency to Bleach: Advani SC stays Laloo’s
arrest till Aug 27 2 UTI
Directors, GM suspended Stolen traveller’s cheques
seized STF men in fleecing racket Contribute more to UNESCO: Joshi Late passenger
makes hoax call to delay plane ICICI
gunman decamps with Rs 2 cr
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Houses condole Nepal King’s death New Delhi, July 23 Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi, and Rajya Sabha Chairman Krishan Kant led the members in paying tributes and described the late king as a “visionary” who heralded multi-party democracy in Nepal. “This House recalls with deep appreciation the invaluable role played by him in strengthening relations with India and in building regional cooperation,” Mr Balayogi said. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, his senior Cabinet colleagues and Leader of the Opposition, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, were present in the House. The House also condoled the death of a sitting BJP member, Shyam Lal Bansiwal and nine other former members. In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Krishan Kant said people in India will cherish the memory of King Birendra’s friendship. The House condoled the death of former members
R.K. Narayanan, G.Y. Krishnan, Jagan Nath Kaushal, Mohammad Yunus, Niresh Ghosh and matinee idol Sivaji Ganesan. The House condemned the barbaric killing of 13 persons, including six pilgrims, during this year’s Amarnath yatra at Sheshnag in Doda district on Saturday. The members observed silence for a minute in memory of those killed in the recent train accident in Kerala. Earlier in the day, eight new members took oath with three of them in the Lok Sabha. Those who took oath in the Lok Sabha were Dalit Ezhilmalai (AIADMK) who won Tiruchirapalli seat following the death of BJP leader and Union Minister
P.R. Kumaramangalam, Mr Ram Murti Verma (Samajwadi Party) who was elected from Shahjahanpur which fell vacant with the death of Congress leader Jitender Prasada and Prabodh Panda (CPI) from Midnapore which fell vacant with the death of veteran CPI leader Indrajit Gupta. Senior Congress leader, Dr Manmohan Singh, Indramoni Bora (BJP), Rao Man Singh (INLD) Gurcharan Kaur (BJP) and Kalraj Mishra (BJP) took oath as members of the Rajya Sabha. While, Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Bora represent Assam, Rao Man Singh represents Haryana, Gurcharan Kaur (Punjab) and Mr Mishra (UP). Dr Manmohan Singh who was re-elected a member of the House would continue as Leader of Opposition of the Upper House, Mr Kant informed members. The Lok Sabha also welcomed the new Agriculture Minister, Mr Ajit Singh, when the Prime Minister introduced him in the House. Before the two Houses met, the Speaker had convened a meeting of all political parties to discuss business for the week. It was decided that the Agra summit and the UTI fiasco would be taken up this week. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said the Prime Minister would make a statement on the summit after which the modalities for the discussion could be worked out. The Speaker informed members that the monsoon session would have 29 sittings lasting 174 hours. The time allotted for private business is 101 hours with 29 hours for question hour and zero hour, respectively, and 15 hours for private members business. |
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Cong, Left to seek Sinha’s ouster New Delhi, July 23 At meetings called today by Mrs Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Mr Manmohan Singh, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, it was decided to raise the issue in Parliament. While the
Opposition parties would press for an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha on the UTI crisis, in the Rajya Sabha the issue is likely to be raised through a calling attention motion. Motions have already been submitted by the leaders of the Congress and the Left on the issue. Today’s meetings called by the Congress were not attended by the Samajwadi Party. While no leader from the Left attended the meeting called by the Congress President, representatives of the Left including the CPI, CPI (M) and RSP were present at the meeting convened by Mr Manmohan Singh. The CPI (M) leader, Mr Somnath Chatterjee, met Mrs Gandhi before the meeting and
discussed issues to be raised in the House. Mr Chaterjee later said he had come to meet Mrs Gandhi in his individual capacity. Apart from the UTI’s US-64 fiasco, the Opposition parties would also raise the issues of the Agra summit and the situation in Manipur during the week. Among other issues to be raised during the monsoon session are the failure of the UP Government and the Centre to issue fresh notification in the Ayodhya case, Air India disinvestment, besides the state of economy. Though no BSP member attended the meetings today, Ms Mayawati conveyed her acceptance of the decisions through a fax message to Mr Manmohan Singh. |
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Indo-Pak issues: India rejects US mediation New Delhi, July 23 “They (USA) are aware of our position. We have on every occasion pointed out that outstanding issues between India and Pakistan must be resolved bilaterally,” an External Affairs Ministry spokesperson told reporters. She was asked about comments made by US Secretary of State Colin Powell that Washington could lend its good offices to help India and Pakistan improve their relations. “Any question of outside involvement in this process does not arise,” she said. Mr Powell’s remark came a day after comments by US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca that India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir problem “taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.” New Delhi has made it clear that there could be no third party involvement in Indo-Pak talks on Kashmir. India and Pakistan, she stressed, have to continue with the whole dialogue process at the bilateral level.
PTI |
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Shiv Sena for Central rule
in J&K New Delhi, July 23 In a statement here, the Delhi unit of the Shiv Sena urged President K R Narayanan to dismiss the Farooq Abdullah government in Jammu and Kashmir. The Sena also urged Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee not to visit Pakistan or have any talk with Islamabad till it stopped cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. |
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Ajit to go slow on ‘Harit Pradesh’ New Delhi, July 23 Taking to newspersons after assuming charge here today, Mr Ajit Singh said ‘Harit Pradesh’ would be as big as Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat and Assam. Asked to spell out the boundaries of ‘Harit Pradesh’, he said. “I’m not demarcating what boundaries it will have.” Mr Ajit Singh who was sworn in as Cabinet Minister on Sunday expressed the confidence that the creation of ‘Harit Pradesh’ would help the poor and backward people of Uttar Pradesh. Replying to a question whether the allotment of the Agriculture portfolio would help him push forward the demand for creation of ‘Harit Pradesh’, the
Agriculture Minister said, “Harit Pradesh is another issue. We will push forward the needs of agriculture and competition in the world market.” Asked whether he saw his demand for creation of ‘Harit Pradesh’ succeeding in view of Haryana Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala’s demand for ‘Kisan Pradesh’, the Agriculture Minister said, “Anybody who supports division of UP, call it ‘Kisan Pradesh’, ‘Doaba Pradesh’ or ‘Harit Pradesh’, is welcome.” The RLD leader said the BJP, in principle, had been in favour of small states and everybody agreed that UP was unmanageable. Asked if he would press for placing ‘Harit Pradesh’ on the NDA agenda, Mr Ajit Singh said, “A resolution has to be first passed in the UP Assembly. Let’s not jump the gun.” Mr Ajit Singh said even after the creation of Uttaranchal, the population of UP is 16.5 crore. “It has 73 districts and is the largest administrative unit in the world.” He said four criteria were essential for creation of any state, “These are administrative convenience, economic viability, similar development needs and ethnic and cultural affinity.” Replying to a question, Mr Ajit Singh said he had communicated the demand for the creation of ‘Harit Pradesh’ in the Parliamentary debate when Uttaranchal was being formed. He added that the NDA, like any other coalition government, had its compulsions. Asked what plans he had in mind to prevent farmers facing huge debts from ending their lives, Mr Ajit Singh said, “Suicides were reported from Punjab, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Farmers need more money to grow a crop than before. They borrow money at 50 per cent interest and even more. Add to this the problem of spurious seeds and spurious fertilisers. If the crops fail and the market crashes, the poor man is faced with an economic disaster. So credit facilities and minimum support price must be improved.” |
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Violence
continues in Manipur
Imphal, July 23 Defying the curfew, thousands of people took to the streets in the night shouting slogans against the extension of ceasefire agreement on June 14 at Bangkok. The latest agreement extended the ceasefire to Manipur and other parts of the North-East beyond Nagaland which fuelled massive protests in the state for the past five weeks. People in numbers came out in the night to join the protesters defying the barrier of prohibitory zone which forced the security forces to open fire and quell the agitating mob. The injured had been admitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital and the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital. The protests were organised by the United Committee of Manipur (UCM) in which people from all walks of life joined to express solidarity with the student leaders’ demonstration against the truce. Intellectuals, university and college lecturers also joined the street protests. UNI |
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No clemency to Bleach: Advani New Delhi, July 23 This was conveyed by Union Home Minister L.K. Advani during a teleconversation with British Home Secretary Jack Straw. However, Mr Advani assured that New Delhi would consider “sympathetically” the release of Stilman, undergoing sentence in Himachal Pradesh in connection with a drug trafficking case, because of his physical disability. Mr Advani told newspersons that during his teleconversation with Straw, he conveyed to him that Bleach could not be released as was done to four Latvians, who were also involved in the case, as he had been accused of having a direct link with the prime accused Kim Davy, who had absconded. “Unlike the Latvians, who had only helped him drop the arms in Purulia in 1996, Bleach had direct link with Kim Davy, who is absconding... I told Straw that if he (Bleach) is released then the entire case will fall flat,” Mr Advani said. “Mr Straw understood our compulsions,” he said. |
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SC stays Laloo’s
arrest till Aug 27 New Delhi, July 23 A three-judge Bench comprising Mr Justice J.T. Thomas, Mr Justice S.S. M. Quadri and Mr Justice U.C. Banerjee gave this relief to the other accused also, including former Chief Minister Jagannath Misra, arraigned along with Mr Yadav in the 52 fodder scam cases. According to the CBI, 16 of these cases were to be tried at Ranchi. Appearing for the CBI, Solicitor-General Harish Salve said though the accused might not be arrested, the cases pending before the Ranchi Special Courts should be allowed to proceed. However, the Bench, taking note of the cross-appeals and numerous applications, ordered status quo in all 52 cases. While fixing further hearing on August 27, the Bench ordered that “status quo as on today regarding arrests” would be maintained. |
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2 UTI Directors, GM suspended Mumbai, July 23 A top UTI source told UNI that the two serving Executive Directors — Mr M.M. Kapur (Department of Funds Management — US-64 and Equity Schemes, Department of Market Operations) and Mr S.K. Basu (Department of International Finance and Fund Management-Debt) and General Manager Ms Prema Madhuprasad were relieved from their jobs following their alleged involvement in the Cyberspace placement scam.
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Stolen traveller’s cheques
seized New Delhi, July 23 Another accused is still absconding. Investigations were on to find out if anyone else was involved, the Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), Mr Qamar Ahmed said. Mr Ahmed said Thomas Cook’s Regional Manager V. Ravi had lodged a complaint of criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery of documents against the company’s executive, customer service, Timothy Padickan, alleging that he had misappropriated TCs worth $ 2,00,000. Padickan had collected the TCs from Dolfin Finance, a foreign exchange dealer in South Delhi, by forging the signature of the manager, traveller’s cheques, he said. Thereafter, Padickan allegedly made false entries showing the collection and delivery of these TCs to three banks, the Additional Commissioner of Police said, adding that during reconciliation from the three banks, it was revealed that the TCs were never received by them. Padickan, meanwhile, did not report for duty. |
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STF men in fleecing racket New Delhi, July 23 The group was allegedly led by a constable of the STF who had recently been transferred to Rashtrapati Bhavan. In the complaint to the STF Mr Atrey, who is into construction work, said the constable came to him in a van along with his accomplices and introduced himself as Inspector Rajender of the STF. The constable allegedly tried to fleece him by threatening that he was involved in illegal construction work. The constable told Mr Atrey that the STF was informed by R.S. Virmani, printer and publisher of a magazine “Belief”. Mr Atrey was asked to talk to Mr Virmani on his cellular phone. When Mr Atrey refused to give money to Sunil and his accomplices, the constable allegedly threatened him with dire consequences. When Mr Atrey telephoned the STF to know the actual position and gave the mobile telephone number of Mr Virmani, it was found that a racket was being run by the STF personnel. It was not Virmani’s number it was mobile number of the constable. When a written complaint was lodged with the STF, it was not received by the official on duty. It was transferred to Chankyapuri police station in New Delhi district. It was received when Mr Atrey went to the STF office personally. Instead of taking action against the constable and his accomplices he was transferred to Rashtrapati Bhavan. The constable did not join duty at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He has gone on long leave, sources said. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr K.D Singh, said the constable had been identified as Sunil Tyagi. He had been transferred to Rashtrapati Bhavan following the complaint of Mr Atrey. The DCP said the police had no authority to take action against an encroacher. It could only inform the agency concerned about encroachment of the land. |
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Contribute more to UNESCO: Joshi New Delhi, July 23 Mr Joshi was addressing a meeting with visiting Director General of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura, Minister of Culture and Tourism Anant Kumar, Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha Najma Heptulla and senior officers. He pointed out that while developing nations were not in a position to increase their funding, rich nations should come forward and ensure that the initiatives of UNESCO were not affected by the constraints of funds. The HRD minister hailed UNESCO’s focus on the removal of illiteracy and the universalisation of basic education. While referring to UNESCO’s medium-term strategy for 2002-07, the minister hoped that the programmes would contribute to peace and development in the era of globalisation through education, science and technology, culture and communication. Addressing the meeting, Mr Matsuura complimented India for undertaking the mammoth task of universal basic education and the removal of illiteracy. He said India and UNESCO would continue to work together for the promotion of world peace and development. |
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Late passenger
makes hoax call to delay plane New Delhi, July 23 The passenger allegedly called the manager while he was on way to the airport. He did so as he was getting late. He wanted to delay the flight, the police said. The hoax call was received by Mr Baldev Singh Dhami at 7.50 p.m. yesterday when flight IC 904 was just getting ready to leave for Bangalore. “The caller said he was travelling in a DTC bus when he heard two persons talking to each other that in one flight to Bangalore something had been planted and work would be accomplished the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airport), Mr Arvind Deep said. After receiving the call, the airport manager alerted everybody and stopped the aircraft from taking off. Ghera came to the manager’s office after 30 minutes and sought his help to board the plane. While he was talking to the manager he was shivering. The police suspected his involvement in making the hoax call. He confessed having made the call during sustained interrogation, the DCP said. |
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ICICI
gunman decamps with Rs 2 cr
New Delhi, July 23 The police said five employees of the bank were returning in the armoured car after encashing a cheque for Rs 2 crore, when driver Dharamveer Singh and a gunman of the Brings Arya Company, entrusted with the security of the bank’s cash, immobilised them and locked them in the cabin. They then hijacked the vehicle and took it to the National Highway 8 near Bijwasan. The vehicle was apparently followed by a Maruti car. After stopping at an isolated spot, they unloaded the three steel boxes containing the cash and sped away in the Maruti car. The employees managed to free themselves after some time and informed the police. An investigation has been launched and efforts are on to trace the criminals, who the police said belonged to the Rai area near Sonepat in Haryana. UNI |
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Badal inspects hospital New Delhi, July 23 The 400-bed hospital will have a trauma centre, joint replacement, kidney dialysis and transplant facilities. The Chairman of the institute, Mr Kuldip Singh Bhogal, said the project would require at least three years to finish at a cost of Rs 100 crore. |
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Controversy mars
gurdwara poll New Delhi, July 23 The outgoing PGPC president and a BJP parliamentarian, Mr S.S. Ahluwalia, who is seeking re-election, alleged that the election had been rigged with muscle power. The SAD (Badal) group led by Mr Mohinder Singh Rumana, however, has declared that they have won the poll. |
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