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August 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Advani denies police
involvement in killings Poll panel
to review electoral rolls Hari
Jaisingh to head probe committee Rethinking
over CDS
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Noisy
scenes in RS over Ayodhya issue
NORTH INDIA IN
PARLIAMENT Bihar
floods worry Elders Asylum
fire: notices issued Man hired killers to eliminate parents
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Advani denies police
involvement in killings New Delhi, August 7 Mr Advani said he had told the state government of its lapse in bringing the guilty to book. Clarifying his previous statement
in the Rajya Sabha on the aforesaid killings, Mr Advani said the wrongdoings to women as alleged by some members, were yet to be confirmed. He said the allegation of rape had not been substantiated by medical reports and would be confirmed only after the report of the forensic analysis. Mr Advani denied allegations made by members regarding the seizure of parts of police uniform from the spot. Referring to other charges that the accused stuffed cotton laced with sleep-inducing drugs into the nostrils of the victims, Mr Advani said investigations did not confirm such allegations. While drawing the attention of the House to the opening lines of his reply on the subject, Mr Advani said he had clearly stated that the Central Government would continue to monitor the progress of investigation in the case. Mr Khan Gufran Zaidi of the Congress alleged that the victims were taken to a hospital without any clothes on and the hospital staff was a witness to this. Mr Zaidi wanted to know what steps the government would take to restore the confidence of the minority community in the government and safeguard the interests of those orphaned by the crime. The Home Minister assured the House that he would convey these suggestions to the state government. When Mr Advani said he had relied on the report of the state government, some members suggested that the NDA convener George Fernandes be sent to investigate the matter. Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla brushed aside such suggestions with the categorical remark that it was the Home Minister to decide who be sent for investigation. “It is entirely the prerogative of the government,” she said. Referring to strong reservations expressed by members on the use of the word “criminal tribes”, Mr Advani said he researched further and found that tribes were addressed as criminal under the Criminal Tribe Act and were later called denotified tribes and denotified communities. Quoting the book ‘Tribal India Today’, Mr Advani said the tribe in India known as criminal tribe regarded crime as their hereditary calling. The Home Minister said the social assimilation of these tribes should be done as calling them denotified tribes was not enough. He promised to hold discussions on the issue with the Social Welfare Department. Mr Advani clarified that contrary to members’ observations that he had cited incidents of violence from Meerut district and Lakhimpur Kheri to digress from the main issue, he had done so as he found a striking similarity in the modus operandi in all the three incidents. He said criminal tribes were also involved in heinous offences in the state. The clarifications on Mr Advani’s statement on Samajwadi Party MP Phoolan Devi’s killing and a reply listed for yesterday was rescheduled for today on his
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Poll panel to review electoral
rolls New Delhi, August 7 However, there will only be summary revision of electoral rolls in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal (all going for Assembly Elections early next year), Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, besides the North-Eastern states, commission sources said here today. Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal had been excluded from the intensive electoral roll revision programme due to lack of time for the completion of the process before the elections, while Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and North-Eastern states had been excluded from the exercise due to administrative problems, the sources said. Under the summary review, the commission called for applications from the electorate for inclusion, correction, etc and the old electoral roll was reviewed based on the fresh applications received by it. The massive exercise was likely to be completed by January 22, 2002, and the final publication of rolls would be done on January 24, 2002, the sources said. Meanwhile, the delimitation work in Uttaranchal was likely to gain further
momemtum with the Union Home Ministry approving the names of five associate members, who would be part of the delimitation exercise. The five non-voting associate members were Mr Kedar Singh Phonia, Mr K.C. Singh “Baba”, Mr Harvansh Kapoor, Mr Ajay Bhatt and Dr Mohan Singh Rawat (all MLAs). Uttaranchal, which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh, had at present 22 Assembly constituencies and these had to be reorganised into 70 Assembly seats. |
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Hari Jaisingh to head probe committee New Delhi, August 7 The press council decided to set up the inquiry committee after it received complaints in this regard, PCI Chairman Justice P. B. Sawant said at a press conference here today, wherein he also released the council’s latest report,” “Future of Print India”. The other members of the committee are R. Venkataraman, Pratap P, Shah, Inderjit Mohanty and Vijay Kumar Darda. The PCI has also set up a fact-finding committee comprising Hari Jaisingh and Vijay Kumar Chopra to inquire into the attack on the premises of Bathinda-based “Dainik Pilot”and assaults and harassment and intimidation of the paper’ s Editor Mohan Nagpal, his family members and its staff. The PCI report has recommended the setting up of a third press commission to study and suggest ways and means to enable print media to fulfil its functions in the new environment of a revolution that has occurred in production and communication technology. The main subjects covered in the reports are information technology and print media, ownership and monopoly, electronic media and price war.
UNI |
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Rethinking
over CDS New Delhi, August 7 Sources in the defence establishment said a decision on appointing a CDS could be delayed longer than expected, especially as there was rethinking within the civilian establishment over its need and functions. Besides, the government would want the three services to sort out their differences before even wanting to seek the opinion of other parties over the issue. The government had on May 11 last cleared all recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM), who had gone through the Kargil Committee report, except the CDS. The Cabinet had given the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, the authority to seek a political concensus before taking a final decision. The sources pointed out that the issue was too complex and differences prevailing within the services itself could have a bearing on the final decision. The Indian Air Force (IAF) had already written to the Defence Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, that it was not in favour of the creation of a CDS. The IAF, which has consistently been opposing the creation of a CDS over the past 25 years, was of the opinion that a “strategic command” be created and put under its control. This especially as it had the resources to carry nuclear warheads and knowing their operational capabilities it would be the only agency to be able to deploy them rationally in time of need. Although the “implementation cell” created after the GoM clearance to the Kargil Committee recommendations was on the verge of submitting its report on the creation of a CDS structure, reports said that it might also run into trouble at the ministry level with the IAF again witholding its approval. Incidentally, reports said that even the Army would at present not be in favour of a CDS in the coming few months since an appointment at present would spoil its line of hierarchy. With the Navy already having lost its chance of giving the first CDS as Admiral Sushil Kumar himself had expressed his desire to opt out, the Army would be next in line. But would strategically like to wait so as to maintain its line of hierarchy. The sources said now there was also a strong opinion prevailing within the government against the creation of a CDS. There was also an opinion that putting all resources, including the nuclear chain of command under a single head, could eventually also have a bearing on the strong democratic set up that the country had been enjoying for over 50 years now. Besides there was thinking that if the CDS was likely to function in the same manner as the already existing Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee then it would simply mean changing the nomenclature which would not be of any use. |
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Noisy scenes
in RS over Ayodhya issue New Delhi, August 7 Although the issue was disallowed by Chairman Krishan Kant, it drew protests from various members specially from the BJP. Raising the issue of an incident in Mumbai where Samajwadi Party activists were allegedly lathi-charged and 88 of them, including 18 women, arrested on August 2 after they attempted to reconstruct the wall of a mosque, Mr Mishra demanded that Home Minister L. K. Advani give a statement on the incident in the House. Mr Mishra’s statement was objected to by BJP members. Earlier, Mr Pramod Mahajan who was reading out what the Lok Sabha Speaker had said on the stock market scam, was stopped by Pranab Mukherjee by saying that “you cannot quote the proceedings of the other House in this
House.” |
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No political reason for Phoolan killing: Advani New Delhi, August 7 Disagreeing that a security lapse led to her killing, Mr Advani reiterated that the security provided to her in 1994 remained unaltered till the end. He said that it was never brought to his notice that Phoolan Devi had asked for more security. Mr Advani said that even the presence of 10 security personnel could not have saved Phoolan Devi’s life, given the manner in which the prime accused had won her confidence. Replying to clarifications on his statement on the subject on August 2, Mr Advani stated that prime accused, Sher Singh Rana had political ambitions and thought of achieving his goal by criminal deeds. |
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NORTH INDIA IN
PARLIAMENT New Delhi, August 7 As many as 273 security personnel and 865 militants were killed during the period in the state, the minister further informed. The process licensers for various units of the proposed refinery project at Panipat in Haryana of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have been selected, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Ram Naik informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today. Haryana has imposed Haryana Local Area Development Tax (HLADT) with effect from May this year on various goods entering the state. The conviction percentage of IPC crime cases in 1999 is 40.4 per cent, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr Vidyasagar Rao, informed the Lok Sabha today. The Kargil airport will become operational by September, 2001. Actual civil operation will depend upon the airline operators, and the commercial viability and availability of suitable aircraft, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Sharad Yadav, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. In answer to a separate question, the Civil Aviation Minister said the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has plans to upgrade the civil enclave at Srinagar by expansion and modification of the terminal building to enhance its passenger capacity to 600 with all modern facilities. Proposals have been received for the construction of airstrips at Rangrik and Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. A proposal has also been received for the construction of a civil enclave at Pathankot in Punjab. |
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Bihar floods worry
Elders New Delhi, August 7 Raising supplementaries during question hour, RJD members drew the government’s attention towards the devastation caused during the current round of floods in Bihar and wanted to know the progress of parleys with Nepal for the past two decades. The members were not satisfied when Water Resources Minister Arjun Charan Sethi informed the House that the government was having regular talks with Nepal at different levels. They in one voice, wanted to know the outcome of talks. “Bihar is submerged. What is the use of such talks going on for 20 years?” they shouted. Mr Sethi then explained that since the matter involved two countries, New Delhi could not do anything unilaterally. “We are discussing, persuading and constantly interacting with Nepal. The signing of the Mahakali Treaty and implementation of the Pancheshwar dam project in Nepal were result of such an exercise, he said. Responding to another question, he said India was in constant touch with Bhutan also to arrive at some kind of agreement for the construction of multi-purpose dam projects. He also said the government was studying the proposal to link Himalayan rivers with peninsular rivers so that water could be made available from the surplus areas to the deficit areas, thereby taking care of both floods and drought. |
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Asylum fire: notices issued New Delhi, August 7 The notices issued were returnable within 10 days. The Bench comprising the Chief Justice Dr A.S. Anand, Mr Justice K.T. Thomas, Mr Justice R.C. Lahota, Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, and Mr Justice S.N .Vairava said the court’s attention was invited by a submission note from the court’s Judicial Registrar and the same had been treated as writ petition by the judges. |
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Man hired killers to eliminate parents Sriganganagar, August 7 The 60-year-old woman was shot point-blank at a farm house in 8 V village while her husband Harbans Singh, who was sleeping nearby, managed to escape and raise the alarm. He could not identify the killers since it was dark. Mr
R.P. Singh, SP, said the couple’s son, Sukhdev Singh, had hatched a plan to eliminate his parents and hired three persons — Shambhu Singh (20), Labh Singh (20) and Balwinder Singh (23) — to kill them for Rs 2.50 lakh. A sum of Rs 15,000 had been paid and the remaining was to be paid after the murder. Incidentally, Balwinder is the son of the deceased’s neighbour, a
patwari. Sukhdev also lived in a portion of the neighbour’s house. The four assembled at the house of Balwinder and waited till midnight. Then they scaled the common boundary wall and approached the two cots on which the couple was sleeping. They were armed with a double-barrelled gun and two lengths of plastic cord. The accused admitted during interrogation that they had been approached by Sukhdev. The woman was to be strangled and the old man was to be hanged after that to make these look like suicides. He wanted people to believe that they committed suicide as they were distressed at living separately from their only son for the past four years. |
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