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Thursday,
April 18, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Minorities look for 3rd alternative Mumbai, April 17 About 200 dwellings in the Behrampada slum locality of Bandra, north-west Mumbai, were destroyed in a major fire that broke out at 6.30 a.m. today displacing about 2,000 persons. There was no loss of life.
Withdraw troops from Gujarat: Army Chief New Delhi, April 17 The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen S. Padmanabhan, today favoured the withdrawal of troops from Gujarat since the situation in the state was returning to normal.
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| Shah case: HC stays prosecution’s address Mumbai, April 17 The Mumbai High Court has stayed until April 19 the prosecution’s opening address in the case involving the alleged nexus of film financier Bharat Shah with the underworld.
New Delhi, April 17 India today dismissed as “absolutely untrue” Pakistan’s allegation that an employee of the Pakistan High Commission here had been abducted, kept in illegal confinement and tortured. ‘Pakistan aiding insurgency in NE states’ Farmers at Punjab’s mercy Chandrika to be in India next week Kolkata, April 17 Aamir Khan has rejected seven offers from Hollywood, following his post-Lagaan international acclaim and Oscar nomination for the film, but might be seen in a Bengali movie and stage in near future. Mann for Indo-Pak extradition treaty 80 gastroenteritis cases in 2 days New RS members take oath IT sleuths assessing documents Water supply
regulation non-starter
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Minorities look for 3rd alternative Ahmedabad, April 17 “It is time for us to shift the political loyalty beyond the BJP and Congress,” says a local madarsa instructor Mahboob-ur-Rahman Qasmi. There are many who endorse Qasmi’s political assertiveness. “We await anxiously the emergence of a third party, may be regional, communist or even so-called casteist” said a relief worker at the Shah-e-Alam Khan camp. The general feeling among the relief workers and the inmates is that both the BJP and the Congress have “failed” to live up to the aspirations of the people and the status quo ought to be challenged by this “assertive force”. “We form a considerable section of the voters and if we vote
en bloc, it will make a significant impact,” Abdullah, a resident of a minority-dominated colony near Dariayakhan said. The minority inmates, including women, passing anxious and pitiable days in relief camps, argue that with the embattled BJP “sparking off” communal tension “our duty to participate in the elections, has increased manifold”. According to them, the time is ripe for seeking a third alternative — even in the form of a regional outfit like that of Shankersinh Vaghela’s Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) or the Mahagujarat
Janata Parishad of the 1950s. They maintain that frustration is giving way to defiance and it could soon gain sanctity once the “backwards and minorities are together”. On its part, the BJP under Chief Minister Narendra Modi hopes to marshall the entire majority community vote in its favour. On the other hand, Congress leaders have been found wanting to rise to the occasion to protect minorities and also forge unity between Dalits and minorities who have been religiously voting for the party for over five decades. The All-India Confederation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has diagnosed this as “local leadership failure”. The confederation Chairman Udit Raj says the minorities and Dalits need to come together and forge themselves as an “assertive force” as in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Raj’s optimism about such a vote bank is not without ground as time and again the third alternative has done well in Gujarat — albeit not up to the level it should have.
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200 Behrampada slums gutted Mumbai, April 17 Minister of State for Home Kripashankar Singh, who is also the Guardian Minister of Mumbai suburbs, said a short circuit had caused the fire. Fire personnel on the spot, however, did not confirm it. A fireman sustained minor burns and has been admitted to the
Bhaba Hospital here. The blazing flames and billowing smoke roused from sleep the residents of ‘Haji ki Chawl’ at Noorjehan gate opposite the new MIG colony. About a dozen persons, who were trapped in their homes, were rescued by the firemen. Mr Kripashankar Singh, District Collector C.S. Sangitrao, and senior police officials, including DCP Bipin Bihari, were at the site, monitoring the relief operation. The government has provided an immediate cash compensation of Rs 600 per person, Mr Kripashankar Singh said adding that temporary shelters for the affected have been provided at Khernagar Municipal School and National Girls High School, Behrampada. The minister said food would also be provided to the persons rendered homeless. Assistant Divisional Fire Officer A.B. Kamble said 84 firemen had rushed to the spot on time with 12 fire tenders, five jumbo tankers and ambulances. A senior police official said the fire might have been caused due to electric
short-circuiting as many inhabitants of the locality drew power illegally. “I was brushing my teeth, when the shouts of “fire, fire...” were heard. I ran out of my house holding my sleeping six-month-old child and four-year-old daughter. There was absolutely no chance of salvaging any of our belongings,” a resident Ameena Begum said with tears in her eyes. Incidentally, the annual fire-safety week is also being observed in the city. District Collector C.S. Sangitrao informed that the collectorate would conduct a survey of the damages and the number of persons affected and announce a rehabilitation package.
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Withdraw troops from Gujarat: Army Chief New Delhi, April 17 “The information I have received is that the Army has done a good job in Gujarat... now that the situation is under control, it is time to get them back (from the state),” he told mediapersons after the COAS citation function here. General
Padmanabhan said Defence Minister George Fernandes had also recently visited the state and personally reviewed the situation. On Jammu and Kashmir, he said now that the snow had started melting, the Army would chalk out its strategy in accordance with the situation. He, however, declined to disclose the strategy. General Padmanabhan said “no comment” to questions on the withdrawal of troops from the Indo-Pak border and the level of infiltration.
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Shah case: HC stays prosecution’s address Mumbai, April 17 The stay was granted yesterday by Justice Ranjana Desai who heard an appeal filed by Shah challenging the April 11 order of the trial court which rejected his plea to quash police sanction to book him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Shah had questioned the validity of the sanction granted by the Police Commissioner on March 7 last year under Section 23 (2) of MCOCA to prosecute him. Shah said the sanction was bad in law and should be quashed and held as void. He also requested that the trial court had no jurisdiction to try him as the sanction was defective. Shah contended that the impugned sanction was granted on the basis of a report dated March 3 last year. There was nothing in the sanction to show what material or facts were considered by the police chief before concluding that prima facie case had been made out against him under MCOCA. The bail plea of co-accused and film producer Nasim Rizvi would be heard on April 19 by the trial court. Rizvi has urged for liberty on the ground of parity with Shah, who was granted bail by the apex court early this month. Rizvi, however, decided not to press for his bail immediately. His lawyer Sayaji Nangre told the court that he would wait until the prosecution concludes its opening address and then urge for bail or discharge from the case. Rizvi, his assistant Abdul Rahim Allah Baksh and Mohammed Shamshuddin alias Bhatija, facing the trial, opposed the plea of Bharat Shah for deferring the prosecution’s opening address until his appeal was decided.
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India rejects Pak’s charge New Delhi, April 17 A spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters that India had indeed received a verbal note from Pakistan in which the neighbour had lodged a protest against the above-mentioned incident. “There is absolutely no truth in the Pakistani allegation. There has been no transgression of rules and conventions in this regard,” the spokesperson said. In response to a question on the Gujarat issue, the spokesperson said the MEA was keeping all its embassies and diplomatic missions abroad posted of the ongoing relief and rehabilitation measures on in the State. The Indian missions abroad were also being posted of the latest developments in Gujarat and also the fact that school examinations and Panchayat elections had been successfully and peacefully completed in the state recently. |
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‘Pakistan aiding insurgency in NE states’ New Delhi, April 17 This was stated by Minister of State for Home Vidyasagar Rao in the Rajya Sabha. He said all these organisations had been banned by the Indian Government. The banned organisations include Deendar Anjuman, Al-Badr, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Qaida, Jaish-e-Mohammad/Tahrik-e-Furqan, ULFA, SIMI, Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the LTTE, which operates from Sri Lanka. He said as per
reports, Indian insurgents from the North-Eastern states had set up camps in neighbouring countries such as the NDFB/ULFA in Bhutan and Bangladesh, the NLFT/ATTF in Bangladesh and the NSCN and all its factions in Myanmar and Bangladesh. The minister said insurgents in the North-Eastern states continue to be aided by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in their anti-national activities.
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Farmers
at Punjab’s mercy Sriganganagar, April 17 Canal water has ceased to flow since April 8 on account of low reserves in the Pong Dam. Farmers are busy reaping the rabi crop, but their anxiety about the next crop can be gauged from the fact that though summer is yet to fully set in in these parts, only drinking water is being released in the canals. The two largely Punjabi-dominated districts are considered the bread bowl of the state. The peasentry here is entirely dependent on water from the Gang (Bikaner) Canal from Punjab since the late ‘20s. Built in 1927 by the late Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner, the canal is a virtual lifeline for thousands of families. Its water meets the drinking and irrigation needs of the Bikaner division. The ground water here is too saline, thereby unfit for drinking. Large tracts of cultivable land too have turned barren after use of the water for irrigation. Deep-bore tubewells costing lakhs are out of reach of most farmers. Land in many areas is fallow and the farmers are dependent on rainfall for cultivation. According to sources, this year, the farmers are reeling under the tremendous losses due to the bollworm attack on the cotton crop last year. Although the wheat yield has been good, the losses will only be offset if the present season is good. The farmers are optimistic that a Congress government will bail out their Congress counterparts here. The Chief Ministers of both the states had met in this context in Delhi some time back. Otherwise, the fields will remain bare since the only commercially viable crop after cotton is jowar and bajra, which can be sown only after mid-June. Only limited acres can be irrigated by tubewells. Farmer organisations, on the other hand, allege that successive governments have always adopted a stepmotherly treatment to these districts in the past. The Gang Canal, built of lime and mortar, is low on the priority of the governments. Coupled with the lack of maintenance in the past 30 years, it has been badly damaged. At certain stretches it is unable to carry its cusec capacity, affecting the farmers and the entire economy of this region. Knowledgeable persons point out that in the past two years, of the Rs 446 crore sanctioned for the repair of the canal, only Rs 37 crore has been released. As per the announcement of the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Rs 130 crore each, Rs 260 crore in total, was to be spent during 2000-2001 and 2001-2002. This is just above 14 per cent of the sanctioned sum and the project is scheduled to be completed in just four years. Experts warn that if the present slow pace of work goes on, the canal cannot be repaired in the next decade. By then the cost would quadruple. When the original proposal to repair the canal was drawn up in 1983, the estimates were only Rs 90 lakh, which subsequently shot up to to Rs 450 crore in 2000. Not only this, the seepage losses suffered during the ensuing years were reportedly the highest in Asia. The losses, on account of broken lining and banks, of bringing the water from Ferozepore to Sriganganagar, were pegged at more than 200 cusecs, enough to generate resources of more than Rs 50 crore by irrigating hundreds of acres. They claimed that the losses would be just 50 cusecs if the canal was repaired. A major chunk, nearly 85 per cent, was being jointly borne by the Centre and the World Bank. The state government was just pitching in with just Rs 60 to 65 crore, a small sum, considering the benefits in terms of checking seepage only. Only 27 km of the 108-km stretch of the canal in Punjab had been repaired. The remaining section needs to be repaired before the onset of the monsoon and the Centre and the World Bank have agreed to release their share of the remaining amount in one go. A sum of Rs 100 crore is needed to complete this part. |
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Chandrika
to be in India next week New Delhi, April 17 A spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs today confirmed that Ms Kumaratunga would be coming next week and added that during the visit she would have discussions with President K.R. Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The exact dates of the visit would be announced later, though the spokesperson said Ms Kumaratunga would be here for a few days and one day would be devoted for the talks with the Indian leadership. |
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Aamir Khan spurns Hollywood offers Kolkata, April 17 “I have got seven offers from Hollywood in recent times and rejected all roles as I did not like any of them. The filmmakers included even a big name,” said the actor-producer in a press conference today. He was here to release ‘The Spirit of Lagaan’, a book on the making of the epic dimension movie written by Aamir’s childhood friend Satyajit Bhatkal. Eminent Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, who had offered a role to Aamir this morning, released the book.
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Mann for Indo-Pak extradition treaty New Delhi, April 17 Mr Mann’s demand assumes significance as India has already asked Pakistan to hand over 20 wanted terrorists, including Sikh militants who are hiding in that country. But, such a treaty should be signed only after defining “who is a terrorist and what terrorist activities are.’’ Claiming that his party stood for “rule of law”, Mr Mann said the two neighbouring countries should develop a legal framework for trial of criminals of both countries after extradition. Mr Mann, who possesses a diplomatic passport, entered Pakistan from Wagah border in Punjab on April 11 despite a ban imposed by the Indian Government on pilgrimage of Sikhs to gurdwaras in that country. Mr Mann, who visited four historical gurdwaras in Pakistan’s Punjab and one in Peshawar near Afghanistan, said there was need to develop better “people-to-people” understanding between the citizens of the two countries as the rulers of both states had failed to bring about peace in the sub-continent. In this context, he said India should not stick to the Simla Agreement which the Pakistani leaders maintained, had been signed “under duress’’ when more than 90,000 Pakistan soldiers were still in Indian
captivity after they surrendered in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. “No one exhibited a belligerent attitude towards India during the celebrations and everyone was for peace and harmony in the region,’’ he added. There were no Sikh militant wanted by the Indian Government present at the celebrations. Mr Mann was highly appreciative of the Pakistan Government’s upkeep and maintenance of Sikh shrines.
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80 gastroenteritis cases in 2 days Kolkata, April 17 Doctors attending to the patients are certain that the disease is water-borne and they suggested that the sample of water supplied in the locality be tested. Worried at the reports of sudden illness of such a large number of residents, the Chief Minister asked the Health Minister, Dr Suryakanto Mishra, to personally visit the area and look into the matter. An inquiry has also been ordered. |
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New RS members take oath New Delhi, April 17 Those who took oath included Union Shipping Minister V.P. Goyal, former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shibu Soren. The others to take oath were Mr Lal Jan Basha, Ms N.P. Durgaulra, Mr Ravula Chandra Shekhar Reddy and Mr Akarapu Sudharshan from Andhra Pradesh. Thirty-nine new members were sworn in on the first day of the Budget-session after recess on April 15. |
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IT sleuths assessing documents Mumbai, April 17 However, they are tight-lipped on the nature of the investigations. During the two-day search operation that concluded last evening, IT sleuths seized about Rs 11 crore in cash and 170 passports. Share certificates and fixed deposits were also seized during the operation carried out in Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Chennai, besides some other places. More than 70 places were searched during the operation. Money-lenders, hoteliers, travel agents and some investment companies were targeted.
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Water supply
regulation non-starter Hanumangarh, April 17 New rotations were to start from Monday but due to staff shortage the formalities are not complete yet. The Irrigation Department has requested the district administration to assign the job to the Revenue Department. The work of fixing of the rotations is done twice a year in April and October. The work of attesting the applications, issuing the slips of rotation and other jobs relating to the rotation fixing were being done by the patwaris of the department till last October. Following orders of the state government, the patwaris of the Irrigation Department had been sent to the Revenue Department on February 28, due to which the job of allotment of rotations to the cultivators has been affected badly. The Irrigation Department does not have any field staff to carry out the job. According to sources, applications numbering in hundreds have reached the Irrigation Office carrying requests of the cultivators to change their rotations and every day the numbers of applications is increasing, but due to unavailability of staff no action was being taken on these applications. In the Bhakra Irrigation Circle, there were only about 200 partwaris who used to do the job of fixing the rotations but now the Irrigation Department was not having a single
patwari. The sources said at a meeting of the officials of the
department, the problem being faced in the fixing of rotation was
discussed. |
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