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Sunday,
July 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Verma: no
move to cut EPF interest rate Naxal
emissaries pull out of peace talks Venkaiah:
BJP revamp won’t be drastic Godhra incident: CPM seeks probe by SC Judge
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Unmasking
of a seminar move
Encroachment
on legislative powers opposed Indo-Japanese
team conquers Karakoram Maya in
no hurry to expand Cabinet MPSC
ex-chief’s house searched Panel:
no pit fall but custodial death Centre’s
envoy to talk to Naga leaders
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Verma: no move to cut EPF interest rate New Delhi, July 6 “There is no move to touch the present rate of interest of 9.5 per cent. There is no thinking on this
line. Rather, the government is keen on providing more benefits to the EPF account holders,” the minister stated at a specially convened press conference. The new Labour Minister was quoted in interviews as having said that he was not averse to considering Finance Ministry’s recommendations for lowering the interest rate. Mr Verma said there had been no discussion or rethinking in the ministry on the matter. Ruling out any change in policies followed by his predecessor, Mr Sharad Yadav, the minister said the government was keen to reform Labour Laws and policies to benefit the working class. Asked if the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the EPF would consider lowering of the interest rate to 9 per cent as suggested by the Finance Ministry in line with the decrease in interest on small-scale savings and General Provident Fund, Mr Verma said, “We have neither thought of it, nor is it under consideration”. “We take care of the employees’ interest and do not want to do anything against their interest,” he said, adding that the objective of the government was to ensure that employees did not suffer. “That is why, we want to see that workers continue to get the existing benefits,” he said. Stating that an unclaimed amount of Rs 30,000 crore was lying in the Provident Fund, the Labour Minister said the money would be utilised in various schemes meant for the welfare of workers. Mr Verma said the government was very serious about the plight of the unorganised sector and was trying to provide the workers in the area minimum social security. “There can be some umbrella law to cover those persons,” he said. To a question regarding the proposed changes in the Industrial Disputes Act for exempting units employing 1000 workers from the requirement of getting permission from the government for rationalising the workforce, Mr Verma said he would study the recommendations of the second National Labour Commission in this regard. He also said the government would strive hard to ensure that industrial units did not fall sick. He said an atmosphere should be created so as to attract investments to boost industrial activities for generating additional employment. “We are not in favour of such reforms which affect the interest of workers,” he said. He said the government was considering the demand by trade unions to make the Labour Panel report public. “We are thinking of it. We may do it as early as possible,” he said, adding that he would have talks “with an open mind” with employees’ and employers’ representatives within a fortnight. |
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Naxal emissaries pull out of peace talks Hyderabad, July 6 Announcing their decision at a press conference here, the emissaries, balladeer Gaddar and revolutionary writer Varavara Rao, demanded a judicial inquiry into this week’s encounters in Khammam, Karimnagar and Warangal districts and cases registered against police officials responsible for the incidents. The second round of talks was to begin later this month, with the government agreeing to give safe passage to the Naxalite leaders taking part in the negotiations. They accused the N. Chandrababu Naidu government of not being sincere in restoring peace and cited the “relentless” police operations against the PWG cadres despite promises made by ministers K. Vijaya Rama Rao (Commercial Taxes) and T. Sitaram (Excise and Prohibition) in the first round of talks that a conducive atmosphere would prevail. A string of Naxal-police encounters since last week had led to their losing links with the extremist leaders, the emissaries said. The two emissaries said while the PWG had asked the government to create a conducive atmosphere for at least a month and suggested the setting up of a supervisory committee to monitor the situation, the government had responded by continuing combing operations against the naxalities and killing them in “fake” encounters. They also demanded that the Naidu government constitute a committee to oversee its activities and that of the PWG. “If the government is really keen to restore peace and end the naxal violence in the state, it should declare an immediate ceasefire and create a conducive atmosphere for the talks”, they said. They alleged that the killing of CPI (ML) leader Padmakka, who was part of the leadership that began the talks, and three other comrades, showed that the Naidu government was keen to abandon the process. The PWG stood committed to its word, declared a ceasefire and maintained restraint despite the repressive actions, they claimed.
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Venkaiah: BJP revamp won’t be drastic Hyderabad, July 6 “Our endeavour will be to make a full-fledged BJP reach out to all sections and remove misconceptions and counter a vicious propaganda by opponents,” Mr Naidu told mediapersons. He said a new work ethos with more emphasis on discipline and accountability at all levels, would be introduced in the organisation. Mr Naidu said he wanted to change the party from the President-centric to the team-oriented. A new factor of accountability with self-assessment would be introduced at all levels. Top priority would be given to enforcing discipline and orderliness at all levels, he said. Taking exception to Congress spokesman S. Jaipal Reddy’s announcement yesterday on the vice-presidential candidate, he said: “Before we took a decision, Mr Reddy announced the decision to put up a candidate”. Referring to the forthcoming presidential election, he said any attempt to divide the NDA votes would be frustrated. “Abdul Kalam is the people’s choice”, he said, advising the Opposition not to make petty politics out of the poll. Replying to a question, Mr Naidu said his party disagreed with the RSS demand for the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir. NEW DELHI: Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Saturday that the BJP would strive to be a true representative of the people, the dream nurtured by Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. Presiding over a function to mark the 101st birth anniversary of Dr Mukherjee at the BJP headquarters, Mr Naidu said the late leader had played a very constructive role when he founded the Jan Sangh, the earlier incarnation of BJP.
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Godhra incident:
CPM seeks probe by SC Judge New Delhi, July 6 “While it is clear that the state-sponsored genocide in Gujarat that followed the torching of the train in Godhra was pre-planned, a similar question mark arises on the Godhra incident,” the party Politburo, which began its two-day session here, said in a statement. It said the Forensic Science Laboratory investigating the Godhra train fire had revealed startling facts and under the circumstances it was imperative to ascertain the full facts and punish the guilty. It demanded that a judicial inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court Judge be constituted immediately. |
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Gujarat
violence case: 9 acquitted Vadodara, July 6 |
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Unmasking
of a seminar move New Delhi, July 6 With former judges and other high-power participants of the seminar dropping out at the last minute because of nagging doubts that they might be dragged into a controversy when the case connected with the scandal in Punjab was before the court, the organisers admitted that “on hindsight, we should not have gone ahead with the seminar at this juncture.” Clearly, the timing of the seminar assumes importance with the Congress government in Punjab headed by Capt Amarinder Singh transferring key investigators at a crucial stage and the Punjab and Haryana High Court firmly rejecting senior advocate
K. T. S. Tulsi’s plea on behalf of the prime accused R. P. S. Sidhu to restrain the media from reporting the confessional statements in the case. Though Capt Amarinder Singh has stressed that the law will take its own course in the PPSC scandal and that the guilty will not be spared, the latest developments have cast a serious doubt on the intentions of the state government. BJP general secretary and former Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley said he had also received an invitation for the seminar. In the normal course and without any background material, he said “I had given my consent purely as an academic subject as I have prepared two papers on criminal justice suggesting a 10-point change.” Some others invited to participate in the seminar, who did not want to be identified, said “the atmosphere appeared to be motivated and we did not want to be a party to it.” Mr Tulsi, who is the president of the fledgling Criminal Justice Society of India, claimed that they were planning to have this seminar for nearly two years and it was finalised about three months ago. He claimed the seminar had “nothing to do with any particular issue or subject.” The effort, he said was to bring investigators, prosecutors, judiciary, legal experts and mediapersons on a common platform to discuss the state of criminal justice in its entirety. The moment it was linked to a particular case by the media, he said, “we thought it best to call it off.” |
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Encroachment
on legislative powers opposed New Delhi, July 6 The all-party meeting slated for July 8 to deliberate on apex court directive has been called by the Law Ministry after informal consultations with leaders of some major political parties, who concurred with the Vajpayee government on need to counter “encroachment of judiciary in legislative matters” effectively, sources said today. Soon after the Election Commission citing the apex court order wrote a letter to the Centre to amend the conduct of election rules to make declaring the antecedents of the candidates be made part of the nomination paper, then Law Minister Arun Jaitley took up the issue with the Union Cabinet. “The Cabinet, appreciating the need to check the encroachment of judiciary in legislative sphere, asked the then Law Minister to seek the views of all political parties on the issue,” sources said. Although the Centre is keen on electoral reforms, sources said there was a strong feeling in the government that the apex court directive, was, in a way, “encroachment on legislative sphere” and that such a directive having large consequences should be backed by political consensus and legislation. The informal deliberations of the government with leaders of some major political parties also indicated strong reservations among political leadership of the country, particularly over two of the five directives of the apex court, which have been implemented in toto by the Election Commission with effect from July 1, pertaining to the disclosure of pending criminal cases; and assets and loans pending against the candidates entering the election fray, sources said. They felt that although it would be desirable to ask a candidate to disclose criminal cases pending against him or her, the declaration should be with regard to only “immediate past”. “Several cases are slapped against political leaders, many of them politically motivated, and it would be an uphill task for a candidate to remember all cases pending against him or her,” sources said, adding that the declaration should ideally pertain to cases in the past few years. |
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Indo-Japanese team conquers Karakoram New Delhi, July 6 “The Indo-Japanese team by traversing the Karakoram Pass, which forms an international boundary between India and China, became the first ever team comprising Japanese permitted by the Indian army to trek the Siachen Glacier,” expedition leader Harish Kapadia said. The 10-member team which returned to the Army base camp today after a two-month expedition in the Siachen Glacier crossed high passes like the Karakoram Pass, Col Italia, Chang La and Kalkatra La and reached major glaciers like Central Rimo-Teram Shehr and the great Siachen glacier, he said. Mr Kapadia said the team also became the first to climb the extremely difficult peak of Padmanabh (7030 metres from sea level). By passing the Col Italia Pass between the Rimo glacier system with the Siachen Glacier, it also became the first team to “conquer” the pass in 72 years, he said. Col Ravindra Nath, Director Indian Mountaineering Foundation, said no foreign team was also allowed in the Siachen Glacier region for security reasons.
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Maya in no hurry to expand Cabinet New Delhi, July 6 “Both BSP and BJP have effected certain changes in the organisation. They are both busy with organisational matters. Expansion would be done once both parties became free from organisational matters,” Ms Mayawati told newspersons soon after her meeting with Mr Advani. Asked about the purpose of her meeting with Mr Advani, she described it as a “courtesy call” as this was her first meeting with him after he became the Deputy Prime Minister. Asked whether tomorrow’s party rally in the Capital would signal BSP’s efforts to make inroads in Delhi, Ms Mayawati said “it is the beginning of such an effort”. |
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MPSC
ex-chief’s house searched Mumbai, July 6 Dr Karnik, a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), arrived in Mumbai late last night from Delhi. The ACB officials made preliminary inquiries from him, after which they searched his residence in his presence, highly-placed ACB sources said. The search of his south Mumbai flat was still on when reports last came in. Dr Karnik, who is also a former Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University, was summoned by a local court, which directed him to appear before the ACB office at Worli in connection with the scam. His house has been sealed for over a week. Six persons, including a former Controller of Examinations, Mr
S. G. Sarode, and a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Baban Kadam, have been arrested in this connection so far.
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Panel: no pit fall but custodial death Bhopal, July 6 On the night of February 7, 2000, Shahira Bi lodged a report at the Madhya Pradesh Nagar police station that her husband, Annu Khan, in an inebriated state, was beating her and the children. Head Constable Hargovind Singh and Constable Jagdish Vishwakarma then arrested Annu Khan. His medical examination showed him to be in a state of drunkenness but still in control of his senses. He was then locked up in the police station. At night, Annu Khan expressed his desire to urinate and was allowed to go out. However, he fell into a pit, according to the police. He was taken to Hamidia Hospital, where he died on February 9. A post-mortem revealed nine injuries on his body. |
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Centre’s envoy to talk to Naga leaders New Delhi, July 6 This was stated by Mr Padmanabhaiah after he met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister
L. K. Advani today to discuss the Naga issue. “I have taken necessary briefings from the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister,” he
said. PTI |
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