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Thursday,
August 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Oppn
forces adjournment Shekhawat
wants oath on Aug 19 S M Khan
is Press Secy to Kalam NORTH INDIA IN
PARLIAMENT PM, Advani attend RSS ‘gurudakshina’ Probe
into ‘sati’ ordered |
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India
has largest disabled population Tehelka scribe held,
let off on bail Stokes
to hold talks with Virbhadra Bomb attack on UP legislator
in court Inquiry
sought into murder of Sodhi’s brother
Initiative
to tackle drought after Aug 15
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Oppn forces adjournment New Delhi, August 7 While in the Lok Sabha members trooped into the well of the House as soon as the proceedings started, in the Rajya Sabha the members observed a two-minute silence to pay homage to those killed in yesterday’s massacre in Pahalgam before resorting to sloganeering against the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister and the NDA government. As soon as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla walked into the House, Shiv Sena members raised the issue of killing of Amarnath pilgrims. Ms Heptulla joined the members in condemning the killing of nine pilgrims in Amarnath and said it was a heinous crime and appealed to the members to rise and pay their respects to those killed in the “dastardly” act. Soon after, when the Deputy Chairperson settled in her seat and wanted question hour to begin, the entire Opposition was on its feet, raising slogans against the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister and the government. There was counter-sloganeering from the treasury benches and pandemonium followed as the uproar continued, the Chair adjourned the House for the day. As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled, the Congress, the Left, the Samajwadi Party and RJD members trooped into the well, raising slogans like “Ram Naik isteefa do" (Naik should resign) and “Gali, gali mein shor hai, Ram Naik chor hai”. Treasury benches sought to counter the Opposition sloganeering demanding that question hour be allowed to take place. In the midst of the din, Samajwadi Party member Ramji Lal Suman was seen talking to Deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed who pleaded with the members to return to their seats. Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi sat through the uproar. Mr Naik was present in the House. As the pandemonium continued, Mr Sayeed adjourned the House for the day. |
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Shekhawat
wants oath on Aug 19 New Delhi, August 7 But there is a slight hitch. The Vice President-hopeful will create history if the Rashtrapati Bhavan authorities were to give in to his wishes of which the chances are bright. Mr Shekhawat wants his swearing-in ceremony to be conducted in the open on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan as against the traditional practice of holding swearing-in ceremonies in the chandeliered Durbar Hall. The most stunning part of Mr Shekhawat’s request is that he wants his swearing-in to be attended by some 15,000 persons. Sources revealed that Rashtrapati Bhavan authorities had informally asked Mr Shekhawat to keep the swearing-in on August 19 evening if he wanted the ceremony to be attended by 15,000 persons. But Mr Shekhawat is not amenable to this change ostensibly on astrological advice. Discussions in this regard are underway. Mr Shekhawat, thus, is tipped to be the first Vice-President of India whose swearing-in will be held in the open forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan and a mammoth crowd of 15,000 is expected to be present on the occasion. Of this, at least 10,000 would be from Mr Shekhawat’s home State of Rajasthan. Incidentally, Mr Shekhawat has vowed that he would give up chewing tobacco by the time he is sworn in. He took this vow when a prominent Opposition leader, who is a former Chief Minister and who has already pledged his party’s support to the Congress nominee Sushil Kumar Shinde, rang up Mr Shekhawat a couple of days back and told him that he would vote for him if he were to give up tobacco completely. |
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S M Khan is Press Secy to Kalam New Delhi, August 7 Mr Khan, who took over his new assignment today, belongs to the 1982 batch of the
IIS, and served the CBI since October, 1989, as its Principal Information Officer. He replaced Mr Satyanarain
Sahu. Prior to his eventful stint at CBI Mr Khan had served the Press Information Bureau, the Director of Advertising and Visual Publicity and All India Radio. |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, August 7 In a written reply placed in the House yesterday, the minister said since there was large-scale seasonal migration in Chandigarh, precise number of eligible persons for rehabilitation could not be ascertained. Encroachments on public land were removed after following the due process of law.
Eligible persons living in designated labour colonies are being rehabilitated, the House was told in a reply to a question raised by MP from Chandigarh Pawan Kumar Bansal. The conditions of rehabilitation under the scheme of 1979 were amended in 2000. The amendment carried out in the scheme relaxed the earlier stipulation of a single cut-off date of December 12, 1996. The Prime Minister during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir in May announced a package of over Rs 6,000 crore covering various aspects of development and security with a thrust on generation of new employment opportunities for the youth and the relief for migrants affected by militancy and cross-border shelling, the Minister of State of Home Affairs Ch Vidyasagar Rao told the Lok Sabha in a reply yesterday. The schemes or projects covered in the package which are to be implemented by the departments concerned are: the 287 km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula rail line to be completed with in five years, the Jammu Tawi-Jalandhar rail line to be doubled with in next five years, development of agri-export zones for apples and walnuts, technology mission on horticulture for Jammu and Kashmir which could be coordinated with the Agri-export zones for apples and walnuts being developed by the Ministry of Commerce and providing new tents and common civic amenities for border migrants in Jammu and Kashmir, upgrading police hospitals for treatment of police personnel wounded in terrorist attacks among other schemes, the House was told. |
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PM, Advani attend RSS ‘gurudakshina’ New Delhi, August 7 At the ceremony, attended by senior RSS functionaries Madan Das Devi, Sripati Shastri and Satyanarayan Bansal, the leaders offered ‘gurudakshina’ to the RSS in envelopes deposited into an urn placed below the saffron flag of the sangh. Prominent among those present were BJP President Venkaiah Naidu, Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley and Union Ministers Ram Naik, Pramod Mahajan, B.C. Khanduri, Vidyasagar Rao and Santosh Gangwar. BJD MP Prasanna Acharya was also present. The programme, held around the ‘Vyas Poornima’, featured a ‘baudhik’ (discourse) by Mr Shastri. The programme is held at every ‘shakha’ every year for sustaining, expanding and starting various activities of the RSS. Every RSS member is expected to offer at least a month’s income for the activities of the organisation. |
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Probe into ‘sati’ ordered Bhopal, August 7 In a statement, the Home Minister, Mr Mahendra Boudh told the state Assembly that the woman, who died of burn injuries, was forced to enter the funeral pyre of her late husband Mallu
Nai. He said 15 persons had been arrested. The minister said Kuttu Bai did not have good relation with her husband and stayed with her second son Rajkumar while her husband Mallu stayed with their elder son Ashok. The Leader of the Opposition, Dr Gauri Shanker
Shejwar, said as the incident was of a very serious nature, it deserved to be discussed under an adjournment motion. His suggestion was accepted by the Speaker, Mr Sriniwas Tiwari, who announced that it would be taken up tomorrow. New Delhi: The National Commission for Women
(NCW) described the ‘sati’ incident as “atrocious and shameful” and decided to send a four-member delegation to Panna district on August 9 for investigating the incident. Reacting to the self-immolation by Kuttu Bai on the funeral pyre of her husband, NCW Chairperson Purnima Advani said, “it is really shocking that even in this era incidents like this are happening.” The NCW delegation would visit the village on Friday for an on-the-spot investigation of the matter. The team, headed by Ms Advani, would comprise two members —
Anusuiya, who hails from the same area, and Baby Rani Maurya. One member of the delegation would be taken from outside the Commission, she said and adding that the delegation would submit its report by Sunday. Ms Advani said she had spoken to the Chairpersons of the state Human Rights Commission, Women Commission and the Director-General of Police on telephone to gather the information about the incident.
PTI, UNI |
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India has largest disabled population Jaipur, August 7 Speaking on “the overview of the condition of women with disabilities in India,” Sangeeta Thakur, a Patna-based reporter with a national daily said although she got married in July-end, she had not announced her marriage as she was awaiting acceptance by her in-laws. Sangeeta suffers from muscular dystrophy, a progressive disease because of which her hearing is impaired. She said she faced discrimination when she applied for jobs in the Capital. Entrusted by her newspaper to bring out a page on disability, Sangeeta said she had got married to an able-bodied man even though people had suggested to her parents to look for a disabled groom for her. Dim matrimonial prospects and uncertain future of disabled girls dominated the discussion on this subject chaired by Vandana Bedi, Executive Director, Spastics Society of Northern India. According to the findings of an ILO study circulated by the organisers, India has about 20 million disabled women. Presiding over the inaugural session, Justice Sujata Manohar, member, National Human Rights Commission, said, “India has the largest population of disabled persons in the world. Although official estimates put the number of disabled people of different age groups at 16 million, unofficial estimates put the figure at 100 million which is about 10 per cent of the total population.” Justice Manohar said women suffering from disability were doubly disadvantaged - first as disabled and second as women. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the efforts to integrate disabled women into the mainstream was a beginning. Brinda Karat, General Secretary, All India Democratic Women’s Association, and Poonam Natarajan, Director, Vidya Sagar, in Chennai also spoke. |
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Tehelka
scribe held, let off on bail
New Delhi, August 7 Policemen from South District arrived at the office of Tehelka news portal to arrest Mr Bahal and took him to Lodhi Road police station where a senior official questioned him for an hour. His arrest came close on the heels after the police questioned two employees — Ram Meher (guard) and Brij Bushan (accountant) — of the portal at length in connection with the case. Later, he was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Reena Singh Nag, who granted him bail on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and a surety for the like amount besides directing him to surrender his passport. Emerging out of the court, Mr Bahal compared the NDA-led government to “Nazi” regime and challenged them to prove charges against him. The Congress today accused the Vajpayee government of subjecting the news portal to
"unending harassment" and converting the CBI into a "pliable tool.'' Assailing the arrest, Congress chief spokesman Jaipal Reddy said Mr Bahal's arrest indicated that the BJP-led NDA government cannot tolerate dissent from the
Press. PTI |
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Stokes to hold talks with Virbhadra New Delhi, August 7 Ms Stokes said though she had entertained the complaints of Mr Virbhadra Singh’s supporters at the time of the formation of the PCC, more could be adjusted in the interest of the party. “It was for the high command to take a final decision,” she told The Tribune here. Ms Stokes, who was in the Capital, said she would meet Mr Virbhadra Singh to sort out any misunderstanding. “We need to be together. Our goal is to bring the Congress to power,” she said. Nearly 25 supporters of Mr Virbhadra Singh had filed complaints with the high-command against the manner in which organisational elections were held in Himachal Pradesh. No decision had been taken on these complaints for the past more than a year but the high-command recently indicated that it was willing to consider some of the claims. Ms Stokes today said almost 50 per cent of the names recommended by Mr Virbhadra Singh had been accommodated when the PCC was constituted. The PCC chief said the party was prepared to face the Assembly poll at any time. Talking of the steps being taken to improve the performance of the party in the Assembly elections, Ms Stokes said committees had been set up in every booth. “These committees will verify voters list, see that new names are included and identity cards made on time,” Ms Stokes said. She indicated that an action-plan was being prepared and committees set up to finalise the party’s manifesto and charge sheet against the Dhumal government. Asked about the possibility of the Congress aligning with the Himachal Vikas Party, Ms Stokes said the party was strong and did not need an alliance. “However, the final decision is to be taken by the high command,” Ms Stokes said. On the move of the Dhumal government to create new districts, Ms Stokes said the Congress was not against the creation of new districts but it had objections to the timing of the move. “An all-party meeting should have been held. New districts should not be created on the whims of the ruling party,’’ she said. On proposals for the distribution of tickets, Ms Stokes said clean image, ability to win and faith in Congress principles would be the criterion for deciding candidates. Ms Stokes said the party unit was following the report of the Manmohan Singh Committee for collecting funds for the election drive. |
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Bomb attack on UP legislator
in court Lucknow, August 7 Mr Atiq Ahmed is sitting legislator from Allahabad (west) constituency. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati had recently accused Atiq of plotting to kill her. A senior police official told The Tribune that the attacker had been caught and identified as
Akhlaaq. In a statement to the police, the attacker said Mr Atiq Ahmed had killed his brother in 1995. |
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Inquiry
sought into murder of Sodhi’s brother New Delhi, August 7 In a letter to Mr Robert D. Blackwill, Mr Tarlochan Singh said Sukhpal Singh was murdered yesterday in San Francisco. The deceased was the brother of Balbir Singh Sodhi, who became a hate-crime victim shortly after the September 11 attacks. “You are aware that in October last year, both Houses of Parliament of the USA had passed unanimous resolutions condemning the attack on Sikhs, assuring them full protection. The US President was kind enough to make an Act on these recommendations. There was wide appreciation of the US Government and the people for taking such prompt action about a minority community. I request you to please ask the police authorities in San Francisco to conduct an inquiry into the death of Sukhpal Singh so that the truth should come out,” Mr Tarlochan Singh said in the letter. |
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Thief steals Magistrate’s purse in court Guwahati, August 7 This was proved when a thief appearing before a Judicial Magistrate couldn’t resist the urge to steal the latter’s purse right inside the courtroom. Bishnu Chauhan (17) was produced before Judicial Magistrate Nirumpama Rajkumari yesterday in the court of the ever-busy Guwahati Sessions Judge when his fingers itched to try his trade. The Magistrate had gone for a moment to her adjacent cabin leaving her purse behind and the thief, seizing his chance, pocketed all the cash. But his luck ran out when those present in the courtroom raised an alarm. The Magistrate, who was certainly not amused, slapped another case on Chauhan and he was later produced before Magistrate Lotika Barua. Chauhan worked as domestic help for a policeman who refused to pay his salary because of which he stole the cop’s rifle and wanted to sell it.
UNI |
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Initiative
to tackle drought after Aug 15 New Delhi, August 7 The Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission will finalise the strategy after the final evaluation of crop damage based upon the report of the Indian Meteorological Department. The report is expected to be prepared by August 15. Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson K.C. Pant, who held consultations with Finance Minister Jaswant Singh last evening, told newspersons that final estimates of damage to crop was still awaited from the states. |
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