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Sunday,
August 25, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Cong to finalise J&K list today EC allots time to parties on DD Delhi police not to quiz
Mahajan 2 CPM ministers revolt in Bengal
Rape victim wanted to tie rakhi to
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Armed MCC women call the shots Front-seat row: Laloo fights battle for
Rabri
Bofors case: court’s order on August
29 Naxals blast police stations, kidnap
cops Coaching for Sikh
students PM releases book on Indian economy
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Cong to finalise J&K list today New Delhi, August 24 The party will tomorrow decide 26 candidates for the seats that are going to poll in the first phase on September 16. These seats are both in Jammu and Kashmir regions. While a meeting of the party’s screening committee on Jammu and Kashmir is fixed for tomorrow afternoon, the party’s apex Central Election Committee will meet in the evening to decide the candidates. The high command has received a panel of names for each seat from the state PCC. The election committee of the party in Jammu and Kashmir met on Monday last to recommend names for each seat. Congress General Secretary Ambika Soni, who is a member of the screening committee, said the party had not decided if the sitting MLAs would be retained. She said the Congress would contest the Assembly poll on the issue of “peace and development.” Meanwhile a UNI report from Jammu says that the Jammu and Kashmir Congress has forwarded names of at least 23 candidates to the party high command for the coming Assembly poll in the state. Congress sources said 23 out of a total 87 seats had single-panel candidates, who had been chosen on the basis of their past performances, winning chances and personal credibility. The sources said after a high-level meeting of the state unit office-bearers recently, PCC chief Ghulam Nabi Azad had reiterated that all sitting party legislators would be given ticket in the elections. The list from the Kashmir valley includes Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed from Kokernag, Taj Mohiuddeen from Uri, Abdul Ghani Vakil from Rafiabad, Anwar Bhatt from Bachhi, former PCC chief Ghulam Rasool Kar from Sopore, Khemlata Wakloo from Sonawar. From the Jammu region the list includes Tara Chand (sitting MLA) from Khour, Moola Ram from Raipur Domana, Balwan Singh from Marh, Dr Jagdish Dubey (sitting MLA) from Bishnah (all in Jammu district), Lal Singh (sitting MLA) from Basohli, Balbir Singh (sitting MLA) from Billawar (Kathua district), Ashok Sharma (sitting MLA) from Kalakote, Dr Ramesh from Nowshera (Rajouri district), former PCC chief Chowdhary Aslam from Surrankote (Poonch), Yashpal Khajuria from Udhampur town, Krishan Lal Bhagat from Chenani, Mr Jugal Kishore from Reasi (Udhampur district), Mohammad Sharief Niaz from Bhaderwah, Ghulam Mohammad Saruri from Inderwal, former PCC chief Ayub Khan from Banihal (Doda district), T Dorje from Leh, P Namgyal from Nobra (Ladakh). State unit heavyweights, whose candidature are yet to be finalised, are Madan Lal Sharma from Akhnoor, Swarn Lata from Samba, Garu Chowdhary from Suchetgarh, Suman Bhagat from R.S. Pura, Gulchain Singh from Vijaypur, Raman Bhalla from Jammu Cantt, Prem Sagar from Bani, Mangat Ram Sharma from Kathua or Jammu West, Shabir Khan from Rajouri, Yashpal Sharma from Poonch-Haveli, Chowdhary Lal Mohammad Sawar from Memdhar, Sheikh Ghulam Haider from Kishtwar. The poll will be held for 26 seats in the first phase. In Rajouri the polling will be held in Nowshera, Darhal, Kalakote and Rajouri while in Poonch district the poll will be held in Poonch-Haveli, Surrankote and Mendhar. In the valley, the poll will be held for 10 constituencies in Baramula district alone. The constituencies are Uri, Rafiabad, Sopore, Gurez, Bandipora, Sonawari, Sangrama, Baramula, Gulmarg and Pattan. The polling will be held in five seats in Kupwara namely Karnah, Lolab, Handwara, Langate and Kupwara. The polling will be held for two seats in Kargil, which are Zanaskar and Kargil, and for two constituencies—Nobra and Leh—in Leh. The last date for filing nominations is August 29 and the scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on August 30, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations will be September 3. |
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EC allots time to parties on DD New Delhi, August 24 The BJP, BSP, CPI, CPM, Congress, NCP and the National Conference have been given a total of 635 minutes over TV and radio, an EC press note said. A base time of 45 minutes would be given to each national party and recognised state party uniformly.
PTI |
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Delhi police not to quiz
Mahajan New Delhi, August 24 Delhi Police Commissioner R.S. Gupta rubbished Ms Madhu Sharma’s charges against the minister and reiterated that investigators had found nothing against him so far. He said, “We will not do it just because somebody is available or somebody wants to get it done. We will go by the findings of the investigation.” Answering questions at a function here, Mr Gupta said, “The investigation by the crime branch has not provided any evidence of his involvement in the case. Hence, there is no question of questioning him.” He refused to provide details of the questioning of Ms Sharma and her daughters. Meanwhile, the Delhi police claimed that Haryana Inspector-General of Police R.K. Sharma was not present in Delhi at the time of filing an affidavit at the Oath Commissioner’s office. It alleged that there had been irregularities there. Taking serious note of this, the Delhi police sought disciplinary action against Oath Commissioner Ravi Chaturvedi for following an improper procedure while attesting Sharma’s affidavit. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), M.S. Upadhaya wrote to the department concerned for an inquiry into the alleged misconduct. The Registrar of the Delhi High Court also received a letter to look into the matter. The police claimed that the portion which was supposed to contain Sharma’s signature, executing the affidavit, had been torn off from the Oath Commissioner’s record. He was supposed to sign the document in the presence of the Oath Commissioner, who then had to put his seal. The Oath Commissioner’s seal had been put on the document, but his name was missing. The police raised doubts about the authenticity of the affidavit and said it was unlikely that the IPS officer was present at the Tis Hazari courts complex here for executing the document. “It is a simple case of forgery,” it alleged. The affidavit had exposed loopholes in the efforts of the Delhi police to nab Sharma. Meanwhile, a petition seeking transfer of investigations into the case from the Delhi police to the Central Bureau of Investigation was filed in the Delhi High Court. The petition, filed by Lok Janshakti Party’s national general secretary and
spokesperson Manish Mishra, also sought constitution of a monitoring Bench of the court for the CBI to report the progress made in the case. It prayed for the transfer of investigations because the petitioner perceived that the police could be influenced, which would affect the investigations, and because the Delhi police had not been able to nab prime suspect Ravi Kant Sharma for more than three weeks. Delhi court
expressed displeasure with the Delhi police for not following due procedures of law set by the Supreme Court and also its directives in the case of accused Pradeep Sharma, arrested allegedly for the complicity in the murder. Metropolitan Magistrate J.P. Narayan said Investigating Officer Inder Singh, looking into the case, did not follow the court’s directive to get the accused medically examined before taking him out of station and after reaching Delhi. |
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2 CPM ministers revolt in Bengal Kolkata, August 24 About a week after the gunning down of five CPM workers in the Dhupguri tea gardens by the KLO activists, both ministers came out in the open, criticising the party leadership at Alimuddin Street and Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. They demanded not only strengthening of the police force in north Bengal, but also suggested additional funds for overall development of the neglected districts. They felt that poverty and backwardness of the locals had been prompting them to indulge in various criminal activities in the region, where the ISI and ULFA had built network. Another Left Front minister Kamal Guha of the Forward Bloc from Cooch Behar district blamed the police and the district administration for poor handling of KLO and ULFA activists. He was confident of the ISI’s involvement in the attack at Dhupguri. The Chief Minister and CPM state unit secretary Anil Biswas will visit Dhupguri on September 1 after Mr Bhattacharjee’s return from New Delhi. The Chief Minister will meet Mr Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani on August 28 to convey to them the unanimous decision of the all-party meeting on August 19 against Eastern Railway’s bifurcation. |
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Rape victim wanted to tie rakhi to ACP Dehra Dun, August 24 The police said Sharma, an Additional Commissioner of Police in Delhi, allegedly assaulted the 27-year-old mother of three at gunpoint on the evening of August 22 after he told her to come and wash clothes. The woman was the wife of Nanda Vallabh Joshi, Sharma’s servant and caretaker of his bungalow here. That morning, on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, she had expressed a wish to tie a rakhi on Sharma’s wrist. He did not accept it and started abusing her, though he gave Rs 210 to her children. Later, he got into a heated argument with a dhaba owner after consuming liquor. Returning home, he committed the heinous act after sending off Joshi on an errand, Dehra Dun SSP R.S. Meena said. It has also emerged that Sharma, who is retiring from service next year, had been involved in drunken brawls on previous occasions also. In 1997, he had allegedly assaulted a journalist and the next year, got into an argument with a doctor here. The police sources said a report had been lodged in this regard. His wife suffered multiple abrasions on her right wrist and feet, a preliminary medical report revealed. A final pathological report is being awaited but the police has secured stained clothes of the victim.
PTI |
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Armed MCC women call the shots Patna, August 24 Villagers on the outskirts say the MCC conducts a training camp at one village for three days and then, after forming an ‘Utpidan Mukti Vahini’, they move to an other village. Sources say the team mostly includes young women. Some of them speak English. They carry AK 47s and AK 56s. Other arms include police rifles, carbines and SLRs. The MCC is reportedly using women cardres to lure young men into the MCC cadre. Villagers say young and unemployed men are easily attracted by the glamour of the gun and the company of young women. The sources say the women are mingling with the men freely. As per the sources, the MCC plans to push in the women in the guise of vegetable sellers and vendors in markets to “work as their eyes and ears.” The state police has, in the meantime, sent a proposal for the opening of 25 more police checkposts along the Indo-Nepal border in the state to prevent large-scale infiltration. The cost of the checkposts and augmentation of facilities and logistics to the police will be borne by the Centre. |
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Front-seat row: Laloo fights battle for
Rabri Patna, August 24 Mr Laloo Yadav has simple answer, “I will take Modi to court for a defamation suit for insulting Rabri Devi. The husband-wife politics of Bihar has come in for a major battle for “nose-saving”. The ‘airplane front-seat row’ picked up on Thursday as the Chief Minister after returning from her Delhi visit in connection with all-party delegation meeting with the Prime Minister said, “I was insulted as I was made to vacate my seat in the front row of the Patna-bound Indian Airlines plane and made to sit on the back-row seat to accommodate the central ministers”. She says, “My insult is the insult of the state and its millions of people”. Mr Modi as ever, had a quick answer on Friday, “The Chief Minister, Ms Rabri Devi does not know the basic courtesy and as she does not know English she occupied the wrong seat. Laloo Yadav should make public the boarding pass that would make things clear as the seat number of the CM on the back row was clearly mentioned in it. The air hostess politely requested her to shift to the seat number marked on the boarding pass as she was sitting on other’s seat. She did not have a confirmed seat and the seat on which she sat was a confirmed seat earmarked for the member of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commission, Mr Vijay Kumar Chowdhary.” Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav could not take it lying down. The insult of Ms Rabri Devi was for him the insult of Bihar. He said: “The CM was insulted and this matter will be taken to the Prime Minister’s court”. He has already said his insult in the tele serial ‘Ramkhilavan CM and Family’is the insult of the state and its grass-roots leaders. He has also threatened to sue Mr Modi for insulting Ms Rabri Devi. The Union Aviation Minister, Mr Shahnawaz Hussain, however, has since tendered apology and has suspended two Indian Airlines staff members concerned. Mr Modi, however, demands to reinstate the two staff members as it “was not their fault”. Mr Modi said: “The Union Ministers, Mr Digvijay Singh, Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudhi, and former Union Health minister, Mr C.P. Thakur, who were accommodated in the front-row seats in place of the Chief Minister were not even aware of what happened in the airplane and read the incident only in newspapers the day after”. The Union Minister have said had they known this they would have offered the seat to the lady Chief Minister. |
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Bofors case: court’s order on August 29 New Delhi, August 24 After a month-long arguments, by the CBI and the defence, Special Judge Prem Kumar said, the order would be pronounced on August 29. Appearing for Hindujas — Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand — Senior Counsel Ram Jethmalani argued that more than 18 years had elapsed since the deal for the 155 mm Howitzer Bofors gun was finalised. Even the FIR was lodged 12 years ago, he pointed out. Mr Jethmalani had yesterday accused the CBI of favouring Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochhi saying that they were not following the case against him properly. Producing a copy of the Red Corner Alert issued in February 1997 against Quattrochhi, which was submitted before a Malaysian court, Mr Jethmalani said, “these documents were not part of the prosecution in the case.” Extradition proceedings against Quattrochhi are going in a trial court in Malaysia. He also alleged the CBI was not initiating any action against Maria even though she was a “big fraud and several cases are pending against her in various countries.”
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Naxals blast police stations, kidnap cops Hyderabad, August 24 In simultaneous attacks, armed extremists blasted police stations at Anakapally town and Chodavaram, about 20 kms apart, and a sub-treasury office near Chodavaram and took away some ammunition and cash, a top police official told PTI from Visakhapatnam. The fleeing ultras whisked away four constables and a home guard from Anakapally, about 50 kms from Visakhapatnam, after ransacking the police station, setting afire the documents and blasting it with detonators, the police said. Going by the meticulous operation, the police believe that PWG naxals had formed three separate groups, each comprising about 30 armed men, and carried out the surprise attacks. Special search parties had been dispatched to trace the kidnapped constables — Srinivas Rao, Chittibabu, Ramana and Appa Rao — and home guard Venkat Rao, the police said. The ultras blasted the police station before fleeing the scene while another group attacked a sub-treasury office nearby and escaped with some cash, the police said. PTI |
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Coaching for Sikh
students New Delhi, August 24 According to Mr Sahney, the academy by the name of Bhai Gurdas Coaching Academy, which is being opened at Vasant Vihar here, will coach students for the IFS, IAS, IPS, IRS, bank officers, NDA and the NET test of the UGC. Already students have been enrolled for the NDA from Guru Harkishan Public School, Vasant Vihar and India Gate. All DSGMC-run institutions will have professional courses for the benefit of students. The Sikh Education Council has been formed only recently and besides Mr Sahney, who is the Chairman, the other members include Mr G.S. Randhawa, former Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Lt Gen M.S. Bhullar (retd),
industrialist Jagdeep Singh Chadha, Dr Narender Singh, advocate H.S. Phulka, Prof Harmohinder Singh. Dr Har Mohinder Singh, Secretary of the DSGMC, will be the vice-chairman of the council. The DSGMC President, Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna, and the General Secretary, Mr Bhajan Singh Walia, would be ex-officio members of the council. There will be four advisers a former Chairman of the UPSC, Mr S.J.S. Chhatwal, a former Director of the CBI, Mr Joginder Singh, noted cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi and a former Chairman of Allahabad Bank, Mr Harbhajan Singh. Meanwhile, this decision has been hailed by the Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Trust, Dr Darshan Singh Harvinder, President, World Punjabi Cultural Forum, Dr Rawel Singh, Secretary, Punjabi Academy, Delhi, Mr Bhupinder Singh Johar, President, World Punjabi Organisation, noted film producer director, S. Kesar, Mr Virender Singh Nirula, Chairman, Vishva Sikh Front, Dr Satinder Singh Noor, former Head of Punjabi Department, Delhi University, Mr Sawinderjit Singh Bajwa, Senior Vice-President, Delhi BJP. |
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PM releases book on Indian economy New Delhi, August 24 The book, ‘Economic Policy Reforms and the Indian Economy’, has been edited by Anne O Krueger, first Deputy Managing Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The book has contributions from specialists in areas covering fiscal situation in the country, environment for private economic activity, education and determinants of differentials in rates of growth across the various Indian states.
PTI |
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