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Sunday,
September 29, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Karnataka anxiously awaits SC verdict on Cauvery LeT behind temple attack: Advani Advani: ISI source of terrorism India does plain talk with
USA
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VHP opposes excavation in Ayodhya Simplify labour laws, says Chautala Bengal staff observe
strike
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Karnataka anxiously awaits SC verdict on Cauvery Bangalore, September 28 The Karnataka Administration and the people in South Karnataka, especially Bangalore and Mysore, are keeping their fingers crossed as they all fear that any “unfavourable” judgement could spark off state-wide protests from farmers, who believe that any release of water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu under the present “no monsoon” situation will result in the failure of their only standing crop due to insufficient water for irrigation. An indication of the explosive situation that awaits is evident from the fact that an all-India bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on September 26 against the killing of devotees by terrorists, who stormed the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, was hijacked by groups of farmers opposed to release of any more Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu. Contrary to the claims of the government, all business and other establishments, including many state government offices, remained closed during the day in the twin cities of Bangalore and Mysore as people remained indoors fearing trouble. Already some political outfits, which want to draw political advantage out of the situation, have already started fanning the sentiments of the farmers in Karnataka. Some of them have even announced a ‘rail roko’ agitation on Sunday, a day before the Supreme Court hears the petition filed by Ms Jayalalithaa. The local farmers are also angered over the unprecedented step of Ms Jayalalithaa to depute officials to come here and serve on Mr Krishna the copies of the contempt notice for allegedly violating the interim orders of the Supreme Court and Cauvery River Authority regarding discharge of water from its reservoirs. Another important aspect which is a cause for worry for the local administration in Bangalore and Mysore is that 30 per cent of the population comprises Tamilians and any confrontation between them and the locals can turn violent. According to Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, the administration with the help of the police is taking all precautionary measures to ward off any untoward incident as the government cannot stop the people from protesting, as it is their democratic right. “We can’t stop the people from protesting on issues, but what we can’t allow is any violence and damage to life and property, both government and private,” Mr Krishna told a group of visiting journalists from the national media. Although Mr Krishna emphasised that courts were not the appropriate forum to settle water disputes between states, yet he claimed that his government had fully complied with the Supreme Court’s order on release of Cauvery waters from four reservoirs in Karnataka. Admitting that an early resolution of the Cauvery dispute would be difficult if relations between the two states were allowed to degenerate, Mr Krishna said, “I am willing to talk to anyone, including my Tamil Nadu counterpart (Ms J. Jayalalithaa) and argue it out on the basis of facts and reason.” “I have made many requests to her (Tamil Nadu Chief Minister). She is not responding. In fact she staged a walkout from a meeting where I was also present,” Mr Krishna said, adding that now “I will have to put forth my viewpoint through the court.” The Karnataka Chief Minister will be in Delhi on Monday with a battery of legal and technical experts to argue the case in the Supreme Court. |
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LeT behind temple attack: Advani Lucknow, September 28 Addressing the concluding session of the state BJP executive here today, Mr Advani said the style of operation of these terrorists was akin to that of five terrorists who had hijacked Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar and to those who had attacked the Parliament House on December 13. All of them were carrying dried fruits with them and had used AK-47 and hand grenades, he said. Inquiry is on to establish the identity of these terrorists but their style of operation has the signature of LeT’, said the Deputy Prime Minister. Coming down heavily on Pakistan, he said, “Our rogue neighbour is trying to destabilise our country. When their (Pakistan’s) designs failed in Jammu and Kashmir, they planned to create trouble in Gujarat, which was repulsed by the Indian security forces. He said the biggest challenge before the country today was that of cross-border terrorism. Using terrorism as a weapon Pakistan had unleashed a war against India, he said, adding that India was now gearing up to give a befitting reply. Mr Advani had come here to attend “dhikaar” rally organised by the BSP. Taking advantage of his presence, the BJP had organised the state executive meeting and Mr Advani was asked to preside over the concluding-day meeting. Addressing party workers, he said they should not yearn for personal gains. The workers should work for betterment of the party instead of personal ambitions, he said. The dhikaar rally was called to protest against Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s statement on the Ambedkar park. The president of the BSP, Mr Kanshi Ram, said the political career of Mr Yadav had come to an end. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati also castigated the samajwadi Party and said Congress was an anti-Ambedkar party. Interestingly, the Samajwadi Party had also staged a rally to protest against BSP. The party workers staged demonstrations at the district headquarters. |
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Coping with patient rush Gandhinagar, September 28 Coping with the patient rush by providing 50 extra beds, the hospital authorities somehow accommodated 83 injured. It was a challenging task but the hospital’s experience in disaster management post the Bhuj earthquake helped it cope with the crisis. The seemingly endless series of calamities, natural and man-made, have, however, prompted the hospital authorities to work on a proposal to strengthen disaster management. The Chief District Medical Officer and Civil Surgeon of the hospital, Gandhinagar, Dr N.B. Dholakia told TNS that the proposal was mooted by State Health Secreatry S.K. Nanda. Dr Dholakia plans to draft the proposal and submit it to the government within a month. He feels the hospital should be provided with 10 wireless sets to coordinate with hospital staff in such situations. “Mobile telephones failed during the earthquake and the Akshardham crisis. The Civil Surgeon, the medical officer, matron and sanitary inspector should be provided with wireless sets. Apart from this, two drums of dressing material should be kept ready at all times to enable primary response teams to begin swift emergency care. The hospital should have more beds,” he said. Besdies the injured, 27 bodies were brought on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the bodies of the two young terrorists believed to be barely 17 and 21, were brought to the hospital. Two died soon after they were brought. While 38 persons who needed intensive care and surgery were sent to the Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, where 35 teams of surgeons were ready, 21 were retained for long-term treatment. Another 24 left the hospital after getting first aid. Dr Dholakia recalled that although Major Tushar Joshi, an NSG commando, was advised to go to the operating theatre, he chose to rush to Akshardham to perform his duty. Although hospital ambulances were lined up at the gate, motorists on the Gandhinagar-Himmatnagar highway volunteered help and rushed the injured to the hospital. Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi accompanied by Minister for Cooperatives and Protocol Vadibhai Patel and Collector S.J. Haider today handed over cheques for Rs 90,000 each to four families who lost their kin in Tuesday’s attack. Bonds of Rs 60,000 each will be given by Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited. The Resident Deputy Collector S.A. Patel said the government had announced compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh to the families of those killed. He said the government gave compensation of Rs 5000 to the injured who had temporary disability up to 10 per cent, Rs 15,000 to those whose disability was assessed between 10 per cent to 30 per cent, Rs 25,000 to those whose disability ranged between 30 per cent to 40 per cent and Rs 40,000 to those whose disability was between 40 per cent and above. |
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New Delhi, September 28 The march, starting from New Delhi Railway Station, comprised mainly of students and youth from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab, a press statement from the party said.
PTI |
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Advani:
ISI source of terrorism New Delhi, September 28 “I must praise the state government as it did good to
contain any adverse reaction to the Akshardham temple attack,” Mr
Advani said while speaking at the 82nd Annual Session of the
Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) here. Congratulating
the people of Gujarat for not “falling prey to the grave provocation
by anti-India forces,” he regretted that the world community was yet
to recognise that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was
one of the “principal sources of terrorism.” “ISI is among the
principal sources of terrorism and I regret that the global community
has failed to understand this fact. India will unilaterally curb its (ISI’s)
activities,” Mr Advani said. The arrest of underworld don Abu
Salem was a significant step of India’s action towards ISI, he said. |
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India does plain talk with
USA New Delhi, September 28 This was conveyed to visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca by Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal when the two met here as part of an institutionalised bilateral dialogue for extensive talks on wide-ranging issues. Expressing “serious” concern over the temple attack, Mr Sibal pointed out to Ms Rocca in the presence of US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill that continuing support to terrorism by Pakistan would remain an obstacle to any resumption of dialogue. Apart from the subject of Indo-Pak relations, Ms Rocca and Mr Sibal covered situation in Afghanistan with the latter giving his assessment of the situation there. The Foreign Secretary had visited Afghanistan yesterday and had met Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Vice-President Fahim and Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah. Ms Rocca also outlined the thrust of the US policies towards Afghanistan. The discussions were marked by openness and both sides found the interaction useful, an official source said. Apart from the US Ambassador, Joint Secretary in charge of the USA and Canada Jayant Prasad was also present there. |
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VHP opposes excavation in Ayodhya Lucknow, September 28 In an emergency meeting held at the state capital here today the saints decided that they would oppose, any move by the court to start excavation. Archaeological proofs were enough to suggest that a temple existed at that site, VHP international president Ashok Singhal said. The mandal passed three resolutions which Mr Singhal called a step towards the construction of the Ram temple. If today Hindus were fighting for a Ram temple it was because our MPs, a majority of whom were Hindus themselves, had given a cold shoulder to this movement, he said. Attacking Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, he said he (Vajpayee) had betrayed people on the Ayodhya issue. |
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Simplify labour laws, says Chautala New Delhi, September 28 Mr Chautala, in his written speech at the National Labour Conference, said amendment in labour laws had been necessitated because the provision of penalty for violation of labour laws was inadequate. There had been occasions when the desired results had not been achieved despite strict implementation of the labour laws. He pointed out that amendment in the labour laws was also required because these were not providing a favourable atmosphere to the industries and security to the labour. Also, it had become difficult to effectively implement these laws because these were complex. Referring to the recommendations made by the Study Group constituted by the Second Labour Commission, the Chief Minister said the states should be given adequate time to thoroughly study its report as they had the responsibility to implement the labour laws. He said the Haryana Government was not only studying the report, but also seeking the opinion of various labour organisations, industrial units and industrial organisations. The state government would send its comments on various points of the report to the Central Government shortly, he added. The Chief Minister said the labour laws should be simplified within a specific time for speedy industrialisation. Speaking at the conference, Punjab Labour Minister Chaudhary Jagjit Singh demanded social security schemes for rural labour and workers, saying that the existing Centre-sponsored scheme was of little help to the farm labour. He said the farm labour was not getting due relief from the Krishi Shramik Yojna 2001. Migrant labour from Uttar Pradeh and Bihar, coming to the state during sowing and harvesting season, also does not get benefits in case of illness or physical disability, he said. The minister said change in labour laws should not deprive workers in organised sector and industry of job security. |
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Bengal staff observe
strike Kolkata, September 28 As the office hours began at 10 am the employees came out of their rooms and held a demonstration outside protesting against the government’s decision to reduce puja bonus to an ad hoc Rs 1,000 to certain categories of employees drawing a salary of less than Rs 5,000 per month. They observed the strike till 1 p.m. as announced earlier. |
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