 |
Tuesday,
January 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Mamata mum
on relations with BJP
Gujarat
vote against pseudo-secularists: BJP |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sonia
‘hurdle’ in forging alliance: NCP Cong to evolve guidelines on
HP candidates Cong’s coordination
panel for UP Cold wave claims 20 more lives Site for
statue not acceptable to trust Sanjay Dutt appears in TADA
court
50 cr
allocated to Kolkata airport
Salman
case: orders deferred till Jan 10 CPI takes
exception to PM’s rhetoric Cong leader shot dead in Daman Chief
Secys’ meeting today
|
|
Mamata mum on relations with BJP Kolkata, January 6 But she did not spell out anything about her party’s present standing in the NDA vis-à-vis its relations with the BJP. She also did not announce if the Trinamool would fight jointly with the BJP in the forthcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal against the CPM and the Congress. But the BJP’s newly appointed state President, Mr T. Roy, who was present at the meeting along with the NDA convener, Mr George Fernandes, Defence Minister, declared categorically that the BJP would fight jointly with the Trinamool in the panchayat elections against the CPM. Though Ms Banerjee had avoided raising the controversial bifurcation issue of Eastern Railway and her party’s present position in the NDA, the BJP and the TMC leaders, present at the rally, felt that after this rally all misunderstandings and misgivings about the Trinamool Congress’ relations with the NDA vis-à-vis BJP had come to an end. Neither the Prime Minister nor the BJP President, Mr Venkaiah Naidu, were present at the rally despite Ms Banerjee’s all-out effort to bring either of them to the rally. The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Chandrababu Naidu, were invited but neither came. Both Chief Ministers conveyed their good wishes to Ms Banerjee and wished success to the rally. A former CBI director, Mr Joginder Singh, was present at the meeting in response to Ms Banerjee’s request. Mr Fernandes welcomed the move of the BJP to fight jointly with the Trinamool in the panchayat elections in West Bengal against the CPM. He hoped Ms Banerjee would extend active support to the NDA and strengthen the Prime Minister’s hands in the fight against terror and all disruptive forces. He indicated that soon Ms Banerjee may have a place in the Vajpayee Cabinet. Ms Banerjee declared that the Trinamool would soon launch a statewide agitation against the CPM’s misrule in Bengal. She hoped that she would get all help and support from the Prime Minister in her fight against the Marxists. |
|
Gujarat
vote against
pseudo-secularists: BJP New Delhi, January 6 Addressing newspersons at the regular media briefing at the party headquarters, BJP chief spokesman Arun Jaitley said the Congress must understand that the Gujarat elections were both “a positive vote for the achievements of the BJP government as also a protest vote against the pseudo-secularists...who had made majority-bashing as euphemism for secularism”. Mr Jaitley said there was no difference between Hinduism and Hindutva. He said the CWC resolution had tried to “hairsplit” between Hinduism and Hindutva, but had failed to introspect on its own serious lapses in the Gujarat campaign where it extensively used religion and religious symbols. The party hit out at the Congress for its continuing Hindu-bashing and pseudo-secularism, saying that it had not learnt anything from its mistakes. Taking exception to the Congress charge that the BJP was behind attacks on Parliament, the Akshardham temple, Raghunath temple and Godhra, the spokesman said if it was holding the BJP responsible only because the incidents took place during its tenure, the Congress should own responsibility for the assassination of both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. “The Congress by making such irresponsible rhetorics, is only diluting Pakistan’s responsibility in some of these terrorist acts,” he said. |
|
Sonia ‘hurdle’
in forging
alliance: NCP New Delhi, January 6 “As a political party, we are close to the Congress but our main objection is to the Congress leadership. Our differences are not on ideological grounds, but on the personality issue”, NCP general secretary P.A. Sangma told newspersons here today. “Having learnt a lesson, they spoke yesterday of having an open mind. But they have to act”, he said. The NCP would fight against the Congress in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland and consider forging alliances with the BJP and other parties to defeat the Congress in these states, he said. |
|
Cong to evolve guidelines on
HP candidates New Delhi, January 6 The move, apparently aimed at
reducing differences between the senior leaders on the ticket
distribution, will also help party in the exercise of shortlisting
candidates. The guidelines are likely to be finalised tomorrow in
consultation with CLP leader Virbhadra Singh and PCC chief Vidya
Stokes, both of whom are in the Capital. The Congress had drawn a
yardstick for the ticket distribution in the Punjab elections which
had facilitated the process of selection of candidates. Like Punjab,
the Himachal Pradesh Congress is also ridden with factionalism and the
high command apparently wants to reduce the chances of criticism and
dissention on the issue of the ticket distribution. A senior Congress
leader said since some leaders from both factions would face
elimination on the basis of decided criterion, there would be little
to complain. Among the suggestions being given are about not giving
the ticket to candidates who had lost thrice in succession. The party
may also not give the ticket to candidates who had lost the last
elections by more than 4,000 votes. There is also a talk of putting an
outer limit to the age of the ticket aspirant. The guidelines for
the Punjab elections had spoken about giving priority to persons with
clean image and those not facing any charges of corruption. It is
still not clear if the guidelines would be publicised, as was done at
the time of the Punjab elections. Though some senior Congress leaders
had been emphasising “winnability” as the only criterion for
selecting candidates, it is now being felt that the guidelines would
go a long way to reduce chances of complaints and heart-burn. Mrs
Stokes and Mr Virbhadra Singh today had a joint meeting with AICC
General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai to finetune the party’s strategy
for the Assembly poll. Earlier in the morning, a meeting was held at
the residence of senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh, which was
attended by party leaders Motilal Vora, Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel,
besides Mrs Kidwai, Mrs Stokes and Mr Virbhadra Singh. |
|
Cong’s coordination
panel for UP New Delhi, January 6 Headed by party treasurer Motilal Vora, who is in charge of the state, the panel has 21 members. Senior Congress leaders Ambika
Soni, Ahmed Patel, Mohsina Kidwai and AICC secretary Janardhan Dwivedi are permanent invitees to the coordination committee. AICC chief spokesman Jaipal Reddy said the committee, having PCC chief Arun Kumar Singh ‘Munna’ and CLP leader Pramod Tiwari as its members, would chalk out the party’s agitational programme against the BSP-BJP government in the electorally crucial state. The committee includes Congress MPs from the state. Meanwhile, the Congress today took exception to the appointment of Mr
M.V. Kamath as chief of Prasar Bharti, saying that Mr Kamath was noted for “pro-BJP” bias. Mr Reddy said it was one more attempt by the BJP-led government to influence the Doordarshan and the All India Radio which were clothed with autonomy under the Prasar Bharti Act. The BJP government, he alleged, was “trying to capture the Prasar Bharti from inside to subvert the spirit of the Act.” |
|
Cold wave claims 20 more lives Patna, January 6 The state being in close proximity to the foothills of the Himalayas along Nepal has registered a sharp fall in temperature. The northern stretches of the state recorded a sudden fall in mercury, by about 8°C in the past 24 hours, weather office officials said here today. “The city recorded a maximum temperature of 22°C yesterday morning while it was 14°C on morning, a senior meteorological department official said. More than 200 persons and 1,000 animals have so far died due to the cold weather. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 6°C on Monday morning. Death reports have also come in from rural parts of the state. The rural areas of the state capital have reported five deaths in the past 24 hours. Nine persons have died in the worst affected West Champaran district of the state. Five persons have reportedly died in Sitamarhi district, 250 km from Patna. Two persons have died of cold in the Khushrupur block of Patna district. The Relief and Rehabilitation Department, however, said that none of the district administrations had as yet reported any deaths due to the cold weather conditions. “The department has released a sum of Rs 4 lakh to the four worst-affected districts for distribution of free wood”, relief officials said here today. The officials said the district administration had been asked to send in their financial requirements for providing firewood and make-shift tents to the poor. |
|
Site for statue not acceptable to trust New Delhi, January 6 He said Master Tara Singh’s statue has been sculpted by well-known sculptor Ram Suttar and had been awaiting installation for more than seven years. “I’ve also appealed to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) not to rush in installing the statue.” DSGMC and Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) President, Paramjit Singh Sarna, on the other hand, said that they were satisfied with the space allotted for installation of the statue. He said the statue would be dismounted from a platform in Gurdwara Rakabganj to be unveiled for installation by Urban Development Minister, Anant Kumar on January 8. “The place allotted is in front of the statue of Lala Lajpat Rai and Dr Rajendra Prasad,” he clarified. |
|
Sanjay Dutt appears in TADA court Mumbai, January 6 The special public prosecutor of the CBI, Mr S. Natarajan, informed the court that the Central government was making efforts to bring back the other absconding accused, Anees Ibrahim and Abu Salem, to India. Designated TADA Judge P.D. Kode had earlier directed the prosecution to inform the court whether Abu Salem and Anees Ibrahim will be brought to Mumbai for facing the trial. Abu Salem was arrested by the Lisbon police along with actress Monica Bedi. Anees Ibrahim, the younger brother of the prime accused Dawood Ibrahim, had been recently arrested in Dubai in a murder case and was subsequently released by a Dubai court. The court has asked Sanjay and others to appeal against the order on January 20.
It had also directed the prosecution to furnish the list of the absconding accused and the record of the efforts made by the prosecution to bring them back to India. The serial blasts on March 12, 1993, had killed more than 250 persons and injured 700 others.
UNI |
|
Cop dies hero’s death Kolkata, January 6 Sen was in coma and on life support system at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute since January 1. He is survived by wife and two sons. The 32-year-old policeman was clobbered with beer bottles on a tram track in Central Kolkata on the New Year’s day by some drunk policemen travelling in a taxi when he protested against their teasing a woman who was pillion riding on a motorcycle. Sen, who identified himself as a policeman to the rogue cops, was shoved and pushed and left bleeding on the tram tracks. By the time he was admitted to hospital with brain stem injury, he was clinically dead. Deputy Commissioner, (Traffic)
M. K. Singh could hardly control his emotion while describing him. All five constables accused of harassing the woman have been remanded in police custody till January 9.
UNI |
|
50 cr allocated to Kolkata airport New Delhi, January 6 According to Civil Aviation Ministry sources, the process of inviting tenders for this project costing Rs 50 crore has already been initiated and work is likely to be allocated soon. The board has already approved modification and expansion of the international terminal building at a cost of Rs 47.74 core and the project is likely to be completed in two years. The decision was taken at the board’s meeting held here in December 10, 2002. It has now been decided to modify and expand the other part of the building. The building shall be able to handle 10.82 lakh passengers annually and would be able to meet the requirements expected up to 2010-11, the sources said. Meanwhile, the sources said the new hangar complex is nearing completion. |
|
Salman case: orders deferred till Jan 10 Mumbai, January 6 Magistrate S.Y. Sishode had reserved his orders till today after hearing arguments advanced by the prosecution and the accused on December 31. However, Salman’s Advocate H.S. Anand was not present today and hence the magistrate deferred his order till Friday. On the same day, the court would refer this case to the Sessions Court for trial. The actor has been asked to appear without fail on January 10. Prosecutor Rajan Khandekar argued that a magistrate did not have the powers to decide on the returning property involved in a mishap as he was presiding over a remand court. He said the car was a valuable piece of evidence as it had dashed against a wall and its bonnet was smashed in the impact. The bend of the bonnet would indicate the speed of the car and hence it was necessary to retain the vehicle, he said. Salman was arrested in a hit-and-run case and granted bail.
PTI |
|
CPI takes exception to PM’s rhetoric New Delhi, January 6 Criticising Mr Vajpayee’s remarks “Joshi Bhagwa rang nahin denge to kya hara rang denge?” (if he is not to give a saffron colour, should he give it green), the party, in a press note asked, “Is there no other way the curriculum should be looked at — secular, democratic, forward looking, objective and scientific?” |
|
Cong leader shot dead in Daman
Ahmedabad, January 6 Congress leader Kalidas Fakir was killed when he was coming out of the Jalaram temple in the Bhimpur area at around 9 a.m., the Union Territory police said. The 70-year-old Congress leader was in liquor business, it said. All the road exit points in the town had been barricaded and intensive checking of all vehicles was on to arrest the assailants, the police added. Additional IGP Anita Roy, who rushed to the spot, told PTI over telephone that there had been some “personal threats” to Fakir’s life recently.
PTI |
|
Chief Secys’ meeting today New Delhi, January 6 The one-day conference, which is a prelude to the Chief Ministers’ conference on internal security slated next month, will deliberate on the strategies to meet the emerging security challenges and reform measures for modernising the state police forces. |
|
|
Immolation bid Lucknow, January 6
RSS conclave Nagpur, January 6 |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
