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Saturday,
February 22, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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SP activists clash with cops
NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT Simplify defamation law, says Editors Guild ALH to be inducted in Kargil soon
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PM leaves for Malaysia
today MP to approach Centre on Bhojshala LS adjourned for
lack of quorum
Cong to back CVC Bill RK Sharma applies for bail Action against fake varsities ‘Devdas’ bags 11 awards
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SP activists clash with cops
Lucknow, February 21 Several tear-gas shells landed inside the SP office here even as the police arrested more than 3,000 party activists, including Member of Parliament Akhilesh Singh Yadav, who is also son of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. The protest day was being observed against the alleged misrule of the state government and the misuse of POTA against the anti-BSP legislators. The police had to open fire in the air and lob tear-gas shells to control a mob near the SP office while party activists torched a police jeep this morning. Another jeep was burnt late last night in front of the party office, the police said today. About two dozen vehicles, including two of the police, were torched in the incident. In a pitched-battle between the demonstrators and the police, vehicles of several mediapersons were also damaged. The Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed to control the situation and it used mild force to control the demonstrators. More than 3,000 preventive arrests had been made by the police in and around the state capital when youth activists the SP tried to violate the ban imposed on the holding of a dharna by the party. Police sources said security personnel had to use mild force to control the mob this morning near the SP office. The mob engaged in brickbatting while trying to break the barricades, the sources said. Addressing the media and activists of the SP inside the party headquarters, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav criticised the alleged dictatorial attitude of the state government and compared today’s incident with the “Jalianwalan Bagh” incident in the pre-Independence period. Claiming that the dharna programme was a great success even after the clamping of a ban by the Mayawati government, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav alleged the coalition government was afraid of the strength of the SP, which forced it to resort to undemocratic means to stop the peaceful agitation of the youths.
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‘Plot’ to kill SP top brass Lucknow, February 21 “Policemen in plainclothes entered the party office and threw stones in the hall where the meeting was on,” said Mr Yadav, adding that the police even lobbed tear-gas shells and opened fire injuring many party workers. |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, February 21 To another question, the minister said in the Supreme Court 4,747 criminal and 19,634 civil cases were pending. In the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he said 44487 criminal and 1,88288 civil cases were pending. Consumer courts: The Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Mr Subhash Maharia, informed the Lok Sabha that state commission in Punjab had disposed of 7,490 cases since its inception and the district forums in the state had disposed of 54,070 cases since their inception. In the case of Haryana, the state forum had disposed of 12,644 cases and the district forums had disposed of 82,568 cases. The Himachal state commission had disposed of 6,552 cases and the district forums had disposed of 29,168 cases. Agriculture: The Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav, informed the Rajya Sabha that the Punjab Government had submitted a scheme for Central funding for the diversification of state agriculture. The proposal was being processed. He said the main feature of the proposal was the contract farming plan for the 2003-2007 period through which an estimated amount of Rs 773.5175 crore, including 25 per cent margin money to buy back the contracted produce, had been asked for. Activities of crop development programmes had also been enumerated in the proposal. Production: The Planning Commission has not fixed targets for the foodgrain and fruit production during the 10th Five Year Plan for Himachal Pradesh, Mr Yadav informed the House in reply to another question. He said according to the draft 10th Five Year Plan document of Himachal Pradesh, the targets in respect of foodgrain and fruit production were 18,75000 tonnes and 7,50000 tonnes, respectively. |
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Simplify defamation law, says Editors Guild New Delhi, February 21 This was the consensus at a national seminar on “Use of law as an instrument of harassment of media personnel”
that concluded here last evening. The seminar was organised by the Editors Guild of India. The participants in the seminar were also unanimous in their view that judges should be above suspicion and that they should not be over sensitive to criticism by the Press. In his opening remark, Mr Hari Jaisingh, President of the Guild, said the law of contempt had in a way always posed problems for the media .The recent developments centering round the law had brought to surface tensions between the Press and the judiciary. Unfortunately, the complementary relationship between the Press and the judiciary had come under strain in the recent months primarily due to certain “in-house” problems of the judiciary. What exactly is meant by the Contempt of Court Act still remained unaddressed despite the passage of three decades, he said. The Chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice Jaichand Reddy, said the Contempt of Court Act was a major area of conflict between the Press and the judiciary. It required both Press and the judiciary to
exercise restraint. Both should correct each other and not consider each other as an encroachment on their domain. He felt criticising a Judge did not amount to contempt of court. As long as a press report does not scandalise the judiciary, judges should not be sensitive to their criticism. The Press also must note that freedom of expression was subject to certain restrictions and must be accompanied by responsibility.
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ALH to be inducted in Kargil soon New Delhi, February 21 The ALH light attack prototype would roll out in two years, said the Air Chief to reporters on the sidelines of a CII seminar here. Stating that the ALH had successfully passed high altitude test, he said limited scale production of the chopper had begun at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The AWACS system project was a “very complex” one, he said and no time-frame could be set for its acquisition. On the mid-air refuellers, he said the first two of the six IL-78s would be delivered by the first week of March. Addressing a seminar on “Opportunities to manufacture and modernise airfield infrastructure in IAF”, organised by the CII here, the Air Chief stressed on the importance of joint civil and military airspace management. The country like India, he said, could not afford the experience of repeated technology transfers, emphasising that once technology transfer was done for an armament system, it had subsequently to be updated indigenously. |
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Air Chief mourns Mir’s death New Delhi, February 21 In a condolence message to acting Pakistan air chief Syed Qaiser Hussain, General Krishnaswamy said, “Please accept sincere condolences on behalf of the IAF and on my personal behalf on the sudden and untimely loss of Air Chief Marshal Mir and 16 others in a plane crash.”
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PM leaves for Malaysia
today New Delhi, February 21 Mr Vajpayee is expected to focus on Pakistan’s continued support to cross-border terrorism and articulate India’s firm opposition to any unilateral action by the USA against Iraq. At the two-day summit beginning on February 24, the Prime Minister would focus on multilateral economic issues and cooperation among the developing countries besides highlighting the need to counter international terrorism. India is also preparing to counter any attempt by Pakistan to toss “red herrings” to justify terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal had stated that India was prepared to respond to any attempt by Pakistan to raise the Kashmir issue at the summit. The Iraq situation will be in focus at the summit, given the international community’s concern over the developing war situation in the region. In Kuala Lumpur, Mr Vajpayee is expected to have wide-ranging talks with over 12 NAM leaders. India has ruled out any meeting between Mr Vajpayee and General Musharraf. |
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MP to approach Centre on Bhojshala Bhopal, February 21 Chief Minister Digvijay Singh told the state Assembly that in view of the seriousness of the situation in Dhar district, the state government will pass on the recommendations of the Dhar district administration to the Centre today itself. He said the Centre has to take a decision on the Bhojshala affairs since it was a protected monument vested with the Archaeological Survey of India. In the backdrop of violence in Dhar district for the past two days, the district administration had recommended that the shrine be kept open every Friday from 1 pm to 3 pm for Muslims to offer namaz and Hindus be allowed to enter it every Tuesday between 9 am and 11 am. Hindus could also be allowed to organise their traditional programmes at the Bhojshala on Basant Panchami day every year, it recommended. However, HJM coordinator Radheyshyam Yadav told PTI in Indore that the district administration’s recommendations were an “unauthorised attempt” on the part of Madhya Pradesh Government and “the manch is not ready to allow Muslims inside the Bhojshala to offer namaz.” He said the ongoing agitation launched by the organisation on February 18 will be “discontinued for the time being”. Targetting the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Mr Digvijay Singh said, “the VHP has not build a single new temple in the country, it only raises issues of disputed temples to collect funds in the name of them.” “These fundamentalist organisations never indulge in any religious activity but always forge violence and strife in the society,” he said.
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LS adjourned for
lack of quorum New Delhi, February 21 The adjournment of the House for the day took place soon after it took up private members’ business and division was required for a Constitution amendment Bill seeking to bring Uniform Civil Code in the country. The Bill was moved by the BJP’s Yogi
Adityanath. |
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Cong to back CVC Bill New Delhi, February 21 Mr Shivraj Patil (Cong) recalled that the measure had been brought following a direction of the Supreme Court, and his party was supporting the Bill. Stating that the legislature respected the directions of the Supreme Court, he, however, sought to know whether the judiciary was in a position to give a direction to the legislature to make a law. The main job of the judiciary was to interpret the law, he said. Apparently countering Mr Patil’s argument, Anadi Sahu (BJP) said the judiciary was filling the vacuum created by a situation in which the executive had “frittered away its right”. He said the Bill was significant as it had come at a time when “moribund mindset and low moral character has become the bane of the country”. The discussion remained inconclusive.
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RK Sharma applies for bail New Delhi, February 21 Additional District and Sessions Judge J M Malik asked the prosecution to file a reply and fixed February 24 for consideration. Mr Malik also directed the prosecution to file a reply on the next date of hearing to the arguments of the accused to quash the charge sheet filed against them. Counsel D B Goswami, appearing for the accused, Pradeep, said the police had extorted confessional statements from his client. “There is discrepeancy in the two confessional statements of Pradeep, which were extracted under duress”, he said. In the first statement he had said that there were two killers and in the second that he was alone, Mr Goswami told the court. Counsel Mahavir Sharma appearing for accused Ved Prakash Sharma argued that his client was not involved in the murder. There was no other proof against the accused, except the statement of property dealer Motiram Yadav saying that Ved Prakash had told him that on November 13, 1998, he was going to meet R K Sharma in Delhi, he said.
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Action against fake varsities New Delhi, February 21 The UGC has identified 18 fake universities or institutions functioning in contravention of the UGC Act in different parts of the country, adding that out of these, five institutions had been closed down. The government proposed to amend the UGC Act to arm it with more provisions, including imprisonment and fines ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50 lakh for those running such fake institutions.
TNS
Mumbai, February 21 Vivek Oberoi-starrer “Saathiya” finished a distant second with four. Among the awards “Devdas” bagged were those for best film, best director, best actor (Shah Rukh Khan), best actress (Aishwarya Rai), best female playback singers (Kavita Krishnamurthy and Shreya Ghosal) and best choreographer (Saroj Khan).
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