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Thursday,
May 15, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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CPI to
launch stir against Punjab Government CPI
opposes sending cops to Iraq Congress Chief Ministers’ meet on May |
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New Delhi, May 14 The Congress today criticised the BJP-led coalition for adopting a “partisan communal position” on the disputed site in Ayodhya. Party spokesman Anand Sharma alleged that the move was aimed at “misleading” the Liberhan Commission and “interfering with the established course of inquiry.” CBI probe
sought into bungling in UP Farm ministers to meet on Hindujas
get more time to stay abroad Vohra
meets Advani Training
camp for UN-bound cops opened Naik hints at cut in petrol,
diesel prices 2
bankers held for fraud
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CPI to launch stir against Punjab Government New Delhi, May 14 Briefing newspersons about the three-day meeting of the party’s national council (NC) , concluded yesterday, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said a mass dharna at Chandigarh on May 26 would herald the beginning of a sustained struggle against the Congress government in Punjab, the anti-people policies of which were once again giving rise to communal and reactionary forces that were dislodged from power in the last assembly elections. Mr Bardhan said during the NC meeting, it was noted that the Congress government in Punjab was aggressively pursuing policies dictated by the WTO which was causing harm to the state’s economy, particularly agriculture. Claiming that the CPI had played an important role in dislodging the Akali-BJP combine from power, Mr Bardhan said the Punjab Government was not only pursuing WTO-dictated policies but also withdrawing some concessions, accorded by the previous government. While in agriculture these policies had led to a severe fall in production, industries also the state were also facing crisis due to the privatisation policy, the CPI leader pointed out adding that about 70 per cent of the factories were closed, rendering thousands of workers jobless. In the field of education, commercialisation was rampant, Mr Bardhan pointed out saying that the state government had raised the fee for higher education 33 times and abolished free education upto graduation for girl students. Professional colleges had been given total freedom to commercialise education by allowing 100 per cent pay seats and a freedom to hike tuition and capitation fee, he said adding that these steps had taken education out of reach even for the middle class. On the health front, the government was bent upon privatisation of all state-owned institutions and added that Medical College Hospital in Amritsar was on sale for which a deal of Rs50 crore was being struck, he said. The NC has directed its units in Punjab to launch a campaign against the state government’s anti-people policies. |
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CPI opposes sending cops to Iraq New Delhi, May 14 The CPI General Secretary, Mr A. B. Bardhan, who briefed the media here about the three-day meeting of the party’s National Council, said the NC had warned the Vajpayee government against committing troops to the USA for policing in Iraq and legitimising its occupation. The US-UK war against Iraq was a crime under international law, Mr Bardhan said. He added that “a crime and an illegality does not become blameless and acceptable, merely because it has paid off”. The party had, therefore, demanded that only if Iraq’s reconstruction, and law and order and sovereignty were fully restored, could the Indian force take part as a unit of the UN Peacekeeping Force in the transition period. He added, “We cannot acquiesce in the matter of the imperialists profiteering from their aggression in the name of accepting the new reality”. Mr Bardhan lashed out at BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu’s reported demand of annulling the recently held panchayat elections in West Bengal on the alleged grounds of violence and terror. Rubbishing Mr Naidu’s assertion that violence and terror had helped the Left Front win the panchayat elections in West Bengal, Mr Bardhan said there was no incidence of violence in 17 districts of the state and in two out of the remaining five, the Congress had won. The Trinamool Congress and the BJP had not won in the panchayat elections, Mr Bardhan said. If violence before, during and after the elections was a criterion for annulling an elections, then the Gujarat Assembly elections should have been scrapped, he said while asking Mr Naidu to clarify under which rules and constitutional provisions he had made the demand. Declaring that the Left Front would make every effort to frustrate BJP’s bid for power in the coming Assembly elections in four states, Mr Bardhan said voters would be given a third choice, apart from the Congress and the BJP. The CPI, CPM, JD (S), SP and NCP leaders were evolving an electoral understanding for that, Mr Bardhan said. The CPI leader asked the NDA allies of the BJP to clarify their stand on the Vajpayee government’s stand on the Ayodhya issue before the Liberhan Commission in which it had claimed that the site in Ayodhya was the birthplace of Rama. The Sangh Parivar had so long claimed that the site in Ayodhya was the birthplace of Rama, as a ‘matter of faith’, Mr Bardhan said and added that “now the BJP-led government has officially claimed that it is an ‘undisputed fact’”. “It has become clear that the BJP has no respect for the judicial process and is keen to push through the Sangh Parivar agenda on Ayodhya. It is a challenge to secular democracy. The other constituents of the NDA have to clarify their stand”, he said. The CPI would launch a campaign against the Vajpayee government, Mr Bardhan said, adding that a general strike had been called for May 21. |
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Congress
Chief Ministers’ meet on May 30, 31 New Delhi, May 14 Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma will be a special invitee to the meeting which will be attended by 15 Congress chief ministers, he said. The council has met four times earlier and it is for the first time that the meeting is being held in a state where the Chief Minister does not belong to the Congress. Since the last council meeting was held at Mount Abu in Rajasthan, there were indications that the meeting would now be held either in Chhattisgarh or Madhya Pradesh. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi had been pleading with Ms Gandhi to hold the meeting in his state. The choice of Srinagar as the venue of the meeting has come after the recent visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the valley where he addressed a public meeting, the first by a Prime Minister in over a decade, and made the “hand of friendship offer” to Pakistan. The Centre has now decided to hold the next meeting of the Inter-State Council in Srinagar, which will be first such meeting outside the national capital. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has welcomed the decision of the Congress to hold the meeting of the council in Srinagar. Mr Sayeed, who has been urging the government and the industry to hold conferences in Srinagar, described the Congress decision as a “welcome step.” “The state will be benefited by the deliberations of so many chief ministers,” he said. Congress General Secretary Ambika
Soni, who is in charge of Jammu and Kashmir, today left for Srinagar regarding preparations for the CMs meeting. |
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Cong flays Centre’s stand on Ayodhya New Delhi, May 14 Party spokesman Anand Sharma alleged that the move was aimed at “misleading” the Liberhan Commission and “interfering with the established course of inquiry.” He said the recent submissions of the Centre before the commission were a brazen departure from the earlier stated position. “The assertion on the existence of a temple at the disputed site being an undisputed fact is a deliberate and mischievous misrepresentation. The objective clearly being to mislead the Commission and interfere with the established course of inquiry,’’ he said. Maintaining that the
"calculated exercise was an attempt to supplement the defence of senior BJP leaders, especially Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who are being investigated for their role in the demolition at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992,’’ Mr Sharma said
"the significant shift in the Centre’s position, with a view to provide a convenient cover up for the accused persons, deserves to be condemned.” The Centre’s assertion, Mr Sharma said, also sought to pre-determine the issues pending before the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court. “Ironically, it has come at a time when both the High Court and the Archaeological Survey of India are seized of the matter. It needs to be pointed out that the Supreme Court had declined to answer this question when a presidential reference was made an 1993. It is also at variance with the official position as stated in the white paper brought out by the then Union Government,’’ he said. Reacting to the rollback of telecom tariff hike, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said that it was inadequate. He said the rollback was a result of pressure built by the Congress and other opposition parties. Describing the hike as anti-consumer and anti-people, Mr Singhvi said telecom rates continue to be high despite the rollback. |
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CBI probe sought into bungling in UP Lucknow, May 14 The petition, filed by a freelance journalist Sudhendranath Tripathi, does not specify the amount involved in the alleged bungling but a copy of his magazine enclosed as an annexure gives out a figure of Rs 35,000 crore. It alleged that the Vigilance Director had probed the corruption charges and asked the Department Secretary to initiate proceedings against 24 officials, including some belonging to the IAS. The list of officials against whom action was sought included three senior IPS officials. The secretary, it alleged, instead of taking action against the officials, closed the inquiry with the consent of the Chief Minister. Taking note of the petition, a Division Bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Tarun Chatterjee and Justice N.K. Mehrotra, directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit within two weeks. A week’s time was provided for rejoinder affidavit.
PTI |
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Farm ministers to meet on May 28 New Delhi, May 14 The deliberations of the meeting will be closely watched in view of the projections by the Met Department that there is a 26 per cent probability of drought in the country and that 14 states faced worst drought in more than a century last year and are yet to recover from it. Official sources said the meeting, scheduled for May 28, will take up the likely relief measures and preparations needed for the purpose, strategy needed to handle the calamity and identify crops to be sown in drought-prone areas. The meeting to be chaired by the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Ajit Singh, would also take stock of the water availability for the upcoming kharif season. However, the meeting is not likely to discuss the financial requirements of the states. In economic terms, the states, facing a financial crunch, would be looking towards the Centre for help. With Assembly poll scheduled in four states later this year and the General Election next year, the crucial steps taken by the Centre and states in meeting the drought conditions would have immense political consequence. Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the two Congress ruled states which would go to the polls later this year, are yet to recover from the drought of last year. Measures by the Centre and the state government in meeting the drought in these states would be keenly watched. |
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Hindujas
get more time to stay abroad New Delhi, May 14 A Bench, comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice Shiveraj V Patil, passed an order to this effect following an application by the Europe-based brothers — Gopichand, Srichand and Prakashchand. The court in February modified its bail order and allowed the three brothers to go abroad simultaneously. The bail order said that one of brothers would stay back in India as a guarantee that they would be available for the trial. The order was modified after they made a commitment to the apex court that they would not flee from justice. The court has, meanwhile, reserved its judgement on a CBI plea against the Delhi High Court order quashing the chargesheet against them. It is expected to be pronounced after the ongoing summer
vacation. |
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Vohra meets Advani New Delhi, May 14 Emerging out of the 30-minute meeting with Mr Advani in his North Block office, Mr Vohra refused to speak to the waiting mediapersons. According to sources, Mr Vohra apprised the Deputy Prime Minister of his week-long visit to the valley to hold talks with various people and groups in a bid to solve the long-standing Kashmir problem and also the political situation there. The meeting assumes great significance in the wake of recent Indo-Pak developments after the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, extended “hands of friendship” to Islamabad. |
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Training
camp for UN-bound cops opened New Delhi, May 14 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gopalaswami drew the attention of the police officers to the changing dynamics of peacekeeping and expressed confidence that Indian officers would keep the flag of the country flying high, an ITBP press note said. He wished the officers to present themselves as role model for other peacekeeping
personnel. ITBP Director-General R.C. Aggarwal demanded that India being a traditional peacekeeping country should be given a better representation in the United Nations and that it should be allotted a regional training centre for Asia-Pacific. |
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Naik hints at cut in petrol, diesel prices
Mangalore, May 14 “Tomorrow is the price review and I feel there is scope for further cut in petrol and diesel prices”, Mr Naik told reporters here. This would be the third time in two months that the state-owned oil firms would be cutting prices. Last month, the oil companies had twice cut petrol and diesel prices by Re 1 each. The international crude oil prices were on a decline since the war in Iraq started. In Indian, crude oil which had averaged $ 28.80 a barrel in March, slumped to $ 24.21 a barrel in April. Mr Naik, however, did not state how much the price would be cut. “It will be decided by the oil companies”.
PTI |
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2 bankers held for fraud New Delhi, May 14 A CBI spokesman said today that the two officials — currency chest in charge
R. K. Bhatt and Head Cashier Satish Choudhary — deliberately mutilated the currency notes in higher denomination, rendering these unfit for circulation under the RBI rules. The notes were then deliberately exchanged by the two and full value was paid to professional money changers out of the currency chest balance. The arrest was made on the basis of a complaint of the Assistant General Manager of the bank. After initial interrogation, the accused were today produced before Special Judge Prem Kumar who remanded them in CBI custody for seven days.
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