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Friday,
June 6, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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SC notice to Haryana in Panchayat Act case UPCC chief’s march fired at |
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Hurriyat under pressure to hold talks Advani leaving for USA on Saturday
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Chhattisgarh leader Ram Avtar killed Raipur, June 5 NCP Chhattisgarh Treasurer Ram Avtar Jaggi was shot dead by unidentified gunmen last night following which party state unit chief V.C. Shukla alleged the involvement of his bete noire and Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, a charge denied by the latter.
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SC notice to Haryana in Panchayat Act case New Delhi, June 5 A Bench comprising Mr Justice N. Santhosh Hegde and Mr Justice Shivaraj V. Patil issued the notice on a petition filed by Ms Anita Devi, a member of Achra Khurd Gram Panchayat in Jind district, who was dismissed from her post on May 19 by an order passed by the Deputy Commissioner for the alleged violation of the Act. While issuing notices to the state government through the Secretary, Department of Panchayat, and Deputy Commissioner of Jind on her petition seeking their replies, the court directed that a status quo with regard to Ms Anita Devi’s membership be maintained. When her counsel Altaf Hussain pleaded with the court to pass a direction for the stay of the Deputy Commissioner’s order declaring his client as “disqualified” till the matter was decided by the court, the Bench said: “if she is holding the office, she would continue to hold it” in view of the order for maintaining the status quo. The Bench reminded Mr Hussain that several panchayat sarpanches and members have challenged the provision of the Act and the matter was pending before the court. Like her, about a dozen sarpanches and members of different panchayats in the state had also challenged Section 175(1) of the Haryana Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 making a person with more than two living children ineligible to contest panchayat, Panchayat Smiti and Zila Parishad elections. Ms Anita Devi was elected as a member of Achra Khurd Gram Panchayat in March, 2000. Her counsel said the apex court had on March 20, 2002 referred to a Constitution Bench some petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Act as a vital question of law relating to citizen’s fundamental rights was involved in the matter. The petitioner said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had already dismissed a number of writ petitions challenging the Act. |
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UPCC chief’s march fired at Lucknow, June 5 Mr Pal, who arrived from New Delhi in train, was received by party workers at stations en route. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav boarded the train at Etawah and Mr Pal did not waste time in going over to meet him. Mr Yadav made no comments on the prevailing political arithmetic in the state. “The day belongs to Jagadambika Pal,” he said. The new Pradesh Congress Committee chief had an escape when a bullet was fired during the party procession led by him, while on its way to the PCC office. The incident occurred at about 4 pm near the Husseinganj crossing, injuring a security man of Mr Pal. Congress MP Saiduzzama, who was an eyewitness, said the bullet was apparently fired from a silencer-fitted weapon. The procession resumed after the police beefed up security. The police cordoned off the hotel from whose premises the bullet was believed to have been fired. Mr Pal alleged that the bullet was aimed at him. The police was also considering the possibility of the bullet having been fired during revelry. UP Congress leaders, including Begum Noor Bano and Mr R.P.N. Singh, have sought a CBI probe inquiry into the incident. They said it was the first such incident in which a new party chief had been “targeted”. With an understanding with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party now considered a clear possibility by Congressmen, emphasis at the speeches in the PCC office was on not conceding too much during any talks of seat adjustment. Though there was a lot of criticism of the Mayawati government by the leaders, Congressmen privately admitted that it would not be easy to dislodge the BSP-BJP government. Many Congressmen apprehended that the ruling coalition would break up ahead of the Lok Sabha elections on the question of seats, forcing a mid-term Assembly election on the state. Congress workers, desperate to see an overturn in the fortunes of the party in Uttar Pradesh, braved intense June heat to cheer their new leader. There was hope that Mr Pal, who had been an MLA for more than 20 years, would be able to make some difference to the party’s prospects ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. |
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Cable opertors told to declare pay channels’ rates New Delhi, June 5 The Informatiion and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, told mediapersons here today that channels had to notify by June 15 whether they were pay or free-to-air so that cable operators could inform people accordingly. “If they don’t declare this by July 14, cable operators will not beam such channels.’’ The notification makes it mandatory for cable operators to “publicise either through advertisements in the print and electronic media or through other means (printing on the reverse of the receipts) to the subscribers, the subscription rates and the periodic intervals at which such subscriptions are payable for receiving pay channels provided by such cable operator.’’ The cable operators are also required to indicate the subscription rates for each pay channel provided by the cable operators and discounts, if any, offered on subscribing to a
minimum number of channels or more. |
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Hurriyat under pressure to hold talks with Vohra New Delhi, June 5 As the Vajpayee government’s interlocutor, Mr N.N.Vohra, is soon beginning another round of talks, the Hurriyat is under increasing pressure, from within the party as well as the international community, to talk to Mr Vohra. Already top diplomats of the USA, United Kingdom and the European Union have asked the Hurriyat to adopt a more liberal approach. The Hurriyat ignored the international community’s advice to participate in the last Assembly elections. Kashmir-watchers in the Vajpayee government here believe that awareness is increasingly dawning on the Hurriyat leadership about Pakistan’s doublespeak, a burning example of which is the U-turn taken by the Gen Pervez Musharraf regime on Taliban. Pakistan’s credibility suffered a serious jolt after it not only dumped Taliban regime with which it had worked very closely but also assisted Washington in military operations against Taliban and Al-Qaida. The impression generated with Islamabad’s flip-flop on Taliban is that when Pakistan can dump and get after its own progeny, the same fate awaits the Hurriyat or any other organisation - political or militant. Added to this is the problem of different voices emanating from the APHC. The recent statements of Hurriyat’s current and former Chairmen - Abdul Ghani Bhat and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, respectively - clearly reflect the growing wedge between the leaders. Criticising the statement of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Mr Geelani had said putting Kashmir issue on the back burner and taking up other issues like trade and culture first will be a step towards converting the line of control (LoC) into permanent border. Mr Bhat, on the other hand, welcomed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s peace efforts and expressed confidence that these efforts would have far-reaching results. The war of words between these two leaders has put the two-year-old conflict within the Hurriyat out in the open. The Hurriyat suffered another setback when the Pakistan Government recently announced its decision to put curbs on the activities of Hizbul Mujahideen in Pakistan and PoK. Jamaat-e-Islami also had to bow under pressure from different quarters and recalled the hardliner Geelani from the APHC and appointed Sheikh Ali Mohammad, an advocate from the Tral area, as its permanent representative in the seven-member APHC executive council. |
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Vohra
to reach Jammu on June 8 New Delhi, June 5 Mr Vohra, who will be in the temple city till June 14, is scheduled to interact with leaders from various walks of life, including political and social, sources said today. Among the political leaders with whom the Centre’s pointman is scheduled to interact are those belonging to the BJP, the BSP and the Panthers Party. Various social leaders who have “indicated their desire” to participate in the dialogue process are also scheduled to meet him. The visit, which was expected to take place earlier this week, was deferred because of the ongoing Assembly session in the state.
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Advani leaving for USA on Saturday The 12-day visit comes at a time when the world opinion is in favour of India, which has extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan to bring about peace and to normalise relations between the two countries. This gesture and subsequent initiatives taken by India received wide appreciation at the recent G-8 meeting, where Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was a special invitee. The visit of Mr Advani precedes that of the Pakistani President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, who is scheduled to meet the US President, Mr George W. Bush, at Camp David later this month. Mr Advani, who has always kept India’s security concerns at the top of his agenda, is also credited with bringing the menace of terrorism at the world centrestage. During his visit to the USA and the UK, he will therefore strike a balance between terrorism and peace initiatives towards Pakistan without obstructing the over-lording posture of a superpower. Mr Advani, according to official sources, will reiterate India’s stand and insist that Pakistan must demonstrate on the ground that it has given up its “state policy” of nurturing terrorist outfits with manpower, firepower, ideological support and providing them with a sanctuary. It must also take strong measures to stop cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and
renounce terrorism in all its manifestations and wherever it exists, irrespective of the cause it seeks to further. Thus for any enduring negotiations between India and Pakistan, cross-border terrorism has to stop. The present initiative that India has undertaken, including the resumption of the Delhi-Lahore bus service, is being interpreted here to mean that it is an “enabling and empowering” instrument to build public opinion that will help Pakistan gauge and control its internal politico-religious temperature. India is convinced that Pakistan has the capacity and capability of so doing and the USA has an important role to play, which, however, has also to simultaneously protect General Musharraf’s interests and his contribution to “liberation” of Afghanistan. The US “soft” corner for Pakistan has to be seen in this context, as well. Moreover, it is also helping Pakistan overcome its economic problems. It may be mentioned that India is suspect and wary of Pakistan’s doublespeak and double standards when it comes to eliminating terrorism. Therefore, in the changed geo-political scenario after the US engagements in the West Asia, the next item on its agenda is the Indo-Pak stand-off. The present attempts at normalisation of bilateral relations between the two countries are also in the “strategic” interest of the USA. It is in this backdrop that the visit of Mr Advani assumes “strategic” importance. His earlier visit to the USA in January 2002 took place after terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11 and the Indian Parliament on December 13. At that time the purpose of the visit was to express solidarity with the people of the USA in their struggle against terrorism, thank them for supporting India’s fight against terrorism emanating from the same source and discuss ways and means of giving effect to a common resolve to defeat the menace of terrorism. The present visit will see him reiterate India’s position and give to his counterparts evidence of what India has always maintained about Pakistan’s role in cross-border terrorism. One positive outcome of such visits, including the one Mr Advani made to the West Asia and Europe in mid-2002, India has been able to sign extradition treaties with a large number of countries. In the past one year, if over six underworld dons and wanted terrorists have been repatriated to India, the credit definitely goes to the Deputy Prime Minister, who shoulders the responsibility of maintaining India’s internal security. |
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Chhattisgarh leader Ram Avtar killed Raipur, June 5 “Jaggi was shot around midnight near the Mohdapara police station when he was going home. The gunmen also broke the windshield of his car before fleeing on their four-wheeler,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Raipur, Mukesh Gupta said. Leading an NCP delegation, Mr Shukla today met Governor Krishna Mohan Seth and demanded a CBI inquiry into the killing alleging that Mr Jogi and his son were invovled in the murder. According to Mr Shukla, the Governor assured the delegation that he would study the matter and take an appropriate action. Denying the charge levelled against him and his son, Mr Jogi said to drag a politician in a murder case was part of a dirty politics. As far as CBI inquiry is concerned, the Chief Minister said he had no problem but he had full confidence that the police would nab the culprits “very soon”. “You wait for some time, the murderers will be nabbed and there will not be any requirement for a CBI enquiry”. On Mr Shukla’s charge that Mr Jogi had threatened Jaggi over the phone of dire consequences unless he stopped working for the NCP leader, the Chief Minister said “These are baseless allegations. He joined the party (NCP) on his own. Why should we need to threaten him?”. The Superintendent of Police said “on getting information about the murder, SHO Mohdapara B.K. Pandey rushed to the spot and took Jaggi, who
recieved bullet injuries on the right side of the chest, to Medical College Hospital here where he was declared dead”. Since Pandey was the first person to reach the spot, he filed an FIR himself, Mr Gupta said. Jaggi’s son Satish, meanwhile, in a report to the police alleged Mr Jogi and his son Amit were “behind the murder,” according to NCP Spokesman Pramod Choubey.
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Shetty surrenders passport Surat, June 5 Surendra has been summoned to appear before the investigating officer on June 6 by 10.30 am in Umra police station for further probe into the matter, the police said. Surendra was given “interim liberty” by the Gujarat High Court which directed him to surrender the passport to the Investigating Officer by June 5. He arrived here this morning and went directly to Umra police station. He is facing a charge of “hiring” a gangster to recover Rs 80 lakh payable to his daughter Shilpa by owner of Praful Sarees Pankaj Agarwal for modelling in an ad film.
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New Delhi, June 5