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Tuesday,
June 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Non-performing BJP MPs
may be denied ticket Court sanction must on Ayodhya solution: Cong RSS, VHP to discuss Ayodhya issue Army identifies units for Iraq
COW
SLAUGHTER Supreme Court notice to Katwal |
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Banning of BSP rally undemocratic,
says Mayawati SC notice to Centre on Uttaranchal plea Judgement reserved in ‘Karishma’ case NEWS ANALYSIS Trishul test-fired for second day
Bungling officials face Maya’s ire
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Non-performing BJP MPs
may be denied ticket New Delhi, June 23 The party’s decision in this regard is part of the follow-up of the recently concluded ‘Chintan Baithak’ in the suburbs of Mumbai, attended by top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Deputy L.K. Advani. The party also gave an indication that it would blend emotive issues with development issues in the elections. With an eye on the Assembly poll in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Delhi and the 2004 parliamentary poll, the BJP urged the Centre to set up three commissions to study the problems of economically backward classes, disabled persons and de-notified or nomadic tribes. Briefing newspersons, BJP spokesperson M.A. Naqvi said as part of the exercise of selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, party General Secretary Pramod Mahajan had been asked to assess the performance of all MPs and the work done by them in their constituencies. He pointed out that it was concluded at the ‘Chintan Baithak’ that the party cadres should not be apologetic about Hindutva as it was “the soul of India”. The meeting felt that BJP should have good relations with all nationalist parties at all levels though he refrained from naming them. It was decided that state-level brainstorming sessions should be held and these should be completed by October, he said. |
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Court sanction must on Ayodhya solution: Cong New Delhi, June 23 Responding to queries about the recent efforts of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati to find a solution to the dispute, Mr Reddy said whether court pronounced its verdict or a settlement was reached, sanction of court was essential. “Sanction of court is essential for an out-of-court settlement also,” he said. To a question, Mr Reddy said that the Congress could not comment on the recent meeting of two Union Ministers with the Shankaracharya as it was not taken into confidence on the issue. About the statement of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh regarding the demolition of the Babri mosque. Mr Reddy said that the party was happy that he had come out with the truth. The Congress, Mr Reddy said, had been saying since 1992 that the demolition would not have taken place without the involvement of Mr L.K. Advani. He hoped that the Liberhan Commission would take note of Mr Kalyan Singh’s remarks. To a question about a former Prime Minister, Mr Narasimha Rao, promising to build a mosque after the 1992 demolition. Mr Reddy said such interpretation could not be made of Mr Rao’s words. “The vexed problem can be solved only through courts,” Mr Reddy said. The spokesman said the BJP had held its ‘chintan baithak’ recently in the context of its “intractable internal differences and irreversible political decline.” The unusual manner in which the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, heaped praise on the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and the BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu and the two BJP leaders reciprocated the compliments, was indicative of an awkward attempt on their part to conceal the differences.” He claimed that differences in the BJP had deepened after the meeting. “The differences are not ideological and revolve around personal ambition,” he said. The Congress was disappointed at the BJP not deciding to advance the dates of the Lok Sabha poll. “We will welcome an early poll”, he said. |
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RSS, VHP to discuss Ayodhya issue New Delhi, June 23 Confirming the Kanyakumari meeting, RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said while Ayodhya would definitely be taken up, the rest of the agenda of the meeting is yet to be finalised. Meanwhile, VHP working President Ashok Singhal met the Kanchi Shankaracharya yesterday and sought to ascertain the line of action from the Kanchi seer. But Mr Singhal returned without much success, sources said. The Kanyakumari meeting has been necessitated in the light of the Vajpayee government move to circumvent the VHP in finding a solution to the temple issue, sources said. It all began last month when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee inducted Swami Chinmayanand into his Council of Ministers and gave him a portfolio in the Home Ministry. After that Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani’s luncheon invitation to Ramchandra Paramhans put the VHP leaders further on alert. The reactivation of Kanchi seer has particularly irked the VHP, sources said. Mr Singhal, who rushed to the RSS, complained that the Prime Minister, on Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra’s advice, was out to make the VHP redundant on the Ayodhya issue. Only after Mr Singhal’s meeting, the RSS began to distance itself from a negotiated settlement and opted for a solution through legislation, sources pointed out. Meanwhile, the Left parties have dubbed the government-sponsored reconciliatory move of the Kanchi seer to resolve the Ayodhya tangle as a ‘political gimmick’ for electoral gains. |
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Army identifies units for Iraq New Delhi, June 23 Sources in the army said that if and when India did take a decision of sending troops as part of ‘peace -ensuring’ force in Iraq, troops from at least three divisions forming part of two strike corps would be picked up for duties which would not include active patrolling. However, some part of the force would include fully-armed troops who would provide the backing and cover to the Indian contingent performing other duties. India had already sought clarification from the USA about the `scope and parameters’ of the duties which the Indian troops would be asked to perform if the troops were sent to Iraq. As per the present talk the medical and engineering component would be more in the Indian contingent. About 17,000 men form a division of the Indian Army. As per reports, although there were still discussions under way, men were likely to be picked up from the 6 Division based at Bareilly, 54 Division based at Secunderabad and the 4 Division based at Allahabad to be brought under one umbrella for operations in Iraq. Although earlier reports suggested the possibility of a division being picked up from the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir, sources ruled out this possibility. There was no question of troops being withdrawn from J&K for any kind of duty in Iraq, sources said. Sources, however, said that India would not only first clarify on the nature of duty which the troops would be expected to perform but also under which banner they would be placed. |
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COW SLAUGHTER New Delhi, June 23 According to sources, Mr Rajnath Singh, in a letter to Mr Jaitley last week, was understood to have asked him to explore the possibility of framing a Central law on cow slaughter ban in the spirit of the provisions given in the VIIth Schedule of the Constitution pertaining to prevention of cruelty to animals. The Agriculture Minister has requested Mr Jaitley to take experts’ opinion on the issue and get back to him at the earliest, so that the draft Bill pertaining to the ban on cow slaughter could be finalised and introduced in the coming monsoon session of Parliament. A couple of months back, the Union Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had cleared a proposal for framing a law to ban cow slaugther in the country. However, it was stated that since the matter came under the state subject, the Centre would have to leave the implementation to the discretion of the states. Mr Rajnath Singh was of the view that if the BJP was sincere to the cause, then it would have to come up with a law which would make it mandatory for all states to implement it. The BJP was under pressure from the Sangh Parivar outfits, especially the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for a blanket ban in the country on cow slaughter. In the fag end of the Budget session, BJP MP from Gorakhpur Aditya Nath, who is known for his close proximity to the VHP, was successful in getting a private member resolution passed in the Lok Sabha regarding framing of a law for banning cow slaughter in the country. |
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Supreme Court notice to Katwal New Delhi, June 23 The Himachal Pradesh Vigilance Department is pursuing a probe against Katwal in two FIRs relating to the appointment of ‘Vidya Upasak (primary school teachers kept on a consolidated salary) and Trained Graduate Teachers (TGTs) alleging that he had “tampered” with the results to provide benefits to “false” candidates for these posts and then destroyed the records, while heading the HPSSSB during the past three years. Taking note of state’s Additional Advocate-General (AAG) J.S. Attri’s contention that about 70 per cent time of the three-day police remand of the accused for his custodial interrogation, granted by the high court in its bail order, was wasted in his medical check up, a vacation Bench comprising Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar issued notice to Katwal directing him to file an early reply to a special leave petition (SLP) by the state. As the Bench asked about the progress of investigation during his three-day custodial interrogation, the AAG said Katwal was not “forthcoming in his replies to investigating officers (IOs) as he was fully aware that he would be released after the three-day remand granted by the high court.” While exercising its power under Section 438 of the CrPC and granting pre-arrest bail to Katwal, a retired IAS officer, the high court had “exceeded the provision of law for the purpose of anticipatory bail and passed the order of his remand as if it is exercising the power under Section 167, CrPC,” the state government in the SLP said. The high court order “is a total blockage of the investigation in the cases against him, which needed to be thoroughly probed as he (Katwal) had made self-styled rules without the approval of the government for appointment of the candidates and after three months destroyed the entire records of the selection process,” government counsel argued. |
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Banning of BSP rally undemocratic,
says Mayawati New Delhi, June 23 The Punjab Chief Minister has not only banned the rally, but has also banned me from entering the district as tension in the area is still prevalent,” she told reporters here today. Addressing newspersons, Ms Mayawati said she had informed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani about the “unconstitutional” and “undemocratic” attitude of the Punjab Government. Asked whether she would defy the ban and hold the rally in protest against the atrocities against Dalits in
Talhan, Ms Mayawati said “we are law-abiding persons and will not take the law in our hand.” In the Rally, the BSP leader said she wanted to expose the atrocities being committed on Dalits in different districts of Punjab. Stating that the claims of the Dalits in Talhan was justified, she said “the Congress has always been
anti-Dalit and this act of the Punjab Chief Minister reiterated that the party had not changed its stand on the depressed section of society.” Ms Mayawati said she would expose the
anti-Dalit stance of the Congress throughout the country and the party would take the message across the nation. “It is a conspiracy to crush the Dalits’ uplift,” she added. On the letter reportedly written by Capt Amarinder Singh, she said “I have not received any letter from the Chief Minister.” Asked about the controversy surrounding the building of a shopping complex around the world heritage site
Taj, she said an inquiry had been instituted and action would be taken against those found guilty. |
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SC notice to Centre on Uttaranchal plea New Delhi, June 23 The state government, in an application moved before the court sought permission for the construction of a water reservoir at ‘Lakshman Jhula’ at Rishikesh on the land falling within the Rajaji National Park boundary, which is under the control of the Union Government. Construction activities in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries had been banned by the apex court. While issuing notice to the Ministry of Environment and Forests on the application moved by Uttaranchal Additional Advocate-General Rachna Srivastav, a vacation Bench comprising Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar referred the state government’s request to the Indian Board for Wildlife for its remarks as early as possible on the project. The state government said it required 0.275 hectares for constructing the reservoir in the Rajaji park, 16 km away from Rishikesh, where lakhs of pilgrims would be camping for the Ardh Kumbh to be held in January next year. The Uttaranchal Government made it clear that no tree would be felled during the construction activities. |
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Judgement reserved in ‘Karishma’ case Kolkata, June 23 Earlier, Bradford’s counsel P.C. Sen analysed the previous judgements cited by Sahara counsels S.S. Ray, Anindya Mitra and Abhrajit Mitra during their submissions and concluded his reply by submitting that grave infringement of copyright of Bradford’s novel ‘A Woman of Substance’ had been committed by the producers of ‘Karishma’. Only the first episode of the Rs 60-crore mega serial starring Bollywood actress Karishma Kapoor could be aired on May 12 when the Supreme Court passed a stay order on it following a petition by Bradford’s lawyers. Bradford had initially moved the Calcutta High Court on May 7 and obtained a stay which was vacated by a division Bench of the High Court on May 12. But subsequently, the American author moved the Supreme Court the same evening.
— PTI |
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NEWS ANALYSIS New Delhi, June 23 Thirtyeight persons died when they were trapped in a fire aboard four coaches of the Golden Temple Express while 28 were injured. In Sunday’s accident on the Konkan route, described by the Railway authorities as “nature’s freak”, 23 persons are feared dead and another 25 injured, 16 seriously. The train derailed due to landslides on the route. In
between, two more accidents were reported — of the Magadh Express near Buxar in Bihar in May-end and the Gokul Express last week. Both these accidents were the result of derailment. The Railways created the Rs 17,000 crore five-year non-lapsable Special Railway Safety Fund for modernisation of fixed infrastructure. A passenger now pays a safety surcharge ranging from Re 1 to Rs 100 depending on the class he opts to travel. Railway Minister Nitish Kumar had stated in the White Paper on Safety on Indian Railways that “safety costs the sky if one seeks absolute safety as the risk levels have to be brought down to zero, an impossible task in the transport sector.” The Safety Paper has stressed that the Railways operates 8,700 passenger trains and 5,700 freight trains daily. The paper claims a reduction of 80 per cent in train accidents since 1960-61 despite a 535 per cent increase in passenger traffic and 360 per cent increase in freight traffic. It further states that passenger deaths have come down from 0.0003 per million passenger Km in 1992-93 to 0.0001 death per million passenger Km during 2001-’02. Sources in the Railways contend that there is no let-up on safety. |
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Trishul test-fired for second day
Balasore, Orissa, June 23 The missile, especially designed for the sea-skimming exercise for the Navy, was test-fired from a mobile launcher at 5.10 p.m., ITR sources said. The missile, a part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, was one of the five missiles under various stages of development by the Defence Research Development Organisation.
— UNI |
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2 Chhota Shakeel men shot Ahmedabad, June 23 The gunmen were confronted by the sleuths in Panchkuva area of the walled city in a pre-dawn operation carried out on a specific information, officials said, adding, “they were killed in the cross fire.” — PTI |
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Bungling officials face Maya’s ire Saharanpur, June 23 The CM was upset over the poor quality of development works undertaken in an Ambedkar village near the village of Sandal Heri. The Chief Minister had specially flown in to check the development works being undertaken in Ambedkar village. |
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