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Saturday,
June 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Liberhan panel
moved for Border talks with
China soon No decision on
double-member seats: BJP Advani turns down
Mamata’s invitation |
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MLAs question
Mamata’s session boycott call Bias against Cong
CMs alleged Sonia
writes to PM on combating communalism Meghalaya
ex-minister arrested CBI
records statement via video-conferencing 20
scientists to meet Nobel laureates ‘Kuwait
response on Indian troops positive’ Sex
trade: 2 Assamese girls rescued Disability
news service from Aug 15
Man
held with 1.4 kg heroin US
educators on India visit
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Liberhan panel moved for summoning PM New Delhi, June 27 The summoning of Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani was sought by Mohammed Aslam, alias Bhure, in the wake of the then UP Chief Minister, Mr Kalyan Singh’s recent reported statement naming Mr Vajpayee, Mr Advani and several other Sangh Parivar leaders for allegedly being involved in the December 6, 1992, Ayodhya demolition conspiracy. In his application filed before the commission today through his counsel O.P. Sharma, Bhure said in view of Mr Kalyan Singh’s statement, which had been widely reported in the media, that “Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, HRD Minister M.M. Joshi and BJP spokesperson Pramod Mahajan were involved in the conspiracy to demolish the disputed structure”, their deposition before the panel had become “very important”. Bhure has challenged in the Supreme Court the shifting of the trial in the Ayodhya demolition case from a special court in Lucknow to a Rai Bareilly court, on which the apex court has issued notices to the Centre, the CBI, the UP Government and the accused. He had also challenged the “shiladaan” ceremony by the VHP at Ayodhya in March last year before the apex court, which did not allow it to be held on the acquired land. Bhure, in his application before the commission, said “Mr Kalyan Singh further (has) named Moropant Pingle, H.V. Sheshadri of the RSS and Ashok Singhal and Acharya Giriraj Kishore of the VHP in the conspiracy” and that these leaders had “instigated kar sewaks to demolish the structure.” “Mr Vajpayee had not deposed before the commission till date and as per the knowledge of the applicant, the commission had not issued notice/summons for his appearance,” the petitioner said, adding that he had also filed an application for summoning of the PM on December 13, 2000. The deposition of Mr Vajpayee “is very important in order to reach a fair conclusion in the present matter and also in the interest of justice,” he contended. Seeking summoning of Mr Kalyan Singh, who had challenged the panel’s earlier notice before the Allahabad High Court and the Delhi High Court on the grounds that any statement by him before it would “prejudice” his trial in the case in the court, Bhure said his deposition had also become “very important” in the present context. Bhure said since Mr Kalyan Singh’s statement came in the wake of Union Government counsel Lala Ram Gupta’s argument before the commission, blaming the then UP Chief Minister for the demolition and “failure” to deploy Central forces stationed at Ayodhya, he had become an important witness. “The Central Government is trying to blame Mr Kalyan Singh for the whole incident and ... without giving him any opportunity of being heard, would also amount to violation of the principle of natural justice,” the application said. He said though Mr Advani had recorded his statement in January, 2000, yet “his evidence remains
incomplete” “... so his deposition has become a part of the statement before the commission and his appearance is very important in the interest of justice. He is the key witness in the present matter being the party leader (in 1992) as well as responsible for the acts of the members of the BJP at the time of the incident,” the application said. |
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Border talks with China soon New Delhi, June 27 It was decided during Mr Vajpayee’s China visit to appoint top-level special representatives for talks on the border dispute. Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra has been appointed special representative from the Indian side while Mr Dai Bingguo has been nominated from China. Mr Vajpayee said what used to happen thus far was that officials had been dealing with the border question and used to get stuck when they reached some hurdle. “This will not happen anymore. Now the special representatives from the two sides will make efforts to find a solution.” Asked whether any time frame had been set for the two representatives, Mr Vajpayee said “talks will start immediately”. In another categoric comment, Mr Vajpayee said Sikkim will be accepted by China as part of India with the passage of time and brushed aside reports of confusion over Chinese stand on the Sikkim issue. “There should be no doubt on the future of
Sikkim. As per the decisions taken and with the passage of time, Sikkim will be recognised (by China) as part of India,” Mr Vajpayee said. The Prime Minister shared the Chinese view in the joint document that it will be a “step-by-step approach”. The Prime Minister said his China visit was “good” as the two sides would work together on various issues and move forward. On questions relating to Pakistan, Mr Vajpayee noted that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had said nothing was happening on the Line of Control
(LoC), but at the same time had also said that he (General Musharraf) could not give a guarantee that not a single bird flies across the border. Mr Vajpayee declined to say anything further on the issue, saying that he was still to study General Musharraf’s remarks in the USA and in view of the Pakistani leader’s subsequent claim that he was wrongly quoted. |
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No decision on double-member seats: BJP New Delhi, June 27 “The party has not taken any formal or final decision on the proposal of having double-member constituencies,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told newspersons here. He said the government had three options — to pass the existing Bill proposing 33 per cent reservation, to accept the Election Commission’s recommendation suggesting party-based reservation for women and of having 181 double-member constituencies, as suggested by some BJP members. |
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Advani turns down Mamata’s invitation Kolkata, June 27 Already some controversies arose over the project since the state government as well as a large section of the Trinamool Congress openly opposed the implementation of such an expensive project in the city where more money needed to be spent on improving supply of drinking water, sewerage and drainage system, healthcare and other civic amenities. The Municipal Department Minister, Mr Asoke Bhattacharyya discarded the proposal calling it a luxury entailing
illspending. But the Mayor still went ahead with the implementation. However, yesterday, when Ms Banerjee approached Mr Advani in New Delhi’s North Block, he turned down the invitation. |
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MLAs question Mamata’s session boycott call Kolkata, June 27 They threatened to disobey the leadership’s directive and join the session if the decision was not withdrawn. The MLAs include Mr Dipak
Ghosh, Mr Arunabha Ghosh and around 12 others. These MLAs, however, today boycotted the session. The boycott decision was taken by the Trinamool leadership to protest against the alleged rigging and other malpractices in the recently held panchayat elections by the ruling
CPM. |
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Bias against Cong CMs alleged New Delhi, June 27 “This is nothing but a case of wanton abuse of federal power. It is also a blow to the delicate balance of power woven into our Constitution between the Union and states. Above all, it is an affront to the high office of the Chief Minister,’’ Mr Reddy said. He said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati was allowed to go abroad to visit Disneyland “possibly to get new ideas of Taj heritage corridor.’’ He said Deputy Prime Minister
L.K. Advani visited the UK and the USA “not only with an army of officials but quite a few officials went with their wives.’’ To a question about only one Chief Minister having been denied permission to go abroad, Mr Reddy said at this rate no self-respecting Chief Minister would apply for permission. He said in the case of foreign visit of Maharashtra Chief Minister, the Prime Minister had to intervene “as if he was showing largesse.” Accusing the Centre of misusing its residual powers given in the Constitution, Mr Reddy said the Chief Ministers had their own constitutional status. |
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Sonia writes to
PM on combating communalism New Delhi, June 27 In a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Ms Gandhi said the relief and rehabilitation measures should include the institution of a mechanism for disbursement of prompt and uniform compensation to riot victims and their families. “They should also include guidelines for action against officials who fail to control communal riots within a reasonable period of time,” Ms Gandhi said. Ms Gandhi suggested the mandatory setting up of citizens’ peace committees in every district and police station. |
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Meghalaya
ex-minister arrested Shillong, June 27 Mr Marak was summoned by the police to Laban this morning and arrested under various sections of the Arms Act, a top police official said. Immediately after his arrest, Mr Marak complained uneasiness and was admitted to a hospital. Home Minister R.G. Lyngdoh said the government had enough evidence against the former minister, while senior NCP leader and MLA from Tikrikilla Monidra Rava termed the arrest as politically motivated.
— UNI |
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CBI records statement via video-conferencing New Delhi, June 27 The statement of the witness, Mr Tom Vorgitch of M/s Solid Concepts, a US national, was examined by a Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi. The video conferencing facility was made available by the National Informatics Centre. As per the Supreme Court guidelines, Mr Vinod Kumar, Consul, Indian Consulate at San Francisco, California, was present with the witness to ensure that there was no other person present in the room while evidence was being recorded and the witness was not coached/tutored/prompted, a CBI spokesperson said here. The whole process was completed in less than three hours, he said. Mr Vorgitch was contacted through M/s Geometric Software Solutions Company Limited (GSSL), Mumbai, for deposing today at 9 am (IST). The company was also requested to fix the venue for conferencing in the USA and they had intimated that Mr Vorgitch would be available at the given time and date at the office of Dassault Systems of America Corp., Woodland Hills, California, for video conferencing, he said. The statement of the witness was recorded in connection with a case which was registered on August 24 last year on the complaint of Mr Manu M. Parpia, Managing Director of GSSL, against one Shekhar Verma of Hyderabad alleging that the latter was employed by GSSL, Mumbai, to work on a project of debugging the source code of M/s Solid Works. Contrary to the non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement signed by him with the company, Shekhar Verma had allegedly offered to “unofficially” sell the source code of M/s Solid Works to some companies in the USA. Verma was arrested on August 25, 2002, by the CBI while he was allegedly handing over the source code of M/s Solid Works to one Ms Nenette Linda Day of the USA. He was in police custody till August 29, 2002, and was finally granted bail by a court on September 11, 2002. |
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20 scientists to meet Nobel laureates
New Delhi, June 27 The conference, dedicated to physiology and medicine, will be attended by 15 Nobel laureates and about 500 young scientists from all over the world for discussions on topics, including ‘Fortune in medicine’, ‘From basic discovery to clinical practice’, Genes and embryos’ and ‘Insights into molecular evolution’. This is the third time that Indian scientists are participating in the conference which provides an opportunity to them to interact with Nobel laureates. The programme was launched by the Minister for Science and Technology in 2001 to encourage young researchers and boost their aspirations. The 20 Indian scientists will call on Mr M.M. Joshi before leaving for Lindau.
— UNI |
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‘Kuwait response on Indian
troops positive’ New Delhi, June 27 Sources said the Kuwaiti response to the US request to India for sending troops to Iraq was “positive”. Mr Khanna would now be visiting the UAE and some more countries in the region. |
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Sex trade: 2 Assamese girls rescued Guwahati, June 27 Samsul Hassan and his wife Hasina forcibly took away one of the girls (14) from here two months ago promising her father to provide her employment with a big company in Delhi. Instead, she was sold off to a person identified as Haneef for Rs 10,000 in Delhi and was then repeatedly raped. The other 12-year-old girl was three months pregnant, traumatised and had forgotten her address but mentioned Guwahati from where she claimed two years ago some people took her away from her home after paying some money.
— PTI |
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Disability
news service from Aug 15 New Delhi, June 27 The initiative is being supported by the Danish Council of Organisation of Disabled People, De Saamvirkende Invalideorgani-sationer
(DSI). Karen Reiff and Jens Lund Nielson from the DSI are here in this regard. |
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Man held with
1.4 kg heroin New Delhi, June 27 The accused, Kamal Kishore Gupta, was arrested by the CBI from Bareilly district following a tip-off, a CBI press note said here today. Gupta, a resident of Dataganj in Badaun district, was booked under Sections 8 and 21 of the NDPS Act. The accused was produced before the designated court in Bareilly and was remanded in one-day judicial custody, the press note said. |
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US educators
on India visit New Delhi, June 27 Visiting under the aegis of the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Programme, hosted by the US Educational Foundation in India (USEFI), the participants include 14 community college professors and another 16 educators from community colleges and high schools in the USA. |
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