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Wednesday,
July 2, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Lakhs join in Jagannath Yatra |
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NEWS ANALYSIS ‘Twin-MP’ plan runs into rough weather New Delhi, July 1 The ‘Twin-MP’ plan a section of the BJP has formulated to end the controversy over the Women’s Bill has run into rough weather. According to the plan, 181 Lok Sabha constituencies will elect two MPs each, one of whom would compulsorily be a woman.
Best Bakery verdict:
focus again on witness protection |
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Lt-Gen
Shahrawat new DGOS Pak
grants visa to DTC crew Chhota
Rajan aide held Dhindsa meets Advani on
‘witch-hunt’ issue India
requests USA for Iraq crude supply
Cable operators for Rs 530 as monthly bill Mishra: BJP, BSP cadres at loggerheads 12 MCC ultras arrested Major torches bus MP raises OBC quota by 13 pc 2 officers held on graft charge
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Lakhs join in Jagannath Yatra Puri, July 1 A sea of humanity waited patiently on the Bada Danda, a wide avenue in front of Sri Jagannath Temple, built in 12th century, to catch a glimpse of the presiding deities of the shrine - Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra and their sister Devi Subhadra - who embarked upon a nine-day annual sojourn to the Gundicha temple, 3 km down the street. Three colourfully decorated wooden chariots built by the temple carpenters had been lined up outside the “singhdwar”, (lion’s gate) after security men cordoned off the area. Additional Director-General of Police Amarananda Patnaik was entrusted with the supervision of the event, which is regarded as one of the most important festivals in the Oriya almanac. Fiftyfive platoons of the Orissa Special Armed Police and three companies of the Rapid Action Force, besides the state police and 500 officers had been deployed while special intelligence sleuths maintained strict vigil. A large number of heavy and light vehicles, electronic gadgets, mobile phones, VHF sets, sniffer dogs and metal detectors had been put to use while bomb detection and disposal squads stood by. All precautionary measures have been taken for the smooth conduct of the yatra. While the temple administration had provided funds for the construction of the three chariots and other rituals, other expenditures were shared by different departments of the state government, including Home, Health, Transport and Energy besides the Ministry of Railways, they said. Modi sweeps yatra path AHMEDABAD: Amid religious fervour and tight security measures, the 126th Rath Yatra began from Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur area of the city early on Tuesday. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi performed the traditional ritual of “pahind” by sweeping the path with a golden broom, paving way for the yatra to begin. Mr Modi, along with Union Minister of State for Home Harin Pathak and Gujarat ministers Ashok Bhatt and Amit Shah, pulled the chariot till the temple entrance, from where it would traverse 24 km through the walled city and return in the evening. The religious ceremonies began at 4 a.m. with “mangla arti” performed by the mahants followed by seating of the idols of Lord Jagannath, Subhadra and Baldev in the chariots amidst chanting of “Jai Ranchhod...Makhan Chor”. A thick security blanket has been thrown in and around the Lord Jagannath temple and in the city with nearly 6,000 paramilitary jawans posted along the yatra route which passes through some sensitive areas. Thousands of people thronged the temple since early morning to have “darshan”, besides the “prasad” which consists of “khichdi” and is offered during the prayer. Nearly 20,000 kg of cereal and other fruits would be distributed as “prasad” to devotees during the procession. —
PTI |
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NEWS
ANALYSIS New Delhi, July 1 According to the plan, 181 Lok Sabha constituencies will elect two MPs each, one of whom would compulsorily be a woman. Thus, one-third representation for women will be ensured in the Lower House of Parliament. Similar arrangements will be made for state assemblies too. These constituencies will be chosen through a system of secret ballot and they will rotate after every election. The real strength of the Lok Sabha will, thus, go up to 725 from the present 544, with the number of constituencies remaining the same. Even this proposal like the long-promised legislation reserving 33 per cent seats in the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies for women needs a constitutional amendment, point out constitutional experts. The plan to rotate seats which will send two members to the Lok Sabha after every election is also bound to evoke a controversy. The issue of enabling 50 per cent of the people to have a say in the decision-making process has been hanging fire despite the fact that most political parties have committed themselves to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and state assemblies. Despite the overwhelming support for the move, every attempt to pass the Women’s Bill has come to naught because the menfolk finds it difficult to share political power with women. Small wonder then that they have been inventing newer and newer arguments against the Bill All efforts made so far to evolve a consensus on the issue have yielded no results because leaders belonging to the backward classes have been opposing it on the ground that the proposed Women’s Bill does not make any provision for reservation for backward castes. Backward caste leaders like Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav and Union Minister Sharad Yadav say that such a provision will only bring back the rule of the upper castes through the backdoor. They say that the backward castes had succeeded in getting a share in the political power through the implementation of the Mandal Commission report. Now with the proposed reservation of seats for women, the upper castes were only trying to take back what they had to give under pressure, they claim. The BJP, being the ruling party, has the responsibility of getting the long promised Bill passed by Parliament but it is not willing to annoy its own backward caste leaders. That is why while providing lip-service to the cause, it has done nothing to have the Bill passed by Parliament. The BJP has virtually washed its hands of the issue by passing the buck to the Lok Sabha Speaker who is supposed to help in evolving a consensus. The Congress is also not united on the issue but being in the opposition it can afford to play safe. It knows only too well that the ruling National Democratic Alliance will not be able to get the Bill passed. Whatever may be the opinion of individual Congress leaders, there is no mistaking that party President Sonia Gandhi is definitely in favour of the Women’s Bill. In this scenario, the ‘Twin-MP’ plan is considered an “eyewash” by most political observers. They believe that it has been mooted with an eye on the elections. They also believe that the idea has been floated to counter the growing perception among the educated women that the BJP has been dragging its feet on the issue. |
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Best Bakery verdict: focus again on witness protection New Delhi, July 1 “As long as proper protection is not provided to the witnesses we will continue to see such mockery of justice where police has badly failed to do its duty,” Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) Chairman K.C. Mittal told The Tribune. Stating that acquittal of all accused in such a serious case, which would have wide ramifications on the trial of other riot cases, “showed that the Gujarat Police had not only failed in its duty to investigate the case properly but also in providing adequate security to key witnesses, including main complainant, Zahida Sheikh, nine members of whose family were killed when the bakery was burnt by an unruly mob. As media reports suggest, Zahida, who during her deposition had turned hostile in the court, has been missing, Mr Mittal said, “There is an urgent need to empower courts as well as the prosecution to take note of such happenings during the course of trial and provide the witnesses adequate protection.” “A serious question arises whether the investigating officers in the present case, who were duty bound to bring the witnesses to the court, had ever noticed who were the persons meeting the girl and where had she gone after the trial was over,” the BCD chief asked. The Malimath Committee, which was set up by the Centre to examine the Law Commission proposals for amending criminal laws, in its report submitted to the Union Home Minister L.K. Advani in April, had suggested to provide proper protection to witnesses and amendments in the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the Evidence Act regarding the recording of their evidence. The Commission had suggested recording of the statements of witnesses under Section 164 of the CrPC by a Magistrate at the investigation stage and Justice Malimath Committee had recommended suitable amendments to Sections 161 and 162 of the Code under which the police records the statement of a witness. The statement of a witness examined during the course of investigations should be recorded and got signed by them and made “admissible” in the court by suitably amending these Sections, the committee had suggested. Besides, it had also recommended changes in Section 25 of the Evidence Act regarding are recording of the confessional statement of an accused by the officer of the rank of SP or above with simultaneous audio/video recording of the entire proceeding and render it as admissible evidence in the court on the lines of Section 32 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Union Government on a public interest litigation seeking a direction for devising a mechanism to provide protection to witnesses, as was being done in the USA, Canada, Australia and some other European nations. Mr Mittal said it was unfortunate that the prosecution in every case all over the country “does not take care of witnesses. There has to be a proper check and balance in the conduct of trial by it.” The evidence should be recorded before the court immediately and the police should keep a watch on the witnesses and meet them periodically to ensure that there was no intimidation, alurement and coercion on the part of accused persons. Meanwhile, a senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member, Ashwani Kumar said here. “The verdict raises the larger question of the Modi government’s right to govern the state consistent with constitutional goals and values.” He alleged that justice had been compromised by an incompetent government machinery in the case. |
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Lt-Gen
Shahrawat new DGOS New
Delhi, July 1 An alumnus of King George Military School, Ajmer, National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun, the General Officer was commissioned into 11 Grenadiers on June 27, 1965, and was transferred to the Army Ordnance Corps in August 1973. He is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and has also qualified in long defence management course from the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad. In his long service, the General has held varied command, staff and instructional appointments. He has been instructor at the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun, College of Materials Management, Jabalpur and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He
has also been the Colonel Instructor Logistics at the Command and
Staff College, Tanzania (East Africa). |
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Pak grants visa to DTC crew New Delhi, July 1 Significantly, the issuance of visas to the DTC crew members, all drivers, coincided with the arrival here of Pakistan’s new High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan. The service was snapped on December 31, 2001, 18 days after Pakistan-backed terrorists attacked Parliament. India has proposed to Pakistan July 11 as the date for restarting the service, an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said adding that “There is no word yet from the Pakistani side on this”. Although officials of the two countries had agreed in principle after two-day talks last month to resume the service from today, “some technicalities”, including the non-availability of visas, have caused the postponement, DTC officials told PTI here. The two countries are now working on to restart the service from July 11, believing that “all formalities would be completed by then”. “Although there is no agreement on the date yet, July 11 seems to be the most convenient,” a top DTC official said. The DTC is also waiting for a communication from the External Affairs Ministry to start the booking of passengers for Lahore. He said DTC was ready to restart the twice-a-week service any day. The Ambedkar Nagar bus terminal has been given a facelift to upgrade it to international standards and security-check equipment have been put in place. —
PTI |
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Chhota Rajan aide held New Delhi, July 1 They were arrested following the interrogation of Dharmender Anand Punjabi who was arrested yesterday after a brief encounter. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Deependra Pathak, the suspect, Adarsh Kumar, met with O.P. Singh of Mumbai, brother-in-law of Aanad Punjabi and indulged in threatening businessmen for extortion on behalf of Chhota Rajan. He was arrested in March last year in Delhi from his residence in Adarsh Nagar. He was released on bail this year. |
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Dhindsa meets Advani on
‘witch-hunt’ issue New Delhi, July 1 During an hour-long meeting, Mr Dhindsa is understood to have given a detailed picture to Mr Advani about the hosts of cases filed by the Capt Amarinder Singh government against Akali leaders. |
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India requests USA for Iraq crude supply New Delhi, July 1 “We are keen to buy Iraq crude and a request to the US administration was made to this effect during an official visit to the USA recently,” Petroleum Secretary B K Chaturvedi told mediapersons here today. He said the government was awaiting a response from the US government, which has put all contracts reached during the Saddam Hussein regime under review. “We would like that crude supplies should come on government-to-government contract basis,” Mr Chaturvedi said and added that transport costs from Iraq were cheaper than importing from African countries. Meanwhile, a team of officials from Indian state-run refiners will visit Iraq this month to scout for crude oil supplies. Indian refiners, particularly IOC, are keen to secure term supplies for Basrah Light crude after Iraq resumes normal oil exports, industry officials said. Iraq’s crude exports grounded in early March in the run-up to the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. Iraq made its first overseas sale last month under a tender process. “The delegation of oil industry officials will visit Iraq this month. We hope to sign contracts for supply of Basrah Light crude,” the official said. Before the war, India imported 2 to 3 million tonnes of Iraqi crude a year. Between December 1996 and early 2003, Iraq marketed its crude under the UN oil-for-food programme. Asian refiners bought a third of Iraq’s main export grade, Basrah Light, before the war. Refiners in India, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan see Basrah Light as a good alternative to Asia’s mainstay imports such as Saudi Arabia’s Arab Light and medium sour grade of Oman. Basrah Light is normally priced below both. —
UNI |
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Take
country into confidence: CPM New Delhi, July 1 In a letter to Defence Minister George Fernandes, CPM MP Hanan Mollah said the USA was “vigorously persuading” India to participate in their “efforts to stablise and establish US rule” in Iraq. Mr Mollah said the government must differentiate between peace-keeping operation of the Army and the present conditions in Iraq where it appears that the Indian troops would have to “function under US-British command as part of the occupying force” and said the American soldiers were being attacked and killed by protesting Iraqis. “If Indian troops in these circumstances join the US forces, who are suppressing the Iraqi protesters, that will only tarnish our image in the eyes of the Iraqi people with whom we have an age-old relationship”, the CPM MP said. |
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Cable operators for Rs 530 as monthly bill New Delhi, July 1 Withdrawing the basic service rate of Rs 72 quoted earlier, the cable operators have said that the rate is no longer acceptable to them. “It was accepted earlier only to cooperate with the government to implement CAS to control the ever-increasing price of pay channels,’’ they said in a letter to the Union I& B MInister, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad. During a 40-minute meeting with Mr Prasad on Tuesday afternoon, representatives of the Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI), National Cable and Telecom Association (NCTA) and the Cable Network Association (CNA) said that they would not bend backwards to negotiate with broadcasters for discount on subscriber base. Terming the proposed dual feed system in the post-CAS scenario as “meaningless’’, Lt-Col K.K. Sharma (retd), chief editor of Cable Quest, a
satellite cable TV and broadcasting trade magazine said that the cable operators would now charge the subscribers according to the existing rates quoted by pay channels. “We will charge the subscribers Rs 530 regardless of their paying capacity. At present, a subscriber is paying on an average a
monthly cable bill of Rs 250. Once we increase the rates, we will see public interest litigations coming up. If he cannot pay, we will cut the connection.’’ In the letter to the I& B Minister, the cable operators have urged the government to rise above political
interests and let them carry on with their private business with dignity and transparency — the very objective of the CAS Amendment Act. They have quoted the subscription rates given by broadcasters to cable
operators. While the subscription rates for pay channels including Star TV bouquet, Zee-Turner bouquet, One Alliance bouquet, ESPN, Star Sports, MEN bouquet, regional channels and video channels works out to be Rs 292, the basic services, entertainment tax (for Delhi) and service tax of 8 per cent costs Rs 238. The COFI, NCTA and CNA have resisted the government’s willingness to consider the dual feed system which facilitates viewing pay channels without set-top boxes during the transitory phase for a smooth roll over. The cable operators have contended that it is not practical to run CAS and non-CAS systems (dual feed) simultaneously as it involves wasteful expenditure. They have also demanded amendments to the existing Act so as to disallow advertisements on pay channels, besides removal of clause on criminal action against cable operators. The cable operators’ exasperation over the government’s attitude is also due to the latter’s indifference to their huge investments on arranging head-end equipment and set-top boxes. COFI president, Ms Roop Sharma, told TNS that the total investment made by the cable operators in four metros on headend equipment and set-top boxes was close to Rs 200 crore. “Why would a subscriber buy a set-top box when he is getting all the channels without the box for six months?” she asked. Lt-Col Sharma voiced the apprehension that the huge investment made by cable operators could even drive them to suicide. |
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Mishra: BJP, BSP cadres at loggerheads Lucknow, July 1 “These differences will have to be ironed out before the Lok Sabha elections, otherwise there could be problems for the alliance,” Mr Mishra told reporters here today. The BJP and the BSP are to contest next year’s general elections as partners. Mr Mishra said if the co-ordination between the two alliance partners improved, it would sweep the polls. Mr Mishra said the political situation in the state was fluid and the BJP would have to play “a major role in retrieving” the situation. However, he did not elaborate.—
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12 MCC ultras arrested Nawada, July 1 Police Superintendent Bacchu Singh Meena today said here that acting on a tip-off, a Special Task Force raided the hideout in the dense forest last night and after a fierce two-hour long encounter, the extremists of the banned outfit were captured. He said some of the ultras surrendered to the police team. Among those arrested were Dinesh Rajwanshi, an area commander of the banned outfit. Daltonganj (Jharkhand): Four persons, including two forest guards, were kidnapped by MCC ultras and later killed by slitting their throats in Latehar district late last night, police sources said today. The MCC ultras kidnapped forest guards Jitan Singh and Tapeshwar Singh from their homes at Kalyanpur and Kurmu villages, respectively, and slit their throats before throwing their bodies on a road, Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Palamu Range) Ashok Kumar Sinha said here. In another incident, the Naxalites abducted a chowkidar Banshi Paswan and another person Kailash Bhuiyan from their houses at Amdiha and Dhudhuma villages and killed them by slitting their throats, he said. Hand-written leaflets left behind by the naxalites said the forest guards and the chowkidar were murdered to avenge the killing of a Maoist activist about a month ago, according to Sinha. —
UNI, PTI |
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Major torches bus Indore, July 1 The driver suffered 35 to 40 per cent burns and has been admitted to a private hospital here. Major Mithilesh Chandra Jha set the bus of the Imperial Academy on fire after sprinkling petrol when it had gone to Mhow to pick up students, Indore SP Madhukumar Babu said. The officer, who is serving in the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering was reportedly angry over non-payment of dues payable to his wife, Ela, who had worked in a sister concern of the school, he said. A case has been registered against Major Jha, but he has not yet been arrested, Mr Babu said. School president Bhupinder Singh Luthra told reporters here that the Major had made some threatening calls to the school yesterday and warned some untoward incident may take place “by tomorrow” if the school did not clear his wife’s dues. —
PTI |
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MP raises OBC quota by 13 pc Bhopal, July 1 A press note issued by the government late last night says: “The state government today issued a resolution to increase the reservation for OBCs from 14 per cent to 27 per cent. It has come into force with immediate effect. A notification regarding the resolution has been issued. To meet the objective of social justice for weaker sections of the state, the reservation percentage has been enhanced in civil posts and services under the state for OBCs in initial or direct recruitment”. This raises the percentage of reservation in government jobs to 63 per cent; with 16 per cent jobs being reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 20 per cent for the Scheduled Tribes. —
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2 officers held on graft charge New Delhi, July 1 Interestingly, both the accused were trapped by the CBI on the basis of the complaint lodged by their subordinates. The officers are Commander (Works Engineer) A.K. Gupta, posted at the Military Engineering Services, Uran, Raigad and K S Bhatt, Additional Director, DRI Bangalore. |
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