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Tuesday,
August 19, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Haryana
moves SC over SYL canal plan SC refuses
to stay Bhattal’s trial HCs
cautioned against ignoring guidelines Lok Sabha
passes demand for grants Delhi statehood
Bill introduced North
India in Parliament
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Opposition leaders
stay away Panel for Dalits,
STs proposed Congress holds
talks with Salve Petroleum ex-Secy
to probe ONGC copter crash Rat eating not
due to starvation, TN tells SC Witness turns hostile Taj corridor row:
notice to suspended IAS officer MPs call for
uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan Ranvir Sena chief
held INSAT-3E launch
postponed PM to unveil
Kalani’s statue
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Haryana moves SC over SYL canal plan New Delhi, August 18 The amended prayer was filed by the Haryana Government before a Bench comprising Ms Justice Ruma Pal and Mr Justice P V Reddi after a direction was issued by it regarding this on July 28. The Haryana Government also sought associating the Central Water Commission in the task and also setting up of a committee comprising the Secretary, Union Water Resources Ministry, and the Chief Secretaries of Haryana and Punjab to monitor the work. The court, after a brief hearing, directed the Centre and the Punjab Government to submit their replies to Haryana’s application within four weeks. The Bench had directed Haryana to specify the plan of action so that a direction to the Centre could be issued on the same lines as the state government has filed a suit for decree of the award, given by the court in its order passed on January 15, 2001. Haryana’s counsel Vinod Bobde had earlier said that the award had a two-part direction — (i) the Punjab Government should complete the project by January 15, 2002 (ii) if Punjab fails to implement it, then the Centre should complete the project. Haryana said since the first part of the direction had become
redundant after Punjab had filed a counter-suit detailing reasons why the award could not be enforced against it, the second part of the court direction against the Centre should be implemented. The court had, however, said that the Haryana Government needed to spell out the mode of implementation of the award by specifying the action plan in clear terms. The Centre, in a reply filed earlier, had said that it was willing to complete the SYL project in the territory of Punjab and was in constant touch with the governments of the two states on the issue. |
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SC refuses to stay Bhattal’s trial New Delhi, August 18 A Bench comprising Mr Justice
M.B. Shah and Mr Justice A.R. Lakshman refused to stay the trial proceeding against Mrs Bhattal, while admitting her petition challenging an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court giving permission to a private complainant to assist the trial court in the case. The Special Judge is hearing arguments on the framing of charges in the case, in which Mrs Bhattal has been charged with drawing Rs 20 lakh from the Chief Minister’s discretionary fund in 1996, when she was the Chief Minister of the state, and using the money for personal purposes. The court said its direction issued on April 21 regarding allowing the private complainant to point out any deficiency in the prosecution submission during the trial proceedings would remain unchanged. The case was registered by the Punjab Police against Mrs Bhattal on the complaint of Mr Balwant Singh Dhillon and Mrs Bhattal had challenged the high court order permitting him to assist the prosecution. Mrs Bhattal, in her appeal before the apex court, said once a matter had been brought before the court by a complaint, Mr Dhillon’s role in a criminal case was over. |
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HCs cautioned against
ignoring guidelines New Delhi, August 18 A three-judge Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mr V.N. Khare, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur gave the ruling while disposing of a case relating to the famous Guruvayoor Devaswom temple in Kerala. The 11-point guidelines laid down by the apex court earlier on the PILs should be followed by the high courts, the Bench said adding that “where a segment of public is not interested in a cause, a PIL would not be ordinarily entertained.” Criticising the Kerala High Court for allowing the temple administrator to continue even after expiry of its tenure despite irregularity in the temple management, the apex court, however, complemented the High Court’s efforts for finding out various irregularities by the
management during the course of hearing a PIL against it. |
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Humour amidst heat and fury
New Delhi, August 18 Congress President Sonia Gandhi, the mover of the motion, was the first to take off on a humorous note as she virtually stumped Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the women’s Reservation Bill. Mrs Gandhi said “consensus” was being used as a “pretext for inaction” on the issue and added that “all of us women know it— Sushmaji don’t you agree?”. A smiling Swaraj lost no time in retorting that Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, strong opponents of the bill, were on the Opposition side. Mrs Gandhi referred to the eight per cent growth target in the 10th plan and asked “do they think there are going to be takers for this version of Mungeri Lal ke sunhere sapne?” She pointed out that this was because last year the growth rate came crashing down to 4.3 per cent. Later, CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee, during his strong-worded speech, hit out at Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for describing himself as “swayamsevak” and asked “I hope it is not literally translated into self-serving”. He took digs at BJP spokesman V.K. Malhotra, who was wearing a black velvet coat, describing him as “well-dressed” and “handsome.” Some Opposition members added the coat had an “American cut”. When Mr Chatterjee, who began speaking in Hindi and then continued in English, wanted more time, Speaker Manohar Joshi said he would allow him if he spoke in Hindi.
— PTI |
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Lok Sabha passes demand for grants New Delhi, August 18 The demand for grants and the relevant Appropriation Bill, were passed by voice vote with almost no discussion. The Agriculture Ministry will distribute Rs 607.19 crore as loans to state governments to be disbursed among sugarcane growers for repaying their dues pertaining to the 2002-03 season. |
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Delhi statehood Bill introduced New Delhi, August 18 The State of Delhi Bill, 2003, introduced by the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, proposes to grant full statehood to the entire national Capital territory of Delhi by creating the State of Delhi with the insertion of a new Article 371-J in the Constitution. The Article provides that notwithstanding anything in the
Constitution, Parliament shall have exclusive powers to make laws for the whole or any part of the State of Delhi with respect to entries 1 (public order) and 2 (police) of the State list and entries 64, 65 and 66 of that list as far as these relate to entries 1 and 2. |
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Rly Bill passed New Delhi, August 18 |
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North
India in Parliament New Delhi, August 18 Cultivation in the cultivable waste land is not undertaken because of the high cost involved in bringing it under cultivation and low productivity, he added.
Tibetan issue The Minister of Tribal Affairs, Mr Jual Oram, informed the Rajya Sabha that three cases of Tibetans having obtained employment in government sector by taking advantage of the reservation policy of SC/ST had come to the notice of the Central Tibetan Schools Administration. Allegations in two cases have not found to be correct and verification of the third case is under way, the minister added.
Information on
Galiara Yojana The Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr Pon Radhakrishnan, said in the Rajya Sabha that the information on the work of the remaining two phases of the Galiara Yojana at the Golden Temple was being gathered and would be laid on the table of the House.
Flow at Yamuna The Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr Dilip Singh Ju Dev, informed the Lok Sabha that the high powered
committee on maintenance of minimum flow in the Yamuna had held 10 meetings since its formation in 1998. The committee, whose members are the riparian states of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, has outlined certain short-term and long-term measures for meeting the desired minimum flow of the river. |
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Opposition
leaders stay away from RS New Delhi, August 18 As proceedings started for the day, the House wore a deserted look as members of the Congress, the CPM, the Revolutionary Socialist Party
(RSP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) were absent. The proceedings during the question hour were rather slow as Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat did not rush through questions and their replies. Opposition members had staged a walkout last week after Mr Shekhawat rejected the demands for a discussion on the PAC issue and a statement from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Opposition also picked a number of holes in the Mr Shekhawat’s ruling that the CVC report did not cover Kargil purchases. The Chairman, however, adjourned the House later when TDP member Alladi P. Rajkumar and BJP member S.S. Ahluwalia said it would not be appropriate to take up discussion on the important issue of the National Population Policy without the presence of the Prime Minister, who was in the Lok Sabha. |
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Panel for Dalits, STs proposed New Delhi, August 18 In a written reply to a question, the minister said this was being done to give “focused attention” to the problems of SCs and STs. The government had also started the Dr Ambedkar Scholarship Scheme to provide assistance to poor meritorious SC/ST students for pursuing higher studies. Under the scheme, implemented by the Dr Ambedkar Foundation, set up under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Scholarships are given to three students scoring the highest marks in the regular Class X-level examination. The scholarships involve Rs 60,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 40,000, respectively, and are separate for Scs and STs. In case none of the three is a girl student, a girl student scoring the highest marks would be given a special award of Rs 40,000. However, the family income of such students from all sources should not be more than Rs 1 lakh in the preceding financial year, the minister said. |
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Congress
holds talks with Salve New Delhi, August 18 Mr Salve and another former Union Minister, Mr Vasant
Sathe, had yesterday announced their decision to form a separate regional party to fight for the formation of a Vidarbha state. “The first round of talks was held with Mr Salve and we are optimistic of convincing them to stay in the party as the Congress’ views on Vidarbha are also similar,” Mr Vaylar Ravi, party in charge of Maharashtra, told The Tribune. Mr Ravi said, “Convincing them to remain in the party will not be much of a problem. We only want them to postpone their agitational attitude till November as the party is busy with the elections.” The senior Congress party member said the Pranab Mukherjee Committee is looking into the demands of creation of smaller states. The committee is sympathetic to the demand of the creation of a separate Vidarbha state as it had been raised since the pre-Independence era and the campaign intensified following the creation of Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Mr Salva
yesterday said that the Vidarbha Congress would be formed early next month and would contest the Congress in the Assembly poll. Party sources said the long delay by the Pranab Mukherjee Committee to submit its report had annoyed the regional leaders as the aspirations of the people were not being sympathetically considered. They feel that the party high command had set up the committee only as an attempt to buy time and avoid taking decisions on the contentious issue as they are aware that if the demand is conceded it could open the flood gates for similar demands from other places. Interestingly, the Vidarbha issue has come to the fore within days of some senior Congress leaders of the Andhra Pradesh unit raising the issue of a separate Telangana state. “We feel that Vidarbha is not much of a
complicated issue compared to Telangana as it will include territorial boundaries of contiguous states and the move is also opposed by Andhra Congress members,” Mr Ravi
added. Vidarbha campaigners have stated that the “injustice” meted out to this region of Maharashtra has left the region economically backward and only the creation of a small state would solve the problems faced by the people and spur economic growth in the region. |
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Petroleum ex-Secy to probe ONGC copter crash
New Delhi, August 18 Other members of the committee are former Oil India Ltd Chairman and Managing Director S.C.N. Jatar and Padma Shree Prof Pritam Singh, an official statement said here. Petroleum Minister Ram Naik had, immediately after the crash of a chartered helicopter on August 11, announced an independent probe into the safety of offshore operations. The probe would be independent of the inquiry being conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Mr Naik had given the committee three months to complete its probe into safety and security in offshore operations, especially air logistics, and hiring of helicopters, particularly MI-172 choppers, including the circumstances under which the ill-fated helicopter was hired from New Delhi-based Mesco Airlines. Other terms of reference of the committee include maintenance/repairs/replacement of offshore installations, adequacy of efforts made by the ONGC in ensuring safety and security of personnel engaged in offshore operation, action taken on complaints/grievances regarding safety matters, including condition of helicopter and any act of omission by the ONGC management. The committee would suggest short and long term measures for tightening the safety and security of offshore operations.
— PTI |
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Rat eating not due to starvation, TN tells SC New Delhi, August 18 The Tamil Nadu Government, in an affidavit submitted before a Bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare and Mr Justice S B Sinha said that there was no truth in the allegations made in the public interest litigation, filed by Mr Ashwani Kumar. Stating that the petitioner had failed to point anything substantive in the petition, the Tamil Nadu Government said the PIL was based merely on a TV report. The Collector of Thanjavur district in his report made it clear that it was a common practice among the labourers in the area to select robust rats for cooking after removing their skin during rainy season and during summer they even ate the skin after roasting it. Mr Kumar had based his entire petition on one such instance reported by a TV channel, the state government said. There had been no starvation deaths in the state. |
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Taj corridor row: notice to suspended IAS officer
Lucknow, August 18 The 10-page show-cause notice was posted at his residence here yesterday asking the officer to send his reply to the government within a fortnight. Taking strong exception, Mr Sharma who was suspended on July 2 following a probe by state Finance Secretary N.C. Bajpai, said serving a show-cause at this moment was ‘unnecessary’. Mr Sharma told UNI here today that when he was already suspended there was no reason to serve him with a show cause at this juncture. However, he said he would send his reply within the stipulated time. According to the notice, the state government has held Mr Sharma responsible for initiating the project without prior permission from other departments. The government also blamed the IAS officer for influencing the ‘Mission Management Board’ to clear the THC project in a hurry. However, the notice allows the suspended bureaucrat to go through the files and documents of the government department to prepare his reply. Meanwhile, the issuance of a show cause to Mr Sharma has stirred another controversy with the CBI submitting its sealed interim report to the Supreme Court on the THC probe on August 14. The apex court is expected to take up the case on August 21. The CBI had started investigating the case following a directive of the Supreme Court on July 16 last and had even interrogated UP Chief Secretary D S Bagga, Finance Secretary N C Bajpai and other officials involved in the project. The court had asked the investigating agency to submit its interim report within four weeks and the final report in two months.
— UNI |
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MPs call for uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan New Delhi, August 18 “Our concern about cross-border terrorism, which unfortunately persists in spite of the declared policy of the Pakistan government....this concern should not stall a dialogue for ensuring the insight we gathered during our visit and joint steps be devised to remove this major road block of cross-border terrorism in the path of peace,” the two-page statement said. The delegation of parliamentarians and journalists included Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr Ram Jethmalani, Mrs Margaret Alva and Mr Balbir Punj. The joint statement was, however, issued on behalf of the South Asian free Media Association (SAFMA), which had sponsored the visit of the delegation. The statement added that “We need to seize the initiative to reach out more and more to the people of Pakistan, to its media and its political establishments. “The goodwill we carried with us was reciprocated in full measure. Such exchanges need to be encouraged. They could lay the foundation of a dialogue for durable peace between the two countries.” The delegation said its sentiments were articulated by those shaping the destiny of Pakistan; members of the National Assembly, academics, journalists, businessmen and cultural activists. In its interaction with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman and others, the delegation said it was made aware of a strong desire for peace and cooperation with India. |
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Ranvir Sena chief held
Patna, August 18 State Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) Neelmani said, acting on a tip-off, a team led by Bhojpur Superintendent of Police A.R. Ambedkar raided the hideout and arrested Rai. He said the outlaw, who had an award of Rs 2 lakh on his head, was wanted for the past few years and his name also figured in the Bathe massacre of 1997. Rai became the head of the Ranvir Sena after the arrest of the founder chief of this private army, Brahmeshwar Singh, an year ago.
— UNI |
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INSAT-3E launch postponed
Bangalore, August 18 “The retests of the components have become necessary in view of a quality alert received from the manufacturer of these components,” a press note from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here. “Arianespace will finalise the new launch window based on the requirements of SMART-1 of the European Space Agency and e-Bird of EUTELSAT, which are also to be launched along with INSAT-3E on board the 162nd flight of Ariane,” the note said. “Delays are common in space programmes. We wanted to make sure that the satellite is 100 per cent functional before it goes out of our reach,” an ISRO spokesperson said.
— UNI |
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PM to unveil Kalani’s statue New Delhi, August 18 Shaheed Hemu Kalani was born in Sakhar district of Sindh and was hanged to death by the Martial Law Court in 1943 for his participation in the revolutionary activities of the independence movement. |
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In video: Salve and Sathe launch their newly formed Vidarbha Rajya Nirman
Congress party. (
The Supreme Court today declined to stay the trial proceedings in a corruption case against Punjab’s Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal in a Special Court in Chandigarh.