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Thursday,
August 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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SC seeks
panel reply on water to Delhi BJP
decides to sit in opposition BJP denies
tacit understanding with Samajwadi Party BJP MLA
was among mob, says riot victim
Naidu urges Muslims to relent US plane crashes in WB,
pilot killed |
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HC
rejects PIL against sale of soft drinks Death
penalty to man for killing wife, kids upheld India's
N-pursuit not arms race, says expert
Intruder
in Sonia’s house arrested Hand over militants,
BJP tells Pak
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SC seeks panel reply on water to Delhi New Delhi, August 27 A Bench comprising Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Mr Justice G. P. Mathur directed Additional Solicitor-General (ASG) Mukul Rohtagi to file an affidavit on behalf of the CWC within three weeks detailing the steps taken by the Union Government regarding the implementation of a tribunal’s award regarding the continuous flow of 60 cusec ft water to the Nangloi reservoir in the outskirts of the Capital. The direction was issued by the court while hearing a decade-old public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the implementation of the tribunal’s award after senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan appointed to assist the Bench in the adjudication of the matter, submitted that no steps had been taken by the Centre and Haryana and Punjab governments to comply with the tribunal’s order despite the apex court’s direction in this regard in May, 2000. Mr Dhawan said as per the court’s direction the CWC was to examine the water carriage system and file a report whether the minimum flow was being maintained or not. Similar reports were to be filed by the Ministry of Environment and a high-powered committee set up by the Union Government, he told the Court. The ASG said the CWC had examined the Narwana branch of the Bhakra canal through which the water was to flow and it was found that it required a lot of repair work to ensure that the minimum flow of water was maintained for the Nangloi treatment plant. Mr Dhawan pointed out that the CWC in its affidavit, filed in October 2002, had enlisted several factors for the non-implementation of the tribunal’s order, including non-cooperation by Haryana in maintaining the canal properly, to fulfil its commitment to ensure 60 cusec ft of supply to Nangloi and achieve the flow of 350 cusec ft of water in Yamuna to Delhi. Haryana had taken a stand that it was not getting sufficient water from Punjab to meet its own needs and non-construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) was proving a major obstacle in the way. On the other hand, the Punjab Government had contested the claim of Haryana and stated that there was no surplus water available with it to be released to neighbouring states. Punjab’s Advocate-General Harbhagwana Singh later told ‘The Tribune’ that the state government had filed an application before the apex court, requesting it to Punjab a chance to explain its position. The Punjab Government had submitted that the availability of water in the rivers flowing in the state had been reduced by about 16 per cent from 17.17 MAF to 14.65 MAF over the past two decades due to climatic change. He said since Haryana and Delhi falls in the Yamuna basin additional 4.65 MAF water was available to them from Uttar Pradesh from the Ganga-Yamuna system as per the 1994 Yamuna water accord. The Punjab Government has already filed a suit in the apex court on the SYL issue detailing the reasons why the construction of the canal was not possible by the state. |
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BJP decides to sit in opposition New Delhi, August 27 There is a catch, however. If Mr Yadav faces some difficulty in reaching the magic figure of 202 in the 403-member UP Assembly, Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri may opt for keeping the Assembly in suspended animation and put the state under President’s rule for a brief period. In UP, where the political situation is changing not by the day but by the minute, it is understood that the BJP high command has more or less decided to sit in the Opposition in the UP Assembly “for the time being”. It is learnt that at a meeting held at the residence of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the consensus among the top guns of the party was not to have elections in UP “as of now”, allow the ascension of Mr Yadav to the Chief Minister’s throne, sit in the Opposition in the Assembly and create such political conditions in the state that by the time the Assembly elections are held, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress are marginalised and the contest is between the so-called secular and pseudo- secular forces. Mr Vajpayee is understood to have made an extremely significant remark at yesterday’s meeting: Idhar udhar ki baatein chhodo, Opposition mein baithne ka man banao or party ko majboot karon (Forget about this and that, be prepared for sitting in the Opposition and strengthen the party). On the other hand, an influential section within the BJP has also been emboldened by the excavation report of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the Ayodhya case and is pitching for returning to the Ram Mandir issue at the time of the elections. The BJP’s roadmap in UP envisages a multi-pronged thrust. The idea is that the party in future should avoid entering into any political marriage which it knows from the very outset is bound to end up in a divorce, sooner or later. The thinking in the BJP is to go whole hog against the Mayawati-Kanshi Ram-led (mistake in the order of precedence intended) BSP and effect a tactical ceasefire of sorts with the Samajwadi Party. The likely scenario in the immediate future is that Governor Shastri invites Mr Yadav to form the government, Mr Yadav does form the government with support from the Congress and Mr Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and finally at the time of test of strength on the floor of the House, the BJP abstains from voting, if needed. The BJP is hoping for an added bonus if a scenario like this is indeed enacted: The Congress and the BSP getting pitted against each other in a no-holds-barred manner. The move, as per the BJP’s scheme of things, would weaken the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi where elections are due this October as the BSP has significant pockets of influence in these states. Interestingly, eight members of the BSP met Governor Shastri in Lucknow today and are understood to have conveyed to him that they were with Mr Yadav. All the MLAs are Thakurs and Yadavs. Though these eight MLAs by themselves are not enough to threaten the 111-member BSP with a split, the development can shape the Governor’s thinking. |
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BJP denies tacit understanding with Samajwadi Party New Delhi, August 27 “We want the Governor to act according to the Constitution, conventions and the ground reality. The Governor is exploring the possibility of an alternative government. Whether the Governor decides to invite someone to form the government, dissolve the state Assembly and hold fresh elections or impose President’s Rule, the BJP is prepared for any situation,” the BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu told a press conference here. On SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav’s demand that he be invited to form the government and prove his majority on the floor of the House, Mr Naidu said, “this is normally done at the first instance after the elections and in case of an incumbent Chief Minister losing support. Even the Sarkaria Commission is not clear about it.” It may be pointed out that in the S.R. Bommai case, the Sarkaria Commission and the Supreme Court had held that the floor of the House was the right place for deciding the majority or minority status of the government and the question of handing a list of MLAs did not arise. The apex court had ruled in that case that majority is to be proved on the floor of the House and not in Raj Bhavan. Asked about reports that the BJP was planning to have a “tacit understanding” with the Samajwadi Party to allow it to form a government, he said, “These reports have no support”. He also denied that Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh had contacted him and sought BJP’s help in the formation of a government. The BJP was the “least worried” about the possibility of party MLAs defecting to the other side, he added. Asked about Ms Mayawati’s claim that several BJP MLAs were waiting in the wings to switch sides, he said, “Now that we are divorced, let her take care of her flock.” |
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BJP MLA was among mob, says riot victim
Ahmedabad, August 27 “I did see Mayaben (Kodnani) and other BJP leaders amongst the mob that later resorted to large scale rioting,” Nanumiyan Malek told a packed conference room, as the recording of depositions of victims/witnesses of Naroda Patia by Justice G.T. Nanavati (retd) and Justice K.G. Shah (retd) of the two-man riot inquiry commission began today. Malek also alleged ‘police inefficiency’ in controlling the mob and said there were no policemen present to control the situation in spite of a police post situated barely a few yards away. Malek claimed to have seen charred bodies of at least five persons of his locality during the day-long frenzy. He alleged that despite he and few others braving the riotous mob entered the police station, the personnel present there did not help them but instead pushed them towards the mob. The witness also claimed that none of the property that was looted from several Muslim houses had been traced by the police till date. Two persons of the majority community also deposed before the panel even as a large number of Hindus standing outside the commission alleged that only minority community victims were being summoned. Unprecedented security arrangements have been made at Circuit House annexe where the two-man panel is recording statements of victims/witnesses from the Naroda Patia area, where nearly 82 persons were burnt alive in communal riots last year.
— PTI |
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Naidu urges Muslims to relent New Delhi, August 27 “The ultimate evidence sought by the critics of the temple in the form of ASI excavations is also before us now. With this the dispute should be put to rest and all of us should come together to rebuild the Ram temple,” party President Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here. He said even if the court proceeded and delivered the judgement, “it will make one party a victor and the other a loser.” Mr Naidu said if the matter was pursued through court, one group was bound to feel “let down”. “We feel that the two groups can sink the differences and take a united decision. It is time to shed the past differences and concentrate on national mission to make India a proud, prosperous and secure nation”. The party had been in favour of a solution to the vexed issue through a judicial settlement or through negotiations or consensus legislation. “In the light of the conclusive evidence, the Muslim community should rise above narrow considerations and in the spirit of brotherhood pave the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the venerated site,” he said. Asking the Muslims not to be misled by the arguments of the so-called pseudo-secularists, the BJP chief said: “We want the temple to be built as a symbol of national self-respect and honour, not just a victory for one community over the other.” |
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US plane
crashes in WB, pilot killed
Kolkata, August 27 The plane belonging to a private operator, Southern Cross Aviation, which took off from the Kolkata airport at around 8.30 pm for Singapore developed technical snag barely 15 minutes after being in the air. The pilot sought permission for emergency landing and, accordingly, a full alert was declared at the airport. The plane which caught fire mid-air came hurtling down as a ball of fire in a paddy field at Swetpuar village in North 24 Parganas district. The charred remains of the pilot, P.E. Graat, were found in the debris.
— PTI |
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HC rejects PIL against sale
of soft drinks New Delhi, August 27 A Division Bench comprising Mr Chief Justice B. C. Patel and Mr Justice A. K. Sikri dismissed the petition filed by the Bharatiya Dalit and Shoshit Samaj, which said while cold drinks were no longer available in the Parliament House, they were allowed to be freely sold in the city and its surroundings, and demanded parity.
— UNI |
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Death penalty to man for killing wife, kids upheld New Delhi, August 27 Describing the multiple killings as “gruesome, diabolical and meticulously planned”, a Bench comprising Mr Justice Doraiswamy Raju and Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat reversed the high court order acquitting Kheraj Ram of the murder charges and ordered the police to take him into custody immediately. Allowing an appeal filed by the Rajasthan Government against the high court order, the Bench said the accused, who had killed his wife Amru, daughters, Kesi and Mira, and brother-in-law, Achla, in cold blood on October 10, 1992, did not deserve mercy as he had not even shown any remorse for killing his minor children. ‘’Since the victims included two innocent children and a helpless woman, the death sentence imposed by the trial court was most appropriate in this case,’’ the judges observed. According to the prosecution, the accused had committed the murder because he suspected that his wife had illicit relations with some other person and the two daughters born to him were not his. |
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India's
N-pursuit not arms race, says expert New Delhi, August 27 Delivering the second Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture here he said: “Today, even midwives in rural India use radiation-sterilised dye kits at the time of childbirths.” Dr Chidambaram said, “Strong signals are emerging about the alliance between industry and academia. These are very positive signals as science and technology give momentum for development. And momentum is a vector that has a direction”. Delivering the presidential address, Defence Minister George Fernandes said he considered the armed forces as one of the best-suited agency to protect the environment. Winding up the proceedings, the TERI Director-General, Dr R.K. Pachauri, said it was a moment of pride for all who were associated with TERI. |
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Intruder
in Sonia’s house arrested New Delhi, August 27 The alleged intruder was apprehended by Sub-Inspector Jitender Singh and he was soon taken to the Tuglak Road police station for interrogation. The police said the incident took place at around 8 am. A medical examination was also conducted on the person. |
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Hand over militants,
BJP tells Pak New Delhi, August 27 |
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