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Wednesday,
September 3, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Togadia held in UP CMs against Congress joining Mulayam govt Mulayam to seek trust vote on Sept 8
Indo-Pak peace boat stable, say
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SC seeks
report about detention of 11 Pakistanis ‘Vanishing’ Pandits cause of concern SC transfers rehabilitation Cong govts misusing funds, says
Naqvi DDA scam: HC wants to hear former judge 1,000 clear National Talent Search Exam
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Togadia held in UP Lucknow, September 2 Mr Togadia, who was travelling in the Mussoorie Express was arrested by the police as soon as the train reached Gajraula railway station. SP and ADM of Ghaziabad were present during his arrest. District Magistrate of the Jyotibaphule Nagar G.D. Tripathi said Mr Togadia was heading for Hapur (Ghaziabad) to attend a programme organised by the parishad. His arrest was kept under wraps. Etah DM Jitendranath Mishra said the VHP leader was scheduled to hold his ‘Raksha Sutra’ programme in the Arunanagar guest house but the administration invoked prohibitory orders at the district headquarters. The decision was taken with a view to maintaining law and order, he added. Meanwhile, sources said all district administrations in the state had been directed to ban such programmes called by Dr Togadia. However, Allahabad High Court today permitted Dr Togadia to participate in the meeting organised in Ghaziabad by the VHP scheduled this afternoon. The court had also directed the Ghaziabad District Magistrate to take precautionary measures to maintain law and order in the district. An affidavit was filed in the court that tridents shall not be distributed in the meeting. New Delhi: In Jharkhand too, there has been simmering tension among the ruling BJP and opposition parties over the proposed visit of Mr Togadia to Ranchi on September 5. State CPI (ML) legislature party leader Mahender Singh said the opposition parties would meet at Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Stephen Marandi’s residence on Wednesday to chalk out their strategy to prevent the entry of Mr Togadia to the town. Meanwhile, the Patna High Court issued a show-cause notice to the Bihar Government asking it to file an affidavit within two weeks listing reasons why VHP leaders Mr Togadia and Mr Giriraj Kishore were debarred from entering Patna on August 15. —
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CMs against Congress joining Mulayam govt New Delhi, September 2 The Chief Ministers, who recently gave their electoral assessment to Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the light of developments in Uttar Pradesh, felt that the role played by the BSP could influence results in several seats of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chhattisgarh. Happy at the BJP and the BSP being at each other’s throat, the Chief Ministers told the high command that nothing should be done till the November elections that could help in rebuilding the strained relations of the two former allies. Some of these Chief Ministers see the BSP as a potential ally in the party’s quest for power at the Centre. They felt that BSP leader Mayawati, who has declared to work for BJP’s defeat in the Assembly elections, should not be annoyed by joining the government of her arch-rival Mulayam Singh Yadav. The Congress Chief Ministers told the high-command that Ms Mayawati, who feels betrayed by the BJP, would not only make the Congress work easy by hitting out at the saffron party but would also put up candidates in such a way that the BJP’s electoral prospects were damaged. The Chief Ministers felt that the Congress should support the Mulayam government from outside till the November elections after which the party could review its options. |
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Mulayam to seek trust vote on Sept 8 Lucknow, September 2 The four BSP members of the committee objected to the delay in the trust vote and later staged a walkout of the meeting held this morning. Later, Leader of the opposition Swami Prasad Maurya told reporters that they were demanding that the government should take the trust vote tomorrow only when the House was in session. “They do not have the required numbers to prove their majority hence were delaying it to opt for horse-trading,’’ he alleged. Mr Maurya, while announcing that the BSP would take legal action against the 13 party MLAs who went to Raj Bhavan to support them SP-led government, said his party was intact and there was no question of a split. He said that Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav might be the Chief Minister but the government was actually being run by the BJP. However, the SP leaders were confident that the government would prove its majority on the floor of the House with a thumping margin. —
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Indo-Pak peace boat stable, say
experts New Delhi, September 2 While Pakistan agreed to release 269 Indian fishermen from its jails on September 4, a delegation of Pakistani fishermen is scheduled to arrive here soon after for discussing release of their 60-odd colleagues from the Indian jails. The South Block took strong exception to Pakistani foreign office spokesman, Mr Masood Khan’s, yesterday’s remark that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s hand of peace was “suspended in mid air”. The official reaction of the Vajpayee government, as articulated today by Foreign Office spokesman Navtej Sarna in response to a question, was caustic. He said: “If our Prime Minister’s hand is suspended in mid air, as the Pakistani spokesman claims, it is because so far Pakistan has failed to grasp it. Time has come, in Pakistan’s own interest and in the interest of peace, that Pakistan should unclench its fist, wipe its hands clean of the stains of terrorism and firmly grasp the hand of friendship that we have extended. We invite Pakistan to act maturely and invest in the future.” The perception in the South Block here was that the Pakistani foreign office spokesman was trying to queer the pitch and making such unusually aggressive remarks for scoring the brownie points. A less charitable interpretation of Mr Masood Khan’s remark was that the Pakistani spokesman was playing to the tune of Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar, a known India-baiter, with whom he had worked as counsellor (Press) when Mr Khokhar was Pakistan’s envoy in Washington. Diplomatic sources here said there was nothing unusual or worrisome in the ups and downs in Indo-Pak relations and the peace boat would continue to sail despite the waters being turbulent. The next good-spirited step to be taken up by the governments in New Delhi and Islamabad was freeing more prisoners who continued to languish in each other’s jails for minor offences. India was going to take up the cause of its 79 prisoners who were in Pakistani jails. Such positive announcements were likely to take place just before US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca arrived in the subcontinent next week. Ms Rocca would be meeting a host of officials in the Vajpayee government. |
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Pak denies visa
to Indian judges’ delegation
New Delhi, September 2 The delegation, which was to leave tomorrow on a nine-day goodwill mission, was informed by the high commission that it had not received clearance from its government. The delegation, including Justice G.T. Navavati, Chairman of the commission probing the Gujarat riots, was invited by the Bar Council of Pakistan and its Supreme Court Bar Association. The Indian Council of Jurists delegation kept waiting today, but the high commission authorities did not issue them visas saying they had not received authorisation from their government. “We have received no instruction from our government. Any peace delegation or individual visiting in each others country generally get clearance from that government, but it seems in the present case the delegation or those inviting them had not taken prior clearance for the peace mission,” a high commission official said.—
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Rocca visit New Delhi, September 2 The latest Indo-Pak situation and developments in West Asia are likely to dominate Ms Rocca’s discussions with the Indian leadership, sources said. |
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SC seeks report about detention of 11 Pakistanis New Delhi, September 2 Directing Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee to furnish the details by September 18, a Bench comprising Mr Justice
M.B. Shah and Mr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan said there appeared to be no order to justify their detention after they had served the sentence awarded to them. The court was also not satisfied with the reply of the Jammu and Kashmir Government and said the state administration seemed to be issuing “meaningless orders here and there” without taking any concrete action. Some of the Pakistani nationals had filed writ petitions seeking their release from jails after they had completed their sentence. The court had earlier said that they could not be kept in detention like this. |
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‘Vanishing’ Pandits cause of concern New Delhi, September 2 From 1947, when Pandits constituted 15 per cent of the population of the valley, their number was down to 0.01 per cent at present. The dialogue, conducted by the Delhi-based think-tank, the Observer Research Foundation, ended today. An employment package for 20,000 youth from the Pandit community, national scholarship for talented students, construction of habitable two-room apartments for the displaced families were some other measures recommended. Pandits’ death rate far exceeded than their birth rate, observed the chairman of Panun Kashmir’s political affairs committee Dr K.L. Chowdhury. Kashmir would remain incomplete without the honourable return of Pandits to the valley, said National Conference president Omar Abdullah, who was supported by vice president of the ruling People’s Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti, JK Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabbir Shah and chairman of JK People’s Conference Sajad Lone. |
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SC transfers rehabilitation
cases to Uttaranchal HC New Delhi, September 2 A three-judge Bench in a 2:1 majority judgement rejected a seven-year-old public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the construction of the dam on the ground that it fell in the Himalayan seismic zone and would have disastrous impact on the environment of the area. “To ensure that all conditions of environment clearance are fulfilled and proper monitoring, we transfer all these cases to the High Court to be dealt with by a Division Bench,” Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur in the majority opinion said in a judgement, which was
delivered yesterday, but made available to the media today. The High Court “shall” deal with these matters as if they were filed before it and would be at liberty to pass any order, except re-examining the safety aspect, the two judges said while disposing of the PIL, filed by N.D. Jayal in 1996. They also said courts could not give a judgement on the “cutting edge of scientific analysis relating to the safety of any project as experts may themselves differ in their opinion while deciding such matters.” In this case a five-member expert committee had taken a 4:1 majority view that the safety aspects had been taken care of while formulating the project plan, the court said, adding that “such matters must be left to the mature wisdom of the government or the implementing agency. It is their forte.” However, Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari differed with the other two judges and pointed out that the opinion of the fifth expert in the committee could not be ignored as he had suggested for taking “3-D non-Linear Analysis and the Dam Break Analysis” of the project. Till such analysis was completed by the committee on the safety and the results of the same were assessed by the experts, the two diversion tunnels for impoundment of the reservoir should not be closed, he observed. |
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Cong govts misusing funds, says
Naqvi New Delhi, September 2 “Congress ki rail ruki hui hai aur woh baat kar rahi hai desh ki rail rokani ki. Achhcha hai apni rail ki phikar karen,” said the BJP General-Secretary, Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Coming down heavily on the Congress governments in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi for misusing the Central funds for political purposes, Mr Naqvi alleged that the money sent to Chhattisgarh for the Centrally sponsored schemes and other welfare schemes had been spent by the state government for furthering the party’s prospects in the coming Assembly election. He said about 25,000 bags of the 40 lakh school bags distributed by the state government recently had the photographs of the Chief Minister, Mr Ajit Jogi, on them. The Centre had sent Rs 125 crore to the state for the “Literacy for All” campaign he said and demanded that the Chhattisgarh Government must send all details about it to the Election Commission to come out of the charge. Similarly, in Madhya Pradesh, money sent under the Prime Minister Gramin Sarak Yojana, Indira Vikas Yojana, tribal welfare and environment had either not been used or spent for political purpose. Mr Naqvi charged that the inauguration function of Rajiv Gandhi Stadium at Bawana had been converted into a Congress rally, although it was an official occasion. The foundation of the stadium was laid by the Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi. Besides, the Delhi Government had failed to provide wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg to the poor under the Antodya Scheme but it was, however, issuing ration cards carrying the photograph of the Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit to such families. The Rajasthan Government, he said, had diverted the funds meant for tackling the drought situation, laying of the roads and for augmenting water and electricity availability. |
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DDA scam: HC wants to hear former judge New Delhi, September 2 Justice S.K. Agarwal, who had on August 28 “reserved” his order on CBI’s plea for cancellation of Mr Mukherjee’s interim bail and the former judge’s application for regular bail, fixed tomorrow to hear the accused. Justice Agarwal also asked the CBI to supply copies of statements of certain witnesses recorded by the probe agency which were referred to by its counsel A.K. Dutt during the course of arguments. The CBI has sought cancellation of former judge’s bail accusing him of trying to tamper with evidence and influencing a prosecution witness through two advocates thereby violating interim bail conditions imposed on him by the court. He should be remanded back to judicial custody after cancelling his interim bail, it said. —
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1,000 clear National Talent Search Exam New Delhi, September 2 Of the successful candidates selected for the scholarships, 150 students belong to the Scheduled Castes and 75 to the Scheduled Tribes categories. Five SC and three ST students have also qualified in the General Category. —
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