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Thursday,
October
9, 2003,
Chandigarh, India  
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Court calls Jogi on Nov 18 in forgery
case
CM evasive on meat issue Six file revision pleas in Ayodhya
case |
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Priest held in Madhumita
case Army hands over 4 rapists to police Mulayam sacks
minister
Youth in grip
of AIDS
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Court calls Jogi on Nov 18 in forgery
case New Delhi, October 8 Taking cognisance of the CBI charge sheet filed in his court yesterday, Metropolitan Magistrate Shahabuddin said that on perusal of the documents placed on record by the CBI, a case for committing offences under Section 471 (creating forged documents) read with Sections 465 and 469 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) had been made out by the agency against Jogi. “Considering the entire documents and material placed on record before me, I take cognisance of the charge sheet filed against Ajit Jogi for the offences enlisted by the CBI,” the Magistrate said. He directed the CBI to serve the summons on the Chief Minister to ensure his presence before the court on November 18. Section 471 says that if a person uses a “forged document” with full knowledge that it is not genuine but forged, he is liable to be punished under the provisions of the law. Section 465 deals with forgery and Section 469 with forgery committed for the purpose of harming the reputation of any person. All offences are cognisable offences under the IPC. The CBI had alleged that Jogi had attempted to tarnish the image of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), a premier probe agency of the Centre, on the basis of the forged documents placed before the media at a press conference here in March this year. The CBI had registered an FIR in the matter on April 2 on a complaint filed by the Cabinet Secretariat after the government had ordered a probe into the allegations of Jogi in a letter to the Prime Minister alleging that the NDA government had launched operation “black sea” against opposition leaders, including him, to tarnish their image. The CBI had filed the charge sheet after examining the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister on June 17 in connection with the case in the presence of two officials considered close to him and had reportedly videotaped the exercise. To a specific query from CBI counsel by the court whether any step was taken by the agency to arrest Jogi, he said the Chief Minister had cooperated with the agency during the investigation and there was no likelihood of his fleeing from justice. “There is no likelihood of his absconding or leaving the country, therefore, there is no need to take such a step,” CBI’s prosecutor Jacob Daniel told the court. He said as per the investigation done by the agency so far, it had concluded that Jogi was in “possession of the forged” documents purported to be those of the IB, which he had used as genuine though he knew that the papers were forged. The Chief Minister had circulated the documents among mediapersons without waiting for confirmation from the Prime Minister whether they were genuine or fake after he had written a letter to him, the agency alleged. “The intention behind the exercise was to harm the reputation of IB Special Director N. C. Pandhi, whose signature was allegedly forged with the intention to harm the reputation of the IB and the CBI,” Mr Daniel alleged, adding that handwriting experts had confirmed that the purported IB report was forged. The government and IB had denied that any operation was launched by the bureau against any opposition leader, including Jogi. Jogi had alleged that the purported IB papers contained false details about his and his family’s properties. Raipur, October 8 Reports from tribal areas of Bastar and Sarguja region indicated that the bandh, for which the call was given by local Congress workers, evoked a good response as shops and establishments remained closed from the morning. Schools and colleges in district headquarters Ambikapur also remained closed. In state capital Raipur shops and establishments in some of the busy markets remained closed but vehicular traffic was normal. No untoward incident had been reported from any where in the city so far. Reports from Damtari, Raigarh and Korba said the bandh was near total, while it was partial in Durg and industrial city of Bhilai. A group of Youth Congress workers were seen moving around in Durg to force the shopkeepers to down their shutters, while another group announced to go on a ‘rail-roko’ agitation in the afternoon. The police was
keeping a close vigil in Raipur, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon and some other towns to prevent any untoward incident as a group of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) workers were going around at these places, requesting the shopkeepers to ignore the call for the bandh. Within 24 hours after the Election Commission announcing the schedule for Assembly elections, the CBI had chargesheeted Mr Jogi for allegedly faking documents to claim that the Intelligence Bureau was being used as a tool by the Central Government to defame its political opponents, mainly from the Congress. Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Amir Ali Farista said the state party unit had not given any call for a bandh. ‘’ It is a
spontaneous reaction of the people against the BJP-led NDA government’s attempt to implicate Mr Jogi in a false case at a time when the elctions are round the corner’’, he added.
— UNI |
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CM evasive on meat issue New Delhi, October 8 The Chief Minister said his government would focus on illegal migration, female foeticide and runaway foreign grooms and would take strong measures on these issues. On the allegations by Daler Mehndi that the police accused him of involvement in an illegal immigration racket because he refused to pay Rs 1.5 crore as bribe, the Chief Minister dismissed it as “nonsense and baseless.” Mehndi’s bother Shamsher Singh Shera has been arrested following complaints that he promised to smuggle migrants abroad by passing them off as members of the singer’s troupe. On the disinvestment of PSUs in the state, he said even after divesting the government stakes in all 29 PSUs, the state would still be left with enough debt to pay to banks. |
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Six file revision pleas in Ayodhya case
Lucknow, October 8 The revision petitions were filed by BJP leaders Uma Bharati and Vinay Katiyar, and VHP leaders Ashok Singhal, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya and Sadhvi Ritambhara in the registry of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court today. The revision petitions are expected to be heard by the single-judge Bench tomorrow. The petitioners prayed for setting aside the impugned order passed by the Special Judicial Magistrate, CBI, at Rae Bareli on September 19 in which the seven accused were summoned for the framing of charges in the case. The court had, on September 19, discharged Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who was also one of the accused in the case. However, later when one of the seven accused, Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi filed a revision petition against the said order, the proceedings in the case against him were stayed till the final disposal of the revision petition. —
UNI
Sunni board files
objections against excavation report Lucknow, October 8 SCWB counsel today said that the objections were filed before the Bench today, as earlier the Bench had granted six weeks’ time for the same. Apart from the
SCWB, the objections were also filed on behalf of two other contesting parties - Haji Mehmood and Hashim
Ansari. The Bench will now sit on October 10. — UNI |
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Priest held in Madhumita case
Lucknow, October 8 CBI sources said priest Ganga Narain Dixit was picked up from his native village in Akbarpur this morning. The priest had been evading arrest and absconding since June. The agency had been on his prowl as he was key to the controversy whether Madhumita was married to Anuj, the IIT student. The priest is stated to have solemnised the marriage of Madhumita with Anuj at the Paper Mill Colony residence of the deceased in December 2002. Family members of the poetess, including her elder sister Nidhi and mother Shanti Devi, had denied that Madhumita was married, although they had accepted it in the past. During Mr Tripathi’s interrogation by the CBI, the MLA insisted that Madhumita had married Anuj and even showed pictures of the alleged marriage. Meanwhile, Anuj refuted the marriage allegation saying that the photographs were computer generated. —
UNI |
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Army hands over 4 rapists to police New Delhi, October 8 A senior Army official, accompanied by his wife, visited the parents of the victim, a student of Jesus of Mary College who was raped in broad daylight at Buddha Jayanti Park by four men suspected to be Army jawans, and expressed regrets over the “unfortunate incident.’’ “Since the Army Act provisions do not allow prosecution of such cases under the Military Law in a peace station, the culprits have already been handed over by the Army to the police authorities for necessary investigations and speedy legal process. The Army is committed to provide all necessary help to the police to see the culprits punished speedily,’’ an official press note said today. The 17-year-old girl, a resident of south-west Delhi, had gone to the park with her friend when the four men in Army uniform pulled her inside their vehicle. They drove off to a secluded corner and raped her. The victim’s friend tried to intervene and was manhandled and threatened with dire consequences. The girl and her friend later lodged a complaint at Chanakyapuri police station which rounded up one accused Harpreet Singh who was later sent by a city court to police custody for two days. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police Special Cell in a joint operation with the central intelligence agencies has arrested two persons, including an ex-Army Hawaldar, for their involvement in an espionage racket. Several incriminating documents were recovered from the possession of the Hawaldar who was apprehended from Nehru Park in Chanakya Puri where he had come to deliver some sensitive documents to a Pakistan operative. The Special Cell sleuths after receiving a secret information that the accused Krishan Kumar (37), resident of Gurgaon, spotted him waiting for a person to deliver the documents. Since the person did not turn up and when Krishan was about to leave, he was overpowered by the sleuths. During interrogation Krishan revealed that he joined the Signals Unit in 1986 and had worked on sensitive assignments at both Eastern and Western Commands. During his posting in Delhi, he met two Pakistan Intelligence officers in the Palam area who offered Krishan to work for them. Krishan was paid from Rs 35,000 to 40,000 per year for the documents he delivered. |
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Mulayam sacks
minister Lucknow, October 8 Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri has approved the Chief Minister’s request. According to sources, the minister was sacked following his outburst against Mr Yadav for not making him a Cabinet minister. Mr Brijendra Singh was among the BSP defectors, who had joined the SP last month. With this removal, the strength of the Mulayam ministry has come down to 97, including the Chief Minister. —
UNI |
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Film festival promises rich
fare New Delhi, October 8 Adding glamour to the inauguration function at the Siri Fort complex will be Kamala Hasan and Kareena Kapoor. Learning from experience, some novel touches have been added to the festival from this year. The most important change that has been brought about is that the cinelovers will not have to rush from one theatre to another. The films are to be screened at a single venue: PVR Anupam. Secondly, private radio channels have been roped in to spread awareness about the festival. The first movie to be screened tomorrow will be Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s “Pinjar”, starring Urmila Matondkar. The 34th chapter of the IFFI will have 135 films from all over the world, including several award winning ones. The festival will mark the inauguration of six films, including three foreign ones. The main focus is on the Asian competitive section. Two are from India (“Anaahat” by Amol Palekar and “Prohor” by Subhadro Chowdhury) and others from China, Iran, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand. These will be in the race for the Golden Peacock Award and the Silver Peacock Award for the best film by an Asian director and the most promising director. Pakistan is conspicuous by its absence. There will be retrospectives on the acclaimed Danish film-maker Lars Von Trier and French producer Martin Karmitz. One of the films to be premiered here will be Trier’s “Dogville”, starring Nicole Kidman. The other two films are Columbia Tristar’s “Finding Nemo” and “Seabiscuit”. The Indian films to be premiered include Vishal Bhardwaj’s “Maqbool” and Rituparno Ghosh’s “Choker Bali”. |
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Anupam Kher is censor board chief New Delhi, October 8 Sticking to his bold and unconventional stand, Mr Trivedi had resigned following a controversy over a proposal on separate theatres for adult films. Announcing the
decision at a press conference here on Wednesday, Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, said the government had also decided to review and revise the guidelines of the Board now known as the Central Board of Film Certification. “The guidelines were revised in ’91. Ever since, the world has witnessed a lot of changes. We will set up a task force for this review. I’ve selected Anupam Kher on behalf of the government. He epitomises a perfect blend of traditional and off beat films and the social sensitivity which we need to take note of.” Mr Pawan Chopra, Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Ministry told TNS later that the time had come to review the guidelines because of sharply divided views on the issue. “We want people from all walks of life, including the film industry to evolve guidelines.” Mr Prasad said the ministry had decided to address the much debated issue of audio-visual piracy by seeking the help of film-maker, Subhash Ghai. “We have asked Subhash Ghai to give us within three weeks points on which we need to address ourselves. The terms of reference will be drafted accordingly to
contain piracy,” he said. |
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Youth in grip
of AIDS New Delhi, October 8 UNFPA representative for India, Mr Francois M. Farah sounded alarm bells when he said that 40 per cent of people with AIDS in India fall in the age group of 15 to 29. “It means that infection must have taken place atleast 4-5 years earlier. “The infection is getting younger and more feminine,” he warned while addressing a gathering on the occasion of the release of the report here. This is noteworthy as India represents nearly 16 per cent of the world’s population and Indian adolescents represent nearly one-fourth of the world’s adolescents. The report has termed HIV/AIDS a “disease of young, young people with young adults aged 15-24 accounting for half of the some 5 million new cases of HIV infection worldwide each year.” |
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A city court today issued summons to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit
Jogi, chargesheeted by the CBI for forgery and directed him to appear before it on November 18.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, talking to newspersons here today, expressed ignorance about the SGPC directive on “jhatka” meat, saying that “such issues of food preferences should be left to the people.”
New Delhi, October 8
Mother Teresa on fast
track to sainthood. (
