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Verdict on POTA slap on Manhunt
for Maoist leaders in UP
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HC rejects govt plea to give Telgi case
to CBI White
paper on ISI ready, says Swami
PM’s Pak visit to figure in CCS meeting tomorrow
Turmoil in Lok Sabha for ‘demeaning’ George Left
scuttled women’s Bill, says Gujral Cabinet
reshuffle to pacify Mamata likely 6
militant camps destroyed in Bhutan Pak
team arrives for resumption of rail links
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Verdict on POTA slap on Oppn’s face: BJP New Delhi, December 17 “The court has rebutted all arguments made by the Opposition, particularly the Congress, that POTA should be scrapped,’’ BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said. Stressing the need for the POTA, he said the apex court had said it was the duty of the government to ensure the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the country which was being threatened by terrorism. The country was facing a proxy war by terrorist groups which had their bases inside and outside the country and a legislation like POTA was required to face such a situation effectively. He said the government had brought in amendments to POTA only to ensure that no innocent was punished under the legislation. The amendment to the legislation providing safeguards like Constitution of the State and Central Review Committees, had been passed by the Lok Sabha. The Opposition, particularly the Congress, should ensure that the amendments to POTA was passed in the Upper House also. The BJP hoped that the Congress and other opposition parties would vote in favour of the legislation. If they did not do so, they would be opposing their own demand that no innocent was punished by misusing POTA. Besides, it would allow the legislation to remain in the present form. When asked if the BJP felt that POTA was misused against MDMK leader Vaiko, Mr Malhotra said such things would be decided by the review committees. While on one hand the Congress speaks of the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya issue, on the other it opposes verdicts given in favour of Uniform Civil Code, saffronisation of education and now POTA, Mr Malhotra added. “Whatever doesn’t suit the party, it opposes it lock, stock and barrel,” he said. |
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Manhunt for Maoist leaders in UP Lucknow, December 17 “At the request of Nepal, Interpol has re-issued the red corner notices (arrest warrants) against the top seven leaders, including their party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal,” Principal Secretary, Home, Anil Kumar said. “Second-in-command Baburam Bhattarai and spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara were also on the list”. “The seven leaders have been accused of murder and terrorism,” said the government official. The Interpol warrants are significant as Nepalese security forces believe that Dahal, known as Prachanda, Bhattarai, Mahara and many other rebel leaders are currently sheltering in India. Mr Anil Kumar said as per the Nepal Government information Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist and Leninist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal had met Prachanda in a hotel in Lucknow in November last. “Working on this lead the police has identified the possible locations where the Maoist leaders could be hiding,” he said. Uttar Pradesh shares a 780-km-long border with Nepal. “More or less the border is porous and as there is no restriction on the movement of people and goods across the border, it is very difficult to check the infiltration of Maoist rebels. They generally sneak into India when the Nepal police mounts pressure on them,” Mr G.P. Barwaria, a government official working with the UP-Nepal Border Police force, told this reporter. |
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HC rejects govt plea to give Telgi case
to CBI Mumbai, December 17 A Division
Bench comprising Mr Chief Justice C. K. Thakker and Mr Justice Abhay
Okh, while rejecting the state government’s plea expressed
satisfaction over the investigation carried out so far by the SIT.
Dismissing the application, the Bench said that it was inappropriate
to make any comment on the application made by the state government as
a similar matter was pending in the Supreme Court about the
investigation in the scam spread across 17 states. The Bench also
observed that since the matter was pending before the apex court, this
court will not interfere at this juncture and let the Supreme Court
decide on it. State Advocate-General Goolam Vahavanti told the court
that due to pressure from the opposition parties in the State
Legislative Assembly session at Nagpur on December 8 and 9, the
Maharashtra Government had made the application. The matter would
come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on January 5. — UNI |
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Ribeiro, Hazare to move
SC on Telgi scam Mumbai, December 17 According to their counsel, Mr Majeed Memon, the three have been encouraged by the Bombay High Court’s decision on Wednesday to dismiss the Maharashtra Government’s petition seeking transfer of the Telgi scam probe to the CBI. Chief Justice C.K. Thakkar and Mr Justice Abhay Oka of the Bombay High Court said they were dismissing the petition without going into the merits of the case since a similar plea was pending before the Supreme Court. The court held that it would not be proper for a lower court to decide on a matter when it was pending before the apex court. The Supreme Court will take up the petition on handing over the case to the CBI on January 5. Mr Memon, counsel for social activist and petitioner Anna Hazare, said he was surprised to find the state hurriedly moving the high court for transfer of investigations as the matter was slated to come up for hearing on January 16. It had also failed to consider that on the last occasion, the court had asked the SIT to continue with the probe and told the CBI to wait for the time being, Mr Memon contended. |
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White paper on ISI ready, says Swami New Delhi, December 17 To another question, he said available reports indicated that some of the terrorist training camps in Pakistan and the Pakistan occupied Kashmir, which were closed down after September 11 attack, had been reactivated. He said the government had taken several steps to check infiltration. To another question, the minister denied having received intelligence information that the Laskhar-e-Toiba had sent 20 toy planes to Jammu and Kashmir to target VVIPs and important buildings. |
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No-trust move
defeated in Bihar
Patna, December 17 Bihar Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ram Purvey said it was a big defeat for the Opposition as they could not muster courage to press for a division of vote. “This shows their cowardice—the real truth,” he remarked. In reply to the debate, Mrs Rabri Devi said there had been all round progress in the state. “But it may have been slow in certain areas for which necessary measures would be taken,” she added.
— UNI |
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PM’s Pak visit to figure in CCS meeting tomorrow New Delhi, December 17 Three important issues — Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s forthcoming visit to Islamabad for attending the SAARC summit, the ongoing military action against insurgent outfits by Royal Bhutan Army in Bhutan and the capture of deposed Iraq President — are likely to figure in the meeting, well placed sources told The Tribune today. A wide range of issues concerning Mr Vajpayee’s visit to Pakistan will be discussed at the Friday CCS meeting. The meeting will take stock of the present thaw in Indo-Pak relations, possibility of announcing more Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) by India just before the SAARC summit, appraisal of ground situation on the law and order front, review of the ceasefire in force between India and Pakistan since November 25 midnight and the level of infiltration/exfiltration from the Line of Control. The CCS is also likely to get a detailed briefing from the Army Chief about the ongoing military operation by Bhutanese Army in Bhutan against three Indian insurgent groups which have been using Bhutanese territory for anti-Indian operations. |
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World Bank to stop direct funding of state projects Chandigarh December 17 He was in the city to participate in a national conference on “Urban infrastructure: projects, reforms and governance” organised by the CII. Talking on the sidelines of the conference, he claimed that the bank had collaborated with the Central Government to streamline borrowing by local bodies, establishment of performance benchmarks, simplification of land use and development control processes in urban areas, besides realisation of costs of facilities like drinking water and sewerage from the users. He claimed that the new funding policy of the bank would be a major policy shift that was aimed at supporting urban reforms in the states by offering financial assistance linked with reforms. A team of the bank had discussions with the Central Government officials recently to work out addition of financial assistance from the bank in the URIF scheme. A final decision in this regard would be announced by February-end, he added. He said, “Till recently, the World Bank has been directly funding state agencies and governments to strengthen infrastructure in specific areas like drinking water and road development projects. But it used to benefit only a limited area and specific groups of the population. But now we are proposing to promote urban reforms through incentives in collaboration with the Central Government, hoping to reach a large segment of population.” Mr Bennmessaoud claimed that in India land use policies had badly affected the development of housing and rental markets. Most of the urban areas, he said, were facing problems of traffic congestion, uncontrolled growth in the periphery, air pollution and limited capacity with local governments to manage development. Consequently, he said, a large number of foreign companies were discouraged to invest in India due to a low level of urban infrastructure. It would affect the country’s aspirations to achieve 8 per cent growth in the near future. He observed that while a demand for investments in infrastructure and upgrading lower income settlements was substantial, the current level of state funding would not be able to meet the requirements. A recent study by the World Bank, he said, had indicated the need to streamline subsidies and leverage central and state grants. The need of the hour was to focus on strengthening local institutions, transparency in their working and accountability and participation of stakeholders, he added. Earlier, Mr Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman, CII National Committee on Urban Infrastructure, emphasised the need for policy and framework to accelerate infrastructure development areas through private and public partnership. |
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Turmoil in Lok Sabha for ‘demeaning’ George New Delhi, December 17 Mr Prabhunath Singh alleged that Ms Gandhi, CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee and RJD member Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had “committed breach of privilege” by violating the right to speech of the Defence Minister in the House. As agitated members of RJD and other parties trooped to the well of the house strongly protesting the move, he termed the behaviour of Ms Gandhi, Mr Chatterjee and Mr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh as “improper”. As angry members refused to return to their seats despite repeated requests Speaker Manohar Joshi adjourned the House till 2 pm. Later after the House reassembled at 2 pm the Congress maintained that the privilege motion was in violation of Parliamentary conventions. |
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Left scuttled women’s Bill, says Gujral New Delhi, December 17 He was speaking at a function here at the India International Centre after releasing a book titled “Human Rights: Perspectives and Challenges”, written by former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Rajinder Sachar. Commending the book of Justice Sachar, the former Prime Minister said, “This book, I am sure, will definitely help the people to understand the different dimensions of human rights.” Speaking on the occasion, the “Outlook” magazine Editor Vinod Mehta wanted Justice Sachar to work on building public opinion against “sting operations”. Describing Justice Sachar as “a man for all seasons”, Attorney-General of India Soli Sorabjee appreciated the former’s constant and consistent effort to fight against human rights violations. |
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Cabinet reshuffle to pacify Mamata likely New Delhi, December 17 Sources said Ms Mamata Banerjee would be pacified by giving her either the charge of the Ministry of Coal along with Mines or the portfolio of Sports and Youth Affairs. At present, the Ministry of Coal is with Mr Karia Munda, who is being tipped to go to Jharkhand as Chief Minister. Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs Vikarm Verma is likely to be dropped. Mr Baliram Kashyap, a tribal MP from Chhattisgarh, is likely to be rewarded for his role in the Jogi episode as he is being tipped to replace Mr Dalip Singh Judeo. |
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6 militant camps destroyed in Bhutan Guwahati, December 17 Suffering reverses, the ULFA, whose two main camps have been destroyed by the army, today urged the Bhutan Government to stop operations to flush out the insurgents. The Army, which has sealed the border with Bhutan in Assam and West Bengal, was conducting “complementary exercises” to prevent any of the fleeing ultras from entering the Indian territory, a Bhutan Government statement said. The Army had been helpful in airlifting injured Bhutanese soldiers as a result of which they were getting immediate treatment.
— PTI |
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Pak team arrives for resumption of rail links New Delhi, December 17 The talks are scheduled to take place for two days and the minutes are likely to signed on December 20. The Pakistani team is led by Railway Additional General Manager Mohammad Iqbal Khatri while the Indian side would be led by S.B. Ghosh Dastidar, Additional Member (Traffic), Railway Ministry. |
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TDP urges EC for poll in Feb New Delhi, December 17 A TDP Parliamentary delegation, led by K. Yerrannaidu, met J.M. Lyngdoh, T.S. Krishnamurthy and B.B. Tandon and urged the poll body for early poll in the state, where the Assembly had been dissolved. |
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