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Cong on stronger wicket, says UPCC
ex-chief
Help combat AIDS, PM asks
youth
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Call to all Sikhs to rally round French
Sikhs
New Delhi, November 7 Sikhs in the Capital today decided to press upon the international community and urged Sikhs all over the world to join hands to fight for the “just cause of French Sikhs”. The SGPC, the apex body of the Sikhs, has already announced its decision to raise the issue at the international level, including the United Nations.
India, Lanka fail to make headway on ferry
proposal
Army operation will jeopardise Naga peace process:
CM
PMO asks Army to cooperate in Manorama Devi probe
Cong-NCP MLAs not ready for oath
Advani calls for new policy on
Naxalites
Hotels in quandary over camera phones
Govt formulates national programme on mental
health
IAS body comes to rescue of first woman ICS officer
Discord in BJP over Bhopal municipal
poll
AIR, DD awards for best programmes on
Gandhi
CBI to press for Monica Bedi’s
extradition
Counting for 7 UP seats today
Draft Bill on communal violence on cards
News Analysis
Curbs on removal of Uttaranchal MC
chiefs
Indira Gandhi arts centre
revamped
Punjab CM in Karnataka
Dazzling air show by India, France
Mumbai youth gets 5-year term for cyber
crime
INLD appoints legal cell
chiefs
Sudarshan’s plea to minorities
Panches want power devolved to them
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Cong on stronger wicket, says UPCC
ex-chief
Lucknow, November 7 Not displaying the slightest emotion at his virtual public dismissal by the party chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, at a high-profile public function in New Delhi, Mr Pal, asserted addressing the Press today that he was a “karyakarta (worker) President” compared to Mr Khurshid whom he described as a “neta President”. Announcing his “wholehearted acceptance” of the party high command Mr Pal said that he was relinquishing office with the satisfaction that Congress was on a stronger wicket since he took over its reins exactly 17 months ago. Illustrating his point he said that in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections the party was the first runner up in 40 seats and could hold on to the second position in 23 seats. In the recent Lok Sabha election, the situation had marginally improved, as the Congress was first in 47 seats and second in 32 seats. The party’s vote percentage had increased from 9 per cent in 2002 to 13 per cent in 2004. Interestingly, the Congress history in the state is taking a rather quick full circle as Mr Salman Khurshid’s two-year tenure had abruptly come to an end on September 23, 2000, on the eve of the organisational poll just as the Jagdambika Pal is being made to quit barely 10 days before the organisational poll process begins on November 17. |
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Congress leaders give demands’ list ahead
of PM’s J&K visit
New Delhi, November 7 Coming nearly two weeks before the Prime Minister’s first visit to the state, the step is also being seen as an effort by the state Congress to remain one up on its alliance partner PDP in claiming credit for the Prime Minister’s likely announcements. Congress leaders, who met the Prime Minister included PCC chief Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, Mr Saif-ud-Din
Soz, Mr Madan Lal Sharma and Mr Lal Singh, all MPs. The Congress leaders said yesterday that they had urged the Centre to remove its ban on recruitment in the state because of rising unemployment. They said the state was facing shortage of power while vast hydel resources were flowing “wastefully”. The delegation members listed 10 hydel power projects which could be taken up for construction in the three regions of the state. The leaders demanded land to those families who have been living close to the LoC and International Border and whose homes “were in firing range of Pakistan” forces. The leaders said that promise for the allotment of land was part of the Congress manifesto for 2002 Assembly poll and Congress President Sonia Gandhi had also given such an assurance. They said land could also be given to people in vulnerable areas of Kashmir, including Karnah and Uri. The delegation members sought package for full rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandit migrants so that they could return to their homes with dignity. Seeking rehablitation of displaced persons from border areas who migrated during the Kargil war and were living in camps in Akhnoor tehsil of Jammu, they said the state
government needs to provide one-time settlement of those Hindu and Sikh migrants from PoK in 1947 who had been living in Jammu. They sought full-time rehabilitation package for those refugees who had migrated from Pakistan in 1947 and settled in Jammu. The leaders said funds were needed to improve sewerage system in Jammu and Srinagar and modernising water supply. They demanded funds for creating tourism authorities in
Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Lakhanpur-Sarthal, Leh and Kargil. The delegation members said Kashmir did not have big industry and horticulture was the main source of income and employment. Pointing to falling fruit proceeds, they sought industry status to horticulture and a package for its growth. They sought funds for conservation of water bodies, including Dal Lake, Wullar Lake, Ranjit Sagar Lake, Mansar and Tsomoriri Lake. The leaders sought Prime Minister’s approval for the package sought by the JK Government for the revitalisation of industry. |
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Help combat AIDS, PM asks
youth
New Delhi, November 7 Stressing the need for launching a national movement to combat the menace, he urged youngsters, gathered in the Capital from all parts of the country to attend the first-ever meeting of the Youth Parliament’s special session on HIV/AIDS, to actively participate in the movement and put an end to silence, shame and stigma associated with the disease. From one reported HIV case in 1986, he said the number of HIV positive people in the country had crossed the five-million mark and the disease was no longer just a public health issue but a major socio-economic and developmental concern of the country. To continue with the country’s ambitious plans on growth and development, the menace had to be tackled now, he said, calling for more participation from society to create a people’s movement to fight the disease. Everyday, 6,000 persons in the world get infected with HIV due to lack of information, knowledge and necessary skills to protect themselves, he said, adding that there was no way out but to act with urgency and seriousness. In the absence of a preventive vaccine against the infection, the social vaccine of “education and awareness” was the only effective method, he added. Stressing his government’s commitment to control the spread of the disease, he assured all possible help to strengthen the National AIDS Control Programme. He told the youth to lead from the front to tackle the problem. “Your behaviour needs to change first, before you seek behaviour change in others, inform your friends and empower them, so that they can make safe choices and correct behaviour, and promise to uphold the dignity of every Indian living with HIV by love, affection and social support,” he said. Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss urged the youth to create awareness and fight and win the battle against the disease. “The Youth are the most vulnerable, hence they should be motivated to fight against the disease as once motivated they will be great fighters,” Dr Ramdoss said. He said the government was contemplating bringing an Act to check the social discrimination of the AIDS-affected patients and control the disease. Meanwhile, the convention, which was termed by the Health Minister as the first step by the UPA government in its scale-up efforts for building a mass movement against HIV/AIDS, brought together more than 3,500 students from 300 universities and 500 districts across the country. |
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Call to all Sikhs to rally round French
Sikhs
New Delhi, November 7 Stressing that the Indian Government had not done its bit for protecting their religious right in France, they urged the Centre to take up the issue of three Sikh pupils, Jasper Singh, Bikramjit Singh and Ranjit Singh, who were recently expelled from a French school for wearing turbans with the French Government. Talking to The Tribune here today, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) member Manjit Singh said: “It is a direct attack on the Sikh community. The issue is not just of wearing or rejecting religious signs but also about preserving the cultural diversity in the world.” “Governments must allow cultural diversities to bloom. A French law banning religious symbols at state schools amounts to cultural repression in the name of secularism,” he said, adding that there was more than 40 lakh Sikhs living outside India. If this were allowed to happen, similar problems would crop up elsewhere. It is pertinent to note that various Congress leaders, including Ashwani Kumar, have been claiming that the issue has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Sikh community. According to SGPC member Harinderpal Singh, they have been forced to take up the issue at international forums since Mr Hardyal Singh, the father of one of the expelled students, has lost the case in a French court
recently. “We extend all our support to Mr Hardayal Singh in his plan to fight a legal battle. We will support all other parents, irrespective of whichever faith they belong to, in their legal moves to preserve their cultural and religious identities,’’ he said. Mr Hardyal Singh is presently in India to garner support and plans to take up the case with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. |
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SGPC team to visit
France
Dehra Dun, November 7 Speaking to newspersons at the quadricentennial celebrations of Guru Granth Sahib in Dehra Dun, Bibi Jagir Kaur said a high-powered delegation, including SAD and SGPC representatives, would soon visit France to take up the issue with the French Government. Taking strong exception to the move, she said this was not a question of the turbans of three Sikh children but of the entire Sikh community. Such religious interference would not be tolerated at any cost and we will talk to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the High Commission to look into the matter. “We will talk to the Ministry of External Affairs and if the need arises, the community would go to the United Nations Organisation
(UNO) on the issue,” the SGPC chief said. The Sikh leader’s comments come in the backdrop of expulsion of three Sikh students for not removing their turbans in France. Even as the schools in France had been warning to expel students wearing turbans to school for the past over two months, this is the first time that stringent action was taken under the new law prohibiting conspicuous religious signs and apparel to school. Suspended since September 23, the students were finally expelled after disciplinary hearings. Speaking on the occasion of the 400th year celebrations of Guru Granth Sahib earlier, SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal said the Sikh holy book incorporated the messages of saints from all faiths. |
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India, Lanka fail to make headway on ferry
proposal
New Delhi, November 7 Diplomatic sources told The Tribune that two sets of proposals regarding starting a ferry service between the two countries were discussed and yielded no results so far. It was quite some time ago when the proposal to start a ferry service from Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu) to Thalaimannar (Sri Lanka) came a cropper as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa vetoed it on security grounds. After this, on Sri Lanka’s initiative, a ferry service from Kochi (Kerala) to Colombo was mooted. Ms Kumaratunga held detailed discussions with the Indian leadership on this particular proposal on November 4 but no progress could be made. No agreements were signed between India and Sri Lanka during this visit of Ms
Kumaratunga. The much talked about defence cooperation agreement between India and Sri Lanka would also have to wait till the two sides agree on certain clauses, sources said.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi called on Ms Kumaratunga. The Sri Lankan President also met former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The President of Sri Lanka and the Prime Minister of India agreed on the following points:
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The US$ 100 million credit line offered by India for the development of rural infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka would be used for setting up of vocational training institutes in various parts of the country ranging from the south to the north-east, rural feeder roads, water supply development schemes, community development projects, rural telephony and refurbishing of the road between Anuradhapura and
Trincomalee, which is to be named the Rajiv Gandhi Amity Highway.
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Army operation will jeopardise Naga peace process:
CM
Guwahati, November 7 The Army and the paramilitary forces started the low profile and silent operation on Friday. It may be mentioned that the Nagaland-Myanmar and the Nagaland-Manipur borders house militant camps run by ULFA, the PLO, the NSCN (IM) and the NSCN (Khaplang) As the Army headquarters at Tejpur, near Arunachal border, is maintaining a silence on its mode of operations, unconfirmed reports trickling down from the borders suggested that the Army and the paramilitary forces gunned down over a dozen militants already. Talking to this Correspondent over the telephone from Nagaland, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio advised the Centre not to touch the NSCN (IM) and NSCN (Khaplang) camps in the border as it then could derail the ongoing peace process with the Naga groups, who have agreed to come to Delhi to hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by the third week of November. Sources in the Border Security Force disclosed that the operation was primarily aimed at the militant camps run by ULFA in order to force it to come forward for talks with the Centre and state for negotiated settlement of its issues within the framework of the Constitution. Official sources informed that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was in touch with the Army and Paramilitary officials and keeping Delhi posted about the development The decision to destroy the camps on the Myanmer border was taken in the wake of the recent treaty between India and Myanmer in Delhi to jointly combat terrorism. |
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PMO asks Army to cooperate in Manorama Devi probe
New Delhi, November 7 Her death had led to violent protests in the state against Army and a nation-wide debate on the violation of human rights by the Army in the North Eastern states. The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to visit the state on November 21. The prime Minister, who had met a delegation of Apunba Lup, an amalgam spearheading the agitation in Manipur seeking the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), earlier this month, is likely to meet the agitating leaders again during his visit, informed sources said. The Prime Minister had earlier asked the delegation to meet Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to speed up the reconciliation process. The Union Home Ministry has also been asked to give its opinion on controversial AFSP Act and also suggest some other act in which the national security and human rights were not violated, the sources said. A senior PMO official is visiting the state on November 9 to work out the modalities of the visit. Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, the PMO is understood to have asked the Army authorities to co-operate in letter and in spirit with the state police and district administration in finding the
guilty for the alleged custodial death of Manorama Devi. Manorama Devi was arrested from her house at Bamon Kampu near Imphal on July 10 by Assam Rifles personnel and her body was found the next day. Initially reluctant to co-operate with the state police, more than 30 Assam Rifles jawans appeared before the cops and recorded their statements. The sources said that the Army authorities were yet to hand over the documentary evidence, including the details of the case. The Assam Rifles have informed the state police that it would be handing over the documents only after the clearance was given by the “higher authorities”, they said. |
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Cong-NCP MLAs not ready for oath
New Delhi, November 7 They have been reportedly told by “astrologers that they would lose ministries soon if they were administered oath on Monday.” After the truce between the NCP and the Congress, the number of Congress MLAs becoming ministers will drastically come down. Further the party will have to share some births with independent MLAs. An indication to this effect was given by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who told reporters here today that some MLAs felt that tomorrow was not an auspicious day for ministry expansion. “Some MLAs feel it (tomorrow) is not auspicious,” he said when asked whether the ministry expansion had been delayed by a day. During the Maharashtra election campaign, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had taken a dig on the BJP, main opposition party in Mumbai, that was told by astrologers that
government would fall on September 26. Earlier, the Chief Minister had a meeting with Congress General Secretary Margaret Alva to finalise the list of ministers. MPCC chief Prabha Rao and Mumbai Congress President Gurudas Kamat participated in the deliberations. Yesterday in
Mumbai, Mr Deshmukh had said the ministry would be expanded on Monday. Mr Deshmukh said a final picture would emerge only after a meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. When asked if Mr Deshmukh was experiencing any difficulty in finalising his ministry, he said “there are bound to be difficulties as the Congress has to accommodate its MLAs as well as Independents in its quota of 18 Ministers.” The Congress appears to be in a fix as it agreed to give three additional ministries to theNCP in lieu of the chief ministership. Under the power-sharing agreement, the Congress got 18 ministerial berths and the NCP, which emerged as the single largest party after elections, 24, including the post of the Deputy Chief Minister. As per the law, Maharashtra can have 43
Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the 288-member assembly. The Chief Minister said the Congress would strive to strike regional and caste balances in allocation of ministries. |
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Advani calls for new policy on Naxalites
Raipur, November 7 The government, he said, had committed a “fundamental mistake” soon after coming to power in allowing the Andhra Pradesh Government to deal with the Naxalites problem in the way it liked taking it as a law and order problem. This it did on the belief that different states would tackle the menace in their own ways. Mr Advani was briefing the press on arrival at the Mana Airport near here to attend the concluding ceremony of the seven-day long ‘Rajyotsava’ to mark the completion of four years of the creation of Chhattisgarh State. Describing the Naxalites situation in the country as grim, Mr Advani said it was not a problem that could be viewed in fragments. It was unfortunate that the different states facing this problem had been allowed to have different approach to tackle it. “I’m of the view that the government’s attitude towards the problem in Andhra Pradesh is not a well thought out attitude,” Mr Advani said. “Simply because the Congress took the support of the Naxalitess in the Assembly election, it gave an assurance to the Naxalitess. In fulfilment of that assurance the Government had endangered the internal security of the country,” he alleged. The government’s policy in Andhra Pradesh, he said, had adverse not only affected that state but had an impact on Mao insurgents active in Nepal apart from the entire Naxalites belt in the country, including Chhattisgarh, Mr Advandi said. The BJP President said he would like the Prime Minister to reconsider his approach to the Naxalites problem and come out with a new policy in consultation with the DGPs, Chief Secretaries and Inteligence Bureau chiefs of the affected states. — UNI |
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Hotels in quandary over camera phones
New Delhi, November 7 “So far, no case of misuse of camera phones has been brought to our notice, but we decided to issue a warning to our members so that they are more cautious,” FHRAI secretary-general Shyam Suri told UNI. In response to the call, a number of hotels are considering banning the use of camera phones, at least in areas such as swimming pools, changing rooms and spas. But the tricky question is how to do it. The use of camera phones has been under scrutiny worldwide due to their potential to violate privacy. They have been banned in hotels and around swimming pools in a number of West Asian countries as well as in Japan and the USA. To counter the menace, cell phone manufacturers in Japan have designed camera phones that beep or ring when a photograph is clicked. —
UNI |
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Govt formulates national programme on mental
health
New Delhi, November 7 According to officials, an outlay of Rs 139 crores had been allocated for the programmes in the 10th plan. The components of the outlay include the upgrading of the existing infrastructure of the 37 mental hospitals and promoting the concept of community mental health care. The state governments have been asked by the Union Government to activate their respective state mental health authorities for achieving the goal of protecting and promoting mental health in the country. There is an increasing shift worldwide from the long stay to the short stay ones by discharging the patients quickly and providing them with the infrastructure to improve in the community. According to an official estimate 1-2 per cent of the country’s population suffered from major mental disorders and about 5 per cent suffered from minor depressive disorders. About 25 per cent of the people, who attend primary health care clinics, suffered from various types of psychological problems, an official document said. Expressing concern over the situation Minister of Health and Family Welfare had recently assured to strengthen the basic health care infrastructure extending the required medicare to the mentally sick people. The number of cases of psychiatric nature marked an upward trend due to several factors, both individual as well as social, said the document stressing the need of having a comprehensive action plan to tackle it both at the clinical as well as socio-psychological level. With the rapid advancement in the field of medical science, mental illness was curable particularly when diagnosed at an early stage, said the officials in the Health Ministry adding there was a new scientific thinking to promote community level mental health care as against the institutionalised treatment which resulted in creating a distance between the patient and the family eroding emotional bonding. “We must strive to remove the stigma and detachment attached to such illness as the recovery of patients is faster when treated in the midst of the family,” added the officials. — UNI |
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IAS body comes to rescue of first woman ICS officer
Lucknow, November 7 There had been allegations that after her family moved to Delhi and the USA, a businessman had illegally taken over the property. The executive committee of the IAS Association, which met here last night, decided to find out the actual position from its ‘own channels’. “We will then take steps to ensure that she lives comfortably,” said an office-bearer. Surviving on pension, she is reportedly undergoing treatment at a local nursing home. The 96-year-old Ms Joshi, became the first woman ICS officer after the government allowed women to appear in the premier services examination just after Independence. After completing her training she was first posted as a Magistrate and then as Assistant Commissioner in Delhi, followed by her appointment as the Commissioner cum State Editor of District Gazetteer, a post she held till retirement in 1966. —
UNI |
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Discord in BJP over Bhopal municipal
poll
Bhopal, November 7 The things have taken an ugly turn with Mr Narayan Prasad Gupta resigning as the Chairman of the committee for the selection of candidates as the guidelines, set for the selection, had been allegedly violated. A former Rajya Sabha member, Mr Gupta is the state’s tallest surviving BJP leader. He, like late Kushabhau Thakre, is a jeevan-dani and has dedicated all his life to the RSS and its political wing, Jana Sangh/BJP. While dissensions are ubiquitous, the selection of Mayoral candidates for Bhopal and Indore may become the litmus test for the unity of the party. The Lok Sabha member from Indore and former Union Minister of State, Ms Sumitra Mahajan has sent her resignation to the party President, Mr L.K.Advani, in protest against the selection of Dr Uma Shashi Sharma for the post of Mayor while Mr Laxman Singh Gaud and Ms Usha Thakur, MLAs, have sent their resignations to the state party chief, Mr Kailash Joshi. Not only that, Ms Usha Thakur has filed, at the instance of Ms Mahajan, her nomination as the rebel candidate. A sizeable section of the party rank and file in Bhopal is up in arms against the selection of Mr Bhagwan Das Sabnani for the Mayor’s post. Mr Shailendra Pradhan, a two-time MLA from Bhopal, has filed his nomination as the rebel candidate. |
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AIR, DD awards for best programmes on
Gandhi
New Delhi, November 7 To cherish those moments, AIR and Doordarshan had instituted the Public Service Broadcasting Awards in 2001 to the quality programmes produced on the Gandhian philosophy and public service broadcasting. The then Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, who had announced the setting up of the annual awards to commemorate the occasion, said the Father of the Nation had visited the Broadcasting House to address refugees from Pakistan in Kurukshetra. Mrs Swaraj had also suggested that an award for the best programme on public service and another on some facet of Mahatma Gandhi’s life should be presented on this day. For this year’s awards, the AIR has selected “Katghare Mein Sach” (Hindi) and “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai” (Hindi and Urdu) as the best programmes on the Gandhi Philosophy and the Public Service Broadcasting, respectively. “Katghare Mein Sach” was produced by Vijay Deepak Chhibber for AIR, Delhi, while “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai”, was made by Mr Danish Iqbal for the AIR, Srinagar. Doordarshan has selected “Mahatma Gandhi Ka Sewagram” (Hindi) and ‘Tiranga Yatra’ as the best programmes on the Gandhian Philosophy and Public Service Broadcasting,
respectively. “Mahatma Gandhi Ka Sewagram” has been produced by Nisar Ahmed Khan for the Nagpur centre of Doordarshan while “Tiranga Yatra” has been made by Chandrakant Barve for the DD’s Gulbarga centre. —
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CBI to press for Monica Bedi’s extradition
New Delhi, November 7 The agency would give an appropriate reply to the Prime Minister, who after receiving the letter from her had sent it to the CBI Director, said the CBI sources here. It was up to the government to give pardon to Monica, who allegedly fled the country by acquiring a passport in the name of Sana Kamal Malik, said the sources. The investigation so far revealed that Monica had signed as Sana Kamal Malik to acquire the passport. She used the fake passport to leave the country with Salem fully knowing the consequences, the sources said. Accused Monica would face the charges of forgery under the Indian Penal Code and various sections of the Passport Act for possession of a forged passport. —
UNI |
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Counting for 7 UP seats today
Lucknow, November 7 The elections for the council seats were held peacefully yesterday. Repolling in 86 booths of Karchana were also completed yesterday. The Karchana Assembly byelection was held on October 13 but the Election Commission had ordered a repoll in 86 booths. —
UNI |
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Draft Bill on communal violence on cards
New Delhi, November 7 “We have already prepared a synopsis and forwarded it to the Law Ministry for preparing a draft Bill, which will be put on the official website to elicit views of experts, legal luminaries, common people, professors, journalists, etc,” Mr Patil told newspersons here. The minister said in the Bill, effort would be made to define communal violence, suggest ways to tackle it, list the responsibilities of the state governments and the Central Government besides trying to fix responsibilities on perpetrators of communal violence and compensation for the affected people, etc. “These points are only suggestive and a final shape of the Bill will emerge only after views are elicited from a cross-section of people,” he said. |
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Governor’s sanction power — a double-edged weapon
by S.S. Negi Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, November 7 However, legal experts feel that vesting of the power with the Governor can act as a “double-edged” weapon, specially when it has now become a norm to rehabilitate party “loyalists” in Raj Bhavans by the ruling establishment. They say if an upright Governor occupies Raj Bhavan, he will overrule the Council of Ministers and give the green light to investigating agencies to proceed further against even a Chief Minister, or a powerful minister in the wake of the court ruling. However, a moot question will be whether an upright Governor occupies Raj Bhavan, specially when the party in power has been sacking the previous regime’s appointees on one pretext or the other and accommodating its own nominees in their place, irrespective of the fact that some of them had even been chargesheeted themselves, or even convicted by courts though they may have been acquitted by the higher courts later, the experts say. In the judgement, the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench has only decided the question whether the Governor can act independently on the sanction issue whereas a more important question that who should be the “competent” authority to grant sanction, or if the sanction was at all necessary for prosecuting a public servant, has been referred to another Constitution Bench by the apex court recently in the light of various high-profile politicians questioning their trial, claiming that there was no “proper sanction” to proceed against them. Prominent among those, whose “corruption” cases had been referred to the Constitution Bench to decide as to which would be the “competent authority” to grant sanction, include former Punjab and Kerala Chief Ministers Parkash Singh Badal and K Karunakaran, respectively, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and four ministers in the Badal government. The legal experts also feel that there is another aspect of the matter as the office of the Governor could also be “misused” to fix some “inconvenient” colleague by the Chief Minister whether belonging to his own party or a member of a coalition parter, specially when the coalition culture has emerged as the mainstay of Indian politics. Not only this, a party nominee occupying Raj Bhavan could be “used” to fix some minister in the previous regime on change of government as a new trend of “political vendetta” has been fast emerging to settle political scores with parties having little “respect” left for democratic values, they say. But they endorse the apex court view that that if the sanction issue is left to the Council of Ministers only, it has the potential of total “breakdwon” of rule of law as no party government will like to prosecute its members as it will “expose” the entire organisation to the Opposition onslaught. The remedy will certainly be in the creation of an institution like the Lok Pal, with enough power to examine the correctness of corruption charges against politicians in power and also to grant sanction for their prosecution, if the charges are “prima facie” found to be true. This will overcome the twin issues of the “competent authority” and fairness in grant of sanction without any political favour or fear, they say.
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Curbs on removal of Uttaranchal MC
chiefs
Dehra Dun, November 7 The chairpersons would instead be placed under the control of the state government, which would monitor their work, he said. The decision had been taken considering the fact that the people now directly elect the chairpersons. Besides, the term for the Vice-Chairman had been increased from one year to two years, official sources said. In another important decision, the Cabinet agreed in principle to build a university in Dehradun to check migration of students, Mr Tolia said. The Doon university, on the lines of Jawahar Lal Nehru University, would offer a host of professional courses to answer the needs of the students. The Cabinet decided to promote fisheries in the state, considering its huge potential, the Chief Secretary said. The fisheries would be developed as a separate department to facilitate focused functioning. The plans include developing five reservoirs in the state, apart from cold-water lakes and the 42 square kilometers Tehri dam, for the sector. The state government had hired Nabard consultants to analyse the possibilities in this sector. The Cabinet revised the Munsif Magistrate Central Act, 1887, to raise the amount in civil cases allowable to be heard by Magistrates from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh. |
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Indira Gandhi arts centre
revamped
New Delhi, November 7 The Union Ministers of Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting have been appointed ex-officio trustees. While Mr Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Mr Mrinal Sen are noted film directors, Mr Salman Haider is a former diplomat. Dr R. Narasimhan is a scientist specialising in atmospheric and oceanic sciences in the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Mr Ratan Tata is a well-known industrialist. The previous trustees of the IGNCA who have been retired with immediate effect include Mr R. Venkataraman, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, Ms Sonia Gandhi, Prof. Yash Pal, Mr Abid Hussain, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Mr M.V. Kamath, Dr Bhupen Hazarika, Ms. Anjolie Ela Menon and Ms. Sonal Mansingh. |
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Punjab CM in Karnataka
Bangalore, November 7 Captain Amarinder Singh arrived in Bangalore on Saturday night. He is scheduled to visit Infosys here on Monday. |
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Dazzling air show by India, France
Hindon, November 7 The famed Suryakirans of the IAF and the Patrouille De France of the French Armee De L’ Air performed together here, but the home team on their vintage Kiran Mark-II held out their own against the French in their advanced Alpha jets. The two teams put on a show of carefully honed and precision-timed flying, crossing each other with apparently no inches to spare, flew upside down and on their sides. “It was an exhilarating display by both the teams. It had stand-out skills, not seen in the normal course. They both demonstrated great professionalism,’’ Western Air Command Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief and Chief of Air Staff-designate Air Marshal S.P. Tyagi said. Talking to newspersons after the show, he said the relationship between both forces was very old. “I have had personal experience myself, having flown on the Mystere and Toofani aircraft, acquired from the French,” Air Marshal Tyagi said, that adding interaction between both forces would definitely continue. French Ambassador Domnique Girard, who was also present on the occasion, called the event ‘’fantastic.’’ A display by the IAF’s skydiving team — the Air Devils — and microlite aircraft preceded the show, attended by senior IAF officials, including Vice-Chief Air Marshal S.K. Malik and the force’s first woman three-star officer Air Marshal Padma Banddopadhyay and French diplomats, defence attaches from several countries, including Russia and Israel were also present. — UNI |
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Mumbai youth gets 5-year term for cyber
crime
Chennai, November 7 A Chennai court sentenced Shetty on three counts — two years for show of obscenity in electronic form, two years for forging electronic documents and one year for outraging the modesty of a woman. According to Chennai City Police Commissioner R. Nataraj: “This is the first-ever instance when somebody has been convicted for cyber crime under the IT Act. In previous instances, the maximum such cases reached was until the charge sheet stage.” He said a woman from Chennai registered the case on February 14 after her name was pasted all over the Internet. The Chennai police cyber crime cell head, Mr S. Balu, said: “A soliciting message was accompanied by the telephone number of the victim in various adult cyber groups. Unable to bear the torture, the victim approached us.” Using Internet provider’s address the police traced the culprit to a cyber café in Mumbai and a police team went to the café and nabbed the accused red handed. Shetty studied with the woman in a co-educational college in Mumbai and developed a weakness for her. But he remained quiet after she was married off. The woman was separated soon after her marriage and Shetty tried to renew contact and professed his love but only to be spurned. Jilted Shetty wanted to take revenge by damaging her reputation by putting up her name and telephone number in various adult websites, the police said. |
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INLD appoints legal cell
chiefs
New Delhi, November 7 Mr Hari Ratan, advocate, has been appointed for Faridabad district, Mr V.P. Jhangra for Gurgaon, Mr Bhai Lal Kashyap for Kaithal, Mr Ram Chander Dahiya for Sonipat, Mr Zile Singh for Jind, Mr Raj Mehta for Fatehabad, Mr Ajit Singh Sheoran for Hisar, Mr Ramesh Mehta for Sirsa, Mr Jagat Singh for Bhiwani, Sant Kanwar for Rohtak, Mr Randhir Singh Bardan for Panchkula, Mr Sandeep Sharma for Jhajjar, Mr Prithvi Singh for Rewari, Mr Ramji Lal Gujjar for Mahendragarh, Mr Baldev Singh Bajaj for Kurukshetra and Mr Gurnam Singh for Ambala. |
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Sudarshan’s plea to minorities
Hardwar, November 7 Continuing his attack on the Left wing, Sudarshan charged them with possessing a “destructive mentality” and blamed them for the “lack of development” in West Bengal. “Any society has to be strong and organised to preserve its identity. The weak have no no place in this world. Nobody respects them,” he said addressing hundreds of RSS workers at the conclusion of the two-day RSS National Executive here. Without naming any community, Sudarshan said “It will be ridiculous to think that I do daily exercise to beat my neighbours and not to keep myself healthy and disease free”. He said “other sections of the society” have no cause to fear (from the Sangh) “if they do not not suffer from guilt”. Quoting from RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar, he said “neither we will frighten nor nor will we get frightened” and added “if there is no no fear there is no no love. Without social strength nobody will listen to you”. — PTI |
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Panches want power devolved to them
New Delhi, November 7 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress party President and other leaders were not surprised when over 1,000 panchayat representatives from across the country told them here that the 73rd Amendment in the Constitution to implement Panchayati Raj at the grassroot level had “failed miserably due to vested interests of state governments, local MPs and MLAs.” —
TNS |
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New Delhi, November 7
