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CPI (Mao) owns up PAC truck
ambush
India unlikely to respond to Musharraf’s remarks
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Lack of funds delayed
Shah Nahar project: CAG
Advani to kickstart protests in TN
Ashok Singhal, international working president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, leads a protest procession against the arrest of Kanchi Seer at Ramlila Ground in New Delhi on Sunday.
— Tribune photo by Mukesh
Living with stigma of HIV
SC upholds sacking of judge
Drought-hit Rajasthan demands Rs 2,378 crore
RJD leader shot
‘Manasarovar’ to be screened in UK
Three held for raping minor
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CPI (Mao) owns up PAC truck
ambush
Lucknow, November 21 While the MCC has been active in the districts of Sonebhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli in the northeast of UP bordering Bihar their activities till now were limited to sporadic kidnappings for ransom of tendu leave contractors, killing of informers and snatching of arms. The influence of the PWG had been next to nil in the area. The coming together of these two streams last month and the formation of the Communist Party of India (Mao) is clearly visible in the nature of the attack. The landmine and detonators used in the attack to blow up the culvert when the PAC truck was crossing it yesterday is a technique used by the PWG, and employed in this area for the first time. That is the reason why experts largely believed the ambush to be the primary evidence of the merger and onset of a new phase of Naxalite activity in the region. Being perceived as the first major Naxalite attack against the state authority in UP, its coming within 48 hours of their killing of three forest personnel in the same area adds to the gravity of the problem. A group of militants had blown up the residence-cum-office of the Forest Ranger, killing three persons at Majhgai in Naugarh on Thursday evening. These incidents come exactly three years after a major incident on November 21, 2001, when Left extremists had looted 24 sophisticated PAC weapons from a camp in Mirzapur. The weapons were never recovered. Even in yesterday’s incident the attackers looted eight self-loading rifles, three AK-47 rifles and a large quantity of ammunition. Speaking to a local news channel at an undisclosed place soon after yesterday’s ambush, Kameshwar Baitha, reported to be one of the commanders of the newly formed outfit, while owning responsibility for the killings claimed that the sole purpose was to acquire modern weapons to face the wrath of the administration. Covering his face with a shawl, he admitted that in cases where policemen willingly handed over weapons and ammunition their lives were spared. “Our fight is against the existing political system and its pillars — administration, police, military and judiciary,” he pointed out. The fresh incidents demonstrate the tightening of noose of the Naxals around the Kaimur hilly terrain on all sides of the UP-Bihar-Jharkhand border. So far, Left extremists had been using UP largely as hideouts when the pressure mounted in Bihar and Jharkhand. Describing the ambush as an “act of desperation” the state secretary of the CPI (ML) Akhilendra Pratap Singh, whose party has been building inroads in these districts, said that instead of building a political movement for the rights of the poor in the area, the new faction has taken a shortcut to grab attention by such guerilla tactics. In a resolution passed at their Kanpur state committee meeting yesterday, Mr Akhilendra Pratap Singh requested the Mulaym Singh Yadav Government to spare tribesmen and the marginalised in the district who were repeatedly picked up and harassed by the administration in the name of combing operations after any such incident. Lack of development in the three districts continues to be a reason for the area being vulnerable to such activities. The Mayawati Government had last year announced the selection of 297 tribal villages under the Ambedkar Village Scheme. Recent police reports indicate that no new developmental project has been taken up in these districts in the past five years. The government was not just apathetic in addressing the basic problems of the tribesmen living in these difficult terrains, it also treated the Naxal threat as a mere law and order problem that required further strengthening of the police force. As a result the ill-fated tribesmen are caught between the Naxal outlaws and a repressive police force. Every single incident further adds to their misery as tyranny from both sides mounts up.
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India unlikely to respond to Musharraf’s remarks
New Delhi, November 21 The General accused New Delhi of adopting a “patronising attitude”, dismissed the recent troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir as a “cosmetic move” and insisted on the inclusion of the Hurriyat Conference in resolution of the Kashmir issue. India is prepared for gradual softening of the Line of Control (LoC) and facilitate greater interaction and cooperation across the LoC. At one level, this will put more pressure on Pakistan. That is because Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including Northern Areas, is under effective and direct governance from Islamabad and there is hardly any autonomy or local decision-making. The Indian officials are thrilled at the fact that General Musharraf has once again handed the initiative back to India even on the J&K issue. In any case, India was seen as having the initiative on all other aspects of the ongoing Indo-Pak detente. It brought 72 proposals at the table of composite dialogue and even after meeting of the two Foreign Ministers in September, New Delhi had made a number of specific proposals to implement the ideas that came up during the composite dialogue process. It has also unilaterally implemented a number of measures, including on visa liberalisation, and there was widespread recognition and appreciation, including internationally, of the positive and ambitious agenda that India was bringing to the table. On Kashmir, however, India kept a lower profile, recognising that at the initial stages, it was important not to bring too much focus on the issue, lest the process gets stalled. A certain amount of ambiguity and lack of clarity was important at the initial stage, the sources asserted. At the same time, during the Foreign Secretary-level talks in June, India had presented a slew of proposals for
cooperation in J&K to take the process forward. Pakistan has not responded to these proposals till date. By repeatedly bringing up the Kashmir issue in public discourse and talking unrealistically short time frames, General Musharraf, in effect, forced the Indian leadership to outline clearly the parameters and red lines in India’s approach. During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s November 19-20 visit to J&K, these parameters have become clear. These parameters are that there can be no solution based on redrawing of boundaries or another partition; and India is prepared to look at greater autonomy to J&K and will expect Pakistan to also give greater autonomy to PoK, including Northern Areas. India is now in a position, based on a clearly articulated approach, to place the shoe on the other foot and demand an early resolution of the issue. In 1971, India wanted a settlement of the J&K issue, but Pakistan pleaded for more time. Between 1972 and 1989, Pakistani leaders avoided talks on Kashmir and said so publicly, arguing that the easier issues should be resolved first. Islamabad also argued at that time that through a process of confidence-building, bilateral relations should be improved so that more difficult issues could be addressed later. Pakistan has been pushing on talks on Kashmir since 1990 only when it saw the leverage of terrorism. With that leverage not being tenable anymore internationally, the initiative is back with India to demand an early resolution of the issue in a realistic framework. The sources also cleared that the Government of India viewed very differently the issue of problem in Kashmir and the problem of Kashmir. The government makes a clear distinction between the two. The problem in Kashmir is on the way to being resolved following elections in 2002 and the government is prepared to take this process further by discussions with the state government and, as the Prime Minister stated, with “any others” who are prepared to come forward for talks. As far as the problem of Kashmir is concerned, that relates to the problem of Gilgit, Baltistan and the rest of PoK. This is being
addressed in the bilateral dialogue with Pakistan. In this context, it can be interpreted that while the Hurriyat Conference can have a role when it is ready in the internal dialogue process with the Government of India. The Hurriyat, the sources stressed, could have no role whatsoever or ever in the India-Pakistan dialogue process. Therefore, even if the Hurriyat elements meet Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during his November 23-24 India visit separately or
together — and they are indeed meeting — in the perspective of the Government of India, it will have no bearing on the Indo-Pakistan dialogue process. |
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Lack of funds delayed
Shah Nahar project: CAG
New Delhi, November 21 Shah Nahar is a major inter-state irrigation project under the accelerated irrigation benefit programme (AIBP) and was approved in 1997-98 with an envisaged potential of 15.287 thousand hectares of irrigation capacity. However, as of March 2003, irrigation potential of only 0.655 thousand hectares has been created of which only 0.041 thousand hectares has been utilised. Significantly, due to diversion of water of the Beas river by the Punjab Government to the Mukerian hydel channel by construction of Shah Nahar Barrage, the irrigation right of the inhabitants were adversely affected. To compensate for this, Rs 26 crore was received from the Punjab Government between 2001 and 2003. However, the CAG has pointed out that the Himachal Pradesh Government, allotted only Rs 5.64 crore as the state share during these two years for the execution of the project and the balance amount of Rs 20.36 crore remained unutilised. The executing agency attributed the non-utilisation of the amounts received from the Punjab Government to the lack of infrastructure. This was not tenable because the Punjab Government had started releasing funds from 1997-98 onwards and the project authorities had sufficient time to create necessary infrastructure and ensure the utilisation of funds. Inadequate release of funds by the Government of Himachal Pradesh affected the pace of execution of work”, it said. Importantly, the Himachal Pradesh Government has requested the Centre to provide one-time special assistance of Rs 120 crore under the AIBP to meet the full funding requirements of the Shah Nahar project. The state Chief Minister, in a meeting with the Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, here yesterday said that nearly 61 per cent resources for the project had to come from Punjab and this had been repeatedly brought to the notice of the Planning Commission. Inter-state projects were accorded priority for funding under the AIBP and 10 inter-state projects envisaging irrigation potential of 2,783.906 thousand hectares were approved under the programme. However, upto March 2003, after the release of central loan assistance of Rs 3,805.70 crore, only one project ( Urmil) have been completed creating an irrigation potential of only 1.192 thousand hectares. These 10 projects are: the Bansagar dam, Tillari, Gurgaon Canal, Shah Nahar, Urmil, Subarnarekha, Rajghat, Sardar Sarovar project, Mahi Bajaj Sagar and Narmada. Moreover, during 1996 to 2003, 25 multi-purpose projects including the twin projects of Ranjit Sagar Dam Project and the Shahpur Kandi Dam Project were covered under the AIBP. These 25 projects involved the creation of 5,844.514 thousand hectares out of which only 376.414 were actually created. |
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Advani to kickstart protests in TN
Chennai, November 21 According to state BJP sources, Mr Advani will visit the Kanchi Mutt tomorrow to meet the junior seer. He was unlikely to attempt a meeting with the Shankaracharya, whose police remand expires tomorrow at 10.30 am though the Tamil Nadu police will seek an extension for a day. The sources said Mr Advani might attend the judicial magistrate’s court at Kancheepuram when the Shankaracharya would be produced. In the evening the former Deputy Prime Minister will address a protest meeting in order to boost the morale of state BJP and VHP workers who have so far failed to mobilise public support to protest the arrest of the Shankaracharya. Meanwhile, the Kanchi Mutt today has began a media campaign through advertisements in newspapers here highlighting the Shankaracharya’s contribution toward social welfare and the mutt’s welfare activities. The advertisements mentioned the Shankaracharya’s “51 years of hard work and sacrifice in the service of the common man” and that the mutt ran 11 educational institutions, 15 Vedic educational institutions, 43 hospitals and healthcare centres, 110 mutts and community centres and 209 welfare centers all over the country. Meanwhile, (DMK) President, M. Karunanidhi today lashed out against the VHP for its charges against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in connection with the arrest of the Shankaracharya and said the allegations were made to create religious disharmony and acrimony between two communities. He described the VHP working President Ashok Singhal’s charges that Sonia Gandhi as a Christian was behind the arrest of the seer, as “baseless and a blatant lie” and said, “such diverting tactics of people like Ashok Singal is highly condemnable.” |
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BJP continues stir against seer’s arrest
New Delhi, November 21 Senior BJP leaders, including Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, Mr Kalraj Mishra and Ms Sushma Swaraj, participated in the dharna and observed a fast here on the second day of the three-day nationwide stir to protest against the police remand of the Shankaracharya. Though there were statements that the BJP was trying to give religious colour to the incident, Mr Arun Jaitley, who also took part in the dharna, said the party had taken strong exception to the manner in which the Kanchi seer was taken into custody by the Tamil Nadu Government. BJP leader Najma Heptullah came out strongly in support of the Shankaracharya and said the arrest was not just concerning Hindu religion, but respect and dignity of the people of India. She said neither the Centre nor the state government could absolve itself of the responsibility on the matter on the excuse that the issue was in court. The saints at the protest described the arrest of the seer as a conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces and a political conspiracy to malign the Shankaracharya and grab the monies of mutts and temples. They praised the BJP for taking the Shankaracharya’s sufferings as its own. Mr Kalraj Mishra said it was shameful that the Jayalalithaa government had taken action against a person who had worked for the uplift of Dalits and allowed their entry into temples. He alleged that the Centre was hand-in-glove with the Tamil Nadu Government. Taking a swipe at Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he said a foreign-born person would have no knowledge of India’s culture and its religious heads, otherwise the Shankaracharya would not have been arrested. The Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Committee, Mr S. Khan, said the country was religious, but not communal, and the treatment meted out to the Shankaracharya was an insult to the religious sentiments of the people. |
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Living with stigma of HIV
Goa, November 21 Now on anti-retroviral drug therapy for the past four years, Kousalya has the mammoth task at her hands — of getting a better deal for the women living with HIV infection in the country. It was the stigma, discrimination and pitiable ignorance when the disease came unannounced at the threshold of 18 women in Tamil Nadu, one of the six high-prevalence HIV states in the country, that they decided in 1996 to form the Positive Women Network (PWN) — a nationwide network of women living with HIV infection in the country. “From just 18 members a few years ago, we now have a strength of 5,000 members throughout India,” says Ms Julie, another activist of the organisation, airing her views at the advocacy workshop on AIDS organised by the
UN Aids at Goa. Citing their eye-opening experiences in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu, where out of 1,000 positive cases of HIV, 548 are of women, field workers of the PWN showcase the plight of HIV-positive women. Most of the women are widows, bearing the brunt of society after their husbands’ death of the same disease. Not more than 20 of the infected women are commercial sex workers and the remaining are all housewives. “The life of a woman living with HIV is more difficult than that of a man, as a woman faces social ostracism and access to healthcare is minimal. Many do not know the difference between HIV and AIDS and think that death immediately follows HIV, unaware that an HIV-positive person can live with the infection for upto 17 years,” adds Ms Julie. With World AIDS Day on December 1, focusing on women, girls and HIV /AIDS, the women hope that they will get their share of attention from policy makers. Not fully focused
Out of the 5.1 million persons living with HIV infection in the country, 38 per cent are females and more than 24,000 are living with full-blown AIDS. State aids control societies focus on women exclusively under the category of commercial sex workers in all 197 intervention projects in the country. |
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SC upholds sacking of judge
New Delhi, November 21 “There is no denying of the fact that in all organisations, there is a great deal of deadwood and, more so in government and judicial departments, which has to be replaced in public interest,” a Bench consisting of Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice A.R. Lakshamanan said. Allowing an appeal of the Registrar of the Gujarat High Court against the order of its division Bench setting aside the termination orders of Civil Judge C.G. Sharma, the Bench said, “We are satisfied, after perusing the CR and other relevant vigilance files, that the respondent (Sharma) is not entitled to continue as a judicial officer.” It was imperative for the High Court to protect the honest judicial officers against “ill-conceived or motivated” complaints by unscrupulous and cantankerous litigants, but it was their duty to carry on the judicial work “boldly without deviating from the right path,” the apex court said. The judicial officers “are not expected to be overawed by such litigants or they should fall to their evil designs,” the court said, holding that the “High Court administration and its full Bench were right in taking the decision to terminate the services of the respondent, rightly so on the basis
of the record placed before them.” The court also rejected the contention of Sharma that his service could not be terminated as he had completed the two-year probation period. “The law on this point is crystallised that the probationer remains probationer unless he has been confirmed on the basis of the work evaluation,” the Bench observed. Under the relevant rules, which governed the appointment of Sharma as Civil Judge (Junior Division) in Gujarat, there is no provision for “automatic or deemed confirmation or deemed appointment on regular post,” the court ruled. It said in such cases, confidential reports, character rolls and vigilance reports would naturally be considered by the High Court administration and, therefore, there was no justification for the judicial side to interfere in the matter. Sharma joined duty as Civil Judge (Junior Division) on June 29, 1991, and his services were terminated on September 22, 1994, after his work was not found to be “satisfactory” by the High Court administration. |
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Drought-hit Rajasthan demands Rs 2,378 crore
Jaipur, November 21 The demand covers the expenditure on employment generation, payment to labour and cattle conservation, including subsidies for fodder transportation, and grant to gaushalas. According to state Principal Relief Secretary, Mr A. K. Pandey, the Union Agriculture Ministry will send a study team to tour the drought-stricken areas by the end of this month. Meanwhile, the state Disaster Management Authority, at its meeting presided over by the Chief Minister yesterday, decided to launch relief works from December 1. Decision has also been taken to hold in abeyance the recovery of land revenue and cooperative loans in the areas identified for the purpose. According to the latest revenue reports, only seven districts out of the 32 have not been found in the grip of drought. Priority would be accorded to the below poverty level families and weaker sections in providing employment on relief works in the affected areas. A remuneration of Rs 73 per day will be paid as minimum wages. This will include 25 per cent in cash and 75 per cent in food grains. The first phase of the relief programme will cover 9 lakh persons in December alone. |
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RJD leader shot
Aurangabad (Bihar),
November 21 The police today said that the Naxalites shot dead the RJD leader while he was overseeing irrigation in his
fields. Meanwhile, the Naxalites held a “jan adalat” two days ago at a village under Deo police station in the district and sentenced two former accomplices to death. Subsequently they were beaten to death. Those beaten to death by the Naxalites faced the charge of killing a 12-year-old child in the deep forest six years ago.
— PTI |
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‘Manasarovar’ to be screened in UK
Mumbai, November 21 “This is a giant leap for Indian independent cinema and proves that these movies are able to attract overseas buyers,” writer-director of the film Anup Kurian told PTI here today. Independent films are made without institutional funding, government subsidies or help from established production houses or financiers, and focuses on art value rather than on commercial value of the film. London-based ‘Bollywood Films’ has bought the UK territory rights for the film, expected to be released during January first week, much ahead of its release in India late January or early February, he said. ‘Manasarovar’ has been selected as the opening film of the Indian panorama for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Starring Atul Kulkarni, Neha Dubey and Zafar Karachiwala, it is about coincidences. “The film is about a love story that ends before it begins,” Kurian said. “Ravi Roy (Atul Kulkarni) meets Malathy Chandran (Neha Dubey of ‘Monsoon Wedding’ fame) in Pune on a short visit and
falls in love with her. She, however, rejects his eccentric advances,” he said. A few years later, Ravi’s brother George (Zafar Karachiwala) happens to meet Malathy. She learns from him that Ravi had disappeared and her past comes back through the letters they wrote to each other. She realises her predicament as “one of no choices”, Kurian said. The film ends with Malathy reaching Manasarovar — a lake in Himalayas, he added. The film was earlier screened at the London Film Festival in England as the official selection from India and was one of the two feature films from the country to have an international premiere at the festival.
— PTI |
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Three held for raping minor
Hyderabad, November 21 The victim, a 10th standard student, was abducted by the gang while she was returning from her school along with one of her relatives on Thursday last. The miscreants beat up her relative before taking her to an isolated place where she was raped and kept for whole night. They were arrested on Friday when the girl came back home and narrated the incident to them. She also identified the suspect, the police said adding that a manhunt has been launched to nab the fourth accused who is absconding.
— PTI |
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