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ASI gets time to prove ownership of Taj Mahal
Don’t get personal, Tejpal requests media
HC order on showing PPSC papers to ‘failed’ candidate stayed
Prevent Gujarat-type riots, PM tells IAS officers
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Upset over Sonal’s style, 3 top artistes quit Akademi
Withdraw security to ex-MPs: HC
New Bench to hear Nayar’s PIL on poll
Tehelka case: tapes shown to witness
DSGMC plans initiation ceremony in Pak
Vikram Seth awarded pravasi samman
Conviction under cow slaughter Act upheld
Airlines move forward on poaching issue
Rajdeep Sardesai launches news channel
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ASI gets time to prove ownership of Taj Mahal
Lucknow, April 19 This extension was granted in response to the Superintending Archaeologist of the ASI Agra Circle's letter of 13 April. The letter states, "that this office is collecting old and all relevant records pertaining to this issue of Taj Mahal. It will take some more time to file objections before your office". However, the Assistant Superintendent of the ASI, Mr S.K. Sharma, was personally present during the hearing at the Waqf Board, Lucknow, headquarters on Tuesday where the chairman informed him about the board's decision to grant "the ASI a month's time to furnish their response", informed Mr Usman. The issue of Taj Mahal being a Waqf property came into the limelight when the Allahabad High Court, in an order on November 8, 2004, had asked the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board to adjudicate on the issue within three months. This was in response to a PIL filed by a Firozabad businessman Irfan Bedar demanding Taj Mahal to be declared a Sunni Waqf property and he be appointed its Trustee. Speaking to the TNS, the Waqf Board chairman is confident that he would be able to get the Taj registered as a Waqf property. It is probably not a coincidence that a massive replica of the Taj Mahal sits pretty on his table. Flashing a photostat of pages from an Urdu book, Mr Usman declares that the board has in its possession clinching evidence in the shape of this book called 'Badshahnama' written by Mulla Abdul Hamid Lahori and published by the Asiatic Society Library,Kolkatta in 1968. The book records the builder of the Taj Mahal, the Mughal emperor Shahjehan declaring the monument as a Waqf property directly under him during his lifetime and under the "hakime waqf" (the head of the Waqf) after his death, claims Mr Usman. While denying a share in the handsome revenue generated by the monument as the prime object of the move to register it as a Sunni Waqf property, Mr Usman said the main purpose was to set the ownership record straight. "If we can prove that Taj Mahal is a Waqf property why not have it registered as such. The Taj will remain where it is only we will have a say in using the revenue being generated from it", clarified Mr Usman. According to him the other Mughal era architectural marvel under the Waqf Board and being administered by it is the Fatehpur Sikri, Babri Masjid and the Juma masjid in Agra among others. Substantiating his claim for a say in spending the revenue generated from the Taj Mahal, Mr Usman said ,"My major grudge is that while the government is generating crores of rupees as revenue it is not paying any attention to the masjid attached to it. It was in a dilapidated condition and people entered it wearing shoes. The person working there as a muezzin receives a mere Rs 15 per month as salary". While Irfan Bedar had filed the petition in 1998 it had been referred to the Wafq Board where it had remained pending for the last many years. It is only under the newly appointed chairman Hafiz Usman that the matter suddenly acquired center stage. Believed to be a protégé of the maverick State Minister of Urban Affairs Mohammad Azam Khan, Mr Usman also happens to be the National Secretary of the Samajwadi Party and a former President of the Aligarh Muslim University Students Union. |
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Don’t get personal, Tejpal requests media
New Delhi, April 19 Addressing the C. P. Ramachandran memorial lecture on the ethics of sting journalism here, Tejpal said their paper was only interested in doing sting operations that were in public interest. “We have done more than 25-30 sting operations. There is not a single one that concerned a person’s private life. What I do with my private life is entirely my call unless the private life impacts public role. It is a principle we cannot lose sight of. There is no way we can enter people’s private lives. We cannot make investigative journalism voyeuristic. We have to fight to preserve the sanctity of investigative journalism,” he said. Tejpal said sting journalism was another means of bringing people to book, of fixing accountability and establishing guilt. He said journalists were scared of taking on powerful politicians or underworld dons. "The only job of a journalist is to expose and inform. If we can do this, it is enough. We are very happy hunting for the rabbit but we are sleeping with the wolves.” Replying to a question about the India TV expose on Shakti Kapoor, Tejpal said, “We would never do something like that.” He said there was “zero accountability” among politicians in cases of accidents, corruption and scams. “What is journalism meant to do in such a situation. The line of journalism has to become more courageous, more ingenuous if it has to keep its central mandate. Tejpal warned that if journalists went too far with the sting operations, they might invite a regulatory mechanism. “If power gets a chance to dig its hands in the media, it will throttle it.” Former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani said the sting operations had colossal benefits in the balance sheet but those had some possible misuse by those who didn't understand its objective. “The sting operations have not only come to stay, they should be encouraged and people who do them need the protection of society. The sting operations are a must because all governments like secrecy and want people to remain ignorant,” he said. Jethlmalani drew attention to a Section in the Indian Evidence Act that states that confession obtained by trick and deception is valid. Nalini Singh, who heads Nepal One channel, said she was in favour of exposing the wrongdoings of VIPs who “control our destiny.” Suhaib Ilyasi of‘'India’s Most Wantet’ defended India TV’s recent sting operation exposing Shakti Kapoor and Aman Verma. He said those who sensationalised the India TV sting operation had vested interests. |
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HC order on showing PPSC papers to
New Delhi, April 19 While admitting a Special Leave Petition (SLP) of the Punjab Government challenging the high court’s interim order of March 15, asking the PPSC to show the documents to Mr Rajiv Kumar Goel, a Bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur stayed the order. The court issued notice to Mr Goel seeking his reply to the SLP, which was mentioned by state’s counsel before the Bench. The high court had issued the direction for showing the documents to Mr Goel on a contempt petition filed by him against the Secretary of the PPSC, contending that the high court’s earlier order in this regard had not been implemented. Punjab’s Advocate-General Harbhagwan Singh and standing counsel Bimal Roy Jad told the apex court that the state had filed SLPs against all three orders of the high court in the matter. They said that the first SLP was against rejection of the state’s revision petition against a lower court order for showing the documents to Mr Goel when he had filed a suit challenging the selection process, the second was against the rejection of the PPSC application seeking clarification as which documents be shown to him and the third one against the interim order in the contempt petition. Punjab Government counsel said the entire records of the PPSC exams could not be shown to a candidate as it would amount to violation of the secrecy of the examination as the commission’s documents on any selection exam were “confidential” papers, which could not be made public. |
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Prevent Gujarat-type riots, PM tells IAS officers
New Delhi, April 19 Addressing the IAS probationers who called on him this morning, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of maintaining communal harmony. Such things should never happen in the future. “Our system of governance must address the primary task of developing our economic and social potential to enable our country get rid of poverty, ignorance and disease in the shortest possible time,” a press note issued by the PM’s Media Adviser quoted him as saying. Pointing out that a significant portion of the national expenditure was accounted for by the government and said “it is very important that this expenditure is wisely incurred and while decisions are taken, a full record should be kept to ensure efficiency and ensure that spending processes do not give rise to corruption”. Focussing on the need to reorient the civil services, the Prime Minister asked the probationers to be sensitive to the winds of change and be flexible to assume that they did not have the monopoly of the system all the time.
— UNI |
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Upset over Sonal’s style, 3 top artistes quit Akademi
New Delhi, April 19 Confirming the resignations, akademi sources said akademi vice-chairman Kavalam Narayan Panikkar, famous Carnatic musician Balamurli Krishna and Savitri Heisnam had put in their papers to the government and sought Culture Minister S. Jaipal Reddy's immediate intervention to put in order the affairs of the institution. The members were up in arms against attempts by Sonal Mansingh, a noted Bharatnatyam and Odissi dancer, to change the akademi's name to "sangeet nritya akademi" and accord primacy to dance over other forms of art. Culture Ministry sources said the resignations were yet to be accepted by the Culture Minister. A recipient of Padma Vibhusan, Sonal Mansingh was appointed as the Sangeet Natak Akademi president during the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The Left parties have also been demanding her resignation because of her alleged proximity to the BJP. Recently, Gangesh Gunjan, Director of Kathak Kendra, a body floated by Sonal Mansingh, had resigned following his differences with
her. — UNI |
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Withdraw security to ex-MPs: HC
Patna, April 19 The Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Nagendra Rai and Justice S. N. Hussain ordered the Director-General of Police to furnish the details of bodyguards, houseguards and commandos provided. The court also asked the police administration to inform about the guidelines it followed in providing such guards, the authorities empowered to post guards for security to private individuals, politicians and others and details of the circumstances in which they were given the police security. Expressing displeasure over former MPs, former ministers and former-legislators, retaining their security guards, the court orally ordered the withdrawal of such facility from “non-government and retired public servants and make re-allotment after thoroughly reviewing” each case. The court which on last Tuesday had asked the Police Department to furnish to it by today a detailed list of people enjoying such facility, termed the list as incomplete. Senior advocate M.P. Gupta, representing the Indian Medical Association (IMA) which had petitioned the court seeking protection for doctors from extortionists and kidnappers, told the court that large deputation of bodyguards was also coming in the way of effectively maintaining law and order due to inadequate police force.
— PTI |
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New Bench to hear Nayar’s PIL on poll
New Delhi, April 19 The Bench today referred the petition to the Chief Justice, Mr R.C. Lahoti, for constituting another Bench after counsel of various parties, including the Attorney General, Mr Milon Banerjee, and the Solicitor General, Mr G.E. Vahanvati, said it would take longer time to complete the argument by them. Besides Mr Nayar, the amendment in the Act, made during the previous NDA regime on the “active” support of the Congress had been challenged by a former Rajya Sabha MP, Mr Inderjit, also. Senior advocate Fali S. Nariman and Rajinder Sachhar, a former Delhi High Court Chief Justice, appearing for Mr Inderjit and Mr Nayar, respectively, pleaded for listing the matter early, contending that it was an “important” issue affecting the basic structure of the Constitution. |
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Tehelka case: tapes shown to witness
Chandigarh, April 19 Prosecution counsel Mr Arvind Moudgil said the witness was earlier shown the relevant video tapes, containing footage about the aforesaid incident, to refresh his memory. Colonel Syal had retired from service when the sting operation was carried out by
tehelka.com. The witness told the court that money was handed over by Tehelka operative Mathews Samuel to Brigadier
Iqbal, who in turn, handed it over to him. He added that Brigadier Iqbal told Mathews at the hotel that he would tell him about the commission to be paid after finalising the matter with his people. He said liquor was also served to them and a girl was also present in the room. Earlier, the defence counsel, Maj R.S. Randhawa (retd), had strongly objected to the witness being shown the video tapes to refresh his memory on the contention that it was not permissible under the Indian Evidence Act. After listening to arguments on both sides, the court disallowed the objection. Colonel’s Syal’s deposition will continue
tomorrow. |
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DSGMC plans initiation ceremony in Pak
New Delhi, April 19 “A mass initiation ceremony for Sikhs in Pakistan would be organised later this year on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC),” the Sikh body’s President Paramjit Singh Sarna told reporters here today. “We expect around 3,000 Sikhs from Pakistan to participate in this ceremony. All participants would be provided free travel to visit historic gurdwaras in Amritsar and New Delhi,” Mr Sarna said. He said around four lakh Sikhs were living in Pakistan, “while all those living in Peshawar have undertaken the Amrit Sanchar (initiation ceremony) but none in the Sindh region have done so till now... our whole focus would be on them, “he said. Mr Sarna also lauded the Indo-Pak joint statement issued at the end of the visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and said the inclusion of bus service to Nankana Sahib was a matter of great pride for the Sikh community. Mr Sarna, who met Mr Musharraf during the dinner at Taj Palace hotel on Sunday, said he had given a memorandum to the President urging opening up of Gurdwara Ber Sahib in the city of Sialkot and Gurdwara Nirankari Darbar in Rawalpindi. — PTI
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Vikram Seth awarded pravasi samman
New Delhi, April 19 Seth's father Prem Seth and mother Leela Seth were present on the occasion. The award is conferred on Non-Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin who have distinguished themselves in a particular area and made an outstanding contribution towards fostering better understanding of India and its interests abroad. In 2005, there were 15 award winners, including Seth who was not able to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2005 in January when the awards were presented. "It feels great to get an award from your own country. But I don't feel a complete pravasi," Seth said after the ceremony.
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Newspaper staff demand wage board
New Delhi, April 19 The employees, under the banner of Confederation of Newspaper and News Agency Employees Organisations, marched carrying banners and placards and shouting slogans. They were stopped at the Parliament Street Police Station. Leaders of the All-India Newspaper Employees Federation, National Union of Journalists (India), Indian Journalists Union, Federation of PTI Employees Unions and UNI Workers Union — the five national trade unions who are the constituents of the newly-formed Confederation — also sought reinstatement of the 362 employees who had been terminated by a leading newspaper. The Confederation leaders said seven years had passed since the last wage board gave its report. They said a new wage board had not been set up despite assurances. The Confederation leaders also objected to the contract system in the newspaper industry, saying that it had put the employees “under undue pressure.” Confederation president Madan Phadnis, HT Employees Union leader S N Sinha, IJU president Suresh Akhouri, Indian Express Union leader M L Talwar, PTI Workers Union president Sunil Sehgal, UNI Workers’ Union President M L Joshi and Tribune Employees Union president Jagtar Singh Sidhu were among those who addressed the protest march. |
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Conviction under cow slaughter Act upheld
New Delhi, April 19 Dismissing the appeal of Khursheed against his conviction by the lower court and confirmation of the same by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, a Bench of Mr Justice B.P Singh and Mr Justice S.B Sinha said “we find no merit in his petition.” Cancelling his bail bond and directing the authorities to take him into custody forthwith to “serve the remainder of sentence,” the Bench said “we do not feel persuaded to interfere with the quantum of sentence”. |
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Airlines move forward on poaching issue
New Delhi, April 19 As per the instructions of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel all airlines were suppose to get back to the ministry today with a consensus formula over the human resource managemnt specially poaching of pilots. |
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Rajdeep Sardesai launches news channel
New Delhi, April 19
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The senior most Election Commissioner B.B. Tandon, as per convention, is likely to succeed Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishna Murthy, official sources said on Tuesday. Krishna Murthy, who assumed the CEC office on February 8, 2004, is to demit office on May 15. Sixtyfour-year-old Tandon, an IAS officer of 1965 batch, was appointed as Election Commissioner in 2001 and will be in office till June.
— TNS
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