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PM discusses law and order situation with Kalam
Sonia may visit Kashmir
again next week
Food law under review
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‘Tainted’ ministers’ issue embarrasses Buddhadeb
BJP seeks Lalu’s ouster
Charges framed against Amarmani, wife
Minor girl sold thrice, rescued by NGO
Another Mumbai cop faces rape charge
SC admits CBI appeal against Dara
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PM discusses law and order situation with Kalam
New Delhi, October 19 The meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan came a day after militants killed J & K Minister for Education Ghulam Nabi Lone and two security officials in the high-security zone in
Srinagar. “It was part of regular interaction between the two leaders,” Press Secretary to the President S M Khan said here and added that “the general law and order situation in some states figured during the meeting”. The relief and rehabilitation work in the quake-affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir also came up during the meeting, Mr Khan said. Meanwhile, Dr Singh has set an example by leading from the front when he contributed his one month’s salary to PM Relief Fund towards assistance to quake victims of October 8. It is estimated that about 1500 persons were killed in the October 8 earthquake. “In keeping with his request for assistance to our citizens in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister has sent a cheque of month’s salary to the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund,” PM’s Media Advisor Sanjay Baru said in a written statement here today. The Prime Minister had made a public appeal for contributions to the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund for assisting the rehabilitation efforts. In response to the PM’s appeal, concerned citizens, industrial houses, commercial organisations and other voluntary associations have been coming with donations and contributions. The Centre has announced a total relief package of Rs 642 crore for Jammu and Kashmir. Dr Singh had also announced an ex gratia relief of Rs 1 lakh each to the next of kin of the dead. |
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Sonia may visit Kashmir
again next week
New Delhi, October 19 Mrs. Gandhi, who was the first leader to visit the devastated districts a day after the earthquake, was to make her second trip this week itself. She was, however, advised by senior party leaders and J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to delay it as the administration is just about getting a grip on the relief work. The party is especially keen that there are some visible signs of improvement on the ground before Mrs. Gandhi comes to assess the situation. While the Centre has mounted a massive relief operation, the Congress, too, has galvanised itself with frontal organisations, Congress state governments and party MPs chipping in with material and financial assistance. The Congress, which is due to take over the state chief ministership early November as part of its power-sharing arrangement with the PDP, has taken on this work as a virtual mission. It clearly views this as an opportunity to win over the trust of the Kashmiri people, who have always been deeply suspicious of the Congress. Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is the party’s chief ministerial candidate, has been stationed in Srinagar from the first day itself to oversee the relief operations and coordinate with the Centre. The Congress President was briefed about the progress on the relief work by Mr. Azad and Mrs. Ambika Soni,AICC general secretary incharge of J&K, on Monday.
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Food law under review
New Delhi, October 19 The legislation is likely to be tabled in the winter session of Parliament expected to begin in the third week of November. Food processing is a sunrise sector with tremendous potential. Export of processed foods grew at around 14 per cent and stood at $ 2.4 billion in 2003-04. The country loses Rs 50,000 crore worth of fruits and vegetables each year due to the under-developed post harvest management. India requires an investment of Rs 1,50,000 crore in the next 10 years to achieve 10 per cent growth in the food processing sector. The Parliamentary Standing Committee has considered the constraints faced by the processed food sector in India, especially the absence of uniform regulatory machinery, an official release said today. Once the legislation is firmed up, it would be passed by Parliament to usher in the requisite standards of food management and safety systems. Another focus in the draft policy is value addition to the raw produce. India ranks as the world’s second largest producer of food. But for want of adequate value addition, it is lagging behind several European, North American and Asian countries. The government had initiated measures to evolve a uniform food law earlier this year by inviting suggestions on an updated food processing policy. This was in tune with agricultural diversification following rising incomes of the people and globalisation. |
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‘Tainted’ ministers’ issue embarrasses Buddhadeb
Kolkata, October 19 Though non-bailable arrest warrants had been issued against them, the police was not arresting them on the plea that they were absconding. The CPI M politburo which had been demanding the removal of the ministers of the Vajpayee government and also recently, the sacking of the charge-sheeted JMM minister, Mr Sibu Soren, from the UPA government, has been maintaining silence about Mr Biswas and Mr Ghosh who are closed to state party secretary Anil Biswas. Mr Bhattacharjee is embarrassed but is helpless. The Left front partners like the CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc are not in favour of the ministry including the ministers but they are also keeping silent as it is an internal matter of the CPI M. Mr Biswas, who hails from West Dinajpur in north Bengal, has been the minister in charge of small and cottage industries, while Mr Ghosh looks after the labour department and belongs to Midnapore district. Both ministers had been accused of killing people of rival parties and the court had issued non-bailable arrest order against the two. Mr Ghosh, had surrendered a few days ago before the court and managed to obtain bail but Mr Biswas is still “untraceable.” With regard to the non-bailable arrest order against the Congress MP from Behrampore Mr Adhir Chowdhury the Chief Minister’s direction to the police is to execute the court order and arrest Mr Chowdhury. Mr Chowdhury has left for New Delhi, possibly to evade arrest, though he said he was going there to attend an urgent meeting of the parliamentary committee. Before leaving, he alleged that he had been implicated at the instance of the CPI M leadership in the district. |
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BJP seeks Lalu’s ouster
New Delhi, October 19 The BJP, in a separate letter to the Election Commission, also demanded investigations into the alleged violation of code of conduct by the two ministers. “One (Lalu Prasad) has attempted to influence the impartiality of CRPF while the other (Jai Prakash Narain Yadav) has actually participated in the crime... if members of his Council of Ministers become a threat to a free and fair electoral process, the country expects the Prime Minister to use his prerogative and distance his government from such individuals. The country expects you to act in this matter,” BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley said in his letter to Dr Singh. In his letter, Mr Jaitley took strong exception to the meeting two senior CRPF officials had with Mr Lalu Prasad on October 16 as also the alleged pressure exerted by Jai Prakash Narain Yadav, Union Minister of State for Water Resources, on the state police to allow his brother Vijay Prakash Yadav “escape” from custody. |
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Charges framed against Amarmani, wife
Lucknow, October 19 All accused have been covered under sections 302,120B, 201 and related clauses for murder, conspiracy and tampering with evidence. Besides the couple, charges were also framed against Rohit Chaturvedi, Santosh Rai and Prakash Pandey . While Chaturvedi had fixed up the job for the couple, the other two had actually executed it. CBI lawyer K.P. Singh said they had evidence with them and were confident of making great headway Amarmani and his wife, along with three others, are at present lodged in the Lucknow jail. The couple had surrendered at the sessions court premises on September 29 after the Supreme Court had remarked that there was ample material to show that the duo had tried to interfere with investigations. The Allahabad High Court had granted bail to Amarmani and Madhumani on April 29 and July 8, 2004. Twentythree-year-old Madhumita Shukla was shot dead at her Lucknow Paper Mill Colony residence on May 9, 2003. |
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Honesty and fearlessness are his hallmark
Frankness and honesty mark the personality of Chief Justice of India designate Justice Y.K. Sabharwal.
To take oath as the new Chief Justice of India on November 1 from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr Justice Sabharwal’s rise to one of the top constitutional post of the country speaks volumes of his sheer hard work and honesty in putting forth his views frankly and fearlessly. Because of the leadership qualities he got elected as Secretary, Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA), at a very young age and later on went on to become its president. He was born on January 14, 1942, and got his LLB degree in 1964. He started his practice in the Delhi High Court soon after. He was the DHCBA representative to the Bar Council of India, the apex body of lawyers and legal education in the country for five years, 1969-73. During his 21-year stint as a lawyer in the Delhi High Court, he took up cases involving intricate constitutional issues, complex civil cases and criminal matters, both as an independent advocate and standing counsel for various Central and Delhi Government departments before being appointed as Additional Judge of the high court, in November 1986. Mr Justice Sabharwal seems to have his task cut as CJI during his tenure, which will exactly last for one year, two months and 14 days, as he has expressed his views against government efforts to enact the Judicially Accountability Act, the draft of which has been sent to incumbent Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti some months back by the Law Ministry. Considering Mr Justice Sabharwal’s stand on the issue, it seems that the Bill could not have passed despite Law Minister H.R. Bharadwaj telling the media that he had got a positive response form the Chief Justice of India. Mr Justice Sabharwal’s has stuck to the traditional line that judiciary can take care of its problems effectively and had the adequate internal mechanism to deal with any aberrations. He had many feathers in his cap while working as a Judge of the Delhi High Court, as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court from February 1999 and a Judge of the Supreme Court from January 28, 2000, onwards. The Supreme Court’s intervention in the Jharkhand issue when JMM leader Shibu Soren was administered the oath of office by Governor Syed Sibte Razi as leader of the UPA last year without his having a majority support, had snowballed into a major controversy with Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee taking on the apex court on the issue of judicial interference in the legislative sphere. Incidentally both Mr Justices Lahoti and Sabharwal were the members of the three-Judge Bench that had dealt with the Jharkhand case. Though the Supreme Court’s intervention in Jharkhand matter raised a serious debate as to how far the apex court go in using its powers as a custodian and protector of the Constitution, the decision was hailed by the general public for simple reasons that the politicians had themselves failed in upholding the dignity of their office and Constitution. The recent interim order in the Bihar Assembly dissolution case was another example of Mr Justice Sabharwal’s practical approach in such matters as the five-Judge Constitution Bench headed by him, though had held the dissolution of the state Assembly as “unconstitutional”, had refrained from restoring the House, perhaps considering the fact that the elections might throw up a better solution. He had only clarified on Tuesday that the Bench had taken a “conscious decision” to let the elections go on despite striking down the presidential proclamation, for which the reasons would be spelt out in the detailed judgement yet to follow. Besides, dealing with such intricate constitutional questions, Mr Justice Sabharwal is considered to be concerned about environmental issues. Perhaps that is why the incumbent CJI had bestowed him with the responsibility of handling matters related to encroachments of forests, unauthorised mining in fragile Aravali hills, coal mines issues, poaching of
tigers, leopards and other endangered species and polluting industries in the capital. |
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Minor girl sold thrice, rescued by NGO
Ahmedabad, October 19 The 14-year-old girl, who was rescued by an NGO yesterday, spoke of her traumatic experiences at a press conference here. “It is a common practice to sell girls for a price. This has not only happened to me, same is the case with my friend too. We accept it as part of life,” she said. Her name was changed, after her mother married a Hindu, following her father’s death, she said. NGO AWAG’s chairperson Ilaben Pathak said the girl had been first sold to a person, identified as Dashrath, of Vanod village in Sami block for Rs 4,000. “Dashrath used to ill-treat her and tie her to a charpoy and sexually abuse her,” she said. She said when the victim’s parents pleaded with him, he agreed to let her go at a price of Rs 10,000. They then sold her to Jamatarshi and Tarshi Nanji at Chhatrot for Rs 16,000. After five months, for same reasons, the girl was sold to another man, Ramabhai, at Ranod for Rs 26,000, she said. All these deals were worked out with the help of Kanti, an agent of trafficking in girls, she pointed out. The girl was finally rescued from her “third husband” yesterday, after a local person, Shabir Khan Darbar, alerted AWAG, she said. Ms Pathak said the police had been of little help in this case. “We had informed the DSP and had sent him a copy of the sale deed, acquired by us.” “We had expected the police to move quickly as this was a case of trafficking, especially in a district where juvenile sex ratio is reported to be just 865 girls per 1,000 boys,” she observed.
— UNI |
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Another Mumbai cop faces rape charge
Mumbai, October 19 According to the police, the constable was known to the victim who hailed from West Bengal. In a complaint filed by the victim and her husband, the constable had posed as an Assistant Police Inspector and threatened to deport the family to Bangladesh if the girl did not submit to his demands. The police are on the lookout for another constable involved in the crime. The name of the second constable has been given as Vishwanath Heble. Both are in their 30s. The two policemen are believed to have targeted the woman twice after threatening her with deportation to Bangladesh, sources said. Senior police officials said the two were on duty of keeping an eye on illegal Bangladeshi migrants living in the suburb of Nerul. |
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SC admits CBI appeal against Dara
New Delhi, October 19 The cross appeal of Dara Singh for his complete exoneration in the case was also admitted. The CBI moved the apex court challenging Orissa High Court judgment reducing the sentence of Dara Singh and acquitting the other accused. |
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