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Govt yet to decide on clemency
Chennai limps back to normalcy
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India-B’desh joint statement delayed
Third phase will be decisive
Mobile courts for villages
Ford presents ski resort report to Virbhadra
Rescue of minor girls: NGOs protest against police
PM to open seminar on Guru Granth Sahib
Left steps up pressure on Iran issue
Buddhadeb shown black flags
States can relax ban on loudspeakers, says SC
No Divali gifts please, says PM
Maharashtra to list alcoholic
cops
Priya Dutt becomes mother
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Govt yet to decide on clemency
New Delhi, October 28 He, however, said the government was open to the debate in Parliament and in any other forum outside it. Responding to a question at a press conference here on the stand of the government on President’s recent suggestions that age, physical and mental health of convicts had to be taken into account whenever the government recommended mercy petitions to him, Mr Bharadwaj said: “I can’t say anything on it. It is for the Home Minister to say.” On Chief Justice of India (CJI) designate Y.K. Sabharwal’s view that capital punishment should be abolished, the Law Minister disagreed saying: “My own view is that it (death sentence) should be retained in the statute… Supreme Court has already laid down the law in Bachchan Singh case that it should be awarded in rarest-of-the-rare cases, which has helped the courts to filter the cases where it should be given.” He said the government was ready for a debate on the issue of capital punishment and President’s suggestions on mercy petitions. He said the Constitution had given powers to the President and Governors to grant pardon to a person awarded capital punishment with the recommendation of the Central and state governments, respectively. “The clemency power of the President is not so simple. It is a sovereign power, which has to be exercised in the interest of the country,” he said adding that it could be used for improving bilateral relations with another country if a capital punishment awardee had to be released to secure the release of similarly placed Indian citizen in another country. The issue was brought to the centre stage by Dr Kalam recently when he wrote a letter to the Home Ministry raising certain queries on its purported recommendations to him rejecting clemency petitions of 20 convicts among whom some, in his view, were of older age and not mentally and physically fit to be sent to the gallows. Adding to it, the Chief Justice designate had stated that his “personal opinion” was that capital punishment should be abolished. |
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Chennai limps back to normalcy
Chennai, October 28 After 42 cm of incessant rainfall for 40 hours, people whose houses were inundated heaved a sigh of relief as power supply was restored in most parts of the city. Public transport also resumed services and newspapers and milk were delivered. The local authorities pumped out water from most of the subways and cleared around 200 fallen trees from the roads. However, thousands of passengers remained stranded at railway stations as a large number of trains were cancelled. All flights operated in and out of the airport. Relief centres had been set up and food provided to more than one lakh people who were evacuated from flooded and low-lying areas. People returned home in the morning from the relief centres where six lakh food packets were distributed. Electric sub-stations that had been shut down as a precautionary measure started operations this afternoon. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa today stated that all ministers, deputed to guide relief operations, and officers were involved in relief work. She said: “The work of garbage clearance and removal of trees is continuing on a war footing and expected to be completed within the next 24 hours.” Union Information Technology and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran, who toured the affected areas, promised to approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for help needed in the state capital as well as for the severely affected Tiruchi city. |
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India-B’desh joint statement delayed
New Delhi, October 28 The meeting between the Indian delegation led by Mr V.K. Duggal and the Bangladesh side led by Mr Safar Raj Hossain was scheduled to be over by afternoon, but hard postures maintained by the two sides on the three key issues — border fencing, counsellor access to prisoners and effective mechanism for checking illegal migration — led to inordinate delay in the issuing of a joint statement. At the time of filing this report, the two sides were still engaged in giving final shape to the joint statement. “The meeting was positive...The joint statement is almost ready...but there are some differences over commas and full stops in it, which we will sort out by late tonight,” Mr Duggal told newspersons before leaving for the Bangladesh High Commission for a final round of meeting to finalise the statement. Today was the second day of the two-day Home Secretary-level meeting. During the meeting, the Indian side raised its concern over the presence and activities of insurgent groups in Bangladesh, cross-border illegal migration from Bangladesh and proper implementation and understanding of the 1975 border guidelines to allow border fencing and developmental work to be undertaken without any hindrance. India also suggested the need for convening a meeting of the Joint Boundary Working Group to address pending issues relating to demarcation of land boundary, adverse possessions and enclaves. New Delhi also pushed for accords on extradition, mutual legal assistance, ways to combat drug trafficking and councillor access during the talks. |
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Third phase will be decisive
Patna, October 28 In the February poll, the NDA had won 35 seats and the SDF had managed to secure 24 seats only. The LJP had four to its credit and its ally CPI had won just one seat. The Independents had won six seats and the Samajwadi Party was successful in two. If RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav along with his allies — the Congress, the NCP and the CPM — wants to maintain his supremacy in state politics, he would have to show his magic as his party had lost heavily in north Bihar which has an international border with Nepal last time, JD (U) senior general secretary Anil Kumar asserted exuding confidence in the performance of his party in the third phase. The RJD had won 21 seats and the Congress had managed to secure only two. The NCP had opened its account with the lone reserved seat of Shikarpur. On the contrary, the BJP and the JD (U) had fared better with the two winning 17 and 18 seats, respectively. Not only the anti-incumbency factor continues to work against the RJD but what is going to make the task for the SDF more difficult is that the two political actors from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh namely the SP and BSP have decided to contest almost every seat in this phase. The BSP is contesting all 72 seats in this phase. The SP has decided to contest 65 seat where it is fielding over a dozen RJD rebels. The LJP, which had won four seats in February, is contesting 62 seats. Union Minister and LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan has fielded 22 Muslim and eight Yadav candidates in this phase. The SP and the BSP, by fielding a large number of Yadavs and Muslim candidates, are essentially targeting the RJD only, Prof S.P. Singh said and added that yearning for change was making the life for Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav “more difficult”. On the other hand, the JD (U) is contesting 42 seats and has given tickets to all of its 18 candidates who had won in February. The BJP is fighting 30 seats and has dropped one candidate from its 17 winning MLAs. In the 11 districts of north Bihar, the RJD is focussing in Supaul, Madhepura, Araria and Kishanganj. The RJD chief has mended his fences with Madhepura strongman Rajesh Ranjan Yadav, alias Pappu Yadav, who is said to be working for the RJD from prison. The RJD supremo’s bete noir, JD (U) President Sharad Yadav is working overtime to ensure that his party manages to improve its tally of four of February but the task is not easy this time because of Mr Laloo Yadav and Pappu Yadav joining hands, RJD spokesman Sanjay Paswan said. |
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Mobile courts for villages
New Delhi, October 28 Giving details of the proposed Gramin Nayalya Bill and National Judicial Council (NJC) Bill, to be presented in Parliament in the coming session, Law Minister H.R. Bharadwaj said the project would be funded by the Centre and a proposal for working out the financial modalities had already been sent to the Finance Commission. Under the scheme, judicial offices would be appointed exclusively to deal with the cases of village people who could not afford to go to the sub-divisional and district headquarters to file their cases. The judicial officers would be trained to handle both civil and criminal cases and dispense with the justice as per the laid down laws on the spot and deliver the judgement possibly on the first hearing. A judge would be required to cover at least 20 to 30 panchayats depending upon requirement of a particular state, the Law Minister said. He said the schedule of cases falling in the jurisdiction of these courts would be laid down in the Bill itself. On the issue of NJC Bill, providing for probing the “misconduct and corruption” charges against judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, which was sent to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for his comments, Mr Bharadwaj said outgoing CJI R.C. Lahoti had sent his suggestions with certain changes in the proposed law and the government would consider them. The major changes suggested by the CJI pertained to the constitution of the NJC for probing any complaint against Supreme Court and High Court judges. As per the suggestions, the committee to probe the cases against apex court judges should comprise CJI himself and two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. For High Court judges, it should have the CJI, two Chief Justices of High Courts and two of its other judges. The CJI has also suggested that the decision regarding “withdrawal” of work from a judge under the probe will be entirely that of the committee so appointed to maintain the independence of judiciary. Virtually endorsing the suggestions made by the CJI, the Law Minister said: “Government will have no role in the matter. It will be a total jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.” Bharadwaj claimed that there was no difference between the government and the CJI on the issue when his attention was drawn to Chief Justice designate Y.K. Sabharwal’s recent statement that there was no need for a new mechanism to probe the conduct of judges as the present “in house” mechanism was functioning perfectly fine. Asked for his comments on the controversial transfer of Justice B.K. Roy as Chief Justice to Sikkim High Court, the Law Minister said “that chapter is closed now”. He said Justice Roy’s transfer was ordered by his “peers (the collegium of Supreme Court) and government has nothing to do with it”. |
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Ford presents ski resort report to Virbhadra
New Delhi, October 28 Mr Ford, who is in India to give a kick start to the project, met Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Tuesday and presented him with the project report of the resort that could change the entire skyline of Kulu valley. Himachal Pradesh would benefit from the project as it would generate direct and indirect employment and also get royalty from the resort besides direct taxes. Talking to reporters here today, he said the company was looking at developing a resort that would even be able to host Winter Olympics here. With a hotel of around 250 rooms and villas, the resort, spread over 50 acres, would be the first of its kind in South Asia. He also plans to invest in the second phase of the project, the total cost of which would be around $500 million. In the second phase, the resort would see an addition of another 350 rooms and villas. Mr Ford said the project would be opened in three years. The permission for starting the project was expected by the year-end. They have already received expressions of interests from various Indian and global hotel chains looking at associating themselves with the project. Managing director of the resort John Sims said they had received expression of interest from the Mandarin group, Intercontinental and Park Hyatt besides those from the Taj and the Oberoi group from India. This would be India’s largest tourism project and the company was looking at bringing in tourists from Europe, America and Asia. Mr Ford said the target would be to get the avid skiers from all over the world to this scenic Himachal village. However, the main target would be the Indian population that had not got any such facility here, he added. |
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Rescue of minor girls: NGOs protest against police
Lucknow, October 28 Around 20 Varanasi
and Chunar-based NGOs held a public rally to decry the local police’s efforts to lay the blame on students and NGOs for taking the initiative to rescue 31 minor girls who had been brought from West Bengal and other parts of the country for trafficking. Speaking to The Tribune, Father Anand, president of the Sanjha Sanskriti Manch (SSM), an umbrella organisation spearheading the movement, said a five-member fact-finding team had been formed to conduct an inquiry into the
incident. In a memorandum to the District Magistrate, the SSM has demanded the immediate withdrawal of cases against Guria president Ajeet and his wife and co-worker Santawana Manju. The NGOs have also demanded the removal of police officials concerned till the investigation is on so that the evidence is not tampered with. The other demand is
for an independent medical board to examine the rescued girls to establish their age, which the police is trying to
falsify, charged SSM president. Head of Department for Law, Banaras Hindu University, Dr M.P.
Singh demanded strong action against Sikera for misleading the media and public by
false statements causing his students and the NGO, working with the sex workers for a
long time, to look guilty. According to him, his second-year LLB students had chosen “Sex workers and human rights” as their topic
for compulsory project work. During their fieldwork, they had carried out extensive survey of the red light area during which they stumbled across the trafficking of minor girls. Soon after, one of the minor girls, 12-year-old Rani (name changed), sent a note through a rickshaw-puller to one of the students to come and save her as she had been sold, he said. It was then that the students along with the NGO had contacted the police to conduct the raid. This effort of the police to involve the innocent
in false cases was an act of desperation of a failed state. “It shows that the police works to protect the wrong-doer and harass the honest and law abiding citizen”, he said. |
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PM to open seminar on Guru Granth Sahib
New Delhi, October 28 He will also release a German translation of Guru Granth Sahib by the Canada-based Dr Jarnail Singh. The seminar is being organised at Vigyan Bhavan by the Ministry of Culture and the Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan. Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and Culture S. Jaipal Reddy, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and other dignitaries will address the participants at the inaugural session. Scholars from different parts of India, Canada, the US and the UK are expected to attend the seminar Noted scholars who will make academic contributions to the seminar are Dr Kapila
Vatsayan, Dr Amrik Singh, Dr Nirmala Deshpande, Dr J.S. Neki, Dr Mohinder Singh, Prof.
J.S. Grewal, Dr W. Owen Cole, Prof Verne A. Dusenbery, Dr Don Benson, Prof Gurbhagat Singh, Dr Darrol Bryant, Prof Ahmad Salim, Prof
H.S. Shan, Mrs Anita Singh, Mrs Shaista Nuzhat and Professor and Mrs Nurul Islam. |
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Left steps up pressure on Iran issue
New Delhi, October 28 Lambasting Foreign Secretary’s remark that India’s vote was for buying more time for diplomatic efforts, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan said, “It was an unfortunate statement, the lowest point in India’s foreign policy.” Mr Bardhan told reporters on the margins of a Left-sponsored seminar on “India’s Independent Foreign Policy” that “Mr Natwar Singh’s meetings in Moscow with Iranian, Russian and Chinese leaders will pave the way for further discussions.” Earlier, speakers at the seminar slammed the government for its September 24 IAEA vote against Iran. |
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Buddhadeb shown black flags
Kolkata, October 28 The demonstration was organised by SUCI and its students wing, DSO, which had shown black flags to the Chief Minister and greeted him with “go back” slogans. The police, however, soon intervened and chased away the mob, which was protesting against the firing and the lathi charges on farmers and members of the Electricity Users Association in front of Bidyut Bhavan at Salt Lake yesterday. The farmers were protesting against the recent hike of the electricity charges on irrigation. According to a report reaching the state government at the Writers Buildings this afternoon, the Chief Minister, accompanied by the Fisheries Minister, Mr Krinanmoy Nanda, and the Excise Minister, Mr Probodh Sinha, today visited several relief camps in the flood-affected Midnapore district and looked into the relief arrangements. |
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States can relax ban on loudspeakers, says SC
New Delhi, October 28 A bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Ashok Bhan, which had earlier imposed a ban on use of
loudspeakers after 10 pm with a view to reduce noise pollution in cities and towns, delivered the verdict on the constitutional validity of the rule after it had re-considered the matter. Laying down guidelines for the states to follow the rule strictly, the court said “the number of days cannot be increased” from the permitted 15 in a year under the Noise Pollution (Control and Regulation) Rules, 2000. Any relaxation beyond the permitted limit would run contrary to the judgement banning use of loudspeakers between 10 pm and 6 am on normal days. |
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No Divali gifts please, says PM
New Delhi, October 28 “Don’t send me gifts, sweets, or flowers for Divali. Just donate the money to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund,” he said. |
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Maharashtra to list alcoholic
cops
Mumbai, October 28 Mr Patil, who is in charge of the state Home Department, said so far 273 policemen with drinking problems had been identified. Speaking to reporters here, the minister said 37 of them had so far been suspended and five of them sacked for being under the influence of alcohol. The minister felt that the figure was small considering that there were 40,000 policemen in Mumbai. Mr Patil had advised policemen to refrain from drinking in public. |
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Priya Dutt becomes mother
Mumbai, October 28 Priya was admitted to the Breach Candy hospital yesterday soon after filing her nomination papers for the bypolls, which was necessitated after Priya’s father and Congress MP Sunil Dutt died on May 25. “It was a caesarean delivery and both the mother and baby are doing fine”, Maharashtra Minister of State for Medical Education Suresh Shetty said.
— PTI |
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