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JD(S)-BJP standoff on BMIC ends
BJP plays down Vajpayee’s compliment to Left
Nitish announces land reforms panel
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JD(U) to tie up with Apna Dal in UP
SC notice to Delhi Govt, police on militant’s plea over judicial propriety
SC notice to UP minister in extortion case
NBA activists court arrest in front of Sonia’s house
Decks cleared for setting up of MAJ varsity
Award in memory of
M.L. Sondhi
Bureau to safeguard wildlife to be set up
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JD(S)-BJP standoff on BMIC ends
Bangalore, June 19 The mood for the reconciliation between the JD(S) and BJP, which was threatening to derail the coalition government, was established in the morning itself with senior BJP leader Venkaih Naidu giving details of the terms of compromise between the coalition partners after a legislature party meeting. Mr Naidu disclosed that the BJP had proposed a three point formula to the JD(S) which clearly stated that the project should not be scrapped. Besides this, the party proposed excess land should be acquired from the promoters — Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) — and handed back to the farmers. The BJP also proposed that NICE should own up to its social responsibility and build houses for the people whose land had been acquired by it for the project. Earlier last night, the BJP laid the ground work for the reconciliation with its legislature party endorsing the JD(S) stand to take over excess land from NICE. The JD(S) on its part had backed off from its earlier decision to introduce a bill to take over the entire project from NICE. Talking to newsmen today, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said, "We are going to find a mid-way between the BJP's stand and our stand." He said there was no rift with the BJP on the issue and that the coalition would take a united stand on the issue. Meanwhile, even as the JD(S) and the BJP worked out a compromise on the BMIC project, a fresh controversy was generated in the Assembly with the Congress moving an adjournment motion on a statement made by the Chief Minister on June 13 claiming a former minister and a journalist had tried to bribe him in connection with the project. Leader of the Opposition N Dharam Singh, while moving the motion, said the role of the former minister and the journalist attracted the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act. He asserted that the Chief Minister should have registered a criminal complaint against the duo. He went on to say that if Mr Kumaraswamy had remained intentionally quiet on the issue he did not have any moral right to remain in power. Mr Kumaraswamy while replying to the resolution said the government was ready for a discussion on the entire issue but that he would not resign as he had not committed any wrong. When Speaker Krishna converted the adjournment motion notice into a matter to be discussed under Rule 69, the Congress members opposed the ruling. The Speaker asserted that the Opposition could not direct the chair on how to conduct business. The Congress did not relent and trooped into the well of the house raising slogans. Following this the House was adjourned for 30 minutes.
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BJP plays down Vajpayee’s compliment to Left
New Delhi, June 19 Dismissing media interpretation of Mr Vajpayee’s remarks at the BJP National Executive meeting last month, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the Left’s success in West Bengal was owing to some good politics, not backed by good governance. Mr Javadekar said the Left’s success was limited to West Bengal, where it had managed to retain power uninterrupted since 1977. He said it was also a fact that the same combination could not repeat its performance elsewhere, like in Kerala, where it had been losing to the Congress-led alliance every alternative term. “They are playing good politics, not backed by good governance. But even then, they were able to keep people under illusion for a long time. They may be our political foes, but that does not mean we cannot learn good things from anyone”, he said. He said Mr Vajpayee had spoken of the successes during the NDA regime, but had stated that it had not perfected the art of getting re-elected like Left parties. “This is something the BJP needs to ponder on. The performance of BJP-ruled states has been good and they have to take a lesson or two from Left parties on retaining power for the party”, he added. Asked if Mr Vajpayee had been showering praise on the Left, Mr Javadekar said, “I was very much present there and know what he meant, and not you”.
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Nitish announces land reforms panel
Patna, June 19 The three-member commission would be headed by a former bureaucrat from West Bengal, Mr Debabrata Bandopadhyay. Mr Bandopadhyay had played a key role in implementing land reforms in West Bengal during the rule of Mr Jyoti Basu. Announcing his decision at the weekly “janata darbar” at his residence today, Mr Nitish Kumar said the commission would submit its report within a year taking into account all aspects of land character. Sources later disclosed that the commission would study all facts, including those land donated at the time of the Bhudan movement, as well as the complex land related caste divisions too. It may be noted that by the end of May itself Mr Nitish Kumar had made up his mind to follow the upgraded model of the Bengal land reforms. The proposed land reforms in Bihar was part of the promises made under the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the ruling NDA. Prior to his decision to set up a land reforms commission, Mr Nitish Kumar had consulted a number of experts on this issue, including Mr Bandopadhyay. He was reportedly in favour of broadly following the West Bengal model of land reforms, which, besides some other factors, had helped the Left Front to continue in power by arresting the anti-incumbency factor to a great extent for the past 29 years since 1977. Narrating his views during his interaction with the experts last month, Mr Nitish Kumar had favoured a step forward than the Left-ruled West Bengal by linking land reforms to multi-cropping and agro-based industries to generate employment at the rural level. This was yet to be achieved by the Left Front in West Bengal even after the enactment of land reforms in as early as late 1970s. Mr Bandopadhyay had already apprised Mr Kumar about the West Bengal model and also suggested the changes required now to upgrade the said concept. A senior official pointed out that notwithstanding the alleged misrule of the previous RJD government, Bihar had ceased to be a happening state much before Mr Lalu Prasad came to power in 1990. “On key economic parameters, it became the second worst among the country’s major states in 1961 and the worst by 1971,” he said quoting official statistics. Incidentally, except a brief spell of governance by the Janata Party between 1977 and 1979, for the entire phase since Independence, till the continuous spell of the successive non-Congress governments that took over the reins of the state in 1990, the Congress had ruled Bihar. The ruling NDA was also optimistic to blur the perennial caste divide to a great extent once land reforms was in place, besides isolating the Maoists from the people.
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JD(U) to tie up with Apna Dal in UP New Delhi, June 19 Addressing mediapersons here on Monday to announce names of office-bearers and national executive members of the party, the JD(U) President said the alliance would give a tough fight to the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party which are limited companies of one family and one woman. He said the party is holding a Chetna rally in Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Varanasi on June 25 as Central and Eastern Uttar Pradesh have witnessed the maximum impact of the Socialist movement. Asked whether former JD(U) president George Fernnades would also campaign for their party, Yadav replied in the affirmative. Replying to questions, Yadav disagreed that the JD(U) is distancing itself from the BJP. He said they are together at the national level as NDA allies but in various States like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, the parties have gone separately. “We are two separate paries and have ideological differences also.”
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SC notice to Delhi Govt, police on militant’s plea over judicial propriety
New Delhi, June 19 Belonging to the Harzat-ul-Jehadi Islam, Dar had also been accused of hatching a plot to bomb the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre along with Altaf Ansari, the main accused in Kolkata’s American Centre blast case. Three other co-accused, including Anita Das, had also been chargesheeted by the Delhi police in President assassination and cricketers’ kidnapping conspiracy cases. In his appeal against the rejection of his bail petition by the Delhi High Court, Dar alleged that its Division Bench had not followed judicial propriety while rejecting his bail petition as one of the Judges was the same who had earlier heard his case as Trial Judge before being elevated. Taking cognisance of his plea, raising the question whether a Trial Judge, on being elevated to the high court, could be assigned matter pertaining to the same case which he had heard as a Sessions Judge, a Bench of Mr Justice A.R. Lakshamanan and Mr Justice Altamas Kabir issued notices to the Delhi Government and the Delhi police Commissioner, asking them to file their responses within four weeks. Petitioner’s counsel D.K. Garg said Mr Justice J.M. Malik, who was one of the Judges of the Bench, ought not have heard his appeal against the rejection of the bail application as he had earlier conducted the trial in the case as Special Judge, as was the law laid down by the apex court. Seeking bail, Mr Garg claimed that Dar was not part of the conspiracy and had been falsely named. The conspiracy had been revealed with the arrest of Asif Rajjak Khan and Abdul Majid, leading to the arrest of Dar and the other accused. The high court had rejected his bail petition, holding that it was a very serious matter and the accused could not be freed on bail till the trial was over.
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SC notice to UP minister in extortion case
New Delhi, June 19 Taking cognizance of the special leave petition of Saharanpur contractor Arun Rana, a Bench of Mr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Mr Justice Altamas Kabir issued notices to the state government, Circle Officer, Deoband, and Mr Rajinder Rana, seeking their replies within four weeks. The case was registered on the contractor’s complaint against the minister on the orders of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Saharanpur, on February 13. Fearing that his case might not be pursued by the prosecution properly in view of the minister wielding considerable sway over the administration, his counsel D.K. Garg told the court that the contractor was “being harassed, humiliated by the police and his house is repeatedly raided at odd hours at night to pressure him to withdraw the case”. According to the complaint lodged with the Magistrate, the contractor had alleged that the minister had extracted Rs 3.20 lakh from him by forcing him to sign cheques in his favour and taken away his Scorpio jeep valued at Rs 8 lakh from him. While he was paying monthly installments of the loan for the car to HDFC Bank, the minister who had been driving it had refused to return it despite repeated demands. He also alleged that the minister was also involved in getting commission to the tune of 25 to 40 per cent from each contractor engaged in the works under the MLA Local Area Development scheme in his constituency.
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NBA activists court arrest in front of Sonia’s house
New Delhi, June 19 The activists, largely comprising those affected by the Sardar Sarvoar Dam project, gathered on the road outside Ms Gandhi’s residence and raised slogans against the UPA government’s policies of “privatisation and commercialisation”. However, their demand to meet Ms Gandhi in connection with rehabilitation of Sardar Sarovar Dam oustees was turned down and the activists were taken into preventive detention after they refused to move away from the high-security Akbar Road and taken to Chankyapuri and Tughlak Road police stations. As per a police official, the protesters had to be forcibly removed from the site as they were holding the protest without permission in the high-security area. NBA activist Deepti Bhatnagar, who too courted arrest, said: “Since the Prime Minister had refused to take a stand and stop the construction of the dam, we decided to meet Ms Gandhi to press for measures to stop its height from being raised. We also wanted to present the correct picture of relief and rehabilitation in the affected states.” Earlier, the NBA submitted a report on sample survey of villages by four gramsabhas, which Ms Patkar said brought out “clear fraud in the government claim ”. Speaking to mediapersons at the Jantar Mantar dharna site, the NBA leader said a high-level technical support group, comprising Mr M.L. Jain, Dr Upendra Baxi, Mr Ramaswamy Iyer and Mr Girish Patel, would analyse and give broader guidance and purpose in this regard to the NBA. “Many more gramsabhas are ready with their own data and resolutions, which would challenge the Oversight Group's data. The Shungulu Committee’s assessment needs to be questioned. The National Sample Survey
Organisation (NSSO), we are shocked to know, used only the official ATRs as the main basis. What is even more shocking is the fact that the Oversight Group used the services of a private company, Infrastructure Development Consultancy (IDC) of Bhopal, to verify a small sample of the NSSO data. Privatisation in the work of a PMO-appointed committee of former bureaucrats is certainly condemnable. The NSSO avoided the affected people and instead put their trust in a shady private company,” Ms Patkar added. Meanwhile, the Congress said there was no need for NBA activists to stage a protest outside Ms Gandhi’s residence and advised that they should instead do it outside the BJP headquarters as the rehablitation of the Narmada Dam oustees was “not taking place properly” in the BJP-ruled states. Party spokesman Rajeev Shukla told reporters that the work on the dam should not be stopped. The height should be increased, but the rehablitation should also take place properly. However, holding the BJP responsible for “poor rehabilitation in the party-ruled states”. He said the BJP was trying to take political credit. But neither it was working on the dam, nor doing proper rehablitation. “It would have been better if the NBA activists had staged the protest outside the BJP headquarters,” he said. He said the party’s sympathies were with the NBA activists on the rehablitation issue and the government was trying to find a way out.
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Rakhi refuses out-of-court settlement
New Delhi, June 19 In her complaint to the NCW, Rakhi alleged that singer Mika brutally assaulted and forcibly smooched her at his birthday party at a restaurant in Mumbai on June 10. Rakhi seemed unsure about considering an out-of-court settlement with Mika. She told The Tribune after her meeting with the NCW chairperson that she would never agree to such a settlement. She told mediapersons in front of the NCW office that she would withdraw the case if Mika apologised. Asked if she and Mika would be friends again, Rakhi said the question did not arise. Her statement was recorded during a nearly two-hour meeting with NCW chairperson Girija Vyas in the presence of its member-secretary and members. Rakhi was accompanied by her friends Abhishek Awasthi and Rahul Rao.
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Daughter of Rajiv’s assassins to study in India
Chennai, June 19 Daughter of Murugan and Nalini, Arithra is all set to get a student visa to continue her higher studies in India, according to the family’s lawyer R. Elangovan. Nalini and Murugan have been on an indefinite fast till their demand of granting a student visa for Arithra is met. Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs here indicated that Arithra, who had completed her school education till class X in Sri Lanka, would be granted the visa on humanitarian grounds soon. Arithra had been born a few months after her parents were arrested in connection with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. She had spent her childhood with her jailed parents and joined her paternal grandparents at Trincomalee in Sri Lanka after a couple of years. Arithra and her parents had been briefly united in January after a visa was granted to her by the Indian High Commission in Colombo after a protracted battle. Since her mother was an Indian and Arithra was born in India, she was entitled to Indian citizenship. Arithra had decided to retain her Sri Lankan passport, necessitating the granting of a visa every time she had to travel to India.
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Decks cleared for setting up of MAJ varsity
Lucknow, June 19 The Governor’s long awaited decision, albeit with riders, has worked as a balm to sooth the tensions between the Governor and the ruling party. “Better late than never,” said SP state president Ram Sharan Das. Speaking to mediapersons, the life-long Chancellor of the university, Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan, assured the Governor that the conditions that he has laid down would be fulfilled. According to the minister, the Governor has laid down three conditions. The first condition requires the university to have at least 50 acres of land and 24,000 sqm of built up area as prescribed in the University Act. “This condition is not difficult to meet as the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust which will run the university has already acquired 110 acres of land on the outskirts of Rampur city on which 12,000 sqm is already under construction, informed Khan. Rajeswar wants Khan to build the complete infrastructure within three years. Khan assured that with the help of the Samjawadi Party he expected to complete the work much before that period.
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Award in memory of
M.L. Sondhi
Chandigarh, June 19 The institute is an independent Delhi-based think tank that aims at studying the historic emergence of the Asia-Pacific region in international politics at the dawn of the 21st century. It seeks to provide a realistic understanding of key political, security, economic and cultural issues confronting the region from an Indian perspective. The institute has invited nominations, accompanied by relevant details, for the first award from faculty, journalists, parliamentarians, current and former senior government officials as well as scholars who have published a book or an article in a reputed journal, by December 1. Prof Manish Dabhade from the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Prof Harsh Pant from the Department of Strategic Studies, King’s College, London, are the conveners for the prize. The nominations are to be sent to Professor
Dabhade.
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Bureau to safeguard wildlife to be set up
New Delhi, June 19 While crime is a state subject, the gravity of threat to wildlife in the country and illegal trade of skin and other body parts through borders necessitated the creation of such an authority at the national level. Increasing deforestation and encroachment on forestland in the past two years has also resulted in a decline of 26 per cent in tiger's habitation in the country's 28 tiger reserves. The bureau will also evolve a national policy for checking the illegal trade in animal products and probe wildlife crimes in a professional manner. The National Wildlife Board, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also agreed for providing legal powers under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 to Army Commanders for containing poaching and illegal trade in wildlife and their derivatives in border areas under their charge. Other major decisions that were arrived at its third meeting held today included the conservation of important wetlands, a status report of peacocks and the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
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