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BJP faces the heat in Karnataka
Cong unlikely to join govt in Jharkhand
HC accepts recommendations of NHRC |
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Drug trafficking, defence structures to figure in talks
Jaya appears in CBI court in birthday gift case
Govt mulls sops for handloom industry
USA promoting terror in Iraq: CPM
Incentives for wheat in non-traditional areas
Jaya appears in CBI court in birthday gift case
‘CBI tampered with evidence in Mattoo case’
Raise HR issues with Myanmar, says Mann
‘CBI tampered with evidence in Mattoo case’
MPs to get raised salaries from today
No bar on expelled MPs’ re-election
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BJP faces the heat in Karnataka
Bangalore, September 14 The video CD, which had found its way into offices of newspapers in the city, has tried to pin down the Forest Minister on bribery charges. Earlier, Mr Reddy had claimed that the Forest Minister had helped in collecting Rs 150 crore for Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy from mine owners of Bellary. Though Reddy released bank papers showing the inordinate deposits in the account of the Chief Minister’s son-in-law, he had refrained from releasing any “evidence” against the Forest Minister. Mr Chennigappa is now definitely in the dockyard with an audio CD of a conversation between a mine owner representative who is said to be handing over money to him, also being released. Suspended BJP leader Janardhan Reddy has, however, claimed he does not know how the CDs have landed in public hands as he had submitted all evidence in his possession to the court. He, however, claimed that the CDs were genuine. The video CD shows Chennigappa asking a person how much money had had bought. When told it was Rs 5 crore, Chennigappa reportedly asks “why so less” and then adds “why is he being so stingy”. There is only one reference to a person in the vedoe CD which seems to be shot with a mobile phone and is blurred. The person who has been identified as one Giriddi is a partner in a Bellary mine. The Forest Minister himself claimed that the CDs were doctored and were part of another attempt by Janardhan Reddy to bring down the JD(S)-BJP government. He said Reddy was free to submit evidence in his possession before the judicial commission which looking into the allegations made by him. Meanwhile Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy while talking to reporters today, said there was no reason to drop Chennigappa from the ministry. He said `I will not bother about the VCD or tapes. I do not want to react to it’. He said the matter was already before the court and a Judicial Commission of Inquiry had also been appointed by the government to look into all illegal mining activities since 2000. “Reddy can place the material before the commission”, he added.
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Cong unlikely to join govt in Jharkhand
New Delhi, September 14 The party’s official position today was that it is keeping its options open and that its state unit would take a view on the matter in consultation with its allies. “We have yet to decide whether we will join the government or lend outside support to
it will depend entirely on the prevailing circumstances there,” Mr Janardan Dwivedi, AICC media chairperson, told newspersons this evening. However, Congress leaders unofficially maintained that the party was unlikely to get embroiled in what was nothing but a motley grouping of individuals and political parties with an Independent legislator heading the new coalition. The party realises that the real problems will begin once the new government takes over as there is bound to be a mad scramble for ministerial berths. With only 12 Cabinet posts, it is not going to be easy to accommodate all aspirants. In addition to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
(JMM) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), there are a host of ambitious Independent legislators who expect a place in the new government. “Under these circumstances, the Congress will end up getting one ministry. There is nothing to be gained from it,” remarked a senior Congress minister. It was precisely for this reason that Congress president Sonia Gandhi refused to be drawn into the
nitty- gritty of government formation. She refused to name the new Chief Minister and instead left it to the party’s state unit and the UPA allies to choose the leader in consultation with the Independent legislators. Ms Gandhi met senior party leaders Pranab Mukherjee, Shivraj Patil and Arjun Singh to discuss the fast-paced developments in Jharkhand this afternoon where she informed them about her decision to play safe. Congress insiders maintained that the party was not interested in destabilising the NDA government in Jharkhand since it realised that the new dispensation would be equally unstable. However, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was keen that the UPA form a government and once this became a reality, the Congress had little option but to support its allies. “The Congress is unlikely to get any political mileage from today’s developments except that it has the satisfaction of having helped form a secular, non-NDA government,” said a senior Congress leader.
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HC accepts recommendations of NHRC
New Delhi, September 14 The decision came while the commission was hearing the case of Mr Jai Singh, a mentally challenged undertrial. Mr Jai Singh had spent nearly 27 years in Ambala Central Jail as undertrial. He was sent to Ambala jail in September 1976 on charges of murder. He was later moved to the mental hospital in Amritsar in May 1979 for treatment but never produced in the trial court. In November 2004, the commission received a
representation from Jai Singh’s wife who prayed for his release on humanitarian grounds. While the case was pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court due to Jai Singh’s incapacity to face trial, the court was informed that the prisoner had died in jail in October 2005. The commission has recommended that central and district jails provide facilities for preliminary treatment of mental disorder. In another significant recommendation aimed at expediting the trial of a mentally ill person, the NHRC has said that when the trial of such a person is suspended for a period longer than half of the possible sentence (subject to a maximum of three years), the matter should be reported to the Registrar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to be put up to the Chief Justice for information and action. A copy of this report should also be sent to the commission. The NHRC has further said that such reports be submitted twice a year. Taking into account precedents where mentally challenged undertrials had not been produced for years before a court, the commission has said that preventive legal aid is required to check abuse of law. The commission has said that no mentally challenged person who is innocent should be sent to or kept in prison. Such persons should be kept under observation at the nearest psychiatric centre. If undertrials or convicts become mentally ill while in prison, the state has an affirmative responsibility towards them. As soon as the trial court learns that an undertrial has been diagnosed as mentally ill, it should ask for periodic reports on the condition of the
undertrial. It was in September 2004 that the NHRC filed an intervention application for impleading as a party in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to assist in the pending writ petition on mentally ill undertrials in jails. Mr Jai Singh’s case came to the notice of the commission in October 2003 during NHRC chairperson Justice A.S. Anand’s visit to the jail. The commission then sought reports from the Superintendent of Mental Hospital, Amritsar, Superintendent, Central Jail, Ambala, DIG, Ambala Range and Additional Sessions Judge, Kurukshetra.
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Drug trafficking, defence structures to figure in talks
New Delhi, September 14 Among other contentious issues to be raised by the BSF include repatriation of Indians jailed in Pakistan and handing over of illegally encroached land. The meeting begins in Jodhpur on September 19. The BSF delegation will be led by Additional Director General (West) N.P.A. Aulakh while the Pakistani Rangers’ team will be headed by Major General Zia. The meeting assumes significance as it comes against the backdrop of a chill in relations between the two countries following the July 11 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai. The inflow of drugs, especially heroin, into the country from Pakistan through Jammu has gone up in the recent past and the force will place details regarding seizure before the other side during the meeting, which will also be attended by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials. Another issue which will figure prominently in the talks would be construction of permanent structures close to the IB. BSF said it had reports of structures coming up along the border in Punjab and Jammu sectors in violation of an earlier agreement between the two sides. BSF will also demand release of 14 Indians jailed in Pakistani prisons after they inadvertently crossed the borders.
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Jaya appears in CBI court in birthday gift case
Chennai, September 14 The All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo came to the court after being summoned by it for personal appearance. Two former AIADMK ministers, K. Sengottaiyan and Azhagu Thirunavukkarasu, who are co-accused in the case, did not come claiming they had not received the summons. CBI designated special judge S. Meenakshisundaram had on August 9 ordered issuance of summons to the three persons for court appearance today. Since the two former ministers claimed they had not received the summons, the judge ordered that fresh summons be issued to them. He posted the case for hearing on October 16. Ms Jayalalithaa’s counsel, Mr N. Jothi, asked the judge to provide her with copies of the 2,000-page chargesheet. CBI counsel Jacob Daniel argued that all three accused had to be present in court for the purpose of issuance of the chargesheet. Mr Jothi submitted a precedent in the Madras High Court, in which the chargesheet was given even during the absence of the accused. The judge also allowed a petition filed by Ms Jayalalithaa under the CrPC to dispense with her personal appearance in the hearing. The charges against Ms Jayalalithaa are that she had received funds in the form of 89 demand drafts drawn on various banks from 59 persons and cash to the tune of about Rs 15 lakh on her birthday in 1992. The chargesheet comprises 285 supporting documents and lists 149 prosecution witnesses. The former AIADMK ministers, too, have been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act for abetting Ms Jayalalithaa, while she herself has been charged under the same Act for allegedly accepting valuables from persons with whom she had official dealings.
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Govt mulls sops for handloom industry
Lucknow, September 14 Underlining the priority being accorded to the handloom sector by the present UPA government, Mr Vaghela disclosed that a high-level meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held recently took up the issue where Mr Vaghela suggested that once the loan was written off weavers should have the facility to avail fresh loans at an affordable 7-8 per cent interest. Mr Vaghela was speaking at a public function to launch health insurance scheme in the state in collaboration with a private bank. The scheme aims at financially enabling a weaver, his wife and two children to access health facility of up to Rs 15,000 a year out of which Rs 7,500 is for OPD. The weaver would have to pay Rs 200 annually as premium while Rs 800 would be contributed by the government. Approximately 27,107 weavers from Uttar Pradesh stand to benefit from the scheme. Earlier 20,256 weavers of the state were covered under the Mahatama Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana in collaboration with the LIC. Addressing the weavers, the minister said weavers should be treated at par with farmers who had been given certain concessions as both helped in generating employment and formed the basis of the Indian economy. More than 65 lakh persons are engaged in weaving and allied sectors. Pointing out the competition faced by the handloom sector from the power loom sector, Mr Vaghela said in recent years while the power loom sector had been showing 5 per cent annual increase the handloom sector had been declining at the same rate. “However, with the inputs of the UPA government there has been a steady increase of 4.16 per cent in 2004-05 and 8.14 per cent in 2005-06. Handlooms have also contributed about Rs 3,300 crore of exports last year”. He said in order to give the handloom sector a distinctive identity and an edge over the power loom sector the government has launched the Handloom Mark, much on the lines of Wool mark. Listing the setting up of 37 yarn deports in the state and the four integrated handloom cluster development schemes to come up in Barabanki, Mubarakpur, Varanasi and Bijnour, Mr Vaghela invited the weavers to come forward and take advantage of these schemes and suggest any other facility that they may require. However, the textile minister had a word of advise for the assembled weavers. “Value addition and diversification are the two words that you can ignore at your own peril,” he pointed out. He also said the government had allocated Rs 550 crore for the revival of 15 out of 22 National Textiles Corporation (NTC) mills in the country. The process of revival would start within a couple of months and would be completed soon.
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USA promoting terror in Iraq: CPM
Kolkata, September 14 Mr Karat demanded that India should keep itself at a safe distance from the US clutch in the larger interest of the country’s safety and sovereignty. He said they requested the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to support Venezuela in the NAM summit for its membership in the UN against the US decision for recommending Guatemala’s inclusion. Mr Karat was talking to mediapersons at the Alimuddin Street party office on the conclusion of the CPM’s two-day Politburo meeting. At the meeting, the issue of Mr Jyoti Basu’s resignation came up for discussion following his decision to step down from the Politburo due to old age and ill-health. However, the Politburo unanimously rejected the decision and requested him to continue at least till the next party congress in 2008, said Mr Karat. Mr Karat highlighted the necessity for amending the Special Economic Zone Act formulated by the UPA government so that the interests of poor farmers and small entrepreneurs were safeguarded.
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Incentives for wheat in non-traditional areas
New Delhi, September 14 The plan would attempt to provide seed, fertilisers and other inputs to states and raise the area under wheat like Bihar and Bengal. The government is coming out with the plan as it has been forced to import wheat for the first time in six years after a poor crop. “We are now giving final touches to an exclusive plan to raise wheat output by five to seven million tonnes each year,” Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh said inaugurating the ‘Rabi Campaign for 2006-07’ here. The plan would address both short-term and medium-term measures needed to increase wheat output on a sustained basis, she said, adding the production plan would come into force from this year’s Rabi sowing season beginning from October. Farm ministry had already presented its scheme of plan to raise wheat output earlier this month before a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The high-level meeting was attended by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, besides Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. “The Cabinet has in principle given a go-ahead for a plan aimed at raising wheat production and we are now fine tuning the plan,” Radha Singh said. Wheat output that averaged between 72-73 million tonnes for last couple of years came down to 69 million tonnes last year due to rise in the temperature during the grain filling phase. |
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Jaya appears in CBI court in birthday gift case
Chennai, September 14 The All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo came to the court after being summoned by it for personal appearance. Two former AIADMK ministers, K. Sengottaiyan and Azhagu
Thirunavukkarasu, who are co-accused in the case, did not come claiming they had not received the summons. CBI designated special judge S. Meenakshisundaram had on August 9 ordered issuance of summons to the three persons for court appearance today. Since the two former ministers claimed they had not received the summons, the judge ordered that fresh summons be issued to them. He posted the case for hearing on October 16. Ms Jayalalithaa’s counsel, Mr N. Jothi, asked the judge to provide her with copies of the 2,000-page chargesheet.
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‘CBI tampered with evidence in Mattoo case’
New Delhi, September 14 Naseem said the doctors who had conducted Mattoo's post-mortem had ruled out that she had been raped. "This indicates that the investigating agency had tampered with the evidences collected from the scene of crime," he added. He accused the investigating agency of tampering with the evidence from January 25-29 when they were in the CBI's possession. The samples were sent for analysis after January 29, he added.
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Raise HR issues with Myanmar, says Mann
New Delhi, September 14 Referring to the ongoing Home Secretary-level talks between India and Myanmar, Mr Mann said though the meeting was related to security and boundary issues, New Delhi should not hesitate talking about human rights violations in Myanmar and suppression of democracy there. “There is curtailment of
democracy in Myanmar and Aung Su Chi is under detention... India is signatory to international convention on human rights and is under international obligation raise human rights and democracy related issue in all available forum,” Mr Mann told The Tribune over the telephone.
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‘CBI tampered with evidence in Mattoo case’
New Delhi, September 14 Naseem said the doctors who had conducted Mattoo's post-mortem had ruled out that she had been raped. "This indicates that the investigating agency had tampered with the evidences collected from the scene of crime," he added. He accused the investigating agency of tampering with the evidence from January 25-29 when they were in the CBI's possession. The samples were sent for analysis after January 29, he added.
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MPs to get raised salaries from today
New Delhi, September 14 Similarly, the pension of former MPs has been doubled. Passed by Parliament during the Monsoon Session, the legislation received the President’s approval on Tuesday. Apart from an increase in salaries, the daily allowance of MPs for each day of duty will also be doubled. Till now, MPs were entitled to a daily allowance of Rs 500.
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No bar on expelled MPs’ re-election
New Delhi, September 14 “There is no deformity in contesting elections on expulsion of an MP. Next day he can stand for election if there is a vacancy in the House”.
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