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Govt to insulate police reforms ordered by SC
PM’s proposals to
Pak should be bared: BJP
Without safety norms Cola, Pepsi remain unsafe: CSE
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Fernandes’ open criticism worries Nitish
Nitish, Sharad won’t miss me: George
US drill to confirm bin Laden’s death
Girl raped by SDM
father seeks protection for in-laws
15,300 polio booths planned for November in Haryana
Govinda’s nephew held
for molesting woman
Havana statement a plot against India: Atal
CBI Director is member of Interpol body
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Govt to insulate police reforms ordered by SC
New Delhi, September 23 This was stated by Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj while reacting to the apex court order giving three months’ time to the Union and state governments to have the reforms in place to minimise the political interference in the functioning of the police. The minister was speaking to the mediapersons on the sidelines of a seminar, organised to debate the plea bargaining provision made in the Code of Criminal Procedure to give an opportunity to the offender in less serious offences to negotiate with the victims of a non-cognisable crime to settle the matter out-of-court by compensating him. Mr Bhardwaj said the government had on its own initiated the move to reform the police administration and had completed the process by having wide-ranging discussions with various organisations, experts, important persons and in public debates. The government, in order to weed out corruption from the police administration and make it free from outside interference, was determined to make provision for a fixed tenure of Director Generals of Police and senior officers. They should not at least be disturbed for two years of their postings, he added. “We have already ensured a fixed tenure of two years to CBI Director and the same principle will now apply to the DGPs of other central police organisations and in the states, including the senior officers of the rank of IG and DIG,” the minister said. Similarly, the government was in favour of ensuring fixed tenure to officer in-charge of police stations, he said, adding that the government in its police reform process had initiated steps for separating crime investigation from law and order maintenance. He said the government would take every step to make the law a success as it would ensure that the courts, already burdened with cases, were rid off cases relating to petty offences. He said people’s faith in justice delivery system would be undermined if steps were not taken to reduced the burden on courts and the law of plea bargaining was an effort in that
direction. Under the provision of plea bargaining, an accused has just to plead guilty before a court and then seek its permission to adequately compensate the victim. But it is not allowed in serious offences where the sentence is more than seven years of jail term.
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PM’s proposals to
Pak should be bared: BJP
New Delhi, September 23 BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here that Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri had publicly confirmed that Manmohan Singh gave a “non-paper” to Pakistan, listing possible solutions to the Kashmir tangle. Prasad demanded that this “non-paper and other sets of proposals on Jammu and Kashmir” should be made public and the entire nation be taken into confidence. “Is the LoC being made redundant? Do we propose to revert to the pre-1953 status on self-rule as has been reported by the various Pakistan media?” Prasad asked. “It is now increasingly evident that at the recent meeting at Havana between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf, there had, indeed, been capitulation by India both on the issues of Jammu and Kashmir and cross-border terrorism,” the BJP spokesman said. After the Havana meeting, Musharraf and many other Pakistani leaders had made statements that they were very close to a settlement on Jammu and Kashmir, he added. “The BJP apprehends that the ill-conceived move to have a joint mechanism against terror may eventually lead to joint management of Jammu and Kashmir itself, a proposition totally unacceptable to the BJP,” he added. “Has the PM forgotten the unanimous resolution in Parliament declaring Pak-occupied Kashmir as integral part of India?” Prasad asked. Noting that the Prime Minister had spoken of Pakistan being a victim of terror and of various autonomous groups operating in that country, Prasad said Manmohan Singh should make public which groups were working to create terror in Pakistan and also say if he had shared this information with Gen Musharraf. On the embroiling crisis in Bangalore, the BJP downplayed its criticism by former Prime Minister H.D.Deve Gowda, insisting it shared “perfect understanding” with his son Kumaraswamy, who led the coalition government in Karnataka. Prasad recalled that Gowda opposed the coming together of the BJP and the JD (S) for power in Karnataka last year.
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Without safety norms Cola, Pepsi remain unsafe: CSE
New Delhi, September 23 “The government has still not notified the safety norms and without these, the drinks remain as unsafe as before,” Ms Sunita Narain, Director, CSE, said. Ms Narain said in August 2006, the CSE had released its study on soft drink brands sold across India, in which it had reported that all samples tested by it contained levels of pesticide residues much beyond the standard finalised (but not notified) by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). She went on to add that the CSE had said there was collusion between the government and the soft drink industry, because of which this standard had not been notified. On the high court's argument that under the current law, only the Central Government was empowered to ban any food product, the CSE said, “The problem is that the Central Government has not set up regulations, which would ensure that these drinks are safe. In the absence of the regulations, the states have no option but to impose bans to protect the health of their citizens.” On the court reportedly saying the ban must be set aside because it is based on the report of a non-governmental organisation and not the government, Ms Narain said,“This again is unfortunate as it must be noted that the Union Government has still not made public its reports on the pesticide residues in these drinks. On August 22, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had said in Parliament that his government had tested two bottles of soft drinks and found no residues in them. On the basis of which he had reportedly given a clean chit to these products. “But the government has never made this report public”, she added. The Health Minister had, on the other hand, released the report of its expert committee commenting on the CSE study. In this report, the points raised against the CSE study were copied verbatim from the report of Coca-Cola-sponsored study by the UK-based Central Science Laboratory. Since then, the CSE has issued a point-by-point rebuttal to the Health Minister and his expert committee’s ‘junk science’, Ms Narain said.
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Fernandes’ open criticism worries Nitish
Patna, September 23 The attempts by Mr Fernandes to ignite rebellion within the JD(U) became apparent when several anti-Nitish MLAs and MPs headed by him chose to use the recent birth anniversary function of former Chief Minister Bhola Paswan Shastri at S.K. Memorial Hall here as a platform to criticise the style of functioning of both Mr Kumar and Mr Yadav. The birth anniversary function on Thursday was attended by dissident leaders like former Jehanabad MP Arun Kumar, Mr Bashishta Narayan Singh and Mr Jai Narayan Nishad(both Rajya Sabha MPs), Samta Party leader P.K.Sinha, suspended JD(U)MLA Chedi Paswan and Mr Dadan Pehalwan among others. At the function, Mr Fernandes attacked Mr Kumar and Mr Yadav for joining hands with the Apna Dal in UP, where the latter has allegedly proposed to give tickets to underworld dons like Abu Salem in the ensuing Assembly polls. Mr Fernandes wondered saying,“giving tickets to terrorists is outrageous.Nobody will tolerate this.” Sources in the JD(U) disclosed that after being marginalised in the party following defeat in the election for its top post, Mr Fernandes was now desparate to revive his old Samta Party and also publicly embarrass both Mr Kumar and Mr Yadav. Mr Kumar's studied silence over repeated criticism from his estranged colleague was reported to be a part of a strategy to prevent any factionalism in the ruling the (JD-U) in Bihar. Mr Kumar did not react even after Mr Fernandes had called him and Mr Yadav “autocrats” over their working styles, both within the party and in the government, a fortnight back. Mr Kumar has reportedly instructed party workers and leaders not to respond to Mr Fernandes’outbursts. A senior JD(U)leader admitted that the criticism by Mr Fernandes may give Mr Kumar an advantage. “Mr Kumar is trying to avoid the rift as the JD(U)is in the process of consolidation in Bihar”, the leader added. On his part Mr Kumar, however, has asked the senior BJP leaders to restrain Mr Fernandes. The JD(U) top brass thus decided to adopt a wait and watch policy .
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Nitish, Sharad won’t miss me: George
New Delhi, September 23 “None of them has any use for me and I don't think they will miss me,” Mr Fernandes told Karan Thapar on the ‘Devil's Advocate’ programme on the
CNN-IBN. Asked if his invitation to the UP Chief Minister to a function to mark the death anniversary of Ram Manohar Lohia here on October 12 would create a rift between him and the BJP, the NDA convenor replied in the affirmative. “Yes, of course, the BJP does want to defeat Mulayam but I have always stood by Mulayam and here also I stand my Mulayam,” he said. To a question whether he would join the Samajwadi Party, Mr Fernandes said “I have other options”.
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US drill to confirm bin Laden’s death New Delhi, September 23 The US security agencies have been categorically instructed to follow a drill to determine the world’s most wanted terrorist’s death. Whenever a local government claims that bin Laden has been killed in action or due to natural causes, the American agencies will not believe the story until they conduct a whole range of technical tests, including DNA fingerprinting, on the dead body suspected to be of bin Laden. In case the body has been buried, the Americans will exhume the body and would press the government concerned for allowing them to fly the body to the United States. Bin Laden is himself aware of these American plans and that is why there are several chronicled “Osama-speaks” wherein the wanted man has given instructions of destroying his body in the event of his death, if it was not feasible to maintain total secrecy about his death. It will be
Al-Qaida’s attempt to ensure that the “Osama folklore” is kept alive by spreading all kinds of stories about bin Laden in the event of his death. By keeping bin Laden alive in people’s imagination, the Al-Qaida would hope to create hundreds of bin Ladens from among his die-hard Islamist fans. It is not for nothing that bin Laden is the most lucrative catch in the history of wanted criminals and terrorists. The Americans have placed a reward of a whopping 25 million dollars on bin Laden’s head, an amount which was matched, for some time, by Iraq’s Al-Qaida chief Abu Musab Zarqawi who died in American bombing in Iraq a few months ago. In case of Zarqawi also, the Americans followed the drill of identification of the deceased and conducted several technical tests, including DNA fingerprinting, on his corpse.
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Girl raped by SDM
father seeks protection for in-laws
New Delhi, September 23 The commission has taken serious cognisance of the case where the victim belonging to the Scheduled Caste, was forced to abort the foetus following rape by her father. “Nothing can be more shameful and perverted than this. I cannot muster courage to repeat her account to you,” remarked NCW Chairperson Girija Vyas while announcing that the commission will move the apex court to ensure that the victim gets justice. The girl who met NCW Chairperson and Deputy Secretary, Gurpreet Deo, here today with the intervention of Madhu Kishwar, Editor of Manushi, sobbed as she recounted her nightmarish experience. The victim, now married to a distant relative, told mediapersons that her father, raped her repeatedly over a period of six months. He did not even spare her after marriage and then took her to a private clinic to abort the foetus. The commission has asked the Director-General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, to send within 10 days a report on the girl’s complaint. It has also decided to set up an inquiry committee and may send a team to look into the charges. Although the accused posted as SDM, Kanpur (rural), Derapur Tehsil, was suspended in 2003 for being a co-conspirator in the case of the murder of his daughter’s elder brother-in-law, he was reinstated after being exonerated by the court. The girl said it all began on October 19,2001 when she was studying in college. Her only fault was that she checked her father for teasing her friend who had come home. When she told him that he should be ashamed of his conduct, he raped her in an inebriated state. All this happened while her mother, brother and servants were in the house. “I did not know what had happened. For days on end, I did not eat food. I was beyond time and space. My mother had all along been suffering in silence even when my father carried on with illicit relationships with other women in his house. She was helpless. her prime concern was the honour of the family. I wanted to commit suicide but I had sworn by my friend’s son that I would not take such an extreme step,” the victim said. Strangely, when the victim made a formal complaint to the DGP, Uttar Pradesh in early 2002, the case was reportedly sent for comments to none other than the victim’s father. With no support from her mother or brothers, the girl left home on February 19, 2002 and went to the house of a paternal relative in Benaras in the hope that they would be able to check her father. The family took pity on her and decided instead to marry their son to her. After her marriage in Uttarkashi soonafter, she rang up her father the same day and informed him about her marriage. “I told him that I want to start my married life without any intervention but he did not relent. He kidnapped my father-in-law and elder brother-in-law in February from Purva Bhawani village in Auraiya district and threatened to kill them if they did not send me back home. My in-laws managed to escape.In April, my father sent a message that he was ready for a compromise and called me to Jaipur. Again, he breached my trust by forcibly taking me back to Kanpur. He started abusing me again. In May 2002, he took me for an abortion to a private clinic. It was then that I rang up my husband who then moved a Habeas Corpus petition in the Allahabad High Court. The court pronounced a verdict in my favour and that is how I was able to join my husband,” she said. The victim said that her in-laws have paid a heavy price for her marriage. Not only did her father hire men to murder her 33-year-old brother-in-law, a lawyer, he also falsely implicated her husband in a case of murder. “He is now threatening to eliminate the entire family. We are constantly living in an atmosphere of fear. All I want is some protection for my husband and in-laws,” she said.
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15,300 polio booths planned for November in Haryana
New Delhi, September 23 The Parliamentary Secretary (Health), Dr Krishna Pandit, who was here on Thursday to attend the emergency meeting on polio called by Union Health Minister Dr Anbhumani Ramadoss, told TNS that they would try to ensure that no child was missed during the round in November. Senior Health Ministers from Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh also attended the meeting. Haryana has a reason to worry as the number of polio cases reported till date this year are five compared to a single case reported between January 1 and December 31, 2005. Of the 297 cases of polio reported in India this year, the maximum are from Uttar Pradesh. While 17 cases were reported from Bihar, five were reported from Haryana. Delhi, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal and West Bengal each reported one case of polio this year. While in 2005, one polio case was reported from Jhajjar district, this year, two cases have been reported from Sonepat and one each from Ambala, Faridabad, Jhajjar and Kurukshetra. The state health authorities say that most of the cases have been reported from districts bordering Uttar Pradesh. Dr Pandit said while the number of wild polio cases reported in Haryana in 2002 was 37, it came down to three in 2003, two the subsequent year, one in 2005 but rose to an alarming number of five this year. She said the state government also organised six rounds of sub national immunisation days under Intensified Polio Immunisation programme in high risk areas of all districts. She claimed that since the first such round was held in June last year, nine districts have been covered so far. These include Bhiwani, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Meerut, Mewat, Panipat, Rohtak, Rewari and Sonepat. The Director-General Health Services, Haryana, Dr N. K. Sharma said, besides, increasing number of booths, the State Health Department will requisition manpower from related departments like Department of Women and Child Development, Education, Panchayati Raj besides, NGOs.
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Govinda’s nephew held
for molesting woman
Mumbai, September 23 The incident happened on Wednesday night when the woman and her husband were on an outing at Juhu beach. They were having food at a stall when Janvendra and his friends allegedly misbehaved with the woman. The three then attacked her husband when he intervened, according to the complaint. The man, who is employed as the personal assistant of a minister in the Maharashtra Cabinet, complained to the police and the three were arrested.
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Havana statement a plot against India: Atal
New Delhi, September 23 “Whatever took place is not right. This joint statement is a conspiracy against India. Its implementation will jeopardise the situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said in his comments to RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya. Mr Vajpayee has demanded that Manmohan Singh should reveal what happened behind the scenes during his meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the NAM Summit in Havana. Mr Vajpayee said Pakistan would derive an advantage from the joint statement by taking “further steps” in keeping with its “evil designs”.
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CBI Director is member of Interpol body
New Delhi, September 23 An official spokesman said here today the tenure of Mr Shanker in the executive committee would be three years.
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