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Pak acting CJ on a spiritual odyssey
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Education, not guns, to fight Naxalism
SC notices to Speaker, Centre on cash-for-query scam BJP calls for adjourning House over Nandigram
Rahul blames Rao for Cong’s downfall in UP
Notice to Sangh parivar activist Subsidised
female condoms are here
PM Relief Fund under RTI scrutiny
Jogi’s bail plea rejected
NCW team to visit jail inmates
Madhukar Gupta to be home secy
Ugadi celebrations deferred
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Solar eclipse a big draw
Allahabad, March 19 People gave alms after taking holy dip in the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati. Long queues of devotees were seen outside various temples, which kept their doors closed for nearly an hour as worship is not considered auspicious during ‘Surya Grahan.’ Besides Sangam, people also stood at various points in the city to have a glimpse of the solar eclipse here, which was, however, only partially visible. The Somawati Amavasya also marks the beginning of the new year as per the Hindu calendar. It also marks the commencement of ‘Chaitra Navratra,’ which is considered to be of special significance for unmarried girls. Kanpur: Thousands of people took a holy dip in the Ganga here today. The temples were crowded with large number of devotees, who thronged them since early morning to perform rituals. Chennai: Thousands of people, including hundreds of children, today thronged B.M. Birla Planetarium here to watch the first solar eclipse of 2007. New Delhi:
Several parts of the country woke up to a partially eclipsed sun this morning. The beginning of the eclipse was visible only from the eastern, north-eastern and some parts of North India. The remaining parts of India saw an eclipsed sunrise. The eclipse ended at 8 am. A group of enthusiasts gathered at Nehru Planetarium here to watch the eclipse. — PTI, UNI
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Pak acting CJ on a spiritual odyssey
Lucknow, March 19 The first Hindu and second non-Muslim judge to serve the highest court of Pakistan, it is believed that Justice Bhagwan Das would have automatically taken the oath as Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan after the suspension of chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhury on March 9. This however, could not happen due to his absence. On two earlier occasions when Chaudhury went on foreign tours in 2005 and 2006 Justice Bhagwan Das had been the acting chief justice of Pakistan. On condition of anonymity, a person who has been with him during his stay in Lucknow confirmed that Justice Bhagwan Das was completely immersed in hearing sermons of the Bhagwad Gita during this period. He had been staying as a house guest in various houses across the city, including Qaiser Bagh, Krishna Nagar and Alam Bagh. Describing him as a deeply spiritual and simple person, the source said that he heard the sermons in apt attention and often took down notes in his diary. The intelligence agencies reportedly traced him yesterday and offered security that he politely turned down. Sources claimed that he was planning to remain in the city till March 22 but left today after the local media traced him out and wanted to speak to him on the current developments in Pakistan. Speculation of his presence in the city was doing the rounds after it was reported in the Pakistan media that Justice Bhagwan Das’s whereabouts were not known and perhaps he was on a private visit to India. On Sunday a reporter from a local Hindi daily finally traced him at a house on Cantonment Road near Odean cinema where he was the guest of a Sindhi family. On March 9 when Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, declared Chief Justice Chaudhary, “non-functional” and forwarded a reference against him to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Pakistan it was Justice Bhagwan Das, who was to take his place as the Acting Chief Justice. However, his whereabouts were reported to be “untraceable”. On March 15, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court urging the Pakistan Government to declare his whereabouts. There were even rumours that he had been held incommunicado by the Pakistan government or was in the ‘protective’ custody of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies. His brother, Sri Chand, however had admitted that the judge had gone on a visit to India and since then the family has not heard from him. Many leading jurists and lawyers in Pakistan believe that he was forced to leave the country to allow the government to take action against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, and appoint a successor of its own choice.
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Education, not guns, to fight Naxalism
Patna, March 19 The strategy includes opening up of more schools in Maoist-prone areas by the police to prevent the ultras from running their own schools to spread the message of the so-called revolution. It was thus indeed celebration time for policemen serving in the Naxal-hit Aurangabad district in the recent past as they finally won a small but important battle against Naxal violence. The battle was won through the power of primary education and not through guns. The idea to involve the police for opening schools in Naxal-hit areas was the brainchild of ADGP Abhayanand. In a first such experiment, the police team walked 15 km into Lamurahi village, a Naxal stronghold in Aurangabad, to set up this primary school that would be run by volunteers. “The police and government need to take the initiative, otherwise Naxals will try to draw attention of these kids,” said a senior official. In the backdrop of the initiative by the police, the Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi stressed the need to supplement this move by enhancing micro credit for poverty alleviation at the grassroots level. Modi reportedly favoured the involvement of various self-help groups for proper use of credit to be disbursed among poor masses for different economic activities. Meanwhile, the Maoists have given a 24-hour bandh call for tomorrow to protest the killing of 14 farmers at Nandigram in West Bengal.
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SC notices to Speaker, Centre on cash-for-query scam New Delhi, March 19 The counsel for the petitioner told the Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices P.K. Balasubramanyan and R.V. Raveendran that his client was prepared to pay the market rent for the bungalow from the date of the judgment of the apex court upholding his expulsion and not from the date of his expulsion by the Lok Sabha. The Estate Office had issued notices to all disqualified MPs to vacate the bungalows/flats or pay penal rent as they were not entitled for official accommodation. Mr Somnath Chatterjee had, however, taken the stand that action of the Speaker cannot be subjected to judicial scrutiny and had refused to accept the notice of the apex court. The court, however, overruled the contention of the Speaker. The stand of the government as well as the Speaker was that Parliament was competent to regulate its proceedings and also to discipline and punish its members. — UNI
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BJP calls for adjourning House over Nandigram New Delhi, March 19 Addressing newspersons, BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said the NDA would stall the Parliament on Tuesday if it’s demand for an adjournment motion was not accepted. Earlier, leader of the opposition L K Advani, who returned from Nandigram on Saturday, made the oppsition's intentions clear, saying that Parliament would be stalled on its demand of an adjournment motion. He lashed out at the Left government in West Bengal for the police action on villagers who were protesting against land acquisition. Advani said the opposition would press for an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha tomorrow so that a discussion in the House on the Nandigram events can take place. His comments came after the BJP-led NDA paralysed Parliament for the fourth day today, demanding dismissal of the West Bengal government. Charanjit Singh Atwal, deputy speaker, rejected the demand and ruled against any adjournment motion on the matter, saying it was a state subject. He also said he had not not received any notice for such a motion. The Rajya Sabha too witnessed two adjournments before lunch.
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Rahul blames Rao for Cong’s downfall in UP
Muzaffarnagar, March 19 No member of the Gandhi family was active in politics at the time of the demolition in 1992. "My father told my mother that he would stand in front of Babri Masjid if it would do any good. They would have to kill him first," Gandhi recalled Rajiv Gandhi telling this to Sonia Gandhi. On the reasons for the Congress' decline in UP, Gandhi said the blame should be put on the party's alliance with BSP.
— PTI
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Notice
to Sangh parivar activist New Delhi, March 19 Taking cognisance of a habeas corpus petition filed by Aajya Nakim, whose wife Geeta was allegedly abducted at the instance of the Sangh parivar outfit’s activist Babu Bajrangi for reasons that their’s was an inter-caste marriage, a Bench of Justices B.N. Agrawal and P.P. Naolekar sought replies from him and the government. Nakim, who accused Bajrangi of kidnapping his wife and sought her presence in the court, had alleged that he had been indulging in . He claimed that an NGO, Navchetan Group, had conducted a state-wide survey of forcible abduction and allegedly came to the conclusion that Bajrangi with his network had been behind it as he had been propagating that inter-religious and inter-caste marriages should be discouraged. The petitioner moved the Supreme Court alleging that state government was not taking any action against him.
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Subsidised
female condoms are here Chennai, March 19 Though each condom costs Rs 50, those will be sold at a mere Rs 3 each. Society project director Supriya Sahu said half a million condoms would be distributed initially among 11,000 sex workers as an additional prevention method against AIDS and HIV. Sahu said the aim was to reach out to
3,000 women in Tamil Nadu in the first phase. The scheme would benefit sex workers in eight states, including Maharashtra. Sahu said, “Normally AIDS prevention is associated with male condoms, but females end up as victims many times. This endeavour looks at reproductive rights of women directly and help their fundamental right to choose a HIV-AIDS prevention tool under their control. The female condom can only be an additional method of prevention and never be an alternative.” Privately produced versions of female condoms were available in metropolises like Mumbai across the counter, but were extremely costly.
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PM Relief Fund under RTI scrutiny
Mumbai, March 19 Citizens may file applications under the RTI Act to obtain details of disbursements made under the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund of various states. A ruling to this effect has been made recently by Chief Central Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah on a complaint filed by a Mumbai-based activist Shailesh Gandhi.
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Jogi’s bail plea rejected
Raipur, March 19 Jogi’s counsel moved the bail application on medical grounds but the court rejected it looking into the nature of charges. Jogi’s advocate Farhan told PTI that they are moving the Sessions Court for an urgent hearing of the case. Jogi was arrested early today at Gandai and he has been admitted to the ICU of the Escorts Heart Centre, Raipur.
— PTI
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NCW team to visit jail inmates
Patna, March 19 Going by official figures, there were over 1, 100 women inmates in Bihar jails and out of these undertrials only 80 were convicts. The overcrowded 54 prisons across the state house 40, 000 inmates against a capacity of 20,000 inmates only.
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Madhukar Gupta to be home secy New Delhi, March 19 Gupta, who took over as officer on special duty (OSD) in the rank and pay of secretary in the ministry of home affairs today, was secretary of the union ministry of youth affairs and sports. He will have tenure of two years as union home secretary. Gupta has held important positions, including secretary, department of fertilisers, chief secretary, Uttarakhand, vice-chairman, DDA, and additional secretary, department of mines. He was also joint secretary in charge of J&K in the ministry of home affairs for five years.
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Ugadi celebrations deferred
Hyderabad, March 19 The Andhra Pradesh Government has declared holiday for Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, on March 19 after consulting several scholars, writers of panchangams. The government had earlier declared a holiday on March 20. However, the people of all regions in the state refrained from welcoming Sarvajit Nama Year, preferring to postpone the celebrations to Tuesday.
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Guwahati, March 19 Police said the suspected militants hurled a grenade in the Gopal Bazar area near Nalbari town in the evening, killing one person and injuring three others. — UNI
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Charges framed
New Delhi, March 19
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