|
|
|
|
|
Didn’t violate any service rule: Kejriwal
A Tribune Special |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
SC directs Army to reinstate 11 women officers
Hegde: Legislators must get an annual report card
Sabavala’s brush goes quiet
Speaker’s Secy removed after CBI raids
Outrage in Andhra as 11 infants die in 48 hrs
Chander Mohan’s security withdrawn
|
|
Didn’t violate any service rule: Kejriwal
New Delhi, September 2 “In my opinion, there is no role of the Income Tax Department…they are doing it under political pressure,” he said, responding to the August 5 IT notice served on him. Government sources, however, maintained that the notice had been served long back and the Anna group was only raking it up now to gain public sympathy and score brownie points. Kejriwal said he remained in the government service from 1995 to 2006 and took study leave between November 2000 and October 2002. He said he rejoined and took a leave without pay from 2004 before resigning in February 2006 to devote full time to his NGO Parivartan. The activist rejected the view that he had violated government service and bond rules or that he owed money to the government. He said if at all he owed money, the government could take it from his outstanding General Provident Fund dues. “I have been repeatedly writing to them to adjust it against my GPF amount, which is believed to be a few lakhs. However, this has not been done so far,” he said. He said the government was interpreting the bond in a wrong way to suit itself. “No employee can work without taking a single break. I have not violated the bond condition. The government should return the GPF amount. I would donate the entire amount for the movement against corruption,” he added. Supporting Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan said the notice showed “the government has not yet taken any lesson. It is still using its dirty tricks department to target the group”.
Anna: Chidambaram a mischief-maker
Ralegan Siddhi, September 2 “This government consists of a mob of ‘labaad’ (cunning) people. They did not allow me to fast and issued prohibitory orders at all the maidans in Delhi. When they gave permission for the J P Park, there were a lot of pre-conditions,” he said. “After 64 years of Independence from the British rule, nothing has changed in this country. The whites have been replaced by black,” he said. — PTI
|
|
A Tribune Special
New Delhi, September 2 The news that Team Anna’ core group member Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation as an Indian Revenue Service officer in February 2006 had been put on hold pending his non-payment of over Rs 9 lakh dues and the lack of this knowledge even within government circles has left many red faces on both sides. The Tribune on September 1 broke the story about Kejriwal being a government servant all through the Jan Lokpal Bill campaign. A 1992 batch IRS officer, Kejriwal -- now holding the rank of Additional Commissioner -- had called it a day from the Income Tax Department in February 2006 -- the year (in August) he got his Ramon Magsaysay award for his work in bringing the Right to Information Act. But the government is holding on to him and is yet to accept his resignation as he is yet to clear dues totalling to Rs 9,27,787 to the government. The government says Kejriwal’s being on leave in 2004 without pay for subsequent two years does not constitute compliance with the requirement of the “bond” that he had signed while availing himself of study leave from November 1, 2000, to October 31, 2002, namely that he would serve the government for three years on return from leave, failing which the salary drawn by him for the period will be paid back or recovered by the government. Another thorny issue is Kerjiwal’s failure to pay back Rs 80,000 loan taken by him from the government in 1998 to purchase a computer which is recovered in instalments of Rs 550 per month spread over a long period. Since he had sought to resign from the government service, the I-T Department wanted him to pay back the loan in one lump sum. The interest free loan for computer purchase consequently became payable with interest, totalling Rs 1,04,925. The government says the amount could not have been adjusted from the Provident Fund dues as sought to be presented by Kejriwal since the PF is administered separately by a different entity and not the I-T Department. Kejriwal’s request for waiver of his dues has met with derision among the IRS circles as it is well known that the government does not waive such dues unless some extreme situation arises, certainly not in a case where the officer has won $50,000 as part of the Ramon Magsaysay award. Kejriwal argues that even if he had violated the bond conditions, the I-T Department should waive the dues “as I have been working in public interest”. Not many government ministers who sat through the Jan Lokpal Bill crisis for 15 days may agree with him. The Department of Personnel, the nodal ministry that handles all training-related issues, has already ruled against such a waiver.
|
||
|
Congress to retain Tewari on Lokpal panel
New Delhi, September 2 Sources said the top leadership wanted to dispel the feeling that the Congress spokesman had been left to fend for himself after the onslaught launched by him against Anna at the behest of the party backfired. There is also a growing unease in the party over Team Anna’s strong influence over some non-Congress members on the panel. Therefore, the Congress wanted Tewari and RJD leader Lalu Prasad to be there on the committee and act as a balancer. All eyes are now on the Parliamentary Standing Committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice, which is meeting for the first time on September 7 after its re-constitution. While the Congress has decided to retain all its members on the panel, from the BJP’s side Kirti Azad and Arjun Ram Meghwal are the two new faces on the 31-member committee.
|
||
|
SC directs Army to reinstate 11 women officers
New Delhi, September 2 A Bench comprising Justices JM Panchal and HL Gokhale passed an order asking the Army to take the officers back with effect from September 12. On March 12, 2010, the HC had delivered a verdict, directing the Army to grant permanent commission to the women officers within two months. Instead of complying with the HC order, the Army challenged the verdict in the SC. The apex court Bench today pointed out that since it had not stayed the operation of the HC verdict so far, the Army was bound to comply with the HC order. The Bench, however, clarified that their continuance in service would be subject to the outcome of the case arising from Army’s appeal. “The women officers have worked for 14 years and there is no allegation against them. Also, the Air Force has complied with the high court order,” the Bench noted during the arguments. It also pointed out that the officers were working on the administrative side of the Army. The 11 officers are Lieut-Cols Ashu Yadav, Sangeeta Sardana, Reenu Khanna and Monica Mishra and Majors Sandhya Yadav, Renu Nautiyal, NVN Rao, Anupama Munshi, Prema Pandit, Seema Singh and Rita Taneja. Two of them had been released after the HC verdict, while others had completed 14 years before the judgment. Counsel Meenakshi Lekhi, who argued for the women officers, said it was unfortunate that the Army had allowed all women officers to continue even after 14 years, except the 11 who had filed the petition in the HC. Non-implementation of the HC order was having a frustrating and demoralising effect on the women officers, besides denying them their fundamental right to livelihood. Some of the officers were single women who had to take care of their children and parents. The HC had noted that the horizon of women’s participation was expanding in different walks of life and as such encouraging them to have a larger participation in more areas of operation, both under the SSC and the PC, would be in tune with the trend.
|
||
|
Hegde: Legislators must get an annual report card
Bangalore, September 2 Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge who as Karnataka Lokayukta was instrumental in the removal of B S Yeddyurappa from the Chief Minister’s post for his involvement in illegal mining, said there should also be provision for “recall” of non-performing legislators. The former Supreme Court judge said if the parliamentarians had been performing their job well, the need for the civil society to step into the business of law-making would not have arisen. “I read a news report recently which said that from 2004 to 2009, out of a sample of about 500 members in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, only 174 spoke during parliamentary proceedings in those five years. This is shameful,” Hegde told TNS. Hegde said no legislator should be allowed take shelter behind the excuse that he or she was not listed as a “speaker” by the party. “In that case the legislator should quit his party,” remarked the civil society activist. “What a disgrace... and who are these people who beat their chests and say ‘we are the lawmakers, who are you (civil society)... unelected tyrants’. Are they doing their job?” Hegde said, referring to politicians targeting the campaign for a strong Lokpal. He suggested annual auditing of performances of legislators and its publication in their constituencies to give an idea to people about how many times their representatives spoke in Parliament or in Assembly and on what subject “apart from seeking an increase in their allowance and salary”. The auditing would show how much each parliamentarian contributed to law-making, Hegde said, adding that the parliament secretariat or the assembly secretariat could be empowered to carry out the performance audit. A non-performing legislator should be recalled after one year and a fresh representative should be sent in his place. “This way one could expect better performance from the people’s representatives,” Hegde said. He said protests by legislators like walking out of the House or trooping to the well of the legislature should also be kept under the purview of the audit. While the right sort of protests should be viewed favourably, the wrong protests should get negative markings. “Take the 2G scam for instance. For days the MPs were coming to Parliament, signing the register and then the House would get adjourned. And for this they were getting a sitting allowance of Rs 2,000 each day. Why should there be a sitting allowance in addition to the salaries the MPs are already getting. Does a Supreme Court judge get an additional allowance for doing his job,” Hegde asked.
|
||
|
Sabavala’s brush goes quiet
Chandigarh, September 2 He had been ailing for some time. Among one of the most celebrated names in Indian Modern Art, Sabavala’s style and form evolved undergoing several influences. A contemporary of MF Husain, it was difficult to bracket his works as one particular style. He himself remarked once, “My art, a mixture of academic, impressionist and cubist texture, form and colour, acquired a distinct style in mid ’60s. And with each step, I have evolved a new experience. But if I look back, I find I have carried all the elements forward.” In his early works, the human form emerged as only a minuscule element on the canvas, shrouded in silence and encapsulating the notion of solitude. However, over the years his figures began to reveal more and more of themselves, even though still distanced from the viewer. His best known works are enveloped in a mysterious play of light and shade, a chiaroscuro landscape and seascapes, of which figures emerge in a dream-like sequence. He had lately begun to paint cityscapes as well. Describing his palette as quiet, he had observed that the veiled light and middle-tones appeal to him much more than pure colours and loud imagery. An artist practising in the modernist style with a deeply ingrained classical influence, Sabavala created almost geometric wedges out of paint, which he put together to form vast, tranquil scenes. These “receding planes” give each canvas an illusory sense of depth, illustrating his mastery over light, colour and texture. With a career that spanned over 60 years since his first solo exhibition held in a hired room of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, put up with the help of fellow artist MF Husain and a couple of carpenters, one of his works received over Rs 1.7 crore at an international auctions. On September 15, one of his best known works, The Cobweb Cloud was to be auctioned by Sotheby’s. With a retrospective of his works organised by Sakshi Gallery - “Jehangir Sabavala: A Retrospective” at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai and New Delhi, in 2005-06, his most recent solo exhibits included “Ricorso” at Aicon Gallery, New York, in 2009 and Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, in 2008. Three monographs have been published on him by eminent art publishers, including the house of Tata-McGraw-Hill and the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. “Colours of Absence”, a film on his life, won the National Award in 1994. Sabavala was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1977, and the Lalit Kala Ratna by the President of India in 2007. Born in 1922 in Mumbai, Sabavala studied at the best-known art colleges of the world - after receiving his first fine arts diploma from the Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai, in 1944, he went to Europe and studied at the Heatherley School of Art, London, and in Paris at the Academie Andre Lhote from 1948 to 1951, Academie Julian from 1953 to 1954, and the Academic de la Grande Chaumiere in 1957.
|
||
|
Speaker’s Secy removed after CBI raids
New Delhi, September 2 “He has been removed with immediate effect,” said Rakhee Bakshee, Meira Kumar’s media adviser, clarifying that Pathak had joined the office of the Speaker in June this year after due clearance from his parent Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Pathak has now been repatriated back to his parent ministry. Pathak’s downfall came hours after CBI officials conducted raids at his various premises in Delhi, Kanpur, Patna and Gurgaon. “Three properties in Delhi (one in Anand Niketan and two in Satya Niketan), three properties in Patna, one property at Kanpur, one property at Gurgaon and seven agriculture properties in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been unearthed,” said a CBI official adding that investigators have also found fixed deposits worth Rs 35 lakh, 10 life insurance policies, 33 bank accounts and many other incriminating documents during the raids. The raids followed after a disproportionate assets complaint was referred against Pathak to the CBI by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in February this year. “After conducting some preliminary inquiries against Pathak, we registered a case against him on August 31 against Pathak,” said the official adding that the CVC got complaint against Pathak when he was the Director, Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act , in the Ministry of Finance.
|
||
|
Outrage in Andhra as 11 infants die in 48 hrs
Hyderabad, September 2 The deaths, which occurred within a span of 48 hours, evoked a sense of outrage across the state, prompting the government to order a departmental probe into the allegations of negligence on the part of duty doctors. The deaths - four on August 31 and seven on September 1, allegedly occurred due to improper supply of oxygen to the infants through the ventilators they were put on, the official sources said. The Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy took a serious note of the incident and deputed the Medical and Health Minister Dr DL Ravindra Reddy and top officials to Kurnool, about 300 Kms from here, to take stock of the situation. “We have ordered a probe into the lapse. Based on the probe report, we will take action against those responsible,” the Health Minister said. The Hospital Superintendent Dr Sudarshan, however, denied the allegations and said that the death of six to 10 infants in the neonatal ward every day was not unusual since they are generally admitted to the ward with serious health complications. He claimed that the infants had died of natural causes and not due to negligence on the part of the hospital staff. The parents of the infants alleged that their children died due to lack of oxygen supply through the ventilators. A pipe that supplies oxygen to the neonatal ward was allegedly not working properly and hospital authorities had not had it repaired despite repeated complaints, they alleged. The Joint Collector Budda Prakash, who was asked by District Collector Ramsankar Naik to probe the infants’ deaths, also claimed that the infants had died of natural causes.
|
||
|
Chander Mohan’s security withdrawn
Chandigarh, September 2 Recently, he announced his intention to stake his claim to the Congress ticket for the Hisar Lok Sabha byelection, necessitated by the death of his father. Official sources said the security was provided at his Panchkula house in view of the threat perception to Bhajan Lal, who used to visit Chander Mohan’s family of and on. After the death of Bhajan Lal, there was no threat perception to Chander Mohan. Hence, the security was withdrawn.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Bangalore, September 2
