Tuesday, December 21, 1999
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Assembly poll by March 15
: Gill |
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 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi inaugurating the Vivekananda Cultural Heritage of India exhibition in Chennai at the renovated Vivekananda Illam on Monday. — PTI |
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Bill to widen scope of Patents Act Information Bill in Budget
session, says Jaitley Uproar in RS over Gujarat
situation
HC rejects Yadav’s plea on
retirement 1984 riots saddest chapter: Advani Minister’s killing: govt
hikes reward Repair road to Hemkunt: Brar |
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Assembly poll by March 15 : Gill NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (UNI) — The assembly elections in Bihar, cyclone-hit Orissa, Manipur and Haryana will be concluded by the first fortnight of March, 2000, and the Election Commission (EC) has initiated the spade work for the exercise, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) M.S. Gill indicated here today. He said a meeting of the commission would be held here on December 23 to take stock of the poll preparations in the four states. The commission is expected to consider a report by Deputy Election Commissioner S. Chatterjee, who visited Orissa and Bihar over the weekend and returned to the Capital this morning. The Election Commission would also initiate this week formal discussions with the Union Home Ministry on making adequate security arrangements for the elections, the CEC remarked. A working group headed by Deputy Election Commissioner Subhas Pani would be in constant touch with the Home Ministry on the security arrangements, he said. Mr Gill said it was the commission’s endeavour to complete the poll process in the four states well before March 31, 2000, so that the incoming governments would have enough time to transact necessary financial business before the end of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, sources said that Mr Chatterjee met senior officials in Bihar and Orissa during his three-day visit to the two states. The law and order situation in Bihar and the effect of the recent, devastating cyclone in Orissa on its poll preparedness came up for special discussion. While the tenure of the
Bihar Assembly is ending on April 9, 2000, that of Orissa
is ending on March 22 and Manipur on March 21. The
Haryana Assembly was dissolved last week, 17 months ahead
of its term-end and fresh poll recommended. |
Legislation to amend CPC passed NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (PTI) — The Parliament today passed a legislation to amend the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) to discourage "frivolous" cases, speed up trial and keep in mind the interests of poor litigants. The CPC (Amendment) Bill, 1999, which was adopted by the Lok Sabha through a voice vote, seeks to amend the CPC, the Limitation Act, 1963, and the Court Fees Act, 1870. The Bill was earlier adopted by the Rajya Sabha. Moving the Bill for passage in the Lok Sabha, Law Minister Ram Jethmalani said government would appoint more judges to deal with increased number of cases, despite financial problems regarding the payment of salaries and construction of court infrastructure. He said the Centre had asked states to take steps to speed up trial in subordinate courts and the high courts. Mr Jethmalani said the CPC (Amendment) Bill did not intend to abolish the right to appeal but restricted the right of second appeal in petty cases. Judges would be empowered to discourage frivolous matters and ask for security deposits in selected cases, though this would not be made compulsory. The minister also acknowledged that a major part of delays in cases were a result of "unreasonableness of the bureaucracy" which the government would try to prevent. Earlier participating in
the discussion, RJD member Raghuvansh Prasad Singh sought
steps to make justice available "cheaply and
easily" to poorer sections of society. |
Bill to widen scope of Patents Act NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (PTI) — The Patents Amendment Bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha today will modify the existing law to integrate intellectual property regime in the country with international practices. The Bill, brought to meet India’s WTO obligations under Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement, proposes to expand the scope of process patents in the country and safeguard traditional knowledge, bio-diversity and national security. This is the second amendment in the Patents Act since 1970. The government earlier had this year amended the Act to allow exclusive marketing rights for pharmaceutical and agrochemicals. The Bill, incorporates a new provision to exclude plants and animals, other than micro-organisms including seeds varieties and species, from being patented. It will also not allow
patenting of computer programmes and literary and
artistic work. The Bill debars patenting of diagnostic
and therapeutic methods, besides discoveries of any
living thing or non-living substance occurring in nature. |
Hindu Marriage Act sans epilepsy NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (PTI) — Parliament today adopted a legislation to delete ‘epilepsy’ from the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 as a reason to annul a marriage or seek divorce. The legislation to amend the Act and the Special Marriage Act of 1954, which was adopted earlier by the Rajya Sabha, was passed by a voice vote in the lower House. Law Minister Ram Jethmalani, while moving the Bill for passage, said epilepsy, which was being used in a major way by men to seek divorce, had now become fully curable through advances made in the field of medicine. Participating in the discussion, Ms Minati Roy (CPMI) supported the purpose of the Bill and said epilepsy could not be equated with insanity as was being done earlier through law. She also pointed towards the exploitation of women in different walks of life and the government’s alleged "failure’’ to check incidents of ‘sati’, female foeticide and dowry deaths. When Mr Simranjeet Singh
Mann (Akali Dal-Mann) pointed out that it was
"repugnant to impose the Hindu Marriage Act on
Sikhs" who had different customs, traditions and
ceremonies, Mr Jethmalani said the government would keep
these considerations in mind as he had received similar
representations from several other Sikh groups. |
Information Bill in Budget session, NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (UNI) —The Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, today said drafting of the Freedom of Information Bill was in the final stages and was unlikely to come up in the current session of Parliament. Inaugurating the Third National Conference of Regional Newsmedia here, Mr Jaitley said an open society and a liberal democracy could only function if there was complete transparency and this legislation was a step in that direction. While assuring the small
and regional newspapers that it he was conscious of their
problems, the minister said the regional media had in
fact been able to cope better with the onslaught of
multimedia than the national Press being better equipped
because of its character and reach. However, he said the
government would be willing to consider any positive
suggestions for helping the small and regional newsmedia
to cope with the changes taking place in technology. |
Troops battle Dras winter NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (PTI) — Six months after the "war-like situation" pushed the lofty heights of kargil into the limelight, soldiers are still getting killed and maimed. But there is nobody to glorify them as they continue their battle, this time with a deadlier enemy — nature. A young Captain at an observation post about 5100 m above sea level in Dras sub-sector, which hitherto stayed unmanned in winters, was taken ill and had to climb down the steep 80 degrees gradient from the forbidding heights on his own to reach his battalion, before he could be provided with a stretcher, leave aside medical aid. "I was so weak that I could barely move. I fell so many times that I lost count after 50. I almost gave up. But my soldiers egged me on and we made it to the base camp after a seemingly endless ordeal lasting ten hours," the officer, here on medical leave, told PTI. As he narrated how he made it back to the relative safety of the base camp and how it is not possible to evacuate a sick or injured soldier from a post by helicopter as there is no place to land and the steep gradient and rarified atmosphere make it impossible for someone to carry him, his mother and younger brother broke down. "I am fortunate. One of my soldiers went down for his morning ablutions and just fell down, never to rise again. Another one just collapsed in his sleep, both victims of hypoxia, and we could do nothing for them," he says. Seemingly insignificant things which are taken for granted, like a hot-water bath and basking in the sun, become a luxury for soldiers atop these posts as they spend weeks of isolation on the peaks. "The temperature when I left my post last week was minus 53 degrees (celsius) and the last time we had the luxury of catching a glimpse of ‘surya devta’ (sun) was a fortnight ago when it made a brief appearance over our post," he says, but before his gaping mother has a chance to say anything, he belts out the soldiers’ motto — "Jahan raho, jaise raho, bus khush raho yaar (Be happy, come what may)". "He insists on lying down in the lawn or on the terrace with his jacket covering his face and spends several hours basking in the sun," the officer’s mother says, to which he adds: "it is so nice and bright here. I keep blinking stupidly at the sun, which of course you see only in your dreams on the post." The rarified atmosphere make breathing so difficult that the soldiers wake up several times in the night, their lungs craving for oxygen. "It is a very uncomfortable and eerie feeling, waking up in the dead of the night with a feeling that you are choking," the officer says. Asked how often did he get to bathe, the officer quips: "marna hai kya (are you crazy?). I am not that enthusiastic about bathing. For 42 days it was no bath, no shave, often not even a splash on the face till I came back to the base camp," he says, quickly adding: "Do not worry, today I had a bath." The soldiers have more than sufficient rations and winter clothing, but still fighting nature and depression is the most daunting task. "Holed up in our tents for most of the day, we all chip in to clear snow, play cards and crack jokes with the troops. Up there officers are man to man with the soldiers, we all take care of each other and the camaraderie has to be seen to be believed. It brings us really close," the officer says. "We may be living in very difficult conditions. But it has helped me grow more mature and now I am determined to be a better human being, because you never know what may happen next," he adds. On the "splendid isolation" on top of the post, the Artillery officer says "I was the happiest soul during the Kargil operations. We used to fire day in and day out and were not concerned about what happened after that." "We got a lot of
publicity during the war. But now we are totally isolated
and the country perhaps does not even know about our
lives up there," he says with a sigh. |
Uproar in RS over Gujarat
situation NEW DELHI, Dec 20 — Heated exchanges were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha today over the reported communal build-up in Gujarat with the Left and the Congress members protesting against the propriety of a BJP member speaking on behalf of the government. Chairman Krishan Kant adjourned the House abruptly for lunch. The issue was raised by CPM member Sarla Maheshwari in a special mention in which she said there was communal tension in the state over a reported foundation stone laying ceremony for a Ram mandir in the vicinity of a church in Dang district near Surat. She alleged that the Hindu Jagran Manch was distributing leaflets after the ceremony about holding of a religious conference on Christmas, creating considerable communal tension in the area. Associating himself with the special mention, BJP member Praful Goradia, who represents Gujarat in the House, said the state government had already taken precautionary measures, including imposing prohibitory orders and making preventive arrests besides banning the proposed "mahasabha" or the religious conference. As he went on, Mr Mohammed Salim and Maheswari, both CPM, Ms Saroj Khaparde, Mr Vyalar Ravi and Mr Kishore Chandra Deo, all Congress, loudly protested, saying the member could not speak on behalf of the government. Mr Deo also moved to the front benches and was ordered to go back to his seat by Mr Kant who ruled that he had permitted the BJP member to give his point of view. He also sternly told the shouting members that they were "unnecessarily highlighting" the issue. What Mr Goradia said was
relevant to the subject of the special mention which was
the Gujarat Government’s apprehension of a communal
flare up as per a newspaper report on December 10, he
added. |
HC rejects Yadav’s plea on retirement NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court today dismissed a petition on the controversial retirement of noted author Rajendra Yadav from the Prasar Bharati Board. Yadav had challenged his retirement on the ground that it was contrary to the April 1 notification by the government which said one-third members of the board would be retired on the basis of draw of lots. Mr Justice A.K. Sikri, dismissing the petition after hearing arguments by Yadav’s counsel Deepak Thakur and Attorney-General (AG) Soli Sorabjee, said a detailed order would follow soon. During arguments, Mr Justice Sikri said if the petition was admitted, then every retired member would come before the court with a similar plea. However, Yadav’s Counsel said his client’s case was different and alleged that he was retired from the board along with noted historian Romila Thapar on November 22 as "authorities were allergic to their free and frank expression of views on the functioning of the board". Mr Thakur said while passing the retirement order, the government laid down new eligibility criteria for the members according to which their appointment would be based on their experience, qualification, expertise and contribution in running such an organisation. "The government has thus pre-judged the competence of his client and this has cast a stigma on him," Mr Thakur said. This was strongly
contested by Mr Sorabjee, who said the new method adopted
by the government for retiring the members was far better
than doing it through draw of lots. "There is no
question of stigma in it," he said. |
1984 riots saddest chapter: Advani NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (PTI) — The 1984 anti-Sikh riots constituted one of the saddest chapters in the history of post-independence India and the government viewed it as such, Home Minister L.K. Advani said today. In a written reply in
the Lok Sabha, Mr Advani said according to the Ahooja
Committee, appointed by the erstwhile Delhi
Administration to determine the number of persons killed
in the riots, about 2,733 persons were killed and 984
Sikhs were looted in Delhi. |
Minister’s killing: govt hikes reward BHOPAL, Dec 20 (PTI) — The Madhya Pradesh Government, which has so far failed to make a breakthrough in the investigation into the murder of Transport Minister Likhiram Karwe, today announced an increase in the reward to Rs 5 lakh for anyone leading to the arrest of the assassins. State Home Minister Nand Kumar Patel said five teams have so far visited 60 villages in Madhya Pradesh to gather information about the killers. He urged the Centre to
return three battalions of the special armed force, which
were at present deployed outside the state, and requested
for early approval of proposals sent for setting up of
three battalions in Naxalite-affected areas. |
Repair road to Hemkunt: Brar NEW DELHI, Dec 20 — Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar, MP from Faridkot, today urged the Centre to help repair the road connecting Hemkunt Sahib to Gobindgarh. Raising the issue in the
Lok Sabha during zero hour, Mr Brar said the road was in
a bad shape and there were several reports of accidents
because of it. |
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| Bajrang Dal men beat up
Baba AHMEDNAGAR: Bajrang Dal activists on Sunday night allegedly abused and beat up Baba Aragade, state secretary and founder member of Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANS), which is protesting against denial of entry to women in several temples in Shanti Shinganapur in Newase tehsil. Angry over the agitation led by Aragade, police said at least 30 Bajrang activists raided his house and beat him up. — PTI Search operations in
Kerala Kidnapped trader
killed Diploma in
family medicine Bhils vulnerable
to AIDS Top UP gangster
killed 5 students
washed away |
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