Tuesday, March 16, 1999
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Many return sans ticket NEW DELHI, March 15 — Disappointment was writ large on the faces of many who stood in the queue to buy tickets for the Delhi-Lahore bus, which leaves the Capital tomorrow morning. Mr Gurdeep Singh, who had been longing to visit his native village near Lahore, was disappointed as he could not lay his hands on a ticket. CBI application hearing on March 26 NEW DELHI, March 15 — The Supreme Court today fixed March 26 for hearing on CBI’s application seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, a key accused in the Bofors gun deal. |
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Charge against Jaya: Police
launches probe Eve-teasing
claims another life
No
damage to ONGC rig Model
for coalition politics Lal
sworn in as Governor |
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Delhi-Lohre
bus NEW DELHI, March 15 — Disappointment was writ large on the faces of many who stood in the queue to buy tickets for the Delhi-Lahore bus, which leaves the Capital tomorrow morning. Mr Gurdeep Singh, who had been longing to visit his native village near Lahore, was disappointed as he could not lay his hands on the ticket, despite standing in the scroaching sun for hours. "I was hoping to be a part of the historic trip, but it seems that Guru Nanak had other plans for me," he said lamenting at the opportunity missed. However, Mr Jaswinder Singh was in elated spirits as he had bought a ticket for his father who had been longing to visit his birthplace at least once before his death. "My father will be very happy to hear the news," he said. Officials manning the ticket counter said they had received a large number of enquiries about the bus service and the first ticket was sold within minutes of the announcement of the start of the service. By evening yesterday almost all seats were booked. Thirty-three passengers will travel in the bus with two armed guards, a liaison officer and two drivers on the other hand, the Pakistani bus will carry 41 passengers, two armed guards, a liaison officer and two drivers. Delhi Transport Minister Parvez Hashmi said here today that a regular bus service between India and Pakistan would commence simultaneously from both sides of the border tomorrow. The Shiv Sena Delhi unit president, Mr Jai Bhagwan Goel, told The Tribune that the organisation had withdrawn its threat to disrupt the bus service as directed by the party supremo. The golden coloured Ashok Leyland bus would cover 526 Km in 12 hours and have three stops Pipli in Haryana, and Sarhand and Kartarpur in Punjab en route the journey. The bus would be plied on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, days when Samjhauta Express does not run. The fare for the bus had been fixed at Rs 800 in the Indian currency and Rs 950 in the Pakistani currency. Each passenger would be allowed to carry not more than 30 kg of luggage. The tickets for the bus journey were being sold at the Ambedkar Stadium Terminus (telephone 011-3317445 ext 229), the Kashmiri Gate (telephone 011-2968836) and Scindia House (telephone 011-3317445) in the capital, the minister said. The bus would start from the Ambedkar Stadium Terminus at 6 a.m., it would reach the Wagah border at around 4.30 p.m. and reach Lahore by 6.30 p.m. , Mr Hashmi said, adding that the passengers would disembark at Fallettis Hotel in Lahore and those coming from Pakistan would disembark at the Ambedkar terminus. The passengers during the journey would be able to make phone calls, including STD/ISD calls to make their travel comfortable, they would have amenities like central heating and air-conditioning, television, pushback chairs and reading lights. The trial run from Delhi to Lahore on January 8 and the return bus from Pakistan, which reached Delhi on January 14, comprised officials only. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's "bus diplomacy" last month was greatly appreciated by all. The idea of a bus service between Delhi-Lahore first came up between the Prime Ministers of the two countries at New York in September last. LAHORE (AP): The first passenger bus between Pakistan and India may leave here half empty because people are having trouble getting Indian visas, a senior official said on Monday. The first passenger bus between the neighbours departs from Lahore on Tuesday, but as of Sunday night, only 12 tickets were sold, said Mr Imtiaz Saeed, Pakistan Tourism and Development Corporation Chairman. "Hundreds of people are asking for tickets... But we can’t book their seats until they get an Indian visa,’’ he said. "The Indians should be liberal in issuing visas to Pakistanis who want to travel to India by bus,’’ he said. But a spokesman at the
Indian High Commission in Islamabad said visas, were
being issued but the demand was low. |
Quattrocchi case NEW DELHI, March 15 (PTI) — The Supreme Court today fixed March 26 for hearing on CBI’s application seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, a key accused in the Bofors gun deal, charging him with not honouring his statement before the court. A Division Bench comprising Justice G.T. Nanavati and Justice S.N. Phukan fixed March 26 for hearing the application after Additional Solicitor General C.S. Vaidyanathan mentioned it before the Bench. Meanwhile, Quattrocchi through his advocate-on-record Gopal Singh moved an application seeking the modification of the Supreme Court’s order of February 22 when he was asked to appear before the trial court on March 15 while being assured that he would not be arrested by the CBI during his interrogation. Quattrocchi in his application stated that there was a "mis-communication" between him and his advocate and said he was aggrieved by the discriminating attitude of the investigating agency which had earlier examined accused persons in the gun deal in foreign countries. He said he was ready to cooperate in the investigation and interrogation provided the CBI did the same at Kuala Lumpur, where he is residing at present. On February 24, Quattrocchi, who is alleged to have got over $ 7 million as kickback in the Rs 1437-crore gun deal in 1986, in a statement from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia expressed his unwillingness to appear before the court. The CBI has alleged that Quattrocchi "is playing ducks and drakes" with the court’s time saying the court on February 15 had specifically asked the counsel to ascertain from the accused whether he was prepared to appear before the court if he was protected from being arrested, and had adjourned the matter. It said on February 22, the court passed the order after ascertaining the view of the accused and recording the statement of the senior counsel Rajinder Singh. The court had asked Quattrocchi to appear before Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke, who is seized of the case, on March 15 and stay in India for two weeks for his interrogation by the CBI while directing the agency not to arrest him. The trial court had issued an arrest warrant against Quattrocchi, who at present is in Kuala Lumpur, in 1997 though the FIR in the case was registered in 1990. Consequent to the arrest warrant, Interpol had issued a red alert, considerably restricting Quattrocchi’s movement in and out of Malaysia. The Italian businessman,
who stated that he was close to late Rajiv Gandhi and
family, said in the statement that "I am available
to cooperate with the CBI, the investigating agency even
though I have nothing to do with the Bofors (gun) deal,
provided I am interrogated in Kuala Lumpur or Italy, in
the presence on my lawyer." |
Charge against Jaya: Police launches probe CHENNAI, March 15 (PTI,UNI) — The city police has begun investigation into the complaint by an auditor that he was attacked and injured by the AIADMK General Secretary, Ms Jayalalitha, and two others at her residence on Saturday last. The Police Commissioner Mr P. Kalimuthu told newsmen that statements of Mr R. Rajasekhar, the injured auditor, and his brother had been recorded and action will be taken in the matter in accordance with law. Replying to a question, Mr Kalimuthu denied that the police had instigated the filing of the complaint, contending that they had received information about the incident only from the hospital. There was no pressure on them from any quarter to register a case, he added. According to the FIR, Mr Rajasekhar was beaten up in a closed room by Ms Jayalalitha, her close associate Ms Sasikala Natarajan and the latter’s nephew, Mr V. Mahadevan. A case of attempted murder and wrongful confinement has been registered against them. The AIADMK today accused the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi of adopting ‘degrading, demeaning and despicable’ methods to besmirch Ms Jayalalitha in the auditor attack case. In a joint statement issued here this morning, five office-bearers of the party said it was ‘obvious’ that Mr Karunanidhi was going ‘all out to defame’ Ms Jayalalitha ‘just at a time when the hearing in the Supreme Court on the special courts case was to begin tomorrow, so as to prejudice the minds of the judges.’ Though the auditor was formerly Ms Jayalalitha’s chartered accountant, she had not met him for the past two-and-a-half years and, therefore, his being beaten up at her residence “is a figment of Karunanidhi’s imagination,” they said. The Janata Party President, Mr Subramanian Swamy, today described the charge against Ms Jayalalitha in the auditor assault case as a “frame-up” and said he did not believe that she would have been involved in it. Addressing a press conference here, he said registering a case against Ms Jayalalitha, ‘for the purposes of humiliating and arresting the AIADMK leader’, was “condemnable’. MADURAI: Meanwhile, the
leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Mr
S. Balakrishnan, on Monday demanded an inquiry by a
sitting high court judge into the assault on Mr
Rajasekharan. |
AIADMK members walk out in LS NEW DELHI, March 15 — Members of the AIADMK today staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha after the Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi, disallowed them from raising the issue relating to Ms Jayalalitha's alleged assault on her auditor. Trying to raise the issue during zero hour, several AIADMK members kept rushing to the well of the House to persuade the Speaker to allow them to raise the issue. The Speaker overruled their contention saying that it was a state matter and it could not be raised in the Lok Sabha. The AIADMK members refused to heed to the Speaker's directive and kept on raising their demand. The Speaker, however, said anything the AIADMK members said would not go on record. At one stage, the Speaker warned the AIADMK members that he would be forced to take action if they did not resume their seats. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, who were present in the House, remained silent. Realising that the Speaker
was in no mood to relent, the AIADMK members led by Mr S.
Muthiah staged a walkout minutes before the Prime
Minister began his reply to the debate on the President's
Address. |
Mulayam’s flights cost 41 cr NEW DELHI, March 15 (PTI) — Ministry of Defence (MoD) today admitted in the Delhi High Court that former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had used Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft and helicopters for about 1450 hours incurring an expenditure of Rs 41.57 crore to the state exchequer. "All trips undertaken by the former Defence Minister were certified as official by his personal staff," an affidavit filed by the Air Headquarters said, adding these included several trips to his home village Safai, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Gwalior and Vaishno Devi. The affidavit was filed in reply to the High Court notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking a CBI inquiry into the alleged misuse of Defence aircraft by Mr Yadav and recovery of about Rs 200 crore from various ministries and government departments. The court on October 5 last year, had issued notices to the Cabinet Secretariat, MoD, Finance Ministry, Chiefs of Army and Air Force asking them to file replies. Since replies were not received from some of the respondents, the court asked them to file affidavits by May 6, the next date of hearing. The Air Headquarters said the IAF aircraft and helicopters were made available to Mr Yadav for his visits to various places as per his tour programme received from his personal staff. It said except the Prime Minister no other minister was entitled to use Defence aircraft for other than official purposes. The Air Headquarters said the nature or purpose of each visit could not be confirmed or denied beyond what was stated in the official communications by the personal staff of the former Defence Minister which indicated the visits as "official". "The civilian top authority is in no way connected with the provision of the aircraft to the Defence Minister as per the procedure. The indent for placement of an aircraft at the Defence Minister’s disposal comes as an official request from his personal staff directly," the Air Headquarters said. The PIL filed by advocate B.L.Wadhera alleged that Mr Yadav, during his tenure as Defence Minister, had undertaken a total of 307 flying trips and most of these were to Lucknow "for political purposes distinct from his bona fide duties as Defence Minister". Regarding the recoveries, the affidavit said Rs 130.20 crore had been realised from outside agencies by February end which also included over Rs 37.96 crore from ministries and government departments. It said over Rs 46.66
crore was outstanding towards various state governments
who had used the IAF aircraft and so far payments worth
Rs 25.31 crore had been received from them. |
Eve-teasing claims another life CHENNAI, March 15 (PTI) — In yet another fatal case of eve-teasing, a 32-year-old woman was allegedly killed after being hit by an auto-rickshaw carrying a bunch of boisterous youths in the city’s Pudupet area yesterday, the police said. Durga, the victim, suffered grievous head injuries when she was knocked down by the vehicle in what, the police said, was not an accident. Six men, all in their early twenties, have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody in this connection. They face charges of murder, molestation and criminal intimidation. The incident was reminiscent of the tragic death of Sarika Shah, a city college student, who died here in July last in similar circumstances. The police said Durga, who was accompanied by two teenaged girls, was accosted by the youths, who were returning after spending the afternoon at the beach and were apparently under the influence of some intoxicant. They wanted the women to tell them their names, and irked by their silence, knocked down Durga, who succumbed to head injury four hours later. State BJP
General-Secretary L. Ganesan, in a statement, demanded
stern action against the culprits, and wanted to know the
status of the Sarika Shah case, in which the suspects
were arrested long ago. It was a disgrace that a second
incident of the type had taken place in the state
capital, he added. |
No damage to ONGC rig NEW DELHI, March 15 — There has been no damage to the about Rs 150 crore rig-Sagar Ratna-owned by the ONGC in the recent fire at one of the gas fields in Mumbai offshore. The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr K.Ramamurthy, told the Lok Sabha in a suo motu statement that the site of the fire, Platform B-121, 140 km west of Mumbai city, comprises a cluster of four free gas producing wells (named B,C,D and F). He said on March 10, repair operations were in progress by the ONGC with its own rig, Sagar Ratna, in well B of the platform in order to control the excess pressure that had been noticed in the well and to rectify sub-surface valves which were malfunctioning. Even while repair work was in progress, a heavy build-up of pressure was observed in another well C and prompt action to control the same was immediately taken up by pumping seawater during the night of March 10 and 11, Mr Ramamurthy said. In the morning of March 11, a similar build-up of high gas pressure accompanied by gushing of high intensity mud and gas was observed in yet another well D. Apprehending a threat, all contingent action was promptly taken in accordance with established international practice of handling offshore emergency. Multipurpose supply vessels with fire-fighting capability were positioned at site. All safety measures were forthwith taken and all the 85 personnel on board platform and rig were evacuated. The uncontrolled flow of gas from the well caught fire on March 12 and fire-fighting operations were taken up immediately as the ONGC had drawn contingency plans. The minister said four multi-purpose support vessels were at present positioned at the site and dousing the fire by spraying about 18,000 cubic metres of water per hour. As of now, there were no apparent damage to the ONGC rig, Sagar Ratna, the crew having been evacuated earlier, Mr Ramamurthy said. He said since the platform where the fire was on produced only sweet gas not containing sulphur, there was no risk to environment and marine life. He said a world-reputed
firm, Cudd Pressure Control of the USA, was contacted and
asked to depute experts urgently to assist the ONGC in
extinguishing the fire and restoring normalcy. The
company was specialised in handling such emergencies
arising out of malfunctioning of wells. Two experts of
the company had already arrived in Mumbai. |
Model for coalition politics NEW DELHI, March 15 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today cited the tie-up of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab as a model for coalition politics. Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha, Mr Vajpayee said the BJP’s tie-up with the SAD was not with a view to coming to power but more for preserving the unity of the state. He admitted that running a coalition government was “tough” and in a democracy it had to be done. He said all major parties at the all-India level have to work with smaller regional parties as regional feelings were linked to grassroot and represented the aspirations of a region. He said it was with this in view that the BJP tied up with the Akali Dal and this model should apply to other regions too. About various allies of the BJP, the Prime Minister said “we are carrying people with whom we had tied up before the elections”. Making a brief reply before the House approved the Motion of Thanks and rejected all amendments proposed by the Opposition members, Mr Vajpayee dwelt at length on the international relations of the country. He said contrary to the suggestions that India would be isolated after it conducted the nuclear tests at Pokhran, the country had been able to face the challenge posed by sanctions and adverse international reaction strongly. Referring to remarks by
certain members during the debate that India’s
relations with SAARC countries were not good, Mr Vajpayee
said the criticism was “unwanted”. |
‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ bags four awards MUMBAI, March 15 (PTI) — Hindi film “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” bagged four awards, including that of the best film, at the Zee Lux Cine awards function here yesterday. Shah Rukh Khan bagged the best actor award for his role in the film, which revolves around a triangular love story, while Kajol got the best actress award for her stellar performance. Karan Johar, the director of the film bagged the best director award. The lifetime achievement awards were presented to veteran actor Shammi Kapoor and melody queen Lata Mangeshkar. Shekhar Kapoor, who had
directed the English film “Elizabeth”, which
has been nominated for Oscars, was honoured with the
special achievement award in a star studded function. |
Lal sworn in as Governor PATNA, March 15 (PTI) — Chief Justice of Patna High Court B.M.Lal was today sworn in as the 24th Governor of Bihar. Acting Chief Justice of the High Court Justice J.N.Dubey administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Lal at a simple but impressive function at Raj Bhavan here. Mr Lal replaced Mr Sunder Singh Bhandari who was transferred to Gujarat as Governor. Later talking to reporters Chief Minister Rabri Devi expressed confidence that the state government would get full cooperation from the Governor. She expressed happiness over shifting of Mr Bhandari, whom she described as “biased, unfair RSS man”. “We had already exerted pressure on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L.K.Advani for removing Mr Bhandari,” she said. Mr Lal is as an expert on
civil and constitutional matters. |
AJMM notice to Centre RANCHI, March 15 (UNI) — The Akhil Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (AJMM) today gave an ultimatum to the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government on the Jharkhand issue, saying that the morcha should not be held responsible for any untoward incident in the region if the Centre failed to ensure the passage of the Bihar State Re-organisation Bill, 1998, during the ongoing Budget session of Parliament. Talking to newspersons here, the AJMM President, Mr Krishna Mardi, and the Secretary-General, Mr Sudhir Mahato, said the party was ready to go to any extent for realising the region’s decades-old demand for statehood. He urged the Centre to take up the matter of the state’s creation in the Budget session or be prepared to face “people’s wrath.” The AJMM has urged all
like-minded parties to mount pressure on the Centre. |
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| Four killed in encounter AGARTALA: Four persons, including a CRPF Assistant Commandant and a senior police officer, were killed in an encounter with militants at Narasimhabari in South Tripura district on Sunday, CRPF sources said on Monday. Militants threw Chinese-made grenades when a joint party of CRPF and police was conducting search operations in the locality under Nutan Bazar police station area to apprehend NLFT militants following a tip-off, Inspector-General of CRPF George C. Podipara said. The Assistant Commandant of CRPF’s 33 battalion Som Prakash and officer in charge of Nutan Bazar police station Sadhan Nandi died on the spot. Constable Jarnail Singh succumbed to his injuries on way to hospital. — PTI Integration of Naga areas 17 treated for
inhaling chlorine Sitting during
‘Vande Mataram’ Govt’s
performance to be reviewed Commissioner’s
transfer flayed Nine RSS-BJP men
held Lovers burnt alive Naxalites kill one |
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