Monday, November 1, 1999
|
N A T I O N |
|
weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
 |
 |
|
|
DMK
pleads mercy for Rajiv killers Centre to review security to Sonia |
|
||||||
|
Expedite despatch of
Bofors papers: India JD (U) to contest Bellary seat Tanwar case: CBI
‘shielding’ culprits
TV, fridge, tobacco dearer in UP "Treat state civil services
on par with IAS" VHP ‘not against’
Pope’s visit Book on Zoji La battle |
||||||
  |
|||||||
DMK pleads mercy for Rajiv killers CHENNAI, Oct 31 (UNI) — Even as the four condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case were all set to seek mercy from President K.R. Narayanan for the commutation of their death sentence into life term, leaders of the constituents of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were sharply divided over the issue. While the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a champion of Sri Lankan Tamils, were pleading for clemency, the BJP, heading the NDA, and the Thamizhaga Rajiv Congress (TRC) were against it. DMK President and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi was the first among the NDA leaders to express his view on the death penalty on the four accused — Nalini, a local Tamil woman, her husband Sriharan alias Murugan, Santhan (both LTTE militants) and Perarivalan, a local Tamil youth. A couple of days prior to the state Governor, Ms Justice M. Fathima Beevi, rejected the mercy petitions of the accused, Mr Karunanidhi had expressed himself against the black warrant. Life-term would always help the criminals reform themselves, he felt. The issue assumed a new dimension when PMK General-Secretary and Union Minister of State for Petroleum E. Ponnusamy said the party had forwarded to the President, the mercy petitions given to it by the families of the accused. However, BJP General-Secretary M. Venkaiah Naidu has vehemently opposed clemency to the accused. Those responsible for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, should be punished for their heinous crime, he had said yesterday. BJP state General-Secretary L. Ganesan had also opposed clemency to the accused. Even as the PMK was reportedly planning to launch a signature campaign among MPs in favour of clemency, the Marumalarchi DMK (MDMK), another staunch supporter of the LTTE was maintaining a silence on the issue. Meanwhile, TRC President and former Union Minister Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthy sought an explanation from the PMK whether it had just forwarded the mercy petitions to the President or it had sent them with its recommendations. In a statement released in Delhi, a copy of which was made available to the Press here, he demanded that the PMK make public the contents of its forwarding letter or its recommendations. Meanwhile, Mr Chandrasekar, counsel for the accused told UNI that the accused were likely to file their mercy petitions to the President on November 3. "We are not in a hurry as there are seven working days’ time after the Governor rejected the petitions", he added. Meanwhile the Akali Dal (Mann) and six civil and human rights organisations have appealed to President K.R. Narayanan to grant clemency to the four accused, on the plea that capital punishment was violative of human rights as well as dignity and sanctity of human life, a report from Delhi said. Akali Dal President Simranjit Singh Mann said in a statement that the capital punishment be commuted into life imprisonment as death penalty was not deterrent to the commitment of crime and amounted to a revengeful act on behalf of the state. In another development a senior advocate has filed a mercy petition before the President requesting him to use his constitutional powers to commute their death sentences. Highlighting the case of the lone woman prisoner Nalini, advocate B.L. Wadhera in his mercy petition said even one of the judges of the three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court, which confirmed their death sentences, had commuted the capital punishment awarded to her to life imprisonment. Coming to the Supreme
Court judgement confirming the death sentence on the four
and even rejecting their review petitions, Mr Wadhera
said the criteria for determination whether a case fell
within the rarest of rare category had not been evolved
though several judgements dealt with the issue. |
Centre to review security to
Sonia NEW DELHI, Oct 31 — The Centre will soon have to decide whether or not to extend the SPG security cover to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, which is due to expire on November 30. As the widow of former Prime Minister, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her family were provided the SPG cover in 1991 after the original 1985 Act was amended to provide the elite security service to former Prime Ministers and their immediate families for a period of 10 years after demitting office. According to informed sources, the Union Cabinet has to take a decision based on latest inputs from various intelligence agencies on the threat perception to Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her family. Earlier this year, the Congress had raised the issue of increased threat to her life and a delegation of senior leaders had called on the Union Home Minister, urging him to take adequate steps for her protection. Consequently, several steps were initiated and the security apparatus around her was tightened with the protectee being made aware of the threat perception. Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her children were provided with the SPG cover after an amendment in 1991 during the tenure of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi demitted office on November 30, 1989, and as per the statutory provisions of the Act her entitlement to SPG protection was to expire exactly 10 years later. The SPG was raised as an elite and specialised force for the protection of the Prime Minister in 1985. Need for such a force was felt in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards on October 31, 1984. However, on demitting
office the SPG cover ceased as there was no statutory
provision under the Act. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by
a human bomb during an election rally at Sriperumbudur in
Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991. |
Expedite trial in riot cases: Sikh leaders NEW DELHI, Oct 31 (UNI) — Sikh leaders are unhappy that a majority of persons held guilty of the 1984 riots in the capital is yet to be punished even 15 years after the carnage that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. They feel that delayed justice in the killings of innocent Sikhs in the aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi led to further embittered community relations. "Undue delay in the disposal of criminal cases invariably shakes the faith of law-abiding citizens in the effectiveness of the rule of law,’’ noted former central government standing counsel H.S. Phoolka who was also the member-secretary of advisory committee, set up by the Delhi Government to suggest steps to "expeditiously punish the guilty of the November 1984 killings in Delhi.’’ Reaction of former SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra on the ’84 killings was terse. "We have never expected justice from a political set up that nurtures on religious discriminations.’’ Though he directed his ire on the Congress, holding the party squarely responsible for the riots, Mr Tohra, also questioned the Vishwa Hindu Parishad why it was demanding an apology from Pope John Paul II for alleged forcible conversions in Goa 400 years ago when "nobody is ready to tender apology for the November ’84 killings.’’ He also referred to a private Bill, moved by his loyalist Prem Singh Chandumajra, a former MP, in the 12th Lok Sabha seeking apology for the Operation Bluestar and adopting a condolence resolution on the 1984 riots. According to Mr Chandumajra, he later withdrew the Bill on the assurance by the then Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs that the BJP-led government would bring a Bill on this count in the next session. "But that never happened,’’ regretted Mr Chandumajra. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), which actively fought the cases of the riot victims in Delhi, now feels exhausted. Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna said: "We now want the government to officially fix who were behind the killings and why the communal frenzy was whipped up against the minority.’’ According to official figure, 2,733 Sikhs were killed in the first three days of November 1984. Later, in pursuance of the Rajiv-Longowal accord signed in April, 1985, a commission of inquiry headed by then Supreme Court judge Ranganath Misra was appointed by the government to go into the killings of Sikhs in Delhi, Kanpur and Bokaro. According to Mr Phoolka, who was a member with the "Citizens Justice Committee’’ comprising eminent jurists, assigned to prepare a non-official report on the riots, said so far only six guilty had been convicted to life imprisonment. The capital punishment awarded to another accused of the riots, had been commuted to life imprisonment by the apex court. Besides this, cases against around nearly 200 accused were pending in various courts. "Only four politicians were chargesheeted and tried in the riot cases. While Mr Jagdish Tytler has been exonerated by the CBI, former Union Minister H.K.L. Bhagat, and Mr Sajjan Kumar (a former MP) are facing trial in courts,’’ he pointed out. But firebrand Akali leader Simranjit Singh Mann claimed that the Sikhs had been denied justice in the November tragedy. "The political ploy of minority-bashing still continues,’’ he added. Lt-Gen (retd) J.S. Aurora, a former MP and president of the Sikh Forum that pursued the riot victims’ cases, felt that no proper investigations were conducted by the commission or committees into the crimes of loot and rape besides murder. Sikh leader Harinderpal
Singh said none of the 72 police officials found guilty
by the Kusum Mittal committee, for actively participating
in the violence and for negligence of their duty during
the riots, had been punished till date. |
Expedite despatch of Bofors papers: India NEW DELHI, Oct 31 (PTI) — The Indian Government has written to the Swiss Government urging for the early despatch of the last set of documents in the Bofors case. In a communication sent recently through diplomatic channels, the government is believed to have assured the Swiss authorities that the documents being sought would not be used for political purposes and that they would be used only for purposes for which they were being sought. The letter is understood to have told the Swiss Government that the papers would be basically to prosecute those suspected to be involved in bribery and corruption in the gun deal. One of the appellants in the Swiss courts seeking to block the transfer of documents to India had recently appealed to the Swiss Federal Council that the papers should not be sent to India because they would be used for political purposes. Meanwhile, sources said the CBI was preparing to file a supplementary charge sheet in the case against Madhavsinh Solanki, who as External Affairs Minister had allegedly passed on a letter to his Swiss counterpart in the early nineties on behalf of one of the recipients of bribes with the intention of stopping the transfer of documents. However, there has been no charge of Solanki having received any money in return. Recently, the CBI filed a charge sheet in the case which was caught in a high-voltage controversy as the agency had named late Rajiv Gandhi as an accused and put his name in column II of the charge sheet as he was not being sent for trial. After the Congress
kicked up a storm over the issue within and outside
Parliament demanding the deletion of Gandhi’s name,
Home Minister L.K. Advani gave an assurance in the Lok
Sabha that government would do what was appropriate
taking into account what Sonia Gandhi and Congress MP
Mani Shankar Aiyer said in the House. |
Bofors: govt can’t delete Rajiv’s name HYDERABAD, Oct 31 (PTI) — The BJP today said that the government could only advise the prosecutor in the Bofors pay-offs case to delete the name of Rajiv Gandhi from the charge sheet but could not on its own do it. BJP General-Secretary Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here that "the government can only advise the prosecutor of the case to delete Rajiv’s name but cannot scrap the name on its own". He said: "The Congress made a request (for deleting the name) and the government will keep it in view." Mr Naidu said: "Certain issues like the Women’s Reservation Bill, Lokpal, Electoral Reforms and Insurance Regulatory Bills, on which the NDA and the Congress have a common viewpoint, need not be rejected by the Congress in Parliament, the Bofors controversy notwithstanding." Criticising the Congress
stand that it would have to review cooperation to the
government in Parliament unless Rajiv Gandhi’s name
was deleted from the charge sheet, Mr Naidu asserted that
the inclusion of the name was not a matter of political
vendetta but logical conclusion to an inquiry. |
JD (U) to contest Bellary seat NEW DELHI, Oct 31 (UNI) — The Janata Dal (United) has decided to field its candidate for byelection to the Bellary Lok Sabha seat vacated by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The issue figured in yesterday’s steering committee meeting which considered post election scenario Former Delhi Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj, who contested against Mrs Sonia Gandhi in Congress’ own bastion, has declined to contest in the by-election. The JD (U) sources said though the new Congress Government in Karnataka had come out with a ‘special package’ for Bellary to be implemented in three years, it was nothing but compendium of projects cleared by the J.D. Government headed by Mr J.H. Patel. Party sources said Mr Kondaiah, who vacated the seat for Mrs Sonia Gandhi was no longer keen to contest and was hoping for a party nomination to the Rajya Sabha leaving the party to find a new candidate in the backward caste dominated constituency. Political situation in Karnataka has changed and the alliance between the JD (U) and the BJP before elections in Bellary no longer exists with both parties publicly pronouncing to go it alone notwithstanding the wishes of their national parties who are both partners in the national democratic alliance. The sources said the
choice for the candidate has narrowed down to two
partymen Mr M.P. Prakash, a member of the JD (U) steering
committee and former Rural Development Minister and Mr N.
Thippanna, who was the cover candidate for Mrs Swaraj in
the last election. The final choice is expected to be
made only after consulting two former Chief Ministers
Ramakrishna Hegde and J.H. Patel. |
Tanwar case: CBI ‘shielding’ culprits NEW DELHI, Oct 31 (PTI) — A city-based lawyer, who had filed a public interest petition (PIL) in the Delhi High Court seeking a thorough probe into the Tanwar murder case, has accused the CBI of making deliberate attempts to "destroy evidence and shield the culprits." In his written objections to the CBI closure report before city Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) R K Gauba, advocate S N Pandey alleged that the CBI had ignored certain important leads that could have resulted in cracking the case. Mr Gauba has taken Mr Pandey’s objections on record and asked the CBI to file its reply by next date of hearing on November 25. The objections were filed by Mr Pandey, president of All-India Young Lawyers Association (AIYLA), after the high court asked him to approach the trial court if he wanted to contest the CBI report seeking to close the probe into the case. In its report filed before the CMM on September 1, the CBI had recommended closure of the probe saying it could not achieve any breakthrough and no worthwhile information was received by it from any quarter despite announcing a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh. Dr Surinder Tanwar, a personal consultant to former Congress President Sitaram Kesri, who often used to visit the latter for medical check-up, had vanished on October 28, 1993 after dropping his wife at her office here. Severed parts of his body were recovered from the staircase of a Laxminagar house of his hospital employee on the next day. Mr Pandey has requested the court to reject the CBI closure report and order a fresh probe into the case. He said when the family members of Tanwar were busy looking for him, and a missing report was lodged by his wife, Vijay Mehra of the Petroleum Ministry informed the police that he had come to know from the private secretary of Mr Sitaram Kesri that the doctor had been murdered. He objected to the police and CBI "very innocently believing Mr Kesri’s statement that Tanwar was one of his doctors who used to treat him for heart ailment and that his relation with Tanwar was confined to that of a doctor and a patient". "Could Mr Kesri show to the police any of the prescription slips which the deceased could possibly write for his so-called heart ailment?" Mr Pandey asked. The police "made
only half-hearted attempts" to interrogate Sushil
Sharma, the prime accused in the Naina Sahni murder case,
who was in 1993 Youth Congress General Secretary and a
close confidant of Mr Kesri and also knew Tanwar and his
wife, Pandey claimed. |
IAF daredevils rescue 16 foreign trekkers NEW DELHI, Oct 31 (PTI) —Daredevils of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have done it once again. After touching the sky with glory during the high altitude Kargil operation, the flying sentinel made history by rescuing 16 trapped foreign mountaineers from an altitude of about 15,000 feet in the Bhutan Himalayas on a single Cheetah Helicopter. On October 22, the Royal Government of Bhutan sent an SOS to the Indian mission in Thimpu seeking help to rescue 16 trekkers including 11 Americans, two Britons, two Canadians and a non-resident Indian, who were trapped in the Lingshimakang area of West Bhutan due to excessive snowing. The daunting task was assigned to 144 SSS Flt based at Bagdogra Air Force station and immediately a Cheetah Helicopter piloted by Sq Ldr Prashant Patange with Flt-Lt A Mishra as co-pilot took off for Paro in Bhutan, where the pilots were briefed, Air Force sources said. Mountaineers, trapped at 15,000 feet had run out of food stock and some of them were suffering from high altitude sickness, the sources said, adding a rescue by chopper was the only way to save their lives. To get to the trapped mountaineers, a pass had to be crossed at nearly 17,500 feet and the entire terrain was inhospitable, totally covered by snow — challenges which Daredevils dream of and the IAF takes head on. "An emergency force landing at that altitude and in that terrain would make survival of the crew and passengers close to impossible. The weather also continued to be marginal in the area of rescue," the sources said. Unmindful of the danger to their lives, Patange and Mishra carried out a recce and after locating the group carried out a landing on a small makeshift helipad which was under four feet of snow. Lifting two persons at a time, they carried out a total of eight sorties into the inhospitable terrain to evacuate all 16 trekkers to safety. The mission was not only appreciated by the Royal Government of Bhutan, but all rescued mountaineers. "Had it not been
for you both, we would all have been dead soon,"
were the grateful words of an American woman rescued from
the jaws of death. "Hats off to the Indian Air
Force," added another Canadian. |
TV, fridge, tobacco dearer in UP LUCKNOW, Oct 31 (UNI) — Luxury items like refrigerators, air conditioners, ovens, washing machines and television, besides essential items like sugar and other consumer items such as tobacco and coffee, will be dearer in Uttar Pradesh from tomorrow with the imposition of fresh ‘entry tax’ in the state. The state government yesterday issued a list of 13 items on which "entry tax" had been proposed to be imposed with effect from tomorrow. An ordinance in this regard would be issued today with an immediate aim to mop up additional revenue to the extent of Rs 500 crore per annum, Finance Principal Secretary Sushil Chandra Tripathi told reporters here yesterday. Describing the financial position of the state as "very grave", he said some immediate measures were required to improve the situation. The steps included some long term measures like restructuring of some revenue-earning departments, he pointed out. The list of items on which entry tax has been proposed include crude oil, natural gas, tobacco and its products, unstitched cloth priced at more than Rs 50 per meter, machines costing more than Rs 10 lakh, Indian made foreign liquor, all vehicles except tractors, all kinds of chemicals, nylon and polyester yarn, aluminium and luxury items like air conditioners, refrigerators, televisions, washing machines and ovens. Mr Tripathi said entry tax would be imposed on inter-district sale of these goods and a district would be treated as a unit to assess tax. The proposed tax at two to five per cent would be in addition to the existing trade tax. He said there was a
monthly expenditure of Rs 2050 crore on the salaries of
employees and repayment of debts as against the receipt
of Rs 1600 crore in the form of revenue and the
state’s share from the central government. |
"Treat state civil services on
par with IAS" NEW DELHI, Oct 31 — The All-India Federation of State Civil/Administrative Service Association today demanded that the Centre should declare state civil services as an independent service parallel to the Indian Administrative Service. The federation at its 13th annual convention here, decided that as per the demand all posts in civil services be vertically divided in equal ratio between the state civil services and the IAS. The Vice President of the federation, Mr B.M. Nanta, said in a release that till the time the Centre conceded the demand for a parallel service, the promotion quota from state civil service to the IAS be raised from present 33.1/3 per cent to 50 per cent and the age bar of 54 years for induction into the all India service from State civil service be removed. Another demand put forward by the federation was to have uniform recruitment procedure, pay structure, service conditions and promotional avenues for all State civil services and the setting up of a commission on the lines of the National Judicial Pay Commission immediately. It also took note of the
induction of non-state civil service officers into the
IAS and demanded the abolition of the rule which enabled
such appointments. |
Book on Zoji La battle NEW DELHI, Oct 31 — The Chief of Army Staff, Gen V.P. Malik, released a book on the epic battle of Zoji La here today. Written by Mr Serbjeet Singh, the book has been produced by the Directorate-General of Mechanised Forces. The function organised
on the eve of the 52nd anniversary of the epic battle was
attended by former veterans of the Zoji La battle,
including Lt-Gen K.P. Candeth (retd), Maj-Gen A.S.
Pathania (retd) Maj-Gen Virender Singh (retd), and Col
J.H. Chhibber (retd). Former Foreign Secretary T.N. Kaul
was also president. |
VHP ‘not against’ Pope’s visit AURANGABAD, Oct 31 (PTI) — The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today said that it was not against the visit of Pope John Paul-II to India as a state guest but it was against the policies of the churches. "The Pope is a state guest and we welcome him. We are not against him or Christians. But we are against the policies of the churches", VHP Vice-President Acharya Giriraj Kishore told reporters here. "The Pope should declare that his visit is not for the spread of Christianity in India", the VHP leader said. Referring to reports in a section of the media about his recent statement on the Pope, Mr Kishore said: "I had not mentioned the Pope as a bandit at Patna press conference. The Press misquoted me". THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Senior
CPI leader Veliyam Bhargavan on Sunday accused Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee of supporting the VHP
campaign against the proposed visit of the Pope, by being
silent on the developments. |
| H |
|
||
| Major fire in Calcutta
market CALCUTTA: A major fire broke out on Sunday at Tiretta Bazaar in central Calcutta, fire brigade sources said here. Dozens of fire-engines were pressed into service and fire personnel were battling to douse the flames, they said, adding the cause of the fire was yet to be known. — PTI Karnad, Karanth team up 7 Armymen die in
mishap Freedom fighter
dead Directory on
health 4 kids burnt
alive |
 |
 |
| Punjab
| Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
