Sunday, November 21, 1999
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Basu still thinks BJP
‘barbaric’ Chhibber’s departure delayed |
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 Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu at a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday. — PTI
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Laloo for referendum on
Vananchal Iranian film bags three awards Police identifies 10 massacre
culprits Mahoba incident was suicide: NCW Army denies report on radar deal Customs man held, CBI case against
17 SC admits pleas in VIP plots case |
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Basu still thinks BJP ‘barbaric’ NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (PTI) — West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu today said he still considered the BJP "uncivilised and barbaric". "Even now I say it (BJP) is uncivilised and barbaric," he said at a press conference here when asked if he still stuck to his remark. Stating that his remarks were not in reference to any individual, he said "what do you say if at the end of 20th century you break up somebody else’s prayer house — Babri mosque... If people with same ideology and close to you politically kill Christians who are 2.5 per cent of the population". Mr Basu recalled that when he had asked Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to tell him what language he should have used, "he (Vajpayee) kept quiet". When Mr Basu was reminded that he had described Union Home Minister L.K. Advani as a "criminal", the Chief Minister said "the language was a little different". When he had told Mr Advani that there was a criminal case against him (Advani), the Home Minister had said "yes, but there is no chargesheet". "I then told him how can there be a chargesheet against a Home Minister," Mr Basu recalled. He asked the Centre to give additional assistance to states to tide over their difficult fiscal position and launch a drive to unearth black money to rein in the fiscal deficit. In a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr Basu said the central government responded to the difficult fiscal position of states only partially through temporary ways and means advances, which had not solved the problem. "Confronted with this urgent problem, we strongly urge upon the central government to provide an additional tranche of market borrowing for the states equivalent to the central loan repayment liability of states for only the remaining five months of the current financial year", Mr Basu said. "We raised many issues including alternative scheme of devolution of taxes and issues related to small savings which have not been resolved for many years", Mr Basu told reporters after the meeting. He said the issues were reiterated now so that they could be addressed before the budget session of both the Centre and the states. West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta, who was also present at the meeting, said a study conducted by national institute of public finance and policy had estimated black money accumulation to the extent of eight per cent of GDP each year. Mr Basu said his government wanted to launch a television channel and sought the central government’s permission, but it was denied on grounds that there was such provision. He, however, said the Andhra Pradesh government is running a TV channel and his government will now seek more information from the AP Government. Among the various issues raised by the state government include revival of the sick Indian Iron and Steel Company Limited (IISCO). Mr Basu, when asked if in his 23-year experience of 23 years as Chief Minister he found any change of attitude in the present central government, Basu said "this I can’t say. Previous governments headed by congress were not good... Except for V.P. Singh or United Front government that lasted for some time". He observed what should have been in a federal system was missing. "But though I am getting old, I am still hopeful,". When asked to comment on
the CPM politburo asking him to continue as Chief
Minister, Mr Basu said "my party has asked me to
carry on my responsibility... I can’t say how long I
will be able to do it. More than age, it is matter of
health". |
Chhibber’s departure delayed NEW DELHI, Nov 20 — Lt-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd) will continue to occupy Punjab Raj Bhavan at least till the middle of next week, thanks to the political crisis in Goa. Punjab’s Governor-designate, Lt-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd) is unlikely to hand over charge to his successor in Goa, former Planning Commission member Mohammed Fazal, while the power struggle, following the split in the ruling Congress party is on in Panaji. Observers feel that it may not be administratively expedient to have a new Governor in position in the Panaji Raj Bhavan till the present crisis blows over. The Congress, which had 26 seats in the 40-member Assembly, has been reduced to a minority with 11 members having formed a separate group under Health Minister Francisco Sardinha. The BJP has 10 seats, the Maharashtra Gomantak Party two and the Nationalist Congress Party one seat while there is one independent. With the confidence vote slated for November 24, Wednesday, it won’t be until late next week that Governor Jacob can pack his bags for Chandigarh to take up his new assignment. The term of Lt-Gen Chhibber as Governor ended on September 17. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at that time lobbied for the appointment of an acting Governor, but the caretaker Government of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee had not favoured the move. After formation of the NDA Government, which has no Akali nominee, the ruling party in Punjab has on several occasions sought a new Governor, as the present incumbent has not been pulling on well with the Government of Mr Parkash Singh Badal. But now, just when
Lt-Gen Chhibber’s successor has been named, there is
a question mark on the possible date of his assuming
office. |
Badal happy at Jacob’s
appointment NEW DELHI, Nov 20 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, said the Centre had consulted him before appointing Lt Gen (retd) JFR Jacob as the new Governor of the state. Mr Badal, who was in the Capital today told TNS this evening that the Prime Minister had talked to him before shifting Gen Jacob. The Chief Minister also called on the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani. Today’s meeting assumes significance as the Prime Minister is keen to induct a Sikh into the Union Cabinet. During the past few days, the Prime Minister and Mr Badal have met twice, the earlier occasion being when he flagged off relief trucks for Orissa. Earlier, in the evening
Mr Parkash Singh Badal visited Punjab Pavilion at the
India International Trade Fair. |
Hurriyat for talks with Centre? NEW DELHI: In a marked departure from their earlier stance, the separatist conglomerate in Jammu and Kashmir is regrouping itself to start a dialogue with the Centre. What lends special significance to this process is that it coincides with the stepped-up attacks by mercenaries on Army camps and takes place in the backdrop of Generals taking over the reins of power in Islamabad. The initiative for starting the ‘process of dialogue’ come from two prominent leaders of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mr Abdul Gani Lone. Significantly, the two leaders opted for dialogue after their sojourn in the USA. While Mirwaiz, Farooq spoke of his desire for a dialogue with the Centre in an interview to a prominent national daily, Mr Lone chose the platform of a seminar, recently held in the Capital to air his views. However, both the leaders qualified their offer for discussions with New Delhi by saying that a solution of the Kashmir issue lay in making Pakistan a party to the final agreement. So far, the separatist leaders had been holding fast to "no direct talks with New Delhi’’ and stressing that the only credible way was to hold tripartite talks with Pakistan as the third party to the dispute. The new stance paves the way for direct talks by separatists with New Delhi, a stand which is now favoured by Kashmiri separatist groups based in Washington. Prominent among them are the Kathwari group, named after a Kashmiri businessman, who had been shuttling between Washington-New Delhi and Srinagar to canvass support for a ‘solution’, which claims to find favour with secessionist groups in Kashmir, but is unacceptable to New Delhi. This, however, does not not mean that officials in New Delhi have turned their faces against initiatives for a dialogue taken by the separatist leaders. On the contrary, informal contracts have been established with the Hurriyat leaders favouring dialogue with a view to strengthening ‘pro-dialogue forces’ whose reach has become wider, with another separatist group coming into being under the leadership of Azam Inqilabi, leader of the now defunct ‘Balakote’ group of terrorists. Mr Inqilabi, who is ‘disillusioned’ with his Pakistani mentors, has been saying that the use of gun had outlived its time and dialogue alone was the way out. Mr Inqilabi received a shot in the arm recently when Awami National Conference leader G.M. Shah and brother-in-law of Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah joined hands with him. Others who have extended support to the two leaders are dissident elements of the Amanullah Khan-led JKLF, which advocates independence for Jammu and Kashmir. The Azam-Shah front
claims that the Hurriyat cannot serve as a common
platform for the separatist forces, especially those who
oppose the use of gun to resolve differences. In opposing
the Hurriyat leaders, especially the fundamentalist
section of it led by Jamaat-i-Islami leader Syed Ali Shah
Geelani, the Azam-Shah combine also enjoys the support of
Mr Shabir Shah’s Democratic Party and several other
pro-independence elements amongst the militants, who have
either become defunct or withdrawn from the movement, as
they put it, to stress their separate identity. |
Laloo for referendum on Vananchal PATNA, Nov 20 (UNI) — RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav today demanded the holding of a "referendum’’ in Bihar on the creation of Vananchal state. "The Centre has no right to divide the state for their vested political interest,’’ Mr Yadav told newsmen here, adding that it would only add to the miseries of the people of the rest of the state. "The tribals are also being misled by these politicians on the issue,’’ he added. He announced that the party would gherao Parliament, launch a 15 million signature campaign and call a Bihar bandh against the conspiracy of the Central Government for constituting the so-called Vananchal state comprising 18 districts of south Bihar. The date for the programmes would be decided at the party’s two-day meeting at Rajgir from November 26. He also asked the people of the state to ask their MPs to make their views clear on the issue. Mr Yadav said the Centre was "fooling’’ the people by highlighting the possibility of the central package of Rs 50,000 crore to rest of Bihar in case of the division. How would the Centre give such a huge amount of money, he said. He said it was "unfortunate’’ that the Centre was ignoring the problems faced by the state like talks with Nepal for a high dam there to prevent annual floods and drying up of the Ganga in the state. They are only interested in the division of the state rather than solving the people’s problem. NEW DELHI adds: Agitators demanding creation of separate states of Uttarakhand, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand have threatened to bar the entry of MPs into their constituencies in the three regions if bills for the new states are not passed in the winter session of Parliament. The agitators have also threatened that the people of the three regions would force the MPs to resign from their parliamentary seats for their failure to fulfil their promise of taking an initiative for creation of separate states. A joint meeting of the agitators, held at the site of a dharna currently being staged here to press the demand for early creation of the three states,also decided to hold a joint demonstration for creation of the new states if a bill to this effect is not introduced in the first week of the winter session of Parliament. According to a release issued here by Mr Anand Kumar, president of the Jai Chattisgarh, an organisation fighting for the creation of a separate Chattisgarh state, the joint meeting of agitators expressed concern over the fact that the proposed bills for the three separate states do not figure in the list of bills to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament. This is a clear of
betrayal of the promises made to the people by Prime
Minister A.B.Vajpayee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi
and other BJP and Congress candidates. |
Iranian film bags three awards HYDERABAD, Nov 20 (PTI) — Iranian film "The Cart" directed by Gholam Reze Ramezani bagged the "Golden Elephant" for the best feature film, international critics’ jury and children’s jury awards at the 11th International Children’s Film Festival which concluded here today. Little Swetha received the best child artiste award of Rs 25,000 and "Bronze Elephant" for her role in film "Malli" which was adjudged the best live action feature film directed by Santosh Sivan. Chinese filmmaker Li Hong received the best director award for film "Tutor" while best animation short film prize went to "Raven" who wished to be the most powerful by Mohammed Ali Soleymarzade of Iran. "Soccer story" directed by Paula Machiline from Brazil was nominated for the best live action short film award. Iranian film "The Little Man" directed by Ebrahim Forouzesh won the best film in the Asian panorama section. The best feature film award consists of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 in other categories. Andhra Pradesh Governor Dr C. Rangarajan presented the awards at a glittering function attended by the state Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Minister of State for Rural Development B. Dattreya, Children’s Film Society, chairperson Sai Paranjpayi and many prominent film personalities from the country and abroad. Best non-fiction short film award went to "A Moment", directed by Klaus Kjeldsen of Denmark while "Innocent Angels" directed by Goto Toshio of Japan received the special jury prize. At least 105 films were exhibited during the one-week festival. Sai Paranjpai described
the festival as a great success. |
Police identifies 10 massacre culprits DALTONGANG (Bihar), Nov 20 (PTI) — The police have identified 10 of those involved in Tuesday night’s, massacre of 12 members of a family of a particular community in Loto village of Palamau district and efforts were on to arrest them, Superintendent of Police N K Azad said today. Sniffer dogs are being brought in to track down the killers, Mr Azad told reporters here adding a police picket was being set up near the carnage site to maintain a close watch on the movement of extremists. He said the in charge of Chhatrapur police station under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, had been removed for dereliction of duty. A police team, headed by an inspector, which is investigating the gruesome murder of two men, three women and seven children, had been asked to complete the probe at the earliest, Mr Azad said. Meanwhile, the Peoples War group today denied involvement in the massacre of 12 members of a minority family in Palamau district on Tuesday and vowed to find out the real killers. In an open letter, the
extremist outfit said it did not believe in killing
innocent women and children and would find the culprits
involved in the massacre. |
Mahoba incident was suicide: NCW NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (PTI, UNI) — A committee, headed by a former High Court Chief Justice, today described the highly controversial death of a woman in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh last week as a case of "suicide" and came down heavily on media for publicising the incident as "sati". Former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Tewatia, who headed the four-member committee set up by the National Commission for Women (NCW), observed that there was no outside pressure on Charan Shah to "kill herself in the manner she chose to commit suicide." "No rituals or ceremony connected with the observance of sati were performed by the family before Charan decided to end her life without giving even a hint of her intention to do so," the committee, which included two members of the NCW, told reporters. Justice Tewatia said the committee visited the place for two days and met a cross-section of people in the village. "If the family had any knowledge of her intention of performing sati, it would not have cremated her husband at the reserved cremation site and instead chosen another spot where construction of a memorial would have been possible later," the members said. "Since it was an act in which the wife had burnt herself on the funeral pyre of her husband even though in a fit of depression and without observing any customs or rules of sati, word went around that sati had been committed," the committee members said. It added "After the incident curious villagers from neighbouring areas thronged the site in large numbers on the first day when the police had not even been informed of the incident." Appreciating the role of
administration after the incident, the committee said
"The district administration acted with due despatch
and understood the gravity of the situation and took all
precautionary measures well in time to prevent any
glorification of the incident." |
Army denies report on radar deal NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (UNI) — The Army headquarters today denied media reports about the purchase of a French radar system and the Russian laser shells describing these (reports) as "false" and "totally baseless." A statement issued here said it had been confirmed by the Army HQ that no battlefield surveillance radar (BFSR) had been purchased from a French company, Thomson CSF, as alleged. It also denied that any contract had been finalised on Russian laser shells without successful trials in mountains and with the involvement of middlemen. Army sources however, said talks were going on with Israel for the purchase of the BFSR. So far no orders had been issued. About the Russian laser shells the sources clarified that the shells were never meant for use in high altitude areas as indicated in the reports. "These can only be used up to 6000 ft.’’ The reports had said the
Indian Army was insisting on buying the BFSR for the
artillery and the radar for infantry from the company for
about Rs 30 crore despite having acquired similar Israeli
equipment recently. |
Customs man held, CBI case against 17 NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (PTI) — The anti-corruption branch of the CBI has arrested a Customs appraiser and registered a case against 17 other officials after a surprise check carried out at the air cargo complex of Sahar International Airport in Mumbai. The agency conducted the check following information that the Customs appraisers working in the air cargo were allegedly collecting illegal gratification from importers and exporters. During the simultaneous search on the personal belongings of 20 appraisers the agency recovered over Rs 1.82 lakh in cash, it said. CBI officials recovered cash in excess of Rs 30 lakh and investments in properties from two Customs appraisers in Mumbai. 17 Customs officials, including an Assistant Commissioner and a Superintendent, were covered on Thursday and unexplained cash amounts ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 25,000 recovered from their table drawers. One Customs official
allegedly threw the money out of the window on seeing the
sleuths, the sources said. |
SC admits pleas in VIP plots case NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (PTI) — The Supreme Court has admitted two petitions challenging allotment of a large number of plots by West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu to VIPs from his quota allegedly in violation of norms and regulations at the Salt Lake area in Calcutta but refused to order status quo. A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice S.P. Bharucha and Mr Justice S.S.M. Quadri admitted the petitions filed by Tarak Singh and Dipak Kumar Ghosh but refused to pass any order regarding maintenance of status quo at these plots. Counsel Prashant Bhushan pleaded that if the court did not grant status quo the allottees would start construction and later plead that they should not be evicted as they had spent a lot of money in constructing houses. The Bench said these issues would be decided during the final hearing. The Supreme Court had on May 10 issued notices to West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, the state government, state Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya, former Urban Development Ministers Budhadev Bhattacharya, Ashim Dasgupta, Prasanta Sur and Chairman of Salt Lake Municipality. The petitioners, who had challenged the Calcutta High Court order, submitted that the high court had observed while dealing with the case that Mr Basu did not follow any norm or guidelines while allotting plots from his discretionary quota. Among the beneficiaries
of discretionary allotment were close relatives, friends
and personal staff of Mr Basu, ministers,
parliamentarians, legislators, judges, bureaucrats and
husband of Suravi Banerjee, the writer of the only
"authorised biography" of Mr Basu. |
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| Man beats daughter to
death MUMBAI: A 68-year-old man was arrested for allegedly beating his daughter to death for her "immoral" behaviour at Goregaon in north-west Mumbai on Friday, the police said. According to the police, the body of Yamu Thakre (32) was recovered from Aarey Milk Colony on Wednesday. A post-mortem report of the body revealed that the deceased had suffered from brain haemorrhage. Investigations revealed that Thakre, who had lost her husband three years ago, was a chronic alcoholic. The accused, Pandu Shinde, disgusted with his daughter’s wayward behaviour and her illicit relations, had severely beaten her up. — PTI Indian scientist honoured 6 of family
commit suicide Gun-making
factory found Port security
forum on anvil 400 kg mandrax
incinerated ‘Free’
Hurriyat leaders |
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