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Tuesday,
October 16, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Change of guard in
Uttaranchal on cards Cong favours quota for forward caste
poor Reinduction of George, Hiren shameful: Sonia
High alert against chemical
arms |
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India, Russia discuss Afghan
situation
Pak envoy meets
Chokila Iyer SC: punish those delaying
trial Child killed, 21 hurt in train
mishap 3 J&K ultras,
2 cops die in UP encounter SC vacates stay on case against Tehelka Jessica case: Bina’s plea rejected Chandigarh boys win
contest Buildings lying unused
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Change of guard in
Uttaranchal on cards Dehra Dun, October 15 Confirming the reports regarding the possibility of a change of guard in the state, sources close to Mr Swami said the Chief Minister received a phone call from a senior BJP leader in New Delhi this morning that he should immediately reach the Capital. The Finance Minister of Uttaranchal, Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, the Speaker of the state Legislative Assembly, Mr Prakash Pant, Member of the Lok Sabha, Mr Bachi Singh Rawat, and the Union Minister of State for Surface Transport, Major-General B.C. Khanduri (retd) are already in the national Capital to hold a meeting with senior party leaders on the current political situation in the state. There are reports that the issue of change of guard in the state is also likely to be raised at the meeting of the National Council of the BJP scheduled for October 21 and the National Working Committee meetings on November 3 and 4 at Amritsar. An urgent meeting of the state-unit of the BJP has also been convened on Tuesday to discuss the issue. Mr Swami is unlikely to attend the meeting on the state unit of the party. The talk of the day in the political circles of the state capital was that the party high command had almost made up its mind to replace Mr Swami by Major-General Khanduri (retd). Earlier, Mr Advani discussed the current political situation in the state with Major-General Khanduri (retd) and Mr Swami, separately, last week. But a decision was kept pending due to change of guard in Gujarat and the Agra convention of the youth wing of the BJP. The BJP high command has received a number of complaints from party workers and senior RSS workers that Mr Swami is losing popularity among the masses. The BJP is in a do-or-die situation in the current political situation as the panchayat elections are likely to be held in mid-November. Moreover, the Election Commissions has almost completed the process of delimitation of Assembly constituencies and a notification is likely to be issued by the end of November. The commission has already heard complaints on the proposed draft of the delimitation of constituencies. |
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Cong favours quota for forward caste
poor Lucknow, October 15 Addressing ‘Maharally’ of the Congress at Lucknow today, Congress President Sonia Gandhi made an effort to revive the traditional support base of the party in Uttar Pradesh which is facing elections in the next few months. “The Congress will never tolerate
atrocities on weaker sections. It was the Congress which had made a provision of reservations in the Constitution,” Mrs Gandhi said in an apparent rebuff to the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh which is trying to extend benefits of quota to the “Most Backward Classes” in the state. Hitting out at the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, Mrs Gandhi, however, did not target the Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party in her address laced with Hindi couplets. Addressing the big gathering which had assembled at Lucknow at the culmination of six ‘Parivartan Yatras’ of the party, Mrs Gandhi accused the state government of colossal failure on all fronts. Reminding people of the contributions of
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Mrs Gandhi alleged that the BJP-led government was facing one scandal after the other. Asserting that the party was against politics of caste and religion, Mrs Gandhi said only the Congress had people with experience and knowledge who could work for the people’s welfare. Coming to the issue of terrorism, Mrs Gandhi said the Congress had lost its leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, to the menace. “Without directly referring to the US
attacks on Afghanistan, Mrs Gandhi said while the party wanted terrorism to end, it should be ensured that innocents were not targetted. The rally was
addressed by senior Congress leaders including Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad and UP Congress chief S P Jaiswal. Congress supporters from all over the state had come for the rally which, they said, would go a long way in boosting the party’s chances in the coming Assembly elections. |
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Reinduction of George, Hiren shameful: Sonia New Delhi, October 15 Talking to TNS while returning from the ‘maharally’ of the Congress at Lucknow, she said that the government had nullified the relevance of the judicial probe into the Tehelka expose. “I do not normally use strong words but the way government has acted it is really shameful,’’ Mrs Gandhi said. “How is the Venkatswami Commission going to get evidence against Mr Fernandes from the Defence Ministry which he is again heading now,’’ Mrs Gandhi asked. Asserting that the Congress would take the issue to the people, Mrs Gandhi said that the re-induction of Mr Fernandes was aimed at putting pressure on the commission. She said that defence of the country had been entrusted in the hands of persons who were facing serious charges of corruption. “This is a fraud on the nation and it is shameful,’’ Mrs Gandhi said. Asked when she would appoint the Deputy Leader of the party in Lok Sabha to replace of Madhavrao Scindia, the Congress President said that she was in no hurry. “Since the session begins only in late November, I am not in a hurry,’’ she said. To a question about changes in the office-bearers of the AICC, Mrs Gandhi said that no such change was being contemplated for the time being. “However, such changes can be made at a later date,’’ she added |
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Cheer returns to Samata office New Delhi, October 15 Overjoyed party loyalists and activists rang up from places as far as Nagaland to convey their felicitations to the party president, Mr V.V. Krishna Rao, who replaced Jaya Jaitley in the wake of the Tehelka scam. Sources in the party said sympathisers of the Samata Party president said Mr Fernandes resigned because he was not able to express his views before Parliament or the public. “He resigned because of the Opposition’s attitude on the floor of the House. The party felt that Mr Fernandes should not have resigned under any circumstances. Mr Fernandes has a special place in our cadres hearts. He is a great social revolutionary and a man of history, ethics and values. The Tehelka scam was a conspiracy to oust Mr Fernandes and weaken the NDA because ideologically and practically, the Samata Party has been a cementing factor for the NDA,” Mr Rao said. Asked whether the reinduction of Mr Fernandes will facilitate the return of Ms Jaya Jaitley as party president, he said: “This is an internal matter. Ms Jaya Jaitley is an executive member of the party.” The Opposition parties have frowned upon the government’s decision to re induct Mr Fernandes. The Samajwadi Party has voiced opposition to the reinduction of Mr Fernandes. |
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Laloo: George blackmailed PM on reinduction Patna, October 15 “George has virtually blackmailed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and the government to secure a ministerial berth again”, Mr Yadav said reacting to Mr George Fernandes's reinduction in the Cabinet. He alleged that Mr Fernandes knew several misdeeds of the
BJP, the RSS and the government and had threatened to expose them. “Such a deceitful tactic compelled the Prime Minister to bring him back in the Cabinet,’’ he said. Mr Yadav also alleged that Mr Fernandes' induction was part of a deal between him and the Prime Minister as the Venkatswami Commission probing into the matter had not absolved him yet.
PTI, UNI |
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High alert against chemical arms New Delhi, October 15 “One can’t predict such attacks”, the country’s top defence chemical warfare scientist, Dr R.V. Swamy, told newspersons, adding that it was the government’s endeavour to be fully prepared and take concrete steps to deal with the situation in the face of cases of anthrax exposure in the USA. In the backdrop of continuing US military strikes on terrorist camps in Afghanistan and possible reactions to it from the Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaida terrorist group, Dr Swamy and a group of top biological warfare experts said the government had prepared a blueprint to deal with such threats. “But now the government has told us to take concrete steps to make the plan workable at the ground level”, Dr Swamy said. At the briefing, the top-level scientist said the terrorists’ threat could come in the shape of attacks using nerve agents, blister agents, toxic and blood agents, besides biological microbes like anthrax. Warning that anthrax was an ideal terrorist tool, the scientists, however, assured the public that the exposure which could spread through skin aberrations, injections and inhalers was a treatable disease, with country possessing enough stocks of antibiotics to meet with the threat.
PTI |
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India, Russia discuss Afghan
situation New Delhi, October 15 This issue dominated the talks the visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, who arrived here on a three-day visit last night, had today with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, well-placed sources said. Mr Klebanov went on record saying that Russia was having “closest contacts with India”. The Indo-Iranian strategic dialogue would begin tomorrow where also the Afghanistan issue was on top of the agenda, sources said. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsen Aminzadeah, who arrived here this evening, would hold talks with Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer tomorrow, specifically to discuss the Afghanistan situation. Mr Aminzadeh and Ms Iyer today held a review meeting on the India-Iran Joint Commission. Though there had been no direct talks between Russia and Iran on the Afghanistan issue here in New Delhi, sources said the talks were virtually triangular in nature as India was keeping both countries informed of what the either side was talking to it. The Shia-dominated Iran and Russia, which has pockets of turbulence because of Muslim fundamentalists, have a convergence of interests in supporting the Northern Alliance which has been fighting a bloody war against the ruling Taliban for the past five years. Because of the Northern Alliance’s ideological proximity to Russia and Iran, the USA has been wary of giving total support to it against the Taliban. The Afghanistan issue is to come under focus on yet another front involving India tomorrow when US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives here for a one-day visit after completing his Pakistan visit. Apart from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr Powell would also be calling on Union Ministers Jaswant Singh, L.K. Advani and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi. |
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Pak envoy meets Chokila Iyer New Delhi, October 15 Mr Qazi, who was with the Foreign Secretary for 20 minutes, described the meeting as “routine.’’ “It was a routine meeting,’’ Mr Qazi said. Sources said the latest situation in the region in the aftermath of the US military strikes came up at the meeting. UNI |
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SC: punish those delaying trial New Delhi, October 15 “As and when delay is found to have been caused during the investigation, inquiry or trial, the authorities concerned are under an obligation to find out and deal with the persons responsible for such delays,” a Bench comprising Mr Justice M.B. Shah and Mr Justice R.P. Sethi said in a recent judgement. This ruling came in a case where a Ranchi Executive Engineer M.L. Das accused of possessing disproportionate wealth to the tune of Rs 50,000, was kept hanging for 13 years as the prosecution failed to get sanction from appropriate authority. Rebuking the prosecution for the delay, Mr Justice Sethi, writing the judgement for the Bench, said in cases of corruption the amount involved was not material but speedy justice was the mandate of the Constitution being in the interests of the accused as well as that of society. “The delay can be attributed either to the connivance of the authorities with the accused or used as a lever to pressurise and harass the accused as is alleged to have been done to the appellant in the case,” it said. The appellant contended that due to the registration of the case, he did not get his promotion and his family members have avoided him. Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, the apex court quashed the proceedings against Das, saying that permitting further prosecution would be the traversity of justice.
PTI |
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Child killed, 21 hurt in train
mishap New Delhi, October 15 A Railway spokesman in Jaipur said the derailment of the Delhi-Jodhpur train, that occurred at 6.30 a.m., disrupted rail traffic on the Phulera-Merta section, leading to the cancellation of five trains and the diversion of as many. Official sources here said Shambu Ram, who received grievous injuries, died in Makrana Civil Hospital while two passengers from Ghaziabad — Ranjit and Suja Ram — and driver Jaidev have been admitted to the same hospital for treatment. Ex gratia is being arranged for the family of the dead boy. Senior railway officials from Jodhpur Railway division have reached the spot along with a medical and relief train. A relief train that was sent from Jaipur has already started operations. The Northern Railway has set up an enquiry booth to provide information about the incident at the Old Delhi Railway Station, with phone number 3967332. A similar cell has been set up in New Delhi station with the number 3344128.
UNI |
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3 J&K ultras, 2 cops die in UP encounter Lucknow, October 15 According to state police headquarters here, the encounter took place when the police intercepted a Maruti van near the Tirathpur crossing and questioned those inside the vehicle, who instead opened fire killing a sub-inspector and a constable on the spot. In the ensuing exchange of fire between the police and the criminals, three militants were killed while the other two, identified as Muslim and Preetam, escaped. Later, however, one of them was arrested along with the vehicle. The police seized a Mauser revolver, a semi-automatic pistol, a country-made pistol and a diary containing addresses of some politicians from them. The two killed were
identified as Zahir and Abdul while the third was yet to be identified. Senior police officials have rushed to the spot and further investigations were on.
UNI |
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SC vacates stay on case against Tehelka New Delhi, October 15 However, a Bench comprising Mr Justice V.N. Kirpal and Mr Justice Ashok Bhan said “in case the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate decides to issue summons, the same shall remain suspended.” This order was passed by the Bench after counsel for the portal, Mr Kapil Sibal, said the trial court had not taken cognisance of the case and summons were not issued. Tehelka had filed a petition in the apex court seeking transfer of the case from Bangalore to Delhi. The Supreme Court on September 27 had stayed the proceedings in the defamation case. Alleging that the filing of the defamation case in Bangalore was a tactic to “harass” the news portal, the news portal’s petition said the case should be transferred to Delhi as both the respondent and petitioner were based in the Capital.
PTI |
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Jessica case:
Bina’s plea rejected New Delhi, October 15 However, the court asked her to file a separate application if she wanted to make any further submission to the court. Ms Ramani made an oral plea before the court of Additional Sessions Judge R. L. Chugh, after defence counsel completed her cross-examination, that she wanted to say something more to the court. The Judge rejected her request saying, “The stage is over” , and ruled that if Ms Ramani wanted to make any statement, she or the prosecution could move an application for “recalling the witness.” Ms Ramani in her testimony on Friday identified Manu Sharma, the prime accused, but told the court that she was not sure whether he had killed Jessica at her restaurant.
UNI |
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Chandigarh boys win
contest New Delhi, October 15 Gagandeep Singh, Atif Zia and Aman Gupta represented the school from the city beautiful. Vidya Mandi School Mylapore, Chennai, bagged the second position in the finals. These two teams will participate in the International SEARCC Software Contest for schools, which will be held in Auckland, New Zealand in November. “This year over 300 schools from all over the country participated in the contest. The local rounds took nearly three months. From the 300 schools, 11 regional teams competed in the national finals,” said chairman of CSI, prof C.R. Muthukrishnan. He said “a mock session along with an online practice session was conducted prior to the final contest. The mega event on Sunday displayed an array of confidence and enthusiasm among the students”. In the final teams from Chennai, Karikudi, Cochin, Bangalore, Baroda and Chandigarh competed and the final was a photo-finish, he added. Mr Pramod Khera, CEO of training and education at Aptech, co-sponsors of the event, said “we are proud of the fact that Indian students have en excellent aptitude for technical skills and use these skills effectively to enter the exciting world of Information Technology.” “CSI-Aptech are jointly sponsoring the teams participating in the international competition which will be held in New Zealand next month,” he added. |
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Buildings lying unused Hanumangarh, October 15 People have put to use iron rods and bricks from partially constructed hostel for working women. The construction was stopped after irregularities were alleged in the construction and the case reached court. A girl’s hostel has being lying unused for the past several years for want of a warden and watchman. Doors and windows of the Mother and Chief Welfare Centre situated near the Government Hospital are no longer there. As many as 20 years old this building has been a dumping ground for waste material of the hospital. About 25 years ago, a rest house comprising six rooms was constructed at the grain market for farmers. The farmers come from outside to sell their produce, however, have to spend nights in the open. The rooms are reportedly opened at election time or to oblige some influential persons. A blood bank and 16 room were constructed in the hospital with public contribution, however, these also reportedly remain locked. A hospital for the blind constructed about six months ago, is awaiting inauguration. |
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45 pc of
population still illiterate Hanumangarh, October 15 Data available has showed that there are 8,32,914 literates out of a total population of 15,17,390. The literacy rate in rural areas has risen to 63.65 per cent from 33.94 per cent in 1991. Increase in literacy rate has also been registered in the urban areas. The present literacy rate in urban areas has increased to 73.82 per cent from 60.09 per cent. |
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