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Vittal’s list of IAS/IPS NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The list of IAS and IPS officials against whom Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) ........more BJP
mouthpiece attacks President From B L Kak PoK
Govt. sets aside Rs 50 crores for terrorism From B L Kak SC stays discharge NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The Supreme Court has stayed the Karnataka High Court order quashing charges.....more |
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Mainstream Hindi films NEW DELHI, Feb 20: For Hindi commercial cinema, the 46th National Film Awards given earlier this week came............more Campaigning for
Demand for sub-quota NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The National Commission for Women (NCW) does not support the demand.....more Gehlot for more JAIPUR, Feb 20: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asked the officers of finance.....more |
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Vittal’s list of IAS/IPS officials swells to 107 NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The list of IAS and IPS officials against whom Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has recommended action on charges of corruption has swelled to 107 with 16 more names being added to its website. Central Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal, who is in the thick of a controversy over his decision to refer to CBI the alleged income tax violations by some of the politicians linked with Hawala case, has added 16 names to the list. The Commission had earlier made public names of 91 senior officials against whom it has advised that proceedings be initiated for their actions since January 1990, giving the nature of recommendations as well as the date and the status of these cases. The list shows the Commission is awaiting information on the outcome of most of these cases while in some sanction for prosecution has been accorded by the Government. Earlier this week, the CVC had put on its website names of 77 Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officials against whom it has recommended criminal proceedings or imposition of a major penalty for alleged acts of corruption. Of these IRS officials who belong to Customs, Central Excise and Income Tax, the CVC has recommended launching of criminal proceedings against 10 and imposition of major penalties against 67. Controversy erupted last month when the Commission put on its website names of senior bureaucrats including some in the rank of secretary against whom it had recommended criminal or departmental proceedings on corruption charges. Meanwhile, the Commission has set up a panel of 71 retired officers for conducting departmental inquiries against Government officials facing corruption charges. (PTI) |
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BJP mouthpiece
attacks President From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has injected a new element into the tangled skein of Kashmir politics, with the demand that the Constitution Review Commission should re-examine the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which confers a special status on Jammu and Kashmir. That the VHP is vehemently opposed to the continuance of this Article has become amply clear with the pronouncement by the party chief, Mr Vishnu Hari Dalmia that in view of the Article being a temporary provision, "there is no meaning in retaining it". "Article 370 is for the time being. It was a temporary provision with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir", he reiterated and asked: "How could it be the permanent provision?" Mr Dalmia lambasted the J&K Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, for sending out wrong signals from time to time on Kashmir’s relationship with the Indian Union. Dr Abdullah, he said, seemed to be in favour of the provision "because he, like his father(Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah), wants to become ‘maharaja’ of Jammu and Kashmir". Mr Dalmia also demanded that the Constitution Review Commission should re-examine the Uniform Civil Code. When his attention was drawn to the National Democratic Alliance’s election manifesto which has kept aside Article 370 and Uniform Civil code issues despite being part of the BJPs’ agenda, Mr Dalmia reiterated that the newly-formed commission must review them. After shadow boxing with President, Mr KR Narayanan, over the issue of Constitution review, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) used its mouthpiece, BJP Today, to not only launch an open attack on the country’s first citizen, but also cast aspersions on his integrity. In a scathing article in the latest issue of the party organ penned by Vidur, the BJP referred to the Presidential address to Parliament on January 27 and said that Mr Narayanan went out of his way to exhort the gathering to desist from reviewing the Constitution. The article says that the President’s exhortation appeared like a descent into politics. Moreover, in the light of what he told the nation on Doordarshan as well as the Akashvani on the Republic Day eve, the President implicitly condemned the Congress, especially when he said that the Constitution "has not failed us but we had failed the Constitution". Referring to the way in which the Congress went ahead with its liberalisation agenda "without even the courtesy of a consultation, with either its legislators or the people of India", the article asks why was the Congress so stubbornly against a review of the Constitution. The obvious answer, according to Vidur, is that the party is afraid that a review might lead to persons of foreign origin not being allowed to hold high offices. Continuing its attack on Mr Narayanan, the article says that his track record is "significant". "Go back to April 1999 when the AIADMK withdrew its support to the Vajpayee Government. It was then a budget session and several important finance-related Bills had to be passed, if the Government had lost the confidence of the Lok Sabha, it would have fallen spontaneously. However, the Rashtrapati was impatient and asked Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee to immediately seek a vote of confidence. This gave the Opposition an opporunity to criticise, try and condemn the Government". Levelling a serious allegation against the President, the article further says that it was evident that the lamp of the Congress was evidently still burning in his heart at that stage. The article goes on to say: "May we remind the President that the NDA led by the BJP entered the general election of 1999 with a manifesto which included a review of the Constitution". |
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PoK Govt. sets aside
Rs 50 crores for terrorism From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Feb 20: India’s Foreign Office has received an unambiguous message from Washington, making it clear that the United States has no plans to reject the military regime of Pakistan. The message has, in fact, referred to the "warning" from a section of the US administration that if Mr Bill Clinton avoided visiting Pakistan next month, it would only undercut American influence and encourage Islamic radicals in the region. At a time when the US President is engaged in the task of weighing the pros and cons of including a stepover in Pakistan in his South Asia tour in March, Pakistan lobbyists in the United States have, in a communication to Mr Clinton, recalled that former US President, Mr Jimmy Carter’s decision to bypass Pakistan during his 1978 trip to the region encouraged the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan. After her meeting with Mr Clinton, Pakistan’s envoy in Washington, Ms Maliha Lodhi, referred to two possibilities-one, of the US President’s inclination to make the trip to Pakistan, and, two, of Washington’s plan to do business with Pakistan’s ruling establishment headed by Gen. Parvez Musharraf. Ms Maliha Lodhi presented her credentials at the White House when Washington was making the necessary loud noises over the importance of democracy in Pakistan. Pakistan lobbyists are not perturbed in this connection, considering the fact that never in the past has Washington shown any particular hesitation in doing business with military regimes. Relations between the US and Pakistan were strongest during the era of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq when Washington and Islamabad worked in tandem to end the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. There is always the perennial theme of US’ Pakistan policy devoted to furthering its interests in the region, especially in relation to West Asia earlier, and Central Asian Republic now. In the US State Department’s assessment, keeping Pakistan "engaged" and protecting American interests go hand in hand. Competent political analysts argue that instead of getting worked up over a visit by the US President to Pakistan, New Delhi should train its diplomatic skills in convincing Mr Bill Clinton that cross-border terrorism, Pakistan’s multi-dimensional support to anti-Indian subversion, and the ISI’s sustained programmes to undermine Indian stability and economy is a reality which India is called upon to live with day after day. A Ministerial colleague of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee has suggested: It would be an effective demonstration if the Prime Minister were to gift to the visiting President a few bundles of fake Rs 100 and Rs 500 currency notes being dumped by the ISI into India. The suggestion, interestingly, was floated at a time when classified intelligence inputs revealed that the Government of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) had set aside nearly Rs 50 crores during the year 2000 for terrorist groups, particularly the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba. New Delhi’s officialdom is of the view that the Government’s principled stand that Pakistan must first call off its support to cross-border terrorism and suspend anti-Indian propaganda is in no way linked to the Clinton visit. A top official said in an informal chat with EXCELSIOR that despite the difficulties involved in negotiating with a country which has no belief in bilateralism and which keeps harping on third party mediation over Kashmir, India took several initiatives in the past to mend relations with Pakistan. While Pakistan is getting increasingly frustrated since its attempts to mobilise international pressure on India is evoking a poor response, increased hostility in Pakistan’s anti-India rhetoric is only to be expected. And while India’s policies have to be guided by its own threat perceptions, Indo-US relations will be influenced by shared commonalties, the presence of a million Indian NRIs in the US, the shared commitment to democracy, the undisguised interest of US businessmen in India as a good investment destination, and India’s own strength as a major power. Intelligence reports say that the US President is unlikely to bring relief to India in regard to declaring Pakistan a terrorist-State. And if these reports are any guide, Mr Bill Clinton is not going to force Pakistan to suspend its support to the militants and mercenaries in Kashmir. |
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SC stays discharge of Bangarappa NEW DELHI, Feb 20 : The Supreme Court has stayed the Karnataka High Court order quashing charges framed against former Chief Minister S Bangarappa and directed the trial against him and other accused to proceed in a corruption case. A division bench comprising Justices K T Thomas and M B Shah, while hearing a CBI appeal, said we suspend the High Court Judgement and direct the trial court to proceed with the trial against all the accused. The trial court had on January eight, 1999 ordered framing of charges against Bangarappa and other accused under section 120b of the Indian Penal Code and various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act. However, when Bangarappa and his then Private Secretary R Suri Babu appealed against the framing of charges against them, the High Court had quashed the charges and discharged them from the case. CBI had registered the case in 1996 against Bangarappa and his then private secretary R Suri Babu, on the directions of the apex court, for allegedly taking huge amounts of bribe to grant affiliation to P C Dental and nursing college with the Bangalore University. (PTI) |
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Campaigning for final phase of polling in Bihar ends PATNA, Feb 20: Campaigning for the third and final phase of election for the remaining 108 Assembly segments in Bihar on February 22 ended this afternoon. The electioneering,which started on a dull note at the beginning, gradually gained momentum with almost all senior leaders of respective different spared no pains fanning out to the remotest parts of the state to woo the electorate. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee addressed a string of meetings at Saharsa, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur on the penultimate day yesterday, while AICC president Sonia Gandhi, central ministers L K Advani, Mr Murli Monohar Joshi and Mr Promod Mahajan, BSP leader Kanshi Ram, CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechuri, RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, state Chief Minister Rabri Devi, among others, had already addressed several election meetings. Prominent among the candidates, whose fate would be decided in the last phase, were Bihar People’s Party leader and NDA candidate Lovely Anand (Saharsa), former Union Minister and RJD nominee Taslimuddin (Kishanganj), brother-in-law of Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav and RJD candidate Anirudh Prasad alias Saddhu Yadav (Gopalganj), State Finance Minister Shanker Prasad Tekriwal (Saharsa), State Tourism Minister Ashok Kumar Singh (Sonbarsa), sitting CPI(M) member Madhvi Sarkar along with a host of state ministers. Some candidates with alleged criminal background were also in the fray from the Champaran region most of whom were independents. Altogether 1,98,31,846 voters would exercise their democratic right in 26,847 polling stations under 108 Assembly segments, all in North Bihar. More than 60 per cent of the total booths had been identified as either senstive or hyper-sensitive. About 400 companies of central para-military forces along with the Bihar Military Police, district armed police and homegurds would man the polling stations for ensuring free and fair poll. The Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bangladesh borders had been sealed, while special vigilance would be maintained near the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar and Bihar-West Bengal borders, official sources said. According to State Election Office sources here, altogether 1326 candidates were in the fray with national parties fielding 401 candidates, the state parties 132 and non-recognised parties 254 nominees for 108 seats. Of the total candidates, 539 were independents and 57 were women. Of the national parties, the Congress was the lone party contesting all the 108 seats, followed by the ruling RJD 101 and its partner the CPI(M) seven seats. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a conglomerate of four parties, was contesting all the seats with the BJP getting the highest share of 40 seats, followed by the JD(U) 35, the Samata Party 23 and the Bihar Peoples Party 10. The CPI had fielded more than 30 candidates, while 26 CPI(ML) nominees were in the fray. After almost a decade-long rule by a single party, the election issue automatically generated was the accusation that the Government had not performed up to the people’s expectations. Thus, the Rashtriya Janata Dal bore the brunt of anti-incumbency factor with its opponents pulling out all stops to overthrow the "jungle rule". The Bharatiya Janata Party, in its campaign, talked of giving it at least "one chance in Bihar". Its two electoral partners, the Samata Party and the Janata Dal (United), after overcoming their initial problems on the subject of seat sharing, made common cause with the BJP, in projecting the "total collapse of law and order and developmental activities going off the track" as an electoral issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist),however, favours a "people’s movement for reinstallation of democracy improving living standards of the poor and crushing the mafia raj". The party maintains that a mere "exchange of the power" would not improve the lot of the people. The RJD, however, had concentrated its attention on the alleged step-motherly treatment by the Centre and the attempt of the NDA to divide the state. The RJD supremo termed it an attempt by the "communal" BJP and its allies to covert the mineral rich belt into a colony of the Rashtrriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS). The party’s opponents wanted to bring to the notice of the voters the large number of ‘scams’ which allegedly flourished during the past ten years. The failure of the State Government to hold panchayat elections in the state for the past 20 years had also emerged as one of the most important subjects of discussion for different political parties. Political adversaries of the RJD had given this sensitive issue a prominent place in their manifestos and alleged that the delay in holding of the panchayat elections in the state had halted "penetration" of democracy in to the people’s doorstep. The much-touted Muslim-Yadav combination, the mainstay of the RJD’s vote bank and alleged negligence of the minorities, had also become an important issue for the election strategists. The opposition parties claim that the RJD had "betrayed the sentiments of the minority community and took them for a ride by donning the cap of the secularism". The issue of filing of nomination papers by "a few history sheeters contesting the elections in the garb of independent candidates," allegedly with the support of mainstream political parties, might also become a serious issue. Political fever had shot up with the influx of who’s who of Indian politics to canvass for nominees of their respective parties. As far as galaxy of stalwarts was concerned, the BJP was surely the pick of the lot with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Union Home Minister L K Advani, Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitly and cinestar-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha addressing several election meetings to woo the electorate. The NDA canvassing was bolstered by the presence Janata Dal(U) heavyweights Sharad Yadav and Mr Ram Vilas Paswan and Samata stalwarts Nitish Kumar, Mr George Fernandes and Mr Digvijay Singh, who fanned out to every nook and corner of the state to garner votes. However, the Congress’ electioneering much impinged upon their one and all party president Sonia Gandhi, who spared no pains to salvage the lost ground of her party addressing several meetings. However, she did not visit the state for canvassing for the third phase. Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Kansi Ram also did not lag behind putting all their might behind the campaigning to give a semblance of respectability to their parties. However for the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal, it was a battle of attrition. Party supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav had traversed a number of constituencies to woo the voters as the RJD was fighting a do or die battle this time. Several NDA leaders, however, had to earn some wrath of the supporters, who were protesting against the selection of the candidates. Almost all the major political parties in the state were plagued by inner bickerings as several party cadres dissatisfied with the distribution of tickets were not wholeheartedly canvassing for their respective parties. Also some leaders, particularly those from Bihar, were reluctant to travel to some areas, apprehending disturbances by their own party workers. (UNI) |
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Demand for sub-quota ‘ploy’ to derail Women’s Bill: NCW NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The National Commission for Women (NCW) does not support the demand for a sub-quota in the Women’s Reservation Bill and views this as a ploy to sabotage one-third seats for women in legislatures, says Commission Chairperson Vibha Parthasarthi. Speaking to UNI, Ms Parthasarthi said with the budget session of Parliament beginning on February 23, the Commission and women NGOs would have to be alert against efforts to "sabotage" the Bill. The Commission would press for passage of the Bill, which was introduced after much controversy in the last session, in its present form in the upcoming session, she said. Stating that efforts had begun to derail the bill even before its introduction, Ms Parthasarthi said the demand for a sub-quota for minority community or other backward caste women was one such ploy. "This is not a genuine demand. It is only an effort to put us off the track as the bill goes right against the grain of patriarchy," she added. While the Prime Minister had said after the introduction of the bill that it was "not the last word on the subject," Ms Parthasarthi said the Commission had not been sounded out thereafter for any changes in the Bill. "However, we are clear that the Bill should be passed in its present form and not diluted either through a reduction in the one-third seats or a sub-quota," she added. (UNI) |
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Gehlot for more attention to recovery of taxes JAIPUR, Feb 20: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asked the officers of finance, taxation and excise departments to pay more attention to recovery of taxes and put more emphasis on simplification of rules and regulations so that consumers were not harassed at any level. Gehlot, who has taken over the state’s finance portfolio, also directed them to seek suggestions from industrialists and top businessmen before preparing the budget, an official release said here today. The Chief Minister, at a high level meeting with the officers, expressed his satisfaction over small saving plans and sought to further accelerate the pace of small savings, it said. All pending cases and bills related to pension, provident funds, insurance, medical and travel should be expedited on priority, Gehlot said. (PTI) |
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PATNA, Feb 20: Campaigning for the third and
final phase of election for the remaining.......