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Girl’s death by
ex-PM’s motorcade NEW DELHI, May 7: The National Human Rights Commission has directed the Government.....more
India should extend all cooperation to Sri Lanka: Gujral NEW DELHI, May 7: Former Prime Minister I K Gujral today said the Government’s decision .....more MAHABOOBNAGAR (AP), May 7: As searing heat wave sweeps across the sun-burnt fields, the ......more ‘General elections in Pak meaningless, pointless’ NEW DELHI, May 7: A former Air Marshall of Pakistan Asghar Khan has termed the.....more |
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To boost production MUMBAI, May 7: Union Fertiliser Ministry has directed the fertiliser companies in the country to shift their Research and Development focus from the product innovation to conversion of huge municipal solid waste to organic and bio fertilisers......more TN government bans conference, Nedumaran arrested CHENNAI, May 7: President of Thamizhar Desiya Iyakkam (Tamils Nationalist Movement) P Nedumaran was taken into ........more JAIPUR, May 7: Beware of coin pickers during a marriage procession. A gang of five people, supposed ......more SC seeks AG’s views on modernisation of rly NEW DELHI, May 7: The Supreme Court has sought views of Attorney General of India on a petition seeking a direction to the Government for urgent modernisation of traffic management of railways citing spate of serious accidents every year costing many lives. ....more |
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Girl’s
death by ex-PM’s motorcade NEW DELHI, May 7: The National Human Rights Commission has directed the Government to pay interim compensation of Rs two lakh to the parents of a school girl who was crushed to death by a vehicle of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda’s convoy in Gorakhpur. The NHRC sources told UNI today that the Commission also criticised the local administration for their casual and apathetic attitude to the tragedy and directed them to produce the inquiry conducted in the case for its perusal. Stating that this was yet another case of hazard to public in movement of VIP’s causing even death of pedestrian, the Commission asked the Government to pay the compensation amount within four weeks and send a compliance report to it within six weeks. The Commission gave this direction on a complaint received from Mr Kapil Dev Singh that his daughter Vandana Singh, a student of ninth standard, was crushed by a vehicle deployed for the security of Mr Gowda while she was returning from school on November 7, 1997. The girl was taken to the hospital by police, but she succumbed to injurie. The complainant had alleged that though a case was registered, no serious investigation had been carried out due to the involvement of police vehicle. Earlier, taking cognizance of the complaint NHRC sent notice to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Gorakhpur calling for a report. The report of the SSP stated that the complaint was inquired by Co City II, Gorakhpur during which it came to light that on that particular day a large number of police vehicles were on duty and it was not possible to identify the vehicle involved in the incident. The report said that on completion of the investigation a final report has been filed in the court on June 30, 1998. Delivering his verdict in the case NHRC chairperson Justice J S Verma observed that though the police admitted that a young girl died in a motor accident involving the ex-Prime Minister’s motorcade, it has reported that it was not possible to identify the particular vehicle as a large number of vehicles were deployed from several departments as well as police. "Admittedly, the life of a young girl has been lost due to negligence of some driver deployed on Government duty. This is yet another case of hazard to public in movement of VIPs causing even death of pedestrian. The local administration is casual and insensitive to the tragedy. No significance has been attached to the fact that it was a Government vehicle driven by a Government employee which knocked down and killed the girl which gives rise to the Government’s vicarious liability as well,"he said. The former Chief Justice observed that it was the duty of the driver involved in the accident and those in the motorcade to take the necessary action, which they failed to do. Even if it be not possible to identify the delinquent driver at this stage, the Government’s liability to pay compensation remained, he said and ordered it to pay Rs two lakh to the next of kin of the deceased. (UNI) |
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India should extend all cooperation to Sri Lanka: Gujral NEW DELHI, May 7: Former Prime Minister I K Gujral today said the Government’s decision not to send its troops to Sri Lanka was understandable and was in line with the policy adopted by V P Singh Government at the time of withdrawal of Indian Peace Keeping Force. At that time also we had serious security concerns because of Pakistan’s militancy in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir that had caused tensions on the Indo-Pak border. In this respect, the current situation has some similarities, Gujral said in a statement. However, he said India should extend all cooperation to the Sri Lankan people to resist the forces of extremism and disruption. This will lend added credibility and seriousness to our fight against such forces, at the regional and global levels, he said. Stating that the fall of Elephant Pass to LTTE posed a grave challenge to the Sri Lankan security, the former Premier said it demanded serious attention from Indian strategists and policy makers. Gujral said India, while keeping its own interest in mind, was committed to a sovereign, united and multi-ethnic Sri Lanka where all minorities, especially Tamils, could live with dignity and without fear. (PTI) |
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MAHABOOBNAGAR (AP), May 7: As searing heat wave sweeps across the sun-burnt fields, the cries of frail-looking naaramma pierce through the mournful silence of the village. Sitting desolately at the corner of panchayat office in Kappeta village, the 70-year old agriculture labourer mourns the death of hope as her only son has abandoned her and migrated in search of an elusive job. The warm words of a local official promising to include her in the old age pension scheme (Rs 75 per month) fail to enthuse her as she prefers death to the life filled with misery and desolation. A motley crowd, gathered around her, recount how their village was facing unprecented drought with all the six bore wells going dry and entire crop damaged. With no water and food, the villagers are looking up to the Government for help. The story of Kappeta sums up the human suffering in the worst-affected Mahaboobnagar district of Andhra Pradesh where all the 64 mandals have been declared drought-hit and majority of water resources have dried up. Village after village, dotting the vast stretch of dry land, present gory tales of deprivation, suicides by debt-burdened farmers and desperate cries for water, food and work. This perennially drought-prone district is known for its hardworking labour, mostly employed in the construction industry across the country. With ground water table falling to an unprecedented low levels and no hope of good crop, over five lakh people are estimated to have migrated from this region during the current season. Reeling under worst-ever dry spell, Mahaboobnagar now symbolises a life that is in perennial migration, seeking to escape from miserable existence wrought by nature’s fury and human callousness. Barely 10 kms away from Jadcherla town on the Hyderabad-Bangalore highway, gangapuram village stands shattered by the suicide deaths of five farmers who were driven to the extreme step unable to clear the debts from local money lenders. A grieving Savithramma, the widow of a small farmer Sivaiah, says she was finding it extremely difficult to get on with the life. My husband had borrowed Rs 40,000 from money lenders and ended his life in a fit of frustration. The monely lenders are now after me to clear the debt. How can I manage? Asked Savithramma with tears in her eyes. It was the same trauma for Ramanamma ever since her husband, Seethareddy took his own life, unable to come to terms with the crop loss and mounting debts. We had to sell off five acre land to partly clear the Rs two lakh loan that we had borrowed to raise the crop. But within a week of seeling our land, my husband committed suicide leaving us in the lurch, said Ramanamma who has a school-going son. The villagers complained about lack of water, food and fodder. We have no work to do. All the crops are damaged. Nobody is coming to our rescue, said a village youth V Madhu Babu, seething in anger over callousness of the local administration despite receiving early warnings of an impending drought. (PTI) |
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‘General elections in Pak meaningless, pointless’ NEW DELHI, May 7: A former Air Marshall of Pakistan Asghar Khan has termed the announcement of Chief Executive General Pervez Musharaff of holding general elections in the country soon as meaningless and pointless until he is able to prevent ISI from meddling in politics. Terming ISI’s role as the biggest destabliser in Pakistan, Khan, in an interview to a Pakistani monthly magazine The Herald said I ask Gen Musharraf to close down the (political) cell, otherwise new elections will be meaningless and pointless. The magazine, which made an indepth investigation of the role of ISI’s political cell vis-a-vis political situation in the country, says their constant meddling had brought things to the current state of virtual collapse. Democracy, it seems, shall always be subservient to the national security agenda of ISI, the magazine said. The ISI’s meddling in politics and elections was first exposed in June 1996 when the former Interior Minister Naseerullah Babar disclosed in the National Assembly about the existence of a political cell in the ISI. At least two former ISI chiefs — Hameed Gul and Asad Durrani— have admitted to manipulating election results with the former even saying that the exercise was done in the larger national interest. Ironically, the cell was created by former Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1975 against whose party the cell launched a campaign to prevent his daughter Benazir Bhutto from attaining an absolute majority. (PTI) |
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SC seeks AG’s views on modernisation of rly NEW DELHI, May 7: The Supreme Court has sought views of Attorney General of India on a petition seeking a direction to the Government for urgent modernisation of traffic management of railways citing spate of serious accidents every year costing many lives. A bench headed by Chief Justice A S Anand had sought the views of Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee on a petition filed by Non-Governmental Organisation ‘common cause’ which said though railways set up various inquiry commissions, their reports were never made public. The petition filed through advocate Rajiv Nanda sought a direction to the Centre for setting up a expert group for recommending concrete measures for technological upgradation and effecting modernisation in the railway system to obviate chances of accidents which occur frequently. It said in the last five years there were 175 serious accidents, including one at Gaisal in West Bengal and another at Khanna in Punjab, which claimed over 1000 lives and added most of them were due to human or equipment failure. These assume serious proportions when over 13,000 trains run every day carrying 13 million passengers and over 1.2 mn tonnes of goods, the petitioner said. Giving details of accidents for the last five years and the reasons behind them, the petitioner alleged that the railway system has not kept pace with the essential requirements of modernisation and technological upgradation. It said another important cause for the system failure and accidents was attributable to political pressures of populist requirements of expansions and alterations which might not normally be feasible nor necessary. In the past few years over 900 new trains have been introduced, large number of them on political demands because the political masters of the railways consider this agency as patronage facilitators, the petitioner said. It alleged that a lot of capital gets diverted to populist and unproductive projects for creation of zones and divisions and also on laying of lines for the sole objective of expanding the vote banks. It cited a report to say that railways spend nearly 14,000 crores annually on dispensing salaries but allocates only Rs 250 crores yearly for the requirements of signalling and communications, which were vital for the safety. The petitioner said there was an urgent need for introduction of a system to ensure that any failures and defaults, at any level of the staff, would be dealt with severely and exemplary punishment be awarded in such cases. (PTI) |
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