Excelsior... Nation

Former Prime Minister V P Singh

Make housing a fundamental right,
says V P Singh

NEW DELHI, May 21: Former Prime Minister V P Singh today demanded housing be made a fundamental right and asked the Centre to formulate a......more

CAG pulls up defence establishment

NEW DELHI, May 21: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has pulled up the defence establishment for its failure in deciding on .........more

‘Mothers-in-Law Ward’ in Tihar facing over-crowding problem

NEW DELHI, May 21: Marriages are made in heaven indeed, but here mothers-in-law are being increasingly getting involved in the breaking of......more

Reddy re-elected AP BJP unit president

HYDERABAD, May 21: Mr C Ramachandra Reddy has been unanimously re-elected president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Andhra Pradesh......more

Prosecutors asked to scrutinise challans
violating SC ruling

NEW DELHI, May 21: Contrary to a Supreme Court ruling, the Delhi Government has asked public prosecutors......more

Pramod Mahajan

BJP wants ‘Shat Pratishat Bhajapa’ for Maharashtra

MUMBAI, May 21: BJP which rode piggyback on its stronger regional ally Shiv Sena ..........more

late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

Nation remembers Rajiv

NEW DELHI, May 21: The nation today paid homage to late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi .........more

SC issues notice to
Kamal Nath’s hotel

NEW DELHI, May 21: NEW DELHI, May 21: Ruling that pollution is a civil wrong against the community, the Supreme Court has issued notice to Kamal Nath’s hotel to show cause why exemplary damages should not be imposed on it for ......more

Rajendrasinh Rana re-elected BJP G Gujarat unit chief

AHMEDABAD, May 21: Rajendrasinh Rana was today unanimously re-elected the president of Gujarat unit of BJP for a second term of three years. ....more

Make housing a fundamental right, says V P Singh

NEW DELHI, May 21: Former Prime Minister V P Singh today demanded housing be made a fundamental right and asked the Centre to formulate a comprehensive national slum policy for the urban poor within a year.

"The Constitution should be amended to make housing a fundamental right. In addition, the Vajpayee Government should fulfill its promise and come out with a comprehensive national slum policy within a year," Singh said while addressing a largely attended rally of slum-dwellers here.

Stating that beautification of Delhi should not be done at the cost of poor slum-dwellers, he said they should not be removed without giving advance notice and providing alternative land for rehabilitation.

Singh criticised Union Urban Development Minister Jagmohan for his alleged failure to expose land mafia in the capital.

"Let him expose the land mafia we will take on them," he declared.

Singh alleged double standards in implementing the laws against unauthorised constructions, saying while slums are being bulldozed, the illegal constructions by influential people are being ignored.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said Government must come out with a permanent settlement policy for the urban poor, especially in the metros and said it may even be declared a national emergency.

Gowda blamed the economic policies of successive Governments for mushrooming of slums, saying "wrong policies are foople to migrate to cities for employment avenues, but they land up in slums where they live in most inhuman conditions."

He said while the Government has raised the prices of essential commodities, it is providing concession to capitalists and multinational companies.

CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet said that even after 52 years of independence, Governments over the years have failed to provide basic needs of the people.

Surjeet pledged his party’s support for the struggle of the slum dwellers in the national capital.

He criticised the National Democratic Alliance Government for ignoring the problems of the poor.

The veteran Marxist leader lamented that while Parliament debates giving facilities to MPs, no legislation has been introduced to improve the condition of slum-dwellers.

RJD leader and former Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, former Lok Sabha Speaker Rabi Ray, CPI leader Atul Kumar Anjan and the CPI(M) central committee leader and AIDWA general secretary were prominent among those spoke at the rally. (PTI)

CAG pulls up defence establishment

NEW DELHI, May 21: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has pulled up the defence establishment for its failure in deciding on indigenous production of 122 mm grad rockets which resulted in the suspension of production mid-way after incurring an expenditure of Rs 49.41 crore.

The CAG in its 1998-99 report said the failure of the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Director General Quality Assurance (DGQA) and the Army Headquarters (AHq) in deciding on indigenous production of the rockets without meeting acceptable criteria as per range table, had resulted in suspension of the production mid-way.

The 122 mm grad rocket of Russian origin, which has a shelf life of 20 years, is a high explosive fired from a self-propelled multi-barrel launcher (BM-21).

The report says that the AHq went ahead with the indigenous production of the rockets with diluted acceptance criteria leading to suspension of production mid-way despite holding inventory valuing Rs 25 crore at the ordnance factory.

It says the AHq had to import 23,500 rockets at Rs 72.21 crore in 1996 to meet bottomline requirements. The decision to clear bulk production despite the rockets not meeting range table resulted in rejection of 2,294 rockets valued at Rs 6.33 crore and blocking of inventory worth Rs 25 crore at ordnance factory, Chanda. Rockets worth Rs 24.41 crore are lying segregated since July 1996.

In a case of indigenous manufacture of 155 mm ammunition the CAG says there was reduced supply of components to the armed forces due to delayed development of four types of shells and delayed creation of facilities at ordnance factory, Badmal because an imported machine valued at Rs 29.36 crore was commissioned more than one and a half years late.

The Army had placed eight demands between August 1990 and 1998 on the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for delivery of seven types of 2.37 lakh shells, four types of 1.19 lakh fuses, 1.29 lakh primers and four types of 2.51 lakh propellants of 155 mm ammuntion against their requirement of 5.85 lakh shells, 5.82 lakh fuses, 6.42 lakh primers, and 6.13 lakh propellants.

However, the ordnance factories developed and issued only four types of 2.23 lakh shells while the remaining three types of shells were yet to be developed as of March 1999.

Although the Army required all components of ammunition in matching quality to make complete rounds, ordnance factories could issue only 0.38 lakh shells as complete rounds as fuses, primers and propellants were not issued in matching numbers.

The report says the Army had to conclude a contract with a foreign supplier in March 1997 for import of 0.80 lakh shells and 0.20 lakh fuses at a cost of of Rs 188.10 crore due to delayed development and reduced supply by ordnance factories.

The CAG also pointed out that failure of the Director General of Ordnance Services to repair defective body-cracked mines in time resulted in the expiry of their shelf life and loss of Rs 1.56 crore.

"Inordinate delays on the part of the Director General of Ordnance Services to get 5,516 defective mines repaired within their shelf-life, resulted in not realising the avalue for Rs 1.56 crore."

The report says that even though the mines were found repairable in 23 Field Ammunition Depots (FADs) in February 1992, the Director General of Ordnance Services took up the matter with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) only in October 1995 and April 1997.

He also took up the matter with DGQA in June 1998. In response the DGQA declined to undertake the repairs saying the mines had already outlived their shelf-life. The matter was referred to the ministry in August 1999 and their reply was awaited until December 1999.

Similarly, the inability of the AHq to identify/establish an agency to repair 28 missiles within their shelf-life led to their being rendered unserviceable resulting in a loss of Rs 1.11 crore. (UNI)

‘Mothers-in-Law Ward’ in Tihar facing over-crowding problem

NEW DELHI, May 21: Marriages are made in heaven indeed, but here mothers-in-law are being increasingly getting involved in the breaking of wedlocks for the lust of additional dowry as indicated by their mounting number in the high-security Tihar jail.

Tihar Central Jail has a separate "Mothers-in-Law Barrack" inside the women jail and due to rise in the count of new entrants it is facing the problem of over-crowding.

The barrack, probably first of its kind in the country, currently houses around 150 mothers-in-law against 85 last year. They constitute one-third of the total number of women prisoners presently lodged in the jail.

"The swelling number of prisoners in the mothers-in-law barrack is coming up as a big factor for the over-crowding of the women jail, whose otherwise capacity is around 125," Sunita Sabarwal, Superintendent of Women Jail, told PTI.

"A new women jail having a capacity of 450 is expected to come into operation within a month, but going by the trend it seems the new premises may also fall short of adequate space to house this burgeoning figure," she said. Presently, the Women Jail is working within the premises of jail number one.

The rising number of prisoners in the Mothers-in-Law ward is reflective of a greater malaise plaguing the society. As many as 13,612 dowry deaths were reported in the country during 1998 and 1999. The national crime records bureau latest repohers-in-law booked in dowry-related crimes, Sabarwal said "they have been isolated from others because they are not habitual criminals and putting them together helps in locating them for taking to courts for trial or for other administrative purposes."

The women lodged in this ward are addressed as "Sas-Bahu Case wale" (those who have been booked for dowry-related deaths of daughters-in-law) in the jail parlance.

Majority of the mothers-in-law held in the crime are in the age category of 50-60 with a lower-middle or middle class background.

Ramvati, Jamuna, Bala and almost everybody pleaded innocence saying they fell victim to the bride’s families wrath for one reason or other.

But, some of the younger companions complained that many of them have not given up their old habits and could still be found bossing around on the younger jail inmates. (PTI)

BJP wants ‘Shat Pratishat Bhajapa’ for Maharashtra

MUMBAI, May 21: BJP which rode piggyback on its stronger regional ally Shiv Sena since 1984 has now coined a new slogan ‘Shata Pratishat Bhajapa’ (cent per cent BJP), virtually discarding its partner.

Incidentally, the future course of BJP, gearing itself to drop Sena’s crutches, was spelt out by Union Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan, who is often dubbed as the chief architect of the saffron alliance.

Outlining the party’s strategy at the recently held 10th state-level convention of BJP at Nasik, Mahajan said he could foresee a political void in the state in the coming three years, and exhorted partymen to prepare themselves to assume power on their own on the pattern of neighbouring Gujarat.

Considerable importance has been attached to Mahajan’s statements in political circles here with observers saying that BJP was making all out efforts to drop its ally, Sena, and assume power on its own.

Interestingly, Mahajan during his speech said "please don’t ask me what will happen to our allies". The BJP leader, however, never named any party.

Since the alliance came into being one and a half decade ago, Shiv Sena-BJP have together contested six general elections and four Assembly polls.

Even before Mahajan had charted out BJP’s future course of action, the party’s new buzzword ‘Shata Pratishata Bhajapa’ had already made its presence known at the beginning of the convention.

Stickers and badges with the new motto were distributed and the slogan emblazoned the backdrop of the dais, clearly depciting the prevailing mood in the party rank and file.

However, the newly-adopted stance of BJP has not come as a surprise, political observers here say.

The tone was already set by party leader Gopinath Munde, who led the party in Aurangabad civic polls demanding dissolution of Sena.

BJP, which contested the polls sans Sena, doubled its tally in the civic body and managed to get its corporator elected as Aurangabad Mayor with Sena’s support in a post-electoral tie-up.

Munde clearly established that Sena could be made a junior partner in the future alliance.

But apparently BJP think-tank is not happy to work in tandem with Sena and has set a deadline of three years for its cadres to make the latter dispensable, observers feel. (PTI)

Nation remembers Rajiv

NEW DELHI, May 21: The nation today paid homage to late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on the occasion of his ninth death anniversary recalling his immense contributions in the making of a strong, secular and modern India.

Taking of vows to fight terrorism and holding of blood donation camps and all-religion prayer meetings across the country marked the day.

At a function at Vir Bhoomi here, President K R Narayanan, Vice President Krishna Kant, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and a host of political leaders paid floral tributes to Rajiv Gandhi.

Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra also attended the function,

In Tamil Nadu, leaders of Tamil Maanila Congress, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress paid homage to Rajiv Gandhi.

TNCC president Tindivanam K Ramamurthee, along with party leaders and workers, paid floral tributes at the Samadhi of the late leader at Sriperumbudur, where he was killed in a bomb blast.

TMC president G K Moopanar and other senior party leaders garlanded Rajiv’s portrait at the party headquarters in Chennai.

Andhra Pradesh Congress organised blood donation camps on the occasion.

Paying tributes to Rajiv Gandhi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah called for global efforts to end terrorism which posed a grave threat to civilised society.

"Resorting to terrorism for furthering and imposing ideologies on unwilling people is unacceptable and everyone must stand against it unitedly and rid the society of this menace," Abdullah said in a statement. (PTI)

SC issues notice to Kamal Nath’s hotel

NEW DELHI, May 21: Ruling that pollution is a civil wrong against the community, the Supreme Court has issued notice to Kamal Nath’s hotel to show cause why exemplary damages should not be imposed on it for interfering with the natural flow of Beas river in Himachal Pradesh and disturbing the environment and ecology of the area.

"Pollution is a civil wrong. By its very nature, it is tort committed against the community as a whole. A person, therefore, who is guilty of causing pollution has to pay damages (compensation) for restoration of the environment and ecology," the Court said.

This ruling was given by a division bench comprising Justices S Saghir Ahmad and Doraiswamy Raju on a petition filed by Kamal Nath’s Span Motel seeking withdrawal of Court’s 1996 notice to it for imposition of pollution fine.

Justice Ahmad, writing the judgment for the bench, said the offender has also to pay damages to those who have suffered loss on account of his objectionable act.

"In addition to the damages aforesaid, the person guilty of causing pollution can also be held liable to pay exemplary damages so that it may act as a deterrent for others not to cause pollution in any manner," the Bench said.

Justice Ahmad said unfortunately notice for exemplary damages was not issued to span motel although it ought to have been issued. The Court, while withdrawing the notice for payment of pollution fine, directed issuance of a fresh notice to span motel to show cause within six weeks why in addition to damages exemplary damages be not awarded for having committed the acts set out and detailed in the 1996 judgment.

The wrong doings of span motel was first brought to Court’s notice through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by environmentalist lawyer M C Mehta.

The Court in 1996 had directed that "the motel shall pay compensation by way of cost for the restitution of the environment and ecology of the area. The pollution caused by various constructions made by the motel in the river bed and the banks of the river beas has to be removed and reversed."

Appearing for span motel, senior advocate G L Sanghi had contended that fine could be imposed upon a person only if such a provision was there under any law.

Mehta contended that if a person disturbed the ecological balance and tinkered with the natural conditions of rivers, forests, air and water, which were the gifts of nature, he would be guilty of violating not only the fundamental rights but also the fundamental duties.

The court held "any disturbance of the basic environmental elements, namely air, water and soil, which are necessary for `life’, would be hazardous to `life’ within the meaning of Article 21 of the constitution."

Justice Ahmad said "the Supreme Court has held that if those rights are violated by disturbing the environment, it can award damages not only for the restoration of the ecological balance, but also for the victims who have suffered due to that disturbance.

"In order to protect the `life’, in order to protect the `environment’ and in order to protect `air, water and soil’ from pollution, this Court, through its various judgments have given effect to the rights available, to the citizens and persons alike, under Article 21 of the constitution," he said.

"The Court while awarding damages also enforces the "polluter pays principle" which is widely accepted as a means of paying for the cost of pollution and control," he said.

The bench said "to put in other words, the wrongdoer, the polluter, is under obligation to make good the damage caused to the environment."

However, it said it was difficult to hold that the pollution fine could be imposed on span motel without there being any trial and without there being any finding that the motel was guilty of the offence as the notice was issued without reference to any law.

Justice Ahmad said though the fine could not be imposed the Supreme Court had ample powers to impose exemplary damages on the polluter. (PTI)

Rajendrasinh Rana re-elected BJP G Gujarat unit chief

AHMEDABAD, May 21: Rajendrasinh Rana was today unanimously re-elected the president of Gujarat unit of BJP for a second term of three years.

Rana’s election was announced by Ashwin Kumar, BJP observer for the state, according to state unit party spokesman Bharat Pandya here.

Rana, an MP from Bhavnagar, was unanimously re-elected to the post at the state unit BJP’s executive committee meeting, being the lone contender in the election held in the presence of the observer sent by the central leadership, Pandya said.

Rana is likely to name a new set of office-bearers for the state party unit, which is to be re-constituted, within a week, he told PTI. (PTI)

Prosecutors asked to scrutinise challans
violating SC ruling

NEW DELHI, May 21: Contrary to a Supreme Court ruling, the Delhi Government has asked public prosecutors to scrutinise the chargesheets filed by police in courts till a final decision is taken by it.

The Delhi Prosecutors Welfare Association (DPWA) in a recent meeting of its executive committee, however, resolved not to accept the government order in view of the ruling that "involving public prosecutor in investigation is unjudicious as well as pernicious in law".

DPWA secretary S K Dash told PTI that the Association had written a letter to the State Home Ministry regarding decision of the executive committee "not to check the challans and also not opinion on the police file till clear guidelines were issued by the Government".

A division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices K T Thomas and D P Mahapatra had last month ruled that "at any rate no investigating agency can be compelled to seek opinion of a public prosecutor under the orders of the court".

The public prosecutors here had been scrutinising and tendering legal opinion on the chargesheets before being filed in the courts as part of their day-to-day activity though this was now contrary to the Supreme Court ruling. The Delhi Government in its order said "a status quo iction with a dowry death case from the trial court in Kuddalore district and file it afresh in tune with the opinion of the public prosecutor.

The High Court had asked the investigating officer to consult the public prosecutor while hearing a petition filed by the victim’s father on the ground that father and sister of the accused were not arraigned as parties in the case.

The High Court order was challenged in the Supreme Court by the father of the accused saying neither he nor his daughter were heard in the proceedings.

Holding that the High Court had committed an "illegality in directing the final report (chargesheet) to be taken back and to file a fresh report incorporating the opinion of the prosecutor", the Apex Court said and added "there is no stage during which the investigating officer is legally obliged to take the opinion of the public prosecutor". (PTI)