Excelsior... Nation

A B Bardhan

Installation of secular
Govt in Jharkhand
impossible: CPI

RANCHI, Oct 1: Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A B Bardhan said installation of a secular Government was impossible in Jharkhand, so his party would strive for polarisation of .......more

Interpol sounds red alert
against hijackers of IA plane

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: CBI today said that a red alert had been issued against the five hijackers of.....more

P V Narasimha Rao, Buta Singh

CBI failed to identify source
of JMM MPs bribe money

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: CBI, which investigated the multi-crore JMM MPs bribery case, has failed to ....more

Rao facing trial
in Lakhubhai case

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, who has been convicted in the.....more

NHRC directs Delhi
on Tihar reforms,
expresses "distress"

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed Delhi..........more

India, Russia

India, Russia to firm up ties

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: Giving a new dimension to bilateral ties, India and Russia will sign the historic .......more

SC asks Govt about
steps taken to avert
railway accidents

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: The Supreme Court has asked the Union Government to file an affidavit detail......more

Sharadotsav-2000
from Oct 6

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: Welcoming the declaration of formation of the separate hill state of Uttaranchal,......more

Installation of secular Govt in Jharkhand impossible: CPI

Admitting that in the numerical game, they could not do much to check the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies from forming the first Government in the new state, he told newsmen here last evening that the CPI along with the other left and democratic forces would stand unitedly for the rights of the people.

The CPI will also strive for a viable and a strong left unity in Jharkhand, he said adding "we are the major left party with three Assembly constituencies in Jharkhand and it is our responsibility to strive in this direction".

Mr Bardhan was here to attend the first meeting of the newly-constituted Jharkhand State Council of the CPI. The party’s thirty member State Council has an executive committee comprising seven members with party legislator and senior leader Bhuneshwar Mehta as its secretary.

The other members of the CPI Jharkhand state executive are Mr Upendra Chousaria, Mr Khagendra Thakur, Mr Ramendra Kumar, Mr Bhootnath Soren, Mr Tikaram Manjhi and Mr Anirudh Singh.

Mr Bardhan said the party had decided to hold a Jharkhand state level rally here on November twelve to convey its message about the shape of the new state and to call upon the people to fight for their just right.

To a query, he said that the party did not believe in the "insider outsider" theory being spread by some vested interests as it was not in the larger interest of Jharkhand. The party had supported the demand for statehood since it believed that this could help solve the problems plaguing the tribal communities for long.

The party is of the firm opinion that any community and section of the society could work in any part of the country and contribute for the welfare and growth of the area without facing regional bias. (UNI)

Interpol sounds red alert against hijackers of IA plane

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: CBI today said that a red alert had been issued against the five hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane in December last and two of their accomplices.

The agency had already approached the Interpol for issuance of "red corner" notice against the five hijackers Ibrahim Athar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhter Sayed and Shakir — and two accomplices Yusuf Azhar and Abdul Rauf, agency sources said.

Yusuf Azhar and Abdul Rauf are believed to be key conspirators behind the hijacking of the plane from Kathmandu to Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan on December 24.

The alert had been sounded pending formalities which were yet to be completed by the international organisation.

The sources the Interpol had alerted airports, ports and major railway stations about the hijackers and their accomplices.

However, the sources said there was little hope catching them even after issuance of a red corner notice against the seven people as several countries did not comply with the warrant from the international organisation.

The sources said despite a resolution to make mandatory warrants of the Interpol at its annual 1997 conference, held in New Delhi, several countries were yet to ratify it to make an appropriate law.

The CBI on June 21 filed a chargesheet against 10 people in the hijacking case which included these seven and three Indian nationals.

The Indian authorities had also made a formal request to the Pakistani Government for extradition of five hijackers and two of their accomplices responsible for hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane.

The requests have been made under the SAARC and the Hague agreements under which Pakistan has the obligation to extradite them, CBI sources said.

The CBI, which had approached through Ministry of External Affairs the Pakistani authorities about the extradition of five persons, has, however, not yet received any reponse from the Pakistani authorities.

The three Indian nationals chargesheeted are Abdul Latif alias Patel, Bhupalmar Damai alias Yusuf Nepali and Dilip Kumar Bhujel, the agency sources said and claimed that all the three had confessed to their involvement in the case.

All the three are in CBI custody, while the other seven are absconding and believed to be in Pakistan.

The sources said the agency was also probing a mysterious call made to Amritsar airport when the plane had landed there briefly on December 24 before flying to Lahore in Pakistan.

The caller identifying himself as a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs had ordered the airport authorities to allow the plane to take off.

They said it was difficult to trace the caller as there was no record available with the Amritsar Telephone Department as to where the call had been made from. (PTI)

CBI failed to identify source of JMM MPs bribe money

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: CBI, which investigated the multi-crore JMM MPs bribery case, has failed to identify from where and whom the bribe money was arranged and who delivered it to the then JMM MP Suraj Mandal, the designated court has said in its judgement.

"Prosecution unfortunately has not been able to establish on record the identity of actual source from where the money came and the person or persons who delivered the said money to Suraj Mandal, MP," Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke said in his 287-page judgement convicting former Premier P V Narasimha Rao and his then cabinet colleague Buta Singh.

However, the court placed strong reliance on the statement of former JMM MP Shailendra Mahato, who was granted pardon on turning approver, regarding the way the conspiracy was "hatched and executed" by Rao and Singh.

The court convicted Rao and Singh taking into account Mahato’s testimony supported by the circumstantial evidence collected by the CBI, which started investigating into the case in 1996 till the trial began in 1997.

"I am of the view that there is sufficient circumstantial evidence on record to lend assurance to the credibility of the testimony of the approver Shailendra Mahato...," the judge said.

The court accepted Mahato’s confessional statement that the "conspiracy was hatched" on July 26, 1993 at Rao’s official residence at 7, Race Course Road, where an assurance was given to the JMM MPs that the "promises" made to Suraj Mandal would be fulfilled.

Mandal on his way back from Rao’s residence had disclosed to his party MPs that "the talks regarding payment of money have also taken place."

"If the assurance given by the Prime Minister to the JMM MPs, that promises to Mandal shall be fulfilled, is considered in the background of the gist of conversation disclosed by Mandal, then it is obvious that Rao and Singh have actually offered illegal gratification to Mandal," the court said.

Mandal, who had acted on behalf of JMM MPs, had a closed-door meeting at Rao’s residence and the offer of bribe amounted to abetment of Commission of offence punishable under Provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, the court said.

Approver Mahato’s version also found corroboration from the proximity between the said meeting of JMM MPs with Rao and Buta Singh, the date of voting on no confidence motion, the voting pattern of JMM MPs and the fact that substantial amount totalling Rs 1,62,80,000 came to be deposited in various accounts of JMM MPs at PNB’s Nauroji Nagar Branch here within few days of the defeat of the no confidence motion i.e. August two, 1993, the court said. (PTI)

Rao facing trial in Lakhubhai case

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, who has been convicted in the JMM MPs bribery case, is also facing trial in the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case.

He has, however, already been discharged by the trial court in the St Kitts Forgery Case.

Rao, controversial Godman Chandraswami and his aide K N Aggarwal have been facing trial in the Pathak cheating case before the same court, which convicted him along with former Union Minister Buta Singh in the bribery case.

The three have been charged by the CBI with cheating London-based pickle tycoon Pathak, now dead, of one lakh dollars on the promise of getting him newsprint and paper pulp supply contracts in India in 1983.

After examination of all prosecution witnesses, Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke had on July 11 issued summonses to former US Congressman Marvyn M Dymally (California), Binod Bhat (Canada) and Swami Chakradhari (New Jersey) asking them to appear before it on October 12 for recording of their evidence as defence witnesses.

Rao and former Union Minister K K Tewary had already been discharged by the same court in the St Kitts Forgery Case in June 1998 and an appeal by CBI against the trial court order has been pending in the Supreme Court.

They along with Chandraswami and Aggarwal were accused of conspiring to forge certain documents to show that former Prime Minister V P Singh’s son Ajey Singh had deposited 21 million dollars in a bank in St Kitts island in 1986. (PTI)

NHRC directs Delhi on Tihar reforms,
expresses "distress"

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed Delhi Government to make certain sweeping changes pertaining to undertrials, overcrowding and grant of parole to initiate the process of prison reforms in Asia’s largest jail, Tihar.

Recommending that all cases of undertrials languishing in jail for unduly long period should be examined individually by the jail administration to see whether they could be released on personal bond, nhrc said that it could be done as per the Supreme Court directions.

The Commission, which made these directions based on the report on the visit of the NHRC Chairman J S Verma to central jail, also expressed "distress" on many issues including over detention of prisoners.

"The Commission felt distressed on learning about over-detention of prisoners because of allegedly deliberate discrepancies in the release warrants issued by the courts."

"The Commission was informed the matter has been taken up formally by the jail administration with the Session Judge. The Commission hopes that the unscrupulous personnel of court’s jail administration involved in the mal-practice will be identified and dealt with suitably to put an end to this mal-practice," the direction said.

"The Commission desired that the matter may be brought to the notice of the registrar of Delhi High Court with the request that it may be brought to the notice of the Chief Justice," the direction added.

On overcrowding of jails, Verma during his visit saw for himself that the jail which is supposed to accommodate 3327 inmates was hosting more than 11,000 prisoners and directed the Government of NCT to sanction and train the staff for the new jails under construction in tihar and in West Delhi so as to avoid any delay in shifting the inmates.

Pointing that the power of granting parole to the convicts in emergencies like death, serious illness in the family were highly centralised, NHRC recommended that these powers may be delegated to the Director General and Inspector General (Prison) and even the Superintendent of the Jail in such cases, as is practised in most of the other jails.

The other directions by NHRC included provision of adequate promotional avenues to the permanent staff posted therein to prevent stagnation and to keep their morale high and visit by the members of the State Women Commissions.

The Commission would also recommend the linking of the jail factory wages to the minimum wage rates in force in the national capital territory, NHRC said.

Besides demanding a ‘national prison policy’, NHRC had earlier also sought amendment in the existing Prisons Act, which was more than hundred years old. (PTI)

India, Russia to firm up ties

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: Giving a new dimension to bilateral ties, India and Russia will sign the historic declaration on strategic partnership and firm up agreements on defence, nuclear energy, civil aviation, agriculture, education and culture during the four-day state visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin commencing tomorrow.

The accord on strategic partnership aimed at enhancing cooperation in diversified areas will be signed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Putin on October three.

Ahead of his visit, Putin said in an interview to an Indian weekly that in "some respects", it will be a successor document to the Indo-Soviet Treaty of 1971. "We hope that this agreement will become the foundation upon which we can build further relations."

For the first time, India has decided to buy rough diamonds from Russia, world’s largest producer. An agreement will be signed between MMTC and its Russian counterpart in this regard during the visit.

India, the largest importer and cutter of diamonds, has captured about 55 per cent of the world diamond market in 1999-2000. Export of cut and polished diamonds achieved a growth of 36.72 per cent amounting to Rs 28,701 crore during this period.

Terming Indo-Russian relations as "time-tested and based on continuity, trust and mutual understanding", Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh said the "mature" ties were not not at the cost of bilateral relations with other countries.

Striking a similar vein, Putin said Russia welcomed India developing its relations with all countries, including the US, and that Indo-Russian cooperation was not not directed against any third country.

With the Russian economy opening up, there is a "new dimension" to bilateral economic cooperation, senior External Affairs Ministry officials said.

New Delhi is attaching considerable significance to Putin’s visit, the first Presidential one in seven-and-a-half years. The last one was by then President Boris Yelstin.

Putin, a trusted friend of India, recently stated that the two countries were destined to become long-term partners. The Russian leader had said that as a student he had dreamt of visiting India.

The Russian President, who arrives here tomorrow evening, will be accorded a ceremonial welcome the next day. The entire gamut of bilateral relations would be discussed during wide-ranging discussions Putin will have with Vajpayee.

The two leaders are also expected to review regional and international issues of mutual concern, he said.

As part of high-level contacts, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Iliya Llebanov visited India earlier this month which was preceded by visits to Russia by Defence Minister George Fernandes and Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi.

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh will call on Putin who will later have a meeting with President K R Narayanan. On Oct four, Putin will address joint sitting of Parliament and visit Agra the same afternoon. He will leave for Mumbai the same day for an interaction with the Indian business community. (PTI)

SC asks Govt about steps taken to avert railway accidents

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: The Supreme Court has asked the Union Government to file an affidavit detailing steps taken on the basis of recommendations given by various commissions that were set up to probe into major railway accidents.

An Apex Court bench comprising Justice B N Kirpal, Justice R C Lahoti and Justice Ruma Pal directed the Centre and Railway Ministry to furnish a chart giving details of all the Commissions set up till date and their recommendations in this regard.

The direction came on Friday during the hearing of a PIL filed by NGO "Common Cause" through advocate Rajiv Nanda, the increasing number of fatal accidents on rail tracks due to non-modernisation of the railway system.

The bench, after hearing brief arguments from the petitioner’s counsel Ashwani Kumar, also directed the Railway Ministry to explain in the affidavit as to what action it had taken on the recommendations of the Commissions so appointed.

The court said if the Railway Ministry has not acted upon the recommendations of these Commissions, it should explain in the affidavit the reasons why the recommendations were not implemented.

The petition drew court’s attention to the recent major accidents at Gaisal in West Bengal and Khanna in Punjab which claimed 400 and 200 lives respectively.

The counsel for the petitioner pointed out that 70 per cent of the rail accidents were caused due to human failure but none of the inquiry commission reports were either made public or their recommendations implemented.

The petitioner sought a direction to the Government to consider setting up a separate group of experts to undertake assessment of technological upgradation in all aspects of railway system functioning to eliminate accidents due to human error, equipment failure or other avoidable reasons.

The "Common Cause", in its petition, has said the operations of the railways has increased manifolds in the last 50 years but the safety and communication system adopted by it was not modernised.

The railway network spread over 60,000 kms, employs 1.6 million workers with annual average budget of Rs 28,000 crore, which also carries 13 million passengers, 1.2 million tonnes of goods daily and runs over 13000 trains daily, it said.

"During the last five years there has apparently been serious deterioration in the functioning of the system which is not keeping pace with the essential requirements of modernisation," the petition said.

The organisation requested the court to keep a tab over the working of the expert group, which would suggest ways and means to avoid accidents on rail tracks. (PTI)

Sharadotsav-2000 from Oct 6

NEW DELHI, Oct 1: Welcoming the declaration of formation of the separate hill state of Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is organising a week-long "Sharadotsav" (autumn festival) in the lake city next month to showcase the rich culture of the upcoming state.

Commencing from October 6, the festival will be combined with the celebration of Kumaon Mahotsav, which is organised every year all over the two hill districts of the state, to convey the enthusiasm of the hill populace in getting the much-awaited state for themselves, a Tourism Department release said.

In a bid to introduce the tourists to the lesser-known, yet beautiful, alternate destinations in the new state, the festival will lay special emphasis on presenting the folk arts and cultural traditions of this beautiful Himalayan region.

An exhibition of the local handicrafts, specially the traditional costumes and finery and hill cuisine - all in the setting of a typical Kumaoni village - will be the main attraction of the festival.

A host of cine-artistes in the likes of Hema Malini, Nirmal Pande and Ila Arun - have also been roped in to give performances to keep the people entertained during the festival, the release said.

The district administration has also decided to open up the 100-year-old British period Governor House in the city for public during the festival which would be a rare occasion for the localites as also for tourists.

Several sports competitions will also be held during the festival for the benefit of students and children, it said. (PTI)