Excelsior... Nation

Witness in Gulshan
case wrongly identifies
accused in court

MUMBAI, July 18: A key witness in the Gulshan Kumar murder case today identified in a sessions court the pistol used in the crime but wrongly recognised the accused from whom the weapon was recovered......more

Jharkhand dismisses
25 officers of state
judicial services

RANCHI, July 18: The Jharkhand Government has dismissed at least 25 officers of the state judicial services allegedly on charges of corruption and dereliction of duty......more

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee

Oppn likely to grill Govt
PM to convene all
party meet today

NEW DELHI, July 18: An all party meeting convened by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee tomorrow evening to give a brief on the recently ....more

Upliftment for
underprivileged
through education

MUMBAI, July 18: The dream of a college student who used her pocket money to buy toys and teachings aid for underprivileged children has been realised by Akansha, an NGO set up by her nearly a decade ago which now .......more

Murli Manohar Joshi

"Demolition was never
in our mind": Joshi

NEW DELHI, July 18: Union Human Resources Development Minister and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today told the Liberhan Commission .....more

Badal, Tohra rivalry spills
over to educational society

CHANDIGARH, July 18: The Shiromani Akali Dal faction led by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today accused rival G S Tohra of ....more

Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray

‘PM should settle various
issues before Pak visit’

MUMBAI, July 18: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should settle the issues....more

Haryana vigilance registers
cases against top officials

CHANDIGARH, July 18: Haryana State Vigilance Bureau has registered 17 criminal cases against 15 gazetted officers.......more

Witness in Gulshan case wrongly identifies
accused in court

Deposing before Sessions Judge M L Tahilyani, the witness, Nimish Shah, identified the black colour pistol and five cartridges used in the murder of audio king Gulshan Kumar.

Asked if he could identify the accused from whom the weapon was recovered in his presence, the witness replied in positive.

There was pindrop silence in the court as the witness viewed the dock for 90 seconds and wrongly identified Imtiyaz Merchant as the accused from whom the weapon was recovered.

The Panchnama, mentioning the seizure of the pistol, states that the weapon was recovered from Abdul Rashid Daud Merchant. The document also carries the signature of Abdul Rashid.

The witness told special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam during examination that in his presence Abdul Rashid had made a statement to police about his complicity in the crime and had showed the place where the weapon was kept.

The pistol and five cartridges were recovered from a house in suburban Borivali at the instance of Abdul Rashid soon after his arrest in 1999, the witness told the court.

However, the witness failed to identify Abdul Rashid in the court. (PTI)

Jharkhand dismisses 25 officers of state judicial services

RANCHI, July 18: The Jharkhand Government has dismissed at least 25 officers of the state judicial services allegedly on charges of corruption and dereliction of duty.

Official sources today said the order for the termination of the services of the judicial officials was issued by the State Government yesterday and would soon be served individually to the erring officials.

The sources informed that the decision in this regard was taken following an order by the Jharkhand High Court.

According to the order issued by the Government, those on extension would "cease to be in service with immediate effect" while others against whom charges had been established would be relieved on payment of three months advance salary.

However, the names of the officers had not been disclosed so far.

Meanwhile, welcoming the decision of the State Government, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) legislator Mahendra Singh demanded disclosure of the names of the officers facing corruption charges.

He said the Government’s move following the High Court’s decision would set an example for others. (UNI)

Oppn likely to grill Govt
PM to convene all party meet today

NEW DELHI, July 18: An all party meeting convened by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee tomorrow evening to give a brief on the recently concluded Indo-Pak summit is likely to be stormy with opposition parties expected to grill the Government on why the talks collapsed.

Although the opposition parties had welcomed the Prime Minister’s initiative, after the summit most of them criticised the Government for not being prepared for the talks and for entering into discussions without a structured agenda.

Mr Vajpayee had briefed his Council of Ministers yesterday about why the summit could not be described as a failure although it failed to come out with a declaration because of conceptual differences between the two nations.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan told newspersons, after a cabinet meeting this morning, that there had been no difference among the ministers with regard to the summit. Media reports had indicated that Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi had expressed reservations about Mr Vajpayee accepting President Pervez Musharraf’s invitation to visit Pakistan. Mr Mahajan denied that there had been any differences.

Tomorrow’s meeting will be held at the Prime Minister’s residence at 1800 hours and will be attended by leaders of all major political parties including the National Democratic Alliance constituents.

Yesterday, all major political parties barring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regretted the "negative outcome" of the Agra summit due to what they termed lack of adequate preparedness on part of India, but stressed the need for continuing bilateral discussions.

Chief spokesperson for the Congress S Jaipal Reddy said the disappointing outcome of the summit was due to "shoddy prepardness, lack of ground work and an ad hoc approach" on part of the Government and demanded details about what had gone wrong with the summit.

In the run up to the summit, Mr Vajpayee had held an all-party meeting besides meeting opposition parties seperately to tell them of the Government’s position vis a vis the summit with Gen Mushharaf.

Mr Vajpayee had also elicited the opinion of former Prime Ministers and experts, including retired foreign secretaries, on how the Government should enter into discussions with Pakistan. (UNI)

Upliftment for underprivileged through education

A registered charitable trust, Akanksha started off as a small-project in 1991. Says Shahin Mistri, Founder and Managing Director of the Organisation, "we had approached schools and colleges to allow us to use their premises after class hours, to impart basic education to these children".

At present, the organisation has 27 full-fledged, professionally run centres, 22 of which are in Mumbai and the rest in Pune.

Shahin reminisces about the long and difficult struggle of those early days, but feels that everything was worth it.

Located in the premises of schools, colleges, public buildings or offices that lend their spaces free of charge, Akanksha has built the reputation of a low cost educational unit, a centre which gives children quality time every day away from their tough lives in slums. These children are forced to work either within or outside their home, and a large number suffer from child abuse.

The structured, safe environment gives these children the self-confidence to achieve their ambitions.

"Only educational opportunities can help them overcome these obstacles and in the future provide their own children with better lives," Shahin said.

For most families of such children, pressures of poverty and unemployment make them focus on daily problems rather than long term prospects for their children. Akanksha believes that an early start with good, basic education is the best way to help slum children help themselves, she added.

"Born in conditions with little or no access to even basic civic amenities need not be an excuse for self pity. Enterprising spirit is not limited by economic levels," she added.

Tej, one of the many who studied at Akanksha, reflects the foundation’s goal. Says the 18-year-old, "if you truly desire, then nothing is impossible". Tej is a success story for Akanksha Ashe has completed his SSC and is now pursuing undergraduate studies.

"When I see Naida, trying her best to speak english, and 16-year Jyoti, in a home for unwed mothers, I realise the importance of the work that we are doing," Shahin said, referring to stories of the two students.

Naida and Jyoti, both with Akanksha, have different stories to tell as well as different futures awaiting them. While naida has been with the organisation for long, still being groomed under the watchful eyes of the ‘Akanksha Didis’, Jyoti had dropped out mid-way.

"I recently inquired about her, I was told that she had married and left the house. It turns out she is not married but seven months pregnant, abandoned by her family and living on the road. I wish she had stayed with us long enough to know her choices, perhaps to have chosen another path", Ms Mistri says.

Fifteen-year-old Seema is preparing for her SSC exams this year. "I know so many english words," she says, "but, of course there is a lot more to learn," while Nadeem, her classmate is not so sure. "I will never get it right," he laughs, struggling with his spellings. Looking at their goals over the next year, Shahin says that the akanksha team of teachers, social workers and volunteers are focussing on providing support and guidance to the children who have worked hard to reach where they are today. "We strive to identify in each child a special strength and a desire deep down to reach high."

In addition to providing financial and logistical assistance to the children to help them attend formal school, the organisation also imparts vocational training such as art, computers, gardening and sewing.

The children produce art work for the Akanksha products that include handmade cards, paper bags, wall painting, T-shirts and other items. They get a stipend for every art class they attend. "We put the money in the child’s account. That way the child is actually earning while learning", Shahin said. Given that most children end up working at a young age, the money is an incentive for their parents as well, she added.

There are around 200 volunteers who work for the organisation. "More work remains to be done. Given opportunities anything is possible. Anything," Shahin said. (UNI)

"Demolition was never in our mind": Joshi

NEW DELHI, July 18: Union Human Resources Development Minister and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today told the Liberhan Commission that destruction of the Babri Masjid was never in the mind of the party leadership.

"With all humility I say that the incident of demolition was never, never, never remotely conceived by us," Joshi told the Commission, probing the events leading to demolition of the disputed structure on December six, 1992.

Joshi repeatedly told the Commission that "our idea was that the construction of the temple should be done through a negotiated settlement and this grand reconciliation would help build a stronger country".

Joshi expressed ignorance that the Bajrang Dal, which also participated in the Kar Seva, was organising training camps for the Kar Sevaks to demolish the structure.

When Justice M S Liberhan, who heads the panel, asked if there was any acrimony between the Hindus and Muslims in the wake of Rath Yatra undertaken by him and party leader L K Advani, Joshi said "even many Muslims participated in the programme and had gone to Ayodhya".

"From media reports I came to know that some political parties tried to create a divide between the two communities and subsequently it rolled into a Hindu-Muslim issue", he added.

Joshi said the BJP leaders like Advani and Vijayaraje Scindia had participated in thousands of meetings to convince people that it was not a "Hindu-Muslim issue" it was only a 18-day programme for Kar Seva, a function as decided by the religious leaders.

He said the most remote reference to the structure had come from Advani, who had said through conciliation the mosque could be relocated and temple could be built there.

When the Commission’s counsel Anupam Gupta confronted him with a newspaper report attributing to him a statement that the temple would be constructed at Ayodhya, he said had the Allahabad High Court judgement come before December six, the 2.77 acres of land near the structure would have been free from any injunction or the VHP could have been in possession of 2.44 acres of land, where the construction could have started.

Even the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had asked Faizabad MP Vinay Katiyar if there was any free land for starting Kar Seva there, Joshi said.

Considering the large number of people pouring in from various parts of the country to Ayodhya, he from December three onwards had requested the Kar Sevaks not to come to Ayodhya as it would have been unmanagable to control the crowd and "we wanted people to come to Ayodhya in a phased manner" till the end of the programme. (PTI)

Badal, Tohra rivalry spills over to educational society

CHANDIGARH, July 18: The Shiromani Akali Dal faction led by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today accused rival G S Tohra of nominating "ineligible" persons as members to the executive committee of the Sikh educational society which looks after the affairs of the six premier institutions in the state.

Of the 30 nominated members of the 100-member executive committee, at least eight are not eligible for the post as they are not elected SGPC members, Punjab PWD Minister Sucha Singh Langha and SGPC secretary Bachan Singh Bachan told reporters.

Supporters of Tohra, chairman of the society, claimed the 30 were nominated life members of the society, but Badal faction maintained the eight had to vacate as they were no longer members of the SGPC.

The 30 seats were offered to SGPC about 20 years ago against a loan taken by the society. The term of the members is five years. (PTI)

‘PM should settle various issues before Pak visit’

MUMBAI, July 18: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should settle the issues of infiltration, increased ISI activities in the Kashmir Valley and firing across the border before he visits Pakistan.

Speaking to the media at his residence here yesterday, Thackeray said though Vajpayee had accepted the invitation extended by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, "things were not easy as they appeared".

Stating that his oft-quoted sentence, "the talks would prove futile" had come true, he said "Musharraf’s allusion of terrorism in Kashmir to a religious warfare sums up the entire attitude of Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir".

Replying to a query about Shiv Sena’s withdrawal from the Government, Thackeray said his party was forced to stay on because if they withdrew support, the Government might collapse and the country cannot afford it at this juncture.

The Sena supremo warned that his party would never accept the concept of "Azad Kashmir", since Kashmir was an inseparable part of India.

"We will never leave Kashmir and they want Kashmir, hence solving this issue appears to be a difficult proposition", he added. (PTI)