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Repair of roads to get SENEPAT, Oct 18: The Haryana Government has decided to...more
Govt committed to introduce MUMBAI, Oct 18: The Vajpayee Government is....more
Maneka for ‘inquiry’ into NEW DELHI, Oct 18: Union Minister and environmentalist....more |
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No talks with Pak unless CHANDIGARH, Oct 18: Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader Krishan Lal Sharma today ruled out any talks with Pakistan unless the latter stopped cross-border terrorism in India.....more Mulayam criticises FARRUKHABAD (U.P), Oct 18: Samajwadi Party (SP) president...more Mufti accuses Farooq NEW DELHI, Oct 18: Jammu and Kashmir People’s....more Jat leader euphoric over JAIPUR, Oct 18: The rajasthan Jat Mahasabha today said its stand on...more CPI-M accuses RSS of NEW DELHI, Oct 18: CPI-M today accused the RSS and its allied outfits...more |
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Repair of roads to get top priority: Chautala SENEPAT, Oct 18: The Haryana Government has decided to give top priority to repairing of damaged roads and overcoming a power and water crisis in the state, Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala said. The Government had allocated Rs 500 crore for repairs to damaged roads in urban and rural areas and the work would be completed in the next few months, Chautala told reporters here yesterday. The Government had launched a number of schemes to augment the supply of power and canal water in the state, he said, adding it was committed to ensuring adequate power and water supply to the agriculture sector. Referring to the law and order situation, Chautala said his Government had directed police to strengthen its posts along the borders with neighbouring states and intensify patrolling to check the anti-social activities. On the purchase of paddy in the mandis, Chautala said all the paddy being sold by the growers was being purchased by the official agencies as well as traders. When asked, the Chief Minister did not rule out the possibility of Assembly elections in the near future but said he would consult workers and leaders of the ruling Indian national Lok Dal-BJP combine. (PTI) |
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Govt committed to introduce judicial reforms: Jethmalani MUMBAI, Oct 18: The Vajpayee Government is committed to introduce judicial reforms in the country, Union Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs Ram Jethmalani said here today. These reforms would focus on appointment of judges, filling up of vacancies in various courts, making the judicial office attractive and improving conditions of judicial service, Jethmalani told PTI in an interview. He said reforms would also aim at attracting the cream of the bar to the judiciary and providing intensive training for judges before taking office and even afterwards. Jethmalani said the immediate priority before him was to fill in the vacancies of judges in the High Courts all over the country for speedy disposal of cases. In the last five months, he said, 30 to 40 vacancies had been filled up. About 100 vacancies exist in various High Courts all over the country, he said, adding his ministry would ensure that these too were filled up soon. Not only sufficient number of judges were needed to deal with pending as well as fresh litigations but also talented ones had to be spotted. In this regard, he said, the exercise undertaken was time consuming. Several authorities had to be consulted for appointment of judges such as the Chief Justice of concerned High Court, Governor, Chief Minister, Union Law Ministry, Chief Justice of Supreme Court and brother judges, he added. This practice is inevitable but could be avoided, but the best course, Jethmalani said, would be to set up a National Judicial Commission. Jethmalani said setting up of a National Judicial Commission was under active consideration, but the Government will have to carefully consider its composition and take all the opposition parties into confidence before carrying out the constitutional amendment. Such a body could cover within its gamut appointments, transfer and removal of judges, he said. He said there was a strong case for an increase in the salary of judges, particularly the subordinate judiciary. It is high time the salaries of judges were revised and housing facilities as well as service conditions improved as this would make judges above temptation, he said. Jethmalani advocated judicial reforms but said legal reforms were not necessary. Changes in law are not at all needed. What we need today is sound judicial policies and judicial action, he said. The minister, however, said people need to change their attitude towards fighting litigations. Today, we find that useless cases were being fought in various courts creating congestion of litigations. In this regard, we need to take joint action with the higher judiciary, he added. While Public Interest Litigations (PILs) were most welcome, the judges must ensure that frivolous ones were thrown away and costs imposed on the litigants as a deterrent, he said. The judiciary should also bear in mind that various development works undertaken by the Government get blocked due to PILs being filed in the courts, he said. In case of false affidavits being sworn in by officials, action for perjury must be taken by the judges against them to discourage such tendency, Jethmalani said. (PTI) |
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Maneka for ‘inquiry’ into costs, benefits of big dams NEW DELHI, Oct 18: Union Minister and environmentalist Maneka Gandhi has called for a "proper inquiry" into the costs and benefits of large dams being built on the Narmada river. Speaking to "India Talks" programme on the CNBC Asia Television channel, Mrs Gandhi was critical of the tendency to justify huge expenditures on the ground that some money had already been spent on a particular project and was cautious in her support for the Government’s nuclear programme. On the Narmada project, she said: "I do not know whether it will provide drinking water to Saurashtra (in Gujarat), the drought area ... There are cheaper ways of getting drinking water...Suppose we were to turn saline water into fresh water and then send it to the villages, the route is much quicker...It would be one-millionth the cost and would dislocate nobody..." "In India, there is an overriding philosophy. If you spend one rupee on a project, you must spend one billion more rupees only to save that one rupee. If only we could just learn to say: sorry, I made a mistake, I am only human..." On whether all big dams should be rejected in view of certain major irrigation projects like Bhakra-Nangal and the Rajasthan canal having contributed to higher agricultural production, Ms Gandhi pointed out that big dams have been "banned all over the world." "Dams like Bhakra-Nangal came in at a time when pesticides were brought in, fertilisers were also brought in and seeds were changed. But the time given for its life is completely disproportionate to the amount of money spent on it. It has silted so fast that we have had to build a series of dams behind it. It has cost a million times more than it should have. Asked whether she agreed with her Government’s nuclear policy, Ms Gandhi first said: "no comment". She then added: " ..As a woman and a pro-life person, I am very frightened of all kinds of bombs, all kinds of war. As a mother, I am scared for my son..But as a politician, (I agree that ) sometimes it is necessary for the country to flex its muscles.." Asked whether time had healed her strained relations with her sister-in-law Sonia Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi refused to comment. She remarked "it’s true" when asked whether it was correct that Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had sought refuge in the Italian Embassy in New Delhi after the Congress party under Indira Gandhi had lost the general elections that took place in March 1977.(UNI) |
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No talks with Pak unless it stops terrorism: Sharma CHANDIGARH, Oct 18: Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader Krishan Lal Sharma today ruled out any talks with Pakistan unless the latter stopped cross-border terrorism in India. Addressing mediapersons here, Mr Sharma said the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government strengthened country’s borders in view of past experiences with Pakistan. This had been done to stop further Kargil-like intrusion, he added. He said though the overthrow of a democratically elected Government by the Pakistani military junta was their internal affair, yet India was seriously concerned about the happenings. In reply to a question, the BJP leader said that talks with the present military junta in Pakistan were possible only after they stopped cross-border terrorism. He claimed that people’s massive manadate to the NDA in the recent Lok Sabha elections was a rebuff to the parties, especially the Congress which were responsible for thrusting elections again and again on the people. The Congress would now play a constructive role as an opposition party, he hoped. He was confident that the NDA Government headed by Mr Vajpayee would complete its full five-year term and solve various long pending issues facing the country. Mr Sharma, who is also spokesman of the BJP, said party’s national executive committee meeting on November 13 and 14 would discuss party’s poor performance in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. Party units of these states had been asked to send their reports to the high command for a thorough review, he added. Asked about the possible change in the leadership in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Sharma said any decision would be taken after the executive committee meeting. On his own defeat from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, Mr Sharma said he accepted the peoples’ verdict here with all humility. "I will continue to work for the interest of the city and its people here," he added. About ongoing infighting in the city, Mr Sharma said his endeavour would always be to bring all factions together. Scoffing at rumours that he was being appointed a Governor of a state, he maintained "my life is dedicated to the party work." (UNI) |
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Jat leader euphoric over OBC Commission report JAIPUR, Oct 18: The rajasthan Jat Mahasabha today said its stand on inclusion of Jats in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBC) had been vindicated by the OBC Commission’s recent report recommending the same. The Commission, headed by Justice G M Lodha, which submitted its report on October 13, had unanimously recommended inclusion of Jats in the OBC category, Mahar Mahasabha leader and its spokesman Jagdeep Dhankar said here. The Lodha Commission, Dhankar said, had held that denial of OBC status to Jats when the same was available for Gurjars, Malis and Sainis was violative of right to equality under article 14 of the constitution. He claimed the Commission had opined that Jats had been "opressed, suppressed and kept depressed by feudal and upper castes of society". (PTI) |
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CPI-M accuses RSS of
orchestrating anti NEW DELHI, Oct 18: CPI-M today accused the RSS and its allied outfits of orchestrating an anti-Christian campaign before the forthcoming visit of Pope John Paul and demanded immediate steps to curb such propaganda. The visit of Pope John Paul to New Delhi in the first week of November is being used as a pretext for a countrywide anti-Christian campaign orchestrated by the RSS and its allied outfits, CPI-M polit bureau said in a statement. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has organised a yatra from Goa which would reach Delhi on the eve of the Pope’s visit, it said, adding that the yatra is being used for anti-Christian propaganda. The propaganda material which is being brought out by the VHP and other RSS outfits spew hatred against the Christian minority, it said. Asking the Vajpayee Government to take immediate steps to curb the propaganda through activities like the VHP yatra, CPI-M said failure to do so would further damage the secular image of the country in the eyes of the world. Charging the Government with being unable to take a firm stand on the issue as the RSS was involved, it said India is a multi-religious country and the head of any religion is free to visit the country to participate in religious functions. This has never been questioned before. It is a sign of the changed circumstances that under the BJP-led Government hostile propaganda against a religious group is freely conducted contravening the laws of the land, it said. (PTI) |
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