Sex scandal: CBI may
grill cook in buy-back deal

DEHRA DUN, Aug 21: The CBI is likely to grill the lady cook who allegedly "pressurised" the unwed mother to withdraw her charges against former .....more

Police lathicharge,
over 700 bandh
supporters arrested

KOLKATA, Aug 21: Police resorted to lathicharge and arrested over 700 supporters of socialist unity centre of India and CPI (ML-liberation), the......more

Cow slaughter ban
bill deferred

NEW DELHI, Aug 21: Government today deferred introduction of the bill to prevent cow slaughter and will convene an all-party meeting to arrive at a ....more

DMK joining Cong in
public platforms against
‘dharma’: BJP

CHENNAI, Aug 21: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a constituent of the NDA ....more

Six portraits unveiled
in Central Hall

NEW DELHI, Aug 21: Portraits of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Dr K M Munshi were among six unveiled by Prime Minister ....more

Dal Khalsa constitutes
it’s organisational body

CHANDIGARH, Aug 21: The Dal Khalsa, set up in 1978 and banned for a brief period during the days of militancy in Punjab, today constituted it’s ...more

Karisma to marry
Delhi based businessman

MUMBAI, Aug 21: Bollywood actress Karisma Kapoor will marry a Delhi-based businessman Sanjay Kapoor of Sona steering company.......more

Hearing in Bhattal case adjourned till Sept 12

CHANDIGARH, Aug 21: A local Court here today adjourned the hearing in the corruption case against Punjab Agriculture and Rural Development ....more

City gears up for tryst with Mars .....

Naga factions urge security forces to bring unity for solution .....

Govt for Indian industry’s cooperation in police modernisation .....

Bandh begins in Ranchi .....

Sex scandal: CBI may grill cook in buy-back deal

DEHRA DUN, Aug 21: The CBI is likely to grill the lady cook who allegedly "pressurised" the unwed mother to withdraw her charges against former Uttaranchal Revenue Minister Harak Singh Rawat, official sources said today .

Since the CBI is already investigating the scandal, the Government has decided to refer the information pertaining to the alleged "buy back" deal also to the investigating agency, they said.

Besides questioning the cook Saroj, the CBI would again question Rawat in the light of new information that she reportedly offered Rs 12 lakh as ‘compensatory money’ to the unwed mother to withdraw her charges.

The cook has since been removed from the women protective home here, where the unwed mother is being kept ever since she gave birth to a baby boy in June allegedly fathered by Rawat.

An inquiry into the matter found that Saroj on August 16 had offered money to the unwed mother apparently at the behest of Rawat, who denied having offered any money stating that it was a malicious propaganda to tarnish his image.

Rawat had to quit the N D Tiwari cabinet on June 18 after the unwed mother told a house committee of the Uttaranchal Assembly that her child was "fathered" by him.

Immediately after the resignation of Rawat, a CBI inquiry was ordered into the scandal which later registered a case against the former minister.

Interestingly, Rawat’s wife has sought intervention of the president and national commission for women in the case stating that her husband was "innocent". (PTI)

Police lathicharge, over 700 bandh supporters arrested

KOLKATA, Aug 21: Police resorted to lathicharge and arrested over 700 supporters of socialist unity centre of India and CPI (ML-liberation), the sponsors of the 24-hour West Bengal bandh which evoked partial response.

IGP (law and order) Chayan Mukherjee told reporters here that so far 712 supporters of Suci and CPI-ML (liberation), including 17, women were arrested from different parts of the state for obstructing rail and road traffic.

Of the 712 arrested 647 belonged to Suci while 65 were CPI-ML (liberation) activists.

The IGP said the situation was peaceful with no untoward incident reported from anywhere in the state.

In the metropolis, police resorted to lathicharge at Hazra to disperse a procession of Suci supporters in support of the bandh.

Suci alleged that two of their supporters were injured in the police action.

Government bus and tram services were normal though the number of private buses and minibuses plying on the roads were few.

Shops, markets and educational institutions remained closed in many areas.

The bandh was against the ‘misrule’ of the CPI(M)-led Left Front Government and the recent increase in hospital and educational fees, and land revenue and electricity rates.

The stock exchange and forex market were open but there was no trading at bullion and jute exchanges and also at major wholesale markets including Burrabazar and Posta.

Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty said that a greater number of Government buses ran during the bandh, though private buses were less.

He admitted that the number of passengers was less and people did not come out in large numbers due to fear.

Flights operated normally from the NSC bose international airport.

Eastern Railway sources here said bandh supporters disrupted local train services for a brief period in the morning in Sealdah South, Bongaon section. Normal train services, however, resumed later.

South Eastern Railway and Metro Rail maintained regular services while normal work was on in tea gardens in North Bengal besides Kolkata and Haldia port and the industrial belt in Asansol, the police said.

The bandh affected life in North Bengal, barring the three hill sub-divisions in Darjeeling district, a Siliguri report added. (PTI)

Cow slaughter ban bill deferred

NEW DELHI, Aug 21: Government today deferred introduction of the bill to prevent cow slaughter and will convene an all-party meeting to arrive at a consensus, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Lok Sabha.

Amid protests from opposition benches, Swaraj said the Government has decided to defer the introduction of the prevention of cruelty to cows bill, 2003, and an all-party meeting will be convened soon.

The decision came following uproarious scenes in the House as soon as Speaker Manohar Joshi asked Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh to move the bill.

As several opposition members vehemently protested against the Government move, the Speaker adjourned the House for ten minutes.

Trouble again erupted after the House re-assembled with left parties and Muslim league vociferously opposing the legislation, even as the Speaker ruled that the House was not taking up the bill.

Anil Basu (CPI-M) and some other members were seen tearing papers which they claimed were copies of the bill.

The bill was also strongly opposed by senior JD(U) member Devendra Prasad Yadav, who did not even favour its introduction.

In the midst of the Din, CPI-M leader Somnath Chatterjee was heard telling Swaraj "we want to expose this Government. You do not talk about consensus in this case".

As soon as Swaraj made the announcement of deferring the introduction of the bill, order was restored in the House. (PTI)

DMK joining Cong in public platforms against ‘dharma’: BJP

CHENNAI, Aug 21: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a constituent of the NDA Government at the Centre, sharing common platform with NDA’s main opponent, the Congress, is "against coalition dharma," BJP national secretary I Ganesan said today.

He made this remark while answering a question about the DMK and the Congress sharing a common platform tomorrow along with other opposition parties in Tamil Nadu to protest the State Government invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act against opposition leaders.

He, however, hastened to add that the DMK was not in alliance with the BJP but was only sharing power in the Vajpayee Government.

Asked how long the Vajpayee Government would tolerate the DMK violating "coalition dharma," Mr Ganesan said "as long as the DMK accepts the leadership of Mr Vajpayee and the NDA agenda."

Queried about reports that the DMK wanted to give a shock treatment to the BJP by initially not deciding about opposing the Congress-sponsored no-confidence motion against the NDA Government, Mr Ganesan said the decision had not shocked the BJP.

His party stood by DMK president M Karunanidhi’s statement that the party was bound to oppose the no-confidence motion and support the Government, he said.

On the DMK’s stand opposing the bill to ban cow slaughter being introduced in the Lok Sabha today, Mr Ganesan said he appreciated some people’s "love for all creatures."

(Mr Karunanidhi had said slaughter of all creatures should be banned if cow slaughter had to be banned.)

Noting that his party wanted the present composition of the NDA to continue, he said the DMK’s continuance in the NDA would continue in the interest of the country and that the party would not break away from the NDA in the name of the cow.

On media reports that the AIADMK of Ms Jayalalithaa wanted to join the NDA while the DMK refused to leave, Mr Ganesan said there was "no vacancy" now.

To a question, Mr Ganesan said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress leader Digvijay Singh had supported the ban on cow slaughter. The bill would expose the Congress’ stand on the issue, he added.

This was not intended as a "vote catching step" as elections to five states were due later this year, he said, adding that the ban was "dear" to the party from "the moral, ethical and even economic stand point from Jan Sangh days."

He claimed that the no-confidence motion introduced by AICC president Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, had "strengthened the Government and only exposed the opposition."

Mr Ganesan said Ms Gandhi had, however, "improved" on her performance of reading out from a text in the House to presenting a few lines extempore now.

Ms Gandhi, it appeared, was "not a match" to second and third line leaders of the Government during the debate, he claimed.

From a position of the Government losing by just one vote, the Vajpayee Government had defeated the no-confidence vote by 126 votes, he pointed out.

The no-confidence debate and voting had also helped the Vajpayee Government expose the "disunity" among opposition ranks, he opined. (UNI)

Six portraits unveiled in Central Hall

NEW DELHI, Aug 21: Portraits of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Dr K M Munshi were among six unveiled by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the majestic Central Hall of Parliament today.

The other portraits were of Baba Kharak Singh, Dr B Pattabhi Sitaramaiah Pantulu and Master Tara Singh.

The brief function, telecast live, was attended among others by Speaker Manohar Joshi, leader of opposition Sonia Gandhi and Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed.

Bengali novelist, Chattopadhyay penned the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ in his novel ‘Anand Math’, which became the mantra of nationalism in the struggle against British rule. His portrait was donated by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee.

Kazi Nazrul Islam was a revolutionary poet who brought glory to Bengali poetry and music though he later shifted to the then East Pakistan.

Baba Kharak Singh, a protagonist of national unity, became the inspiration of the Sikhs to participate in the non-cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi.

A social reformer, writer and freedom fighter, Munshi was a versatile personality and a great academician, who vehemently denounced the British for the pitiable economic conditions which prevailed in those days, and founded the well known academic institution of Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan.

While Pantulu, a freedom fighter, was a pioneer in cooperative movement in South India, Master Tara Singh was a protagonist of the movement for formation of Punjab and became one of the leaders of the Gurudwara reform movement. (PTI)

Dal Khalsa constitutes it’s organisational body

CHANDIGARH, Aug 21: The Dal Khalsa, set up in 1978 and banned for a brief period during the days of militancy in Punjab, today constituted it’s organisational body with many new faces with an aim to "achieve sovereign self-rule for Sikh people."

Addressing a press conference here, Dal Khalsa working president Harcharanjit Singh Dhami said that the organisation was dedicated to protect the political and civil rights of the Sikh people.

Listing his party’s aims and objectives, he said "we will continue in our struggle to uphold political freedom for Sikhs."

He said that "Dal Khalsa is all set to pull the Sikh polity out of it’s current depths of depair.""We take this challenge because we are aware that such attempts in the past were wrongly perceived," he added.

He said that the the organisation would contest the SGPC elections, but would not field it’s candidates for Lok Sabha and Assembly Polls in the next ten years.

Dhami demanded that rule should be framed for the removal or appointments of jathedars.

On the occasion Dhami released a souvenir presenting the brief history of the organisation and listing it’s contribution towards the Sikh cause since it’s inception.

Dhami said that Satnam Singh Poanta sahib and Surinder Singh Sekhon would be vice presidents, Kanwar Pal Singh would hold the post of Secretary General, Ajit Singh Pannu would be Secretary International Affairs and Sarbjit Singh Ghuman wouldbe incharge of organisational matters.

Other who had been included in the executive committee were Dalbir Singh Bath, Iqbal Singh Mann, Gurdeep Singh and Gurinder Singh Chahal.

A 40-member working committee and five-member advisory board had also been constituted and their names would be declared a week later, he said.

Dhami said that the Akali polity had lost the direction and spirit that was behind it’s formation. "Both Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal and SGPC chief G S Tohra have several faults in them.There is a need not just to change leadership, but also to change the system," he said. (PTI)

Karisma to marry Delhi based businessman

MUMBAI, Aug 21: Bollywood actress Karisma Kapoor will marry a Delhi-based businessman Sanjay Kapoor of Sona steering company.

When contacted by UNI this morning, Karisma’s father Randhir Kapoor confirmed the news of his daughter’s marriage and said that the details are yet to be finalised.

The actress was earlier engaged to Abhishek Bachchan.

However, the engagement was later called off. Both Karisma and Abhishek have maintained silence on the issue.

Apart from the television serial, Karisma is also doing various of films like "Mere Jeevan Sathi" with Akshay Kumar and Amisha Patel.

Though Mr Kapoor did not want to divulge the exact date of the engagement, sources said it could take place in the last week of September. (UNI)

Hearing in Bhattal case adjourned till Sept 12

CHANDIGARH, Aug 21: A local Court here today adjourned the hearing in the corruption case against Punjab Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal till September 12.

Ms Bhattal, presently the senior most Cabinet Minister in the Amarinder Singh Government, was present in the Court of Additional Sessions Juidge R S Baswana who adjourned the hearing after the new Public Prosecutor, senior Supreme Court lawyer and Rajya Sabha member R K Anand, sought "three-four days" time to study the case.

Ms Bhattal, had been booked by the Ferozepur range vigilance under section 409 of the IPC and section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act in May 2001 for misappropriating Rs 20 lakh from the Chief Minister’s funds during her tenure as the Chief Minister.

The counsel for the vigilance, however, today filed a reply to an application of the defence counsel, which had earlier stated that the allegations against Ms Bhattal were "baseless".

In his reply to the application of the accused for summoning of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha records to clarify the expenditures from the Chief Minister’s Relief Funds during Ms Bhattal’s tenure, the counsel for the vigilance today stated that there was no provision or procedure for the summoning of such documents.

"The record (of the Vidhan Sabha) is irrelevant and of no consequence in the judicial proceedings and for the purpose of these proceedings," the vigilance counsel stated in the written reply.

"Neither the Punjab Assembly nor its Speaker are Courts as provided for in the Constitution and, thus, no State Assembly or council is competent to act as special Judge or Courts of the description mentioned in the Constitution or for that matter under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, for trying, sentencing, acquitting or convicting persons accused of having committed crimes," the counsel for the vigilance further stated.

The defence counsel had urged the Court in the last hearing to summon the Vidhan Sabha records which showed that the State Government had already replied that there were no misappropriation of the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund during Ms Bhattal’s tenure. (UNI)

City gears up for tryst with Mars

KOLKATA, Aug 21: Scientists here are gearing up for the earth’s tryst with Mars when it will come to the closest-ever (about 55,758 million Kms) to the earth in 60,000 years on August 27.

The Mars will be visible at its brightest from August 27 evening till dawn on August 28.

Mr B K Mandal, director, Positional Astronomy Centre (PAC), Kolkata said the exact epoch of the event would be at 1518 Hrs IST while the planet’s apparent diameter would be 25.11 ARC seconds.

Before this tryst, Mars came within 55,718 million Kms of earth in the year 57,537 BC, Mr Mondal informed.

He said PAC has geared up to study the event and installed 11'’ and 6'’ telescopes on the roof-top of its office building at New Alipore area. The specialists have successfully located the south Polar cap and other coveted features of the Martian surface.

"At present spring is prevailing in the southern hemisphere of Mars. It will be visible more prominently as the southern hemisphere of the planet is tilted towards the earth. If the sky remins cloud free, PAC plans to take telescopic observations on the different visual aspects of Martian surface", Mr Mondal said.

Mr Piyush Pandey, director, Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai, however, said the Mars would come closest ever to the Earth in the last 100,000 years. The last great opposition of Mars happened in 1988, but was not so close, he said.

Mr Pandey observed that the distance between the two planets would remain within one per cent of this figure from August 20 to September 3.

"So, we have partically a whole fortnight that Mars will be burning bright and looking bigger in even small telescopes". He remarked.

"During this favourable observing period, one should look for a brilliant beacon shining with a steady ochre glow in the southeast two hours after local sunset." Mr Pandey maintained.

He said any good telescope with more than 70 MM aperture should reveal surface features on Mars near opposition. He added that the sight of surface features, such as the polar caps and Albedo features, would depend on the clarity of the Martian atmosphere.

"The best magnification for observing Mars is about 35 per inch of aperture", Mr Pandey informed. (UNI)

Naga factions urge security forces to bring unity for solution

KOHIMA, Aug 21: Naga factions led by Naga Hoho, the Apex Naga body in the state, has called upon security forces to join hands with all underground factions to and help the state find a lasting solution to the protracted Naga issue.

In a meeting held with Inspector General of Assam Rifles Major General K T G Nambiar and chairman of ceasefire monitoring group and ceasefire supervisory board Lt Gen (Retd) R V Kulkarni here yesterday, the Naga leaders admitted that ceasefire had ushered in changes to the Naga society and suggested that it be extended to all areas.

The Naga Hoho and other tribal Hohos criticised the Centre’s move to the extend Disturbed Areas Act (DAA) for another year in the state.

Alleging that differences could be felt between the Prime Minister Office (PMO) and the Army functionaries in the state, the Hohos said the Centre was working sincerely and hoped that the ongoing peace talks would be successful.

However, the joint Naga bodies made it clear to the security forces that "piece meal solution would not be accepted by the Nagas at any cost".

"If piece-meal solution was followed, it might take another fifty years to solve the Naga imbroglio," the Hohos felt.

"We donot want to prolong the process but want to come to an amicable solution at the earliest," they declared.

Replying to the queries, chairman of both the ceasefire bodies with NSCN(IM) and NSCN(K) Lt Gen Kulkarni said the differences between the NGOs and the security forces would not solve any problem.

He said it was time for the people to sit and share their views and opinions to bring out positive steps which would benefit all sections.

Pointing to the Disturbed Areas Act and Armed Forces Special Power Act, Gen Kulkarni said these acts have nothing to do with ceasefire monitoring mechanism, rather, he said Centre had extended the act for another year for not being satisfied with the prevailing situation in the state.

He urged the NGOs to come forward to solve the conflicting situation.

Speaking on the occasion, Inspector General of Assam Rifles Major General K T G Nambiar said there were no differnces with Centre and the security functionaries as claimed by the NGOs.

He said the act was extended for another year because the Centre wanted to ensure peaceful co-existence.

To a query, the general clarified that development works undertaken by the security forces in the state "was not to insult the State Government" but to reach the interior areas where Government had failed to initiate development. (UNI)

Govt for Indian industry’s cooperation in police modernisation

NEW DELHI, Aug 21: Government today asked Indian industry to produce cost-effective and good quality indigenous equipment to meet the requirements of the police force, particularly those fighting terrorism and naxalism.

The Central Government also warned that if states fail to utilise funds earmarked for modernisation of police force, it would directly place orders for products.

"If good products are available indigenously and are cost-effective, there is no reason to look for imports," Union Home Secertary N Gopalaswamy said addressing a seminar on `role of industry in police modernisation’.

He emphasised that the process of procurement needed to be transparent wherein norms are followed so that "there is no scope for suspicion".

Pointing out that security requirements were growing, Gopalaswamy said "but money does not grow as fast as the requirement. So cost-effectiveness is important."

Joint Secretary (police modernisation) in the Union Home Ministry Harminder Raj Singh, while underlining the need to modernise police force speedily in time-bound manner, regretted that states were not utilising the funds allocated for the purpose.

Each state has been allocated Rs 2000 crore each year for modernisation of police force in 10 years till 2010 with the Centre bearing half the cost.

"But the system is not showing the desired result. Utilisation of funds by states is very low," Singh said at the seminar organised jointly by Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Noting that the capabilities of terrorists and naxals to strike at security forces had witnessed a paradigm shift, the MHA official said "we need to move fast and equip our forces with high quality armaments and gadgets."

He said procurement so far was mostly dependent on imports which was a long process and favoured that the Indian industry come forward with quality products.

S Sen, chief of CII’s defence division, said the industry would enthusiastically get involved with police force for modernisation as it was doing with defence force.

"It is our special responsibility to ensure that police force gets the best equipments to help them maintain internal security of the country," he said. (PTI)

Bandh begins in Ranchi

RANCHI, Aug 21: A dawn-to-dusk Ranchi district bandh called by the opposition Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) began today.

Police said the bandh was peaceful so far and most of the educational institutions remained closed.

The JMM called the bandh to protest the alleged BJP-led NDA State Government’s failure to maintain the law and order situation and killing of the party’s Ranchi district president’s son and one of his friends here on Monday evening.

The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and the CPI (ML) have extended their support to the bandh.

Meanwhile, the Jharkhand Yuva Morcha(JYM) president Binod Pandey and JMM central committee member Rajendra Mahato have alleged that the two JMM activists — promode Kumar Mahato and Shameem Akhtar —were murdered as part of a political conspiracy hatched by the local BJP activists.

The JMM central committee has also demanded that the families of the victims should be given immediate financial assistance and a Government job.

The Ranchi-Patna highway(NH-33) was blocked for several hours by a mob near Vikas yesterday here in protest against the killings.

Police had to fire few rounds in the air to restore traffic.

However, no one was injured, police said. (UNI)

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