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IA engineers to KOLKATA, Oct 30: Engineers of the Indian Airlines today threatened to launch an agitation against the proposed.....more Former CEC calls for population control BANGALORE, Oct 30: Observing that birth control is the biggest worry for India in this century, former Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill today ....more Film
on Staines and BHUBANESWAR, Oct 30: Gladys Staines, the wife of slain Australian missionary, Graham Stuart Staines, is yet to ...more Decision to sue Sonia
depends on lawyers NEW DELHI, Oct 30: Irked by her allegations against him in the ‘casket scam’,...more |
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Deer’s hair report submitted to Court JODHPUR, Oct 30: A forensic test report of the hair of killed blackbucks and chinkara in the famous deer poaching case of film actor Salman Khan was ....more HC dismisses plea against 24-hour DD News channel NEW DELHI, Oct 30: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the Government decision to convert Doordarshan’s Metro ...more Jaya lays foundation stone for new secretariat complex CHENNAI, Oct 30: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today performed ‘Bhoomi Pooja’ and laid the foundation stone ......more Govt increases HC Judges strength, vacancies mount NEW DELHI, Oct 30: The Union Government today said it has created 94 more Judges post in the High Courts to cut down delay in justice delivery ......more |
IA engineers to launch agitation against JV with SIA KOLKATA, Oct 30: Engineers of the Indian Airlines today threatened to launch an agitation against the proposed joint venture between the domestic flag carrier and Singapore International Airlines (SIA) for maintenance, repair and overhauling of aircraft, including those of Foreign Airlines in India. Chanchal Chattopadhyay, the General Secretary of the Indian Airlines Engineers Association, told PTI that the IA engineers and other employees would strongly oppose this "backdoor privatisation" and "we will go for one day non-cooperation in protest against this." Emphasising that IA employees across the board would be taking part in the non- cooperation, he said that the date for the same would be announced after consultation with various associations. Chattopadhyay also said that association representing nearly 650 engineers and technicians of the IA would not accept any change in identity of their service. "We are employees of IA and we will remain the same", he said in an obvious warning to the authorities against any attempt to shift IA engineers to the newly proposed JV with SIA. Only two days ago ia confirmed that it has signed a MoU with SIA to undertake a feasiblity study for formation of a JV for maintenance, repair and overhauling of aircraft, including those of foreign airlines in India. As per the proposal, the aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) joint venture would be formed with sia engineering company, the engineering subsidiary of SIA, which is a global brandname in the MRO business. The proposed JV was expected to take off in early 2004 with ia as the majority stakeholder. Chattopadhyay complained that the IA engineers were never taken into confidence in this regard and, "the IA chief executive Sunil Arora only promised us that all the relevant papers will be shown to us." "We are not against any privatisation or disinvestment but we will oppose this backdoor privatisation", he said. Chattopadhyay also countered the statement of the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Rajiv Pratap Rudy recently that IA had suffered a loss of more than Rs 300 crore mainly for payment of incentives to the IA engineers and flight operators. "This is not correct. The loss has been mainly because of several factors like IA has to operate the non-viable sectors, the premiums have gone up in the post 9/11 period and the IA management is not allowing the purchase of new aircraft and instead going for lease, which is proving costly," he said. He also claimed that as far as potential of IA engineers was concerned it has already been proved as they have been providing technical back-up support to silk air, which is operating 23 flights per week from India. Stressing that rest of the 17,000 employees of the IA would also join their agitation, he said that the date for the one-day non-co-operation would be announced after consultation with other associations like Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and Flight Operators Association. (PTI) |
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Former CEC calls for population control BANGALORE, Oct 30: Observing that birth control is the biggest worry for India in this century, former Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill today called for an extensive and rapid literacy campaign to tackle the problem of population explosion. Delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial lecture on "Indian democracy: Challenges in the 21st century" organised by the all India Radio here, he said he felt the spread of education would automatically reduce the birth rate in the country, adding that thinking parents, particularly mothers, begin to dream of better lives for their children, which leads to their refusing to have too many children. Dr Gill said he was amused at the authoritarian tendencies of upper caste political leaders, who refuse to enroll those with more than two children in their parties. "This is utterly illogical and even unconstitutional. This gimmick will not have any impact on the problem. We have not done enough in the last 50 years for population control, education and health. This is the challenge above all other challenges," he explained. Expressing fear that in the first half of this century, water would remain the central concern, causing Prime Ministers sleepless nights in their efforts to mediate between angry and thirsty states, he said the country needs a carefully thought out water policy, which is nationally agreed upon and is pursued for the next 40 years with vigour by everyone. Tracing the growth of India after Independence, he said the last decade of the 20th century has seen heightened tension and an increase in the number of problems of the people, aggressively fed by various religious and social movements carried out for electoral gains. Dr Gill lauded the role of the Election Commission which explored the full potential of its constitutional powers, stepped into the breach and sought to push back the worst of electoral abuses by an aggressive display of courage. Introduction of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in 1998 removed all complaints by various political parties, he recalled. While the Commission struggled to neutralise the efforts of ruling parties to misuse authority at the time of elections, there is a need for fundamental constitutional changes in this regard, he said. As ruling parties can indulge in the abuse of power through booth capturing, violence and misuse of election staff, the state cabinets should resign and ‘disappear’ two months before elections, which should automatically lead to a short period of governor’s rule during elections and no party should be able to exert pressure and influence during that time, Dr Gill suggested. On the selection of candidates, he suggested that recognised political parties should decide not to give tickets to maligned candidates. A change is required, not in the law, but in political intentions, he said. The country has a wisely drafted constitution based on a Parliamentary system, he said and suggested that the Speaker should be chosen by a vote of at least 75 per cent of the House and, once appointed, he should have a tenure of 10 years and then retire with handsome retirement benefits. There should also be a complete ban on the retired Speaker seeking further participation in public life. "If these things are done, we can expect a powerful guardian of the rights of the people and the opposition, as it should be in a true democracy," he added. Dr Gill also called for adequate political space for women in the electoral arena as almost all parties deny tickets to them at present. He also suggested amendments to Article 324 to ensure that there is only a three-member body of the Election Commission, as large numbers would make it impossible for it to execute its functions. (UNI) |
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Film on Staines and another on Dara BHUBANESWAR, Oct 30: Gladys Staines, the wife of slain Australian missionary, Graham Stuart Staines, is yet to decide whether she will permit the making of the film on the life and work of her husband. "I have to see the script and I have not yet given anyone the formal permission for the making of the film", she told PTI over telephone from her home at Baripada. Mumbai-based film maker Sunil Agnihotri has said he was keen to do the film on Staines to be named as ‘The Murder of a Missionary’ and the shooting was expected to start in February next. Gladys said that she had met this gentleman (Agnihotri) at Mumbai one year ago. "He had contacted me recently," she said. But it is not a small thing. It has to be decided very carefully in consultation with others, she said. Staines, who had been working among leprosy-afflicted people in Orissa’s Mayurbhanj district for 35 years, was burnt alive along with two minor sons, Philip and Timothy, while asleep in a station wagon on the night of January 22, 1999 at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district. Meanwhile, another film on the life of Dara Singh, the main accused in the Staines case who was sentenced to death by the Trial Court recently, is being planned, Bajrang Dal sources said. Besides Dara, twelve others were also convicted in the case and were sentenced to life imprisonment. The ground work had started on the making of the film titled ‘Dara, the Hero’ and the script was being readied for the purpose, Bajrang Dal’s Orissa convenor, Subash Chouhan told PTI from Sambalpur. The film would be produced by the Sanskrutik Chetana Manch, Chouhan said. "We have requested the producers to shoot the film in the hilly terrain of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts of Orissa," he said adding "we hope the film to be completed by April next year." (PTI) |
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Jaya lays foundation stone for new secretariat complex CHENNAI, Oct 30: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today performed ‘Bhoomi Pooja’ and laid the foundation stone for a new secretariat complex, conceived to be an architectural marvel, coming up on the Anna university premises at Kotturpuram here. Unperturbed by the Centre’s notification, making environment impact assessment mandatory for urban projects exceeding Rs 50 crore, Ms Jayalalithaa laid the foundation stone for the about Rs 400 crore project as per schedule at 0800 Hrs this morning. Amidst chanting of mantras by priests and to the accompaniment of Nadaswaram’ and Ketti Melam, the Chief Minister performed the 20-minute-long pooja, which could be witnessed only by her ministerial colleagues and senior officials. As the ministers and officials put up a human wall around the pooja site, the media, though invited, could not get first hand information of what transpired. However, sources said Ms Jayalalithaa performed the pooja by putting ‘Navadhanyam’ (nine grains), ‘Navapushpam’ (nine flowers) and ‘Navaratnam’ (nine precious stones) into a pit dug out for the laying of the foundation stone. Marking the completion of pooja, she performed an ‘Aarti’ and distributed ‘Kumkum Prasathams’ to her ministerial colleagues and officials. Speaker K Kalimuthu, all the ministers and officials stood in reverence and accepted the ‘Prasathams’ after offering worship to the ‘Karpoora Deepam.’ Ms Jayalalithaa, clad in her favourite green saree, was facing east while performing the pooja, as per ‘Vaasthu.’ After the pooja, the pit was covered with a granite slab over which a portrait of Dhanalakshmi (Goddess of wealth) had been etched out. The Government had decided to shift the secretariat complex from the historict fort St George due to structural defects and lack of space in the existing complex. The new complex, to come up on a 43.20-acre site, would have the most modern legislature building, separate rooms for legislative committees and a 2000-seater conference hall. Other amenities to be provided were libraries, security blocks, fire-fighting systems, recreation and relaxation rooms, canteens, shops, a dispenary, a pharmacy, a computerised closed-circuit television system, a crech, vehicle service and fuel dispensing stations and separate parking lots. (UNI) |
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Govt increases HC Judges strength, vacancies mount NEW DELHI, Oct 30: The Union Government today said it has created 94 more Judges post in the High Courts to cut down delay in justice delivery process but apprehended that the move may not prove fruitful if the High Courts do not recommend names to fill vacant posts. Prior to the increase in the number of Judges post from 655 to 749, there were 163 vacancies and the Government has received only 63 names recommended by the higher judiciary, Law and Justice Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters. "I have been repeatedly writing to the Chief Justices of the High Courts to send recommendations for filling the vacant posts. The Chief Justice of India has also been repeatedly reminding the High Courts to initiate process for filling the existing vacancies," he said. Pointing out that there are 33,68,621 cases pending before the High Courts of which 21,64182 were more than two year old, he said the vacancies need to be filled up as soon as possible to help cut down the backlog. The increase in the number of Judges by 94 is the largest ever done through a process set in motion by the Apex Court by which the strength is reviewed by the Government triennially. The first review of Judges strength was in 1995. When it was increased to 618. In the 1999 review the strength was increased to 655. Now, the strength has been increased to 749. The maximum number of additional posts of 13 Judges each are proposed to be made in the Calcutta High Court, Madhya Pradesh High Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Patna High Court would get 12 Additional Judges while the strength of Judges in the High Courts of Kerala and Orissa is to be increased by 11 each, the minister said. Gauhati High Court would get eight more Judges while Madras High Court would get five, he added. Asked as to why bigger High Courts at Allahabad and Mumbai were not getting Additional Judges, Jaitley said the Additional Judges strength was sanctioned based on disposal rate and the number of cases pending there. "The strength of Allahabad, Bombay and Madras High Courts will be increased by conversion of posts of Additional Judges into permanent ones," he said. The Delhi High Court, whose disposal rate was below the national average of 1976 cases per Judge per year, managed to get three more Judges post. "The Government has taken a holistic view for fixing the Judge strength in High Courts with reference to the transfer policy of Judges, corporate and taxation cases in High Courts," Jaitley said. According to the guidelines finalised in 1994 on the recommendation of the then Chief Justice of India, the required strength of permanent Judges in a High Court is worked out by dividing the average institution of main cases during the last five years by the national average or the average rate of disposal of main cases disposal of cases per Judge per year in the High Court, which ever is higher. (PTI) VHP demands dismissal of Mufti Govt JAMMU, Oct 30: Concerned over a spurt in militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in recent weeks, VHP today demanded that the Centre stop its ‘appeasement policy’ towards the State Government, dismiss it and impose President’s rule. Talking to reporters here, VHP state president Ramakant Dubey also opposed the Centre’s proposal to hold talks with the Hurriyat Conference faction led by Maulvi Abbas Ansari, saying it represented a ‘minuscle’ section of Kashmiris. Dubey said the attack on the Shalimar Express by militants on the night of October 26 and the subsequent bloodbath unleashed by them as they tried to flee to the border was a result of "casual working" of police and security forces. The attack on BSNL headquarters in Srinagar on Tuesday and blasting of an Army bus near Khelani Doda should not be taken as isolated incidents, he said. Dubey warned that militants may increase their activities when Government offices open in Jammu, the winter capital of the State, next week. On the recent peace proposals by India, the VHP spokesman said the Centre was behaving in a "most unreasonable" manner by granting special facilities to an "enemy country, which is hell-bent on breaking our nation by pushing in hoards of militants." He opposed the proposed talks of the Centre with a "minuscule faction of Kashmiris" like the Hurriyat faction led by Ansari. "We have been loudly telling the world for last 56 years that J&K is an inseparable and integral part of India. Where does the question arise of holding talks with such a small section of Kashmiris," Dubey asked. (PTI) "Senior leaders to decide if I should contest": Uma BHOPAL, Oct 30: Describing herself as a disciplined soldier of BJP, firebrand leader Uma Bharti today said senior party leaders would decide whether or not she would contest the December 1 Madhya Pradesh assembly polls. "Senior leaders, including L K Advani, Kailash Joshi and Shivraj Singh Chauhan, would decide whether I will contest. They will decide from which constituency I should be fielded," Bharti told reporters here. Asked about her own wish, BJP’s star campaigner said "I will say I am a disciplined soldier of the party. I have no personal wish and desire of my own." "Left to myself, I will make Kedarnath Dham My Abode ... Won’t return from there," Bharti said when asked what would she do if asked to take a decision on the matter. Dismissing reports of disputes over BJP’s ticket distribution for the assembly polls in the state, Bharti said no name has been finalised for any seat so far and central party leaders would allocate the tickets. "All reports about dissensions and disputes among partymen over ticket distribution are wrong and baseless. These are only speculative as no ticket has so far been given to anybody for any of the constituencies," she said. The State Election Committee of BJP has sent a list of possible candidates for the 230 seats to be scrutinised and examined by the Central Election Committee, she said. The Central Committee, as per the schedule, would meet in New Delhi on November 3 to consider the candidates’ list and finalise the panel of candidates for the coming elections, she added. "Whatever is being reported now on ticket allocation is based entirely on speculations as recommendations of the state committee are still to be taken up by the Central leadership," Bharti added. (PTI) Showcause notices to 2 Cong MLAs for hailing Jaya CHENNAI, Oct 30: The faction-ridden Tamil Nadu Congress, which showed signs of unity after the ‘Mani Shankar Aiyar Episode,’ has once again been thrown into disarray with two of its legislators openly defying the party’s directive and issuing advertisements, greeting Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The two MLAs — K Ramkumar and S V Thirugnanasambandam —considered to be loyalists of AICC secretary G K Vasan, had even attempted to attend an official function addressed by Ms Jayalalithaa at Thanjavur, two days ago, only to be prevented by the police, according to reports received here. A senior Congress leader said the two MLAs, from Thanjavur district, deserved strict disciplinary action to be initated against them as they had even ignored the party’s Diktat that party MPs and MLAs should boycott all official functions, attended by Ms Jayalalithaa. In a swift move, TNCC president S Balakrishnan shot off show cause notices to Mr Ramkumar and Mr Thirugnanasambandam, representing Papanasam and Peravurani assembly constituencies respectively, for issuing the advertisements, hailing Ms Jayalalithaa. The two have been asked to reply within a week as to why action should not be taken against them for "anti-party activities." While, TNCC working president E V K S Elangovan hailed the move, Mr Vasan opposed it on the ground that it was unfair to issue the notice, without even ascertaining the facts from the MLAs. It was unfortunate that even Congress legislature party leader S R Balasubramaniam was not informed of the alleged indiscipline of the two MLAs, Mr Vasan regretted while talking to reporters. The MLAs have indulged in the act of "indiscipline" even before the TNCC could complete its first phase of agitation of organising state-wide meetings, to protest against Ms Jayalalithaa for humiliating AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Mr Aiyar. While one advertisement featured a large picture of Ms Jayalalithaa, flanked by smaller pictures of Ms Gandhi, Mr Vasan and Mr Ramkumar, another one showed pictures of Ms Jayalalithaa, Mr Vasan with the name of Mr Thirugnanasambandam in bold letters. The two advertisements, were purportedly issued by the MLAs, in view of Ms Jayalalithaa’s recent visit to Thanjavur, as part of her district tours. When contacted, the MLAs, however, denied their involvement in the release of the advertisements. They would take a decision on replying to the show cause notice after consulting Mr Vasan, they said. Mr Balakrishnan, in the notice, issued last evening, said "for the sake of seeking some favours from the Government, you have humiliated and betrayed the party, which made you a member of the assembly." The two had not only defied the directive by issuing the advertisements, but also "belittled" the party high command by putting up a small picture of Ms Gandhi alongside a larger one of Ms Jayalalithaa, he said. Mr Aiyar had incurred the wrath of Ms Jayalalithaa for his article in a newspaper that he would donate her to the Guruvayur Temple if he became the Chief Minister. At the Nagapattinam function on October 13, Ms Jayalalithaa had challenged Mr Aiyar to repeat the critical remarks. After the function, Mr Aiyar, while returning to a guest house at Karaikal in Pondicherry, was waylaid and assaulted, allegedly by AIADMK men. The congress leaders said this was not an assault on Mr Aiyar but the party itself and resolved to oppose Ms Jayalalithaa "tooth and nail." (UNI) CBI sends further clarification to Portugal in Abu Salem case NEW DELHI, Oct 30: The CBI has provided to Portugal Government further clarifications with citations from the Court rulings to show that minorities were not discriminated in the country as alleged by Abu Salem, a main accused in the 1993 Bombay serial blast case, during his extradition hearing in that country. A communique received from the Prosecutor General at Lisbon asked the CBI to furnish some more judgements and clarifications to substantiate the claim that Muslims were not discriminated in the country, CBI sources said here today. The CBI had already sent in notings of Justice (retd) M L Pendse to the Portugal Government which spoke about the fairness of the Indian judiciary. The agency sent some more clarifications last night to the Portugal Government which included citations from more judgements to show that there was no discrimination against Muslims in the country. Dismissing as baseless Salem’s contention of allegedly facing discrimination because of being Muslim, the CBI had also said that India was a democratic country where there was no discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, creed or sex. Salem had presented a person identified as Martin Lau as one of his witnesses in connection with his allegations that Muslims were facing discrimination in the country. Lau is the same person who had testified in the extradition case of Nadeem Akhthar, wanted by Mumbai Police in Gulshan Kumar murder case. The Portuguese Government has dropped one of the three charges against Salem - of marrying a local girl to get a resident permit. However, the trial for two other charges — obstructing Government officials in performing their duty and entering Portugal with forged documents — was going on. CBI is also hopeful of a favourable order on its petition for extradition moved in a Higher Court against Salem’s girlfriend, Monica Bedi, after the trial Court had ordered that she could be tried in Portugal as the offence committed by her in India and that country was the same. The CBI has also hired a local legal consultant firm "Moraos Leitao and J Galvio tales" in Lisbon to assist the Prosecutor General’s Office of Portugal in preparing the case as according to the law, no separate counsel could represent the agency in that country. (PTI) |
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