NewsBriefs
Back to Headlines

SC orders to re-seal illegal buildings

       New Delhi: The illegal commercial establishments in the national capital, which were de-sealed after the May 20 government notification, will be re-sealed following a Supreme Court order. The apex court today stayed the May 20 notification, which means the commercial buildings operating illegally in the residential areas of the capital will be sealed again. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal said that the illegal establishments would have to be re-sealed with effect from September 16. Earlier this year, over 5000 such establishments were sealed on the direction of the Supreme Court. However, the sealing drive was stopped after the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Bill-2006 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on May 15 after its passage through the Lok Sabha on May 12. Even President A P J Abdul Kalam gave his assent to the bill that sought a one-year moratorium on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) demolition and sealing drive. The Bill called for a halt to any further demolition or punitive action on grounds of unauthorised construction in Delhi for a period of one year. The legislation resulted in de-sealing of the shops and shopkeepers, who had filed affidavits, were allowed to run their businesses June onwards. Until the promulgation of the Bill, the demolition men were moving across the capital, carrying out the Delhi High Court's order to the municipality to raze all illegal constructions. By the MCD's initial reckoning, an astounding 70 to 80 percent of all buildings in Delhi have some minor or major illegal construction work. The court, however, had rejected the figure, saying it was "an attempt to create fear psychosis in the minds of honest citizens". Privately, MCD officials stick to the figure saying that the majority of the over 3.2 million buildings in Delhi have some flaw or the other.

Govt rules out probe into Pathak leakage (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: Soon after the Rajya Sabha rejected the privilege motion notice sent by suspended Congress leader Natwar Singh, the Government on Thursday ruled out any probe into the leak of the Justice R S Pathak Inquiry Authority report. Speaking to newspersons here, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi said, there was no question of a probe because there was "no breach of privilege" of Parliament. This has come as a literal reversal from his earlier words. On August 4, Dasmunsi has said: ''The leakage issue will be dealt with very firmly by the Government, we will let you know very soon the manner and time frame of the probe to be conducted by a investigating agency". Earlier today, rejecting the privilege motion notice, Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat told the RS: "Past precedents in similar cases also lead me to reach the decision that this matter does not constitute any breach of privilege of the House," adding, "The notice is not admissible". Natwar had alleged that the Pathak report was leaked to the media soon after it was submitted to the Prime Minister and by doing so, the Prime Minister had breached the privilege given to him. The Pathak inquiry committee probing former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh's involvement in the Iraq Oil-for-Food scam since December 2005 found Natwar Singh, and his son Jagat, an MLA from Rajasthan, as having misused their positions in the Congress party to get the oil contracts for some people close to them. The Congress party, however, was exonerated. According to Volcker Committee's findings Natwar Singh and Congress were non-contractual beneficiaries in the UN oil-for- food programme during Saddam Hussain regime in 2001.

Natwar seeks rapprochement (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Thursday rejected a privilege motion notice sent by suspended Congress leader Natwar Singh. Natwar had alleged that the report of the Justice R S Pathak Inquiry Authority was leaked to the media soon after it was submitted to the Prime Minister, and by doing so, the Prime Minister had breached the privilege given to him. Rejecting the notice, Shekhawat told the Rajya Sabha: "Past precedents in similar cases also lead me to reach the decision that this matter does not constitute any breach of privilege of the House," adding, " The notice is not admissible". However, all eyes were on how the former external affairs minister would act on the floor of the House, considering that he was to seated in the first row of the treasury benches in the Parliament along with the Prime Minister. But there were hardly any moment when the two leaders made eye- to-eye contact as Dr. Singh left the House as soon the Question Hour was over. Natwar who for a brief moment moved into the Well of the House to speak with officials gave a salutation to the Prime Minister. Natwar has been sending out signals for a rapprochement with the Prime Minister after he had publicly criticised the latter and had even termed Manmohan Singh as the country's 'weakest Prime Minister ever'. It was reported that Natwar had met two senior Congress ministers and had sought an appointment with Dr. Singh to express his regret over the kind of words used by him over the weekend against the latter. But the Prime Minister's Office is yet to oblige Natwar with an appointment and the likelihood seems to be bleak. On Wednesday evening, Natwar in an interview to a private news channel Times Now said that he would make a "balanced, level- headed statement after mature consideration" before the Rajya Sabha, adding that he would mention about disagreements on matters of policy "in a dignified, sober and level-headed manner". But Natwar, who has already been served with a showcause notice by the Congress party, may find it difficult to smoke the peace pipe with the party leadership.

Parliament adjourned over Speaker issue (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Thursday following an uproar in the House over the opposition's verbal criticism of Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. Soon after the House assembled for the day, Left parties' members started shouting slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies for casting aspersions on Chatterjee. The Left's reaction came in the wake of a letter written by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Chatterjee in which Vajpayee had made a frontal charge against Chaterjee saying he does not command the confidence of the Opposition. Vajpayee's criticism came on a day when the Opposition NDA MPs led by the Leader of Opposition LK Advani boycotted the proceedings of Lok Sabha and sat on a dharna at Parliament House protesting against Chaterjee's alleged bias against them on Tuesday. Meanwhile in Rajya Sabha, BJP along with Samajwadi Party TPD and AIADMK, sought to raise the issue of a Parliamentary resolution on the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation, but were not allowed by Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Sonia inspects flood-hit Vadodara, Surat (Go To Top)

     Vadodara: Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee undertook an aerial survey from Vadodara to Surat this morning. Union Textiles Minister Shanker Singh Vaghela and other state Congress leaders welcomed them when they reached here at 8.00 am. Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Shivraj Patil undertook an aerial survey of the flood-affected districts of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. Meanwhile, flood waters have receded in Surat after the authorities stopped releasing water from the Ukai Dam into the River Tapti. The army and district administration are continuing with rescue and relief operations. According to reports, the water level of the Tapti River is gradually coming down. Rail and road traffic has also been restored and National Highway Eight, which passes through Surat, has also been re-opened. Torrential rains over the past week have caused havoc in several districts of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat. Crops grown on 3.69 lakh acres of land have been damaged by the rains.

Dacoit Salim Gujjar, lover Geeta shot (Go To Top)

      Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh): Dreaded dacoit Salim Gujjar, who was carrying an award of Rs 1.5 lakh on his head, and his lover Geeta Jatav, were gunned down by police in an encounter in the ravines of Uttar Pardesh's Auraiyya District on Wednesday. Following a tip-off, a police team intercepted the Gujjar gang in the ravines between the villages of Sheganpur and Kaitholi and engaged them in a fierce gunbattle. Salim was a resident of Jalaun District and his criminal activities were spread across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. He was wanted in over 150 cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping. "Salim Gajjar had a cash reward of one lakh on his head from Uttar Pradesh Police and 50,000 from Madhya Pradesh Police. Today (August 09), he has been killed in an encounter with his accomplice Geeta who also had a reward of Rupees 5000/- from Madhya Pradesh and Rupees 10,000/- from Uttar Pradesh Police. A huge amount of ammunition has been recovered from him (Salim Gujjar) and he was involved in over 150 cases," said Daljit Chowdhary, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Kanpur. Locals expressed delight over the death of Salim Gujjar and Geeta, saying that they could now lead peaceful lives. "People here were suffering a lot and were unable to do farming because of them. But now, the villagers can lead a peaceful life here," said Muni Prajapati, a local. A light machine gun, double barrel guns and a huge quantity of cartridges have been recovered from the encounter site.

1993 Mumbai blast verdict put off (Go To Top)

       Mumbai: A Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, (TADA) court on Thursday postponed its judgement in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case till September 12. The judgement in the 1993 Mumbai blast case which was to have started in the TADA court today will not be delivered on September 12 , Public Prosecutor, Ujjawal Nigam said. He also said that gangster Abu Salem, an accused in the case, had filed a writ petition, which was already pending in High Court. The 123 accused in the case include Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, gangster Abu Salem and Ejaz Pathan. But the key accused in the case Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon and Anees Ibrahim are still absconding. The verdict will come thirteen years after the serial blasts rocked the city. During the trial, the court heard the statements of about 600 witnesses and recorded about 3,000 pages of evidence. Eighty-six accused, who had been released on bail, were summoned by the court on July 27. According to the CBI, Dawood Ibrahim had masterminded the blasts. CBI accused Salem of distributing arms to many accused in the case. However, Salem had denied the charges by retracting his police statement. Sanjay Dutt, allegedly possessed an AK-56 rifle and later destroyed it. The witnesses examined by the prosecution turned hostile and the actor denied the charges by retracting his statement to the police. The serial blasts, at Bombay Stock Exchange and 15 other places were believed to have been carried out as a revenge for the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

A second Parsi as IAF chief (Go To Top)
by Suman Sharma

       New Delhi: Will the Indian Air Force (IAF) have a helicopter pilot as its Chief? Most likely. The senior most officer, after the retirement of the incumbent Air Chief S.P.Tyagi in March 2007 and the Air Officer Commanding- in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Western Air Command (WAC) Air Marshal A.K.Singh who retires on Januray 31, 2007, is Air Marshal Fali H.Major, who is now commanding the Eastern Air Command. If all goes well, he is likely to become the Chief of the IAF, which has so far been the preserve of fighter pilots. Air Mashal Major will be the second Parsi to become Air Chief, the first one being Air Marshal Aspy Merwan Engineer who headed the Air Force from 1960 to 1964. Meanwhile there's no written or laid down rule that the Air Chief should be a fighter pilot, similarly the two most important operational commands namely the Western Air Command (WAC), Delhi, and the South Western Air Command (SWAC), Gandhinagar, too need not have fighter pilots commanding them. But owing to their operational requirements and since there are combat exercises held from time to time they have been commanded by fighter pilots. Air Marshal Major is the first pilot to have converted on to Mi-8 twin-turbine helicopters, having commanded the first Mi-17 squadron of the IAF; Major has some other impressive credentials to boast of. In 1999, he took over as the Air Officer Commanding Leh (Ladakh) in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict. For his leadership, successful accomplishment of his tasks and distinguished service of a very high order, he was awarded the "Ati Vishist Seva Medal" on January 26, 2002. The Eastern Air Command headquartered at Shillong covers the eastern states that border the countries of Bangladesh, Burma and Tibet, as its areas of responsibilities.

Kanchi Sankaracharya turns 72 (Go To Top)

      Kanchipuram: The Devotees of the Sankaracharya of Kanchi Mutt, Sri Jayendra Saraswathigal, celebrated His Holiness' 72nd birthday here on Thursday. Special pujas such as Maha Deeparadhana were performed on the occasion. A special Abhishekam was also done with 108 milk pots at the Sri Kamakshi Devi Temple. Kakkan Natha, a devotee and General Secretary of the All- India Janata Party, said that the Kanchi Mutt welcomes people of all faiths. "It's the 72nd birthday of the Kanchi Sankaracharya and is a glorious day for us. The Kanchi Mutt is a mutt upholding humanitarian rights and principles without any difference in religion, caste or creed," said Natha. Educational kits were distributed to 72 students and veda vidyarthis, 72 tricycles to the disabled and 72 sewing machines to the poor on the occasion.

Tenures of Secretaries finalised (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave approval on fixing the tenures of various important posts, including Cabinet, Defence and Home Secretaries. Briefing newspersons here, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi said, the tenure of Cabinet Secretary was fixed for three years and the tenures of Defence Secretary and Home Secretary for two years. The Cabinet has fixed the tenures of Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for two years. Dasmunsi said that since the Cabinet approval was only for fixing the tenures, there would be no financial implications.

Pak deports Indian women to Afghanistan )

      Peshawar: Two Indian women and five children, who were detained on Pak-Afghan border close to Miranshah in the North Waziristan Agency around 14 months ago on the charges of spying, have been deported to Afghanistan by the NWFP Home Department. The political authorities (PA) in the Agency had arrested two Indian women, Gulnar and her four children and Afsana with her eight-year-old son, when they tried to cross the border, and then charged them under Section 40 of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (40-FCR) and kept them in custody reported the Daily Times. Bushra Naz, a legal adviser for women prisoners in the Dost Foundation, an NGO providing legal aid to helpless women, said that she had fought the case with the political authorities. She said that the women were innocent and tried to cross the border for their medical treatment, not for terrorism or anti-state activity. She said that the Indian Muslim women married to Afghan nationals crossed the Pak-Afghan border for their medical treatment several times illegally. She said that to keep five children in confinement was the violation of human rights, and the women were severely tortured during investigations on the basis of suspicion. After declaring the two women and their five children innocent, Bacha Gul Wazir, the NWFP Home Secretary, issued their deportation order to Afghanistan. They were released from the Central Prison Peshawar and handed over to Fakhar Alam, the PA of the North Waziristan, who will deport them today (Thursday) to Afghanistan.

Dravid's boys head for Sri Lanka (Go To Top)

     Bangalore: The Indian cricket squad selected for the tri-series in Sri Lanka will leave for Colombo later in the day. The tri-series involving India, South Africa and hosts Sri Lanka begins on August 14. The 15-member team includes Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Dinesh Mongia, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, and Harbhajan Singh. The series, which will last up to August 29, would be Tendulkar's first competitive assignment since March this year. Five of the seven matches will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium and the remaining two encounters will be played at the Sinhala Sports Club (SSC), both of which are in Colombo. One warm-up match will be played on Friday. Itinerary: August 14 : Sri Lanka v South Africa at Premadasa stadium August 16: Sri Lanka v India at Premadasa stadium August 19: India v South Africa at SSC August 21: Sri Lanka v South Afria at SSC August 24: Sri Lanka v India at R Premadasa stadium August 26: India v South Africa at R Premadasa stadium August 29: Final match between qualified teams at R Premadasa stadium The visiting team will return back on August 30.

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top