Vis-a-Vis

MANMOHAN SINGH Prime Minister versus PRAMOD MAHAJAN BJP leader

"We won't tolerate any kind of infiltration and shall take all possible measures to check the problem."

"The Prime Minister is speaking from his lips, not from his heart. I wish he implements what he preaches."

EPILOGUE: Action on the borders would speak more than verbal attacks.

VOICES

"Sonia Gandhi says the Foreigners Act was amended to protect genuine Muslims. What else can you expect from a person of foreign origin?"

Pramod Mahajan, BJP general secretary

"The Congress and BJP preach to smaller parties about foreign policy, saying we have no role to play. They should know arithmetically we are larger than them."

Mohan Singh, Samajwadi Party leader

"I've done the yatra five times in the past 15 years. Each yatra is a special experience."

L.K. Advani, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha

"Under the prevailing political circumstances, even thinking of reviving the Third Front without the BJP would be meaningless."

George Fernandes, NDA convener

"How can five people (the Censor Board) who have little qualification in films, represent the mindset of a million people?"

Subhash Ghai, filmmaker

THE BUZZ OF THE WEEK

Sonia Gandhi hasn't set any electoral records as yet. But with her return to the Lok Sabha a foregone conclusion after the by-election, she will be setting a record of sorts by returning to the House barely six weeks after she resigned.

PICTURE SPEAK

SILVER LINING: Dahiya

Three months later, on March 29, a lower court in Haryana offered a ray of hope by handing down the first-ever conviction under the PNDT Act. The subdivisional judicial magistrate at Palwal town in Faridabad district sentenced doctor Anil Sabhani and his clinic technician Kartar Singh to two-year imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 after holding them guilty of conducting sex determination tests on three women, who acted as decoys in a trap laid by the state health officials in October 2001.

The accused revealed to their clients the sex of their foetus in coded language-an act recorded by the health officials led by the then director of health services, Haryana, B.S. Dahiya. Though the women turned hostile during the trial, the judge relied on the documentary and videographic evidence.

Punjab and Haryana have the worst sex ratio in India due to a high percentage of female foeticide. "It may lead to more unborn girls seeing the light of day," says Dahiya.

Clearly, the judgement has delivered hope for the unborn girl child.

By Ramesh Vinayak

REINSTATED: BJP leader Sanjay Joshi, who had resigned as party general secretary four months ago following his alleged appearance in sleaze CDs. He was given a clean chit by the Madhya Pradesh Police.

DIED: Of a cardiac arrest, writer Manohar Shyam Joshi, 73, who revolutionised TV viewing in India with the first Indian soap Hum Log and, later, Buniyaad.

KILLED: National judo champion Satinder Kumar, 19, in his hostel room at the Hisar Agricultural University. He represented India in the recent Asian Judo Championship and was a gold medallist in Haryana's Junior National Judo Championship.

PICTURE SPEAK

CONVICTED: More wanted the noose instead of a life term

Today, with witnesses turning hostile becoming the norm, this case did not collapse only because all the 27 witnesses (whose identities were kept secret) stood by their statements, despite the lack of medical evidence against More. Among the witnesses were the watchman who took the victim to the police chowki and the victim's friends.

The tests conducted on the victim were inconclusive as no trace of semen was found on her clothes or in the vaginal swabs. But the medical report stated that there was a possibility of sexual intercourse.

In the drama that ensued in the court, More demanded that he be hanged instead of being imprisoned. However, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam averred that "loss of prestige is more harmful than death."

More's lawyer Milan Desai, on the other hand, says they will contest the verdict. "We will appeal in the high court since More was acquitted of the charge of being drunk at the time of the incident. This is an opportunity for us." Mumbai Police Commissioner A.N. Roy says he is happy with the verdict. "We stand vindicated as we had shown utmost firmness in probing the case," he says.

-By Prerana Thakurdesai

Taking Flight

DELHI Six years after it completed successful trials, the Indian Army has finally placed orders for two regiments of the Pinaka 122 mm multi-barrelled rocket launcher (MBRL) system from private sector giants L&T and Tata. This is the biggest order for a weapons system placed on private firms since the defence sector was opened to private participation in 2001 and establishes a precedence of the private sector being given a contract by the government.

The production order for 40 launchers worth Rs 370 crore has been equally divided between L&T and Tata Power. The Pinaka will replace the army's Soviet-manufactured BM-21 MBRLs.

By Sandeep Unnithan

PICTURE SPEAK

WATER FIGHTER: Patkar

It appears that the Centre isn't too keen on engaging with the activist on an issue that has been handled by the states for many years. The spirit of satyagraha is adamant in Patkar.

By Satarupa Bhattacharjya

Index