The Tribune

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Saturday, July 11, 1998

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Women's Bill to be moved
on Monday
Consensus at all-party meeting
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 10 — The Bill providing for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state Legislatures will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The stage for introduction of the Bill known as Constitution (84th Amendment) Bill, 1998 was set after a consensus was evolved at an all-party meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The meeting was attended by 57 leaders representing 35 parties in both Houses of Parliament with none of the participants opposing reservation in principle, and a few disagreeing with the Bill’s content.
"This legislation is one of the commitments made by the BJP and alliance parties in the National Agenda of Governance. We consider this an important step towards empowerment of women in the country," the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, said briefing the media on the deliberations of the meeting.
Mr Khurana said with consensus emerging on the Bill as it stands today, it will be introduced in the Lok Sabha to get it passed in the current session.
With firm assurances from the Congress, the principal opposition party, and the Left, the chances of the Bill being enacted had become brighter.
The Samajwadi Party favoured a lesser extent of reservation and inclusion of Other Backward Castes (OBCs). The Rashtriya Janata Dal wanted that reservation be provided in full only to women belonging to the Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities.
While the AIADMK and Bahujan Samaj Party favoured quota for OBC women within the proposed 33 per cent, the Samata Party said it would move OBCs amendment for inclusion and not press for the same if it did not gain support.
The Samajwadi Party, whose session-eve objections resulted in delaying the Bill, reiterated its stand for reducing the reservation from the proposed 33 per cent to 15 per cent.
Mr Khurana said after the meeting it was clear that the Government was firm on its commitment not to allow any dilution of any provision of the Bill in its present form.
To a question on the issue of reservation for OBCs, Mr Khurana said, the matter would be taken up for consideration at an appropriate time.
He said the government had intended to move the Bill on July 3 but deferred it after the Samajwadi Party leader, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, expressed some reservations and the Prime Minister suggested convening an all-party meeting to discuss it further.
Referring to the SP views articulated by Mr Ram Gopal Yadav, the minister said the party was of the opinion that even in advanced countries the quota did not exceed 10 per cent. The party also suggested that instead of allowing the Election Commission to decide on which seats to be reserved, the same should be done by political parties.
Among the BJP allies, Samata Party, AIADMK, Tamizgha Rajiv Congress, Trinamool Congress, MDMK and Mr Jethmalani (Independent) were in favour of reservation.
The Congress said it was committed to providing for 33 per cent reservation without any dilution and hoped that the Bill would have a safe passage.
Among the other Opposition parties, those who spoke in support of reservation were the CPM, Tamil Manila Congress, DMK and Janata Dal.
The main features of the Bill as reported by the Joint Select Committee, which went into it earlier are:
* One-third of total number of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies/Union Territories Assemblies shall be reserved for women by rotation of different constituencies.
*At present, under Article 330 of the Constitution, reservation of seats is provided for SC/ST, under the new Bill, one-third of these seats will be reserved for women belonging to SC/ST.
* If in any state/UT, there is only one SC/ST seat, three general elections will be taken as a block. The seat for the first general election shall be reserved for women belonging to SC/ST and no seat shall be reserved in the next two general elections.
* The reservation for women, to begin with, will be for a period of 15 years.

Heavy rain in region
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 10 — Widespread rain over the entire north- western region threw normal life out of gear as a few trains were delayed and buses had to stop as water got collected in roads, leading to hundreds of vehicles getting stranded.
Government and private offices functioned with skeletal staff, and at many places rain water entered shops and houses of people, destroying goods. The rain is not likely to subside as the met office has predicted heavy rain in the region in the next 48 hours.
The rain that started like a heavy downpour around 6 a.m. today continued till noon. The states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and in parts of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, had rain. Ambala recorded a shade above 19 cm of rain till this evening — the most in the region — Chandigarh had 13 cm of rain. Southern parts of Haryana like Rohtak had no more than a slight drizzle while the Palam observatory in Delhi recorded 3 cm of rain till 8.30 a.m. Reports of rain between 5 cm and 11 cm have come in from various cities of the region.
In the Union Territory of Chandigarh and its surrounding townships of SAS Nagar and Panchkula, rain wreaked havoc as sewers got chocked at a few places. Besides flooding low-lying areas in sectors 35-C and 15-C in Chandigarh, rain water entered several houses in phase II of SAS Nagar. In a particular street in the township cars were half-submerged in water.
In a particular house The Tribune team found Mr Manohar Lal, a retired Punjab government employee, and his family waiting helplessly for the water to recede from their drawing room. Rain water had entered five other houses in the same locality.
In Chandigarh, southern sectors were inundated as water flowed through its normal course — south wards. The roundabouts had become cesspool while roads under repair got damaged because of the onslaught of water.
The low-lying areas in Bapu Dham colony , Mauli Jagran village, Colony No V, Burail village and basements of certain showrooms in Sector 35 and Sector 37 were flooded. At the southern tip of Sector 48, a car had almost submerged in water while trucks got stuck. At several places water was flowing in streets as drains could not take in the sudden gush of water.
In Kaimbwala village an unidentified child was swept away by the swirling waters of the Sukhna choe as the lake filled and the excess waters spilled over the dam gates. The child was, however, rescued half a km downstream.
Another rain-fed choe that criss- crosses through the city and meanders its way through to SAS Nagar and beyond had swollen. It was flowing around 8 feet above the road on the causeway on the Punjab-Chandigarh border near the YPS . A CTU bus had got struck. It was extricated by cranes before it could be washed away.
A truck and a few other two-wheelers had been washed away in this choe a couple of years ago. This year a police picket had been posted on both sides of the causeway to divert traffic right from morning.
Meanwhile, office-goers coming from the newly built CHB 's Kajeheri complex had to take a detour through phase III of SAS Nagar. In the grain market, many loaded trucks could just pass through as water and mud and slush created problems.
The met office has predicted that moderate-to-heavy rain will occur at most places in Himachal, Haryana and many places in Punjab in the next 48 hours. Heavy rain is likely at some places in the region, weathermen said.
The water level in the Sukhna has gone up by three feet.
According to the official sources, the water level in the lake today was 1158.10 feet, which is about three feet above than 1155.6 feet, recorded by the authorities yesterday. However, it is learnt that the current level was still about three feet below the maximum level of 1160 feet. Once the water crosses this mark and touches the 1161 feet mark additional water will be released into Sukhna Choe.
Mr B.K. Gupta, SDO UT engineering department, said if the catchment areas of the Kansal and Mahadev choes, which send rain water to the lake, received another spell of heavy rain the water will cross the danger mark, forcing the authorities to drain out extra water into Sukhna Choe.
Mr Gupta said all precautionary measures had been taken, including deployment of officials to keep a close watch on the water level.
SAS NAGAR (FOC): Rainwater entered hundreds of jhuggis and houses in several pockets here today following a downpour, causing damage to property.
Reports of pockets being affected by rainwater were received from Phase I, V, VII and XI. Residents of most of the jhuggi colonies had a tough time trying to save their meagre belongings from rainwater.
Scooters, cars and mopeds could be seen stalled in large numbers on several roads.
The local Fire Brigade chief, Mr B.S. Sidhu, said personnel of his department remained busy during the day draining water from localities in Phase I and XI.
In Phase I around 100 quarters in the HM house area were affected with the water level inside some houses reaching around three feet.
The flow of water in the low-lying areas of Phase V was strong hitting traffic.
Among the worst-hit pockets was Block 65-C, in Phase XI, where rainwater entered houses. Residents were taken unawares in the morning as the water entered, causing harm to property in many cases.
Mr S.S. Barnala, municipal councillor of this area, accused the officials concerned of failing to take pre-monsoon measures in Phase XI to prevent such flooding of homes.
He said the public health department had not cleaned the stormwater drainage system before the onset of the rainy season. A project to lay a new stormwater pipeline in the area had not yet been completed.
Mr Barnala also flayed the local SDM and the municipal council for not responding immediately to the problems of the affected residents of Phase XI.

10 drowned near Kalka
From Yoginder Gupta
and Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service
KALKA , July 10 — Ten persons, including three women and six children, were drowned when their jhuggis on the banks of the Paploha rivulet near Pargian village, about 10 km from here, were washed away in flash floods this morning.
By the evening, the police, with the help of villagers, was able to recover nine bodies. The body of a five-year-old boy, Hari Om, was still to be traced.
The victims were members of the families of migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Braham Dev Mandal, who lost five of his family members, wife, two sons and two daughters, told TNS that around 7 a.m. a 10-feet wall of water struck their cluster of jhuggis. He was also washed away, but managed to save himself with the help of a branch of a tree.
He did not let his only surviving go away from him in the Kalka Civil Hospital. He had gone there to identify the bodies of his family members lying in the mortuary.
Chandan Singh lost his wife, Sajjawati, and his sons, Raj Kumar (22), Parkash (3) and Hari Om (5). Another woman was identified as Nini (70). Raj Kumar is survived by his widow and a son.
The residents said though the jhuggis were at a height, the rivulet seemed to have changed its course. Mr Deepak Bhardwaj, the contractor who had engaged the labourers, said he had taken the contract of the stone quarry about six months ago. About 40 labourers were staying at the site. He said his "munshi" informed him about the tragedy around noon. The police was also informed about the incident around the same time.
Mr Brajinder Singh, in charge of the Marranwala police post, took off his uniform and entered swirling waters to bring out two bodies. The bodies, recovered from the 8-km stretch between Pargian and Marranwala villages, were badly bruised.
The Deputy Commissioner, Panchkula, Mrs Saroj Siwatch, along with the SP, Mr Alok Mittal, visited the site and supervised the rescue operations.
Mrs Siwatch told TNS that the Punjab authorities had been informed about the missing body because the Paploha rivulet fell in the river Sirsa in that state. After 1988, the rivulet had seen such heavy discharge of water.
She said nearby villagers had warned the labourers not to build their jhuggis at the site which was flood-prone. But the warning was ignored.
She had asked the district Red Cross authorities to provide necessary help to rehabilitate the labourers. Financial assistance would be provided to them as per rules.
Residents of Pargian village provided food to the bereaved families in the evening.
PANCHKULA: Meanwhile, four persons, including a boy, who were washed away by the gushing waters of the Ghaggar near Sector 21, were rescued by a team of a local firemen.
According to information available, the four persons — Pappu, Ganesh, Kridhan and Hari Singh — were trying to retrieve a log of wood from the river when suddenly the discharge of water increased.
They were, however, rescued a few metres downstream near a bridge, connecting Sector 21 and 25, which is under construction.
Due to heavy showers the water discharge in the Ghaggar at Nadha bridge was recorded at 24,614 cusecs on Friday afternoon.

Postal strike rocks Parliament
Two rounds of talks fail
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 10 — As the indefinite strike by more than six lakh employees of the Department of Posts entered its second day today, the issue rocked Parliament with the Opposition staging a walkout in the Lok Sabha.
The issue figured in both Houses during zero hour and again in the post-lunch session when the Communications Minister, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, made a statement on the strike.
The Opposition, which came out in support of the postal employees, walked out of the Lok Sabha when the Speaker disallowed the members from seeking clarifications on Mrs Swaraj’s statement.
The Opposition members, led by Mr Basudeb Acharya and Mr K. Karunakaran of the Congress, charged the government with doing little to sort out the problem, which was contested by members of the BJP and its allies.
The Opposition remained agitated despite the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, assuring the members during zero hour in the Rajya Sabha that the government was holding talks with union leaders to restore normalcy.
Mrs Swaraj, in her statement, gave details of the circumstances leading to the strike and appealed to the striking employees to return to work. She assured them that the government would consider their demands sympathetically and sought the good offices of the Opposition to end the impasse.
The issue was also taken up by the Opposition outside Parliament with the Congress spokesman, Mr Ajit Jogi, urging the government to immediately start negotiations with the striking employees.
It was a sorry state of affairs that the government had no time to attend to the problems of the working classes, he said.
The CPM Politburo also discussed the issue and took a serious view of the Communications Minister’s reported statement that the demands of the employees could be considered only if the strike was withdrawn.
The Centre of India Trade Unions also urged the government to concede the demands of the striking employees and help end the stalemate.
The Federation of National Postal Organisation (FNPO), one of the two main organisations to call the strike, however, reported no progress in the negotiations with the government. FNPO general secretary G.K. Padmanabhan said two rounds of talks with the government had failed and there was no indication whether further discussions would be held.
He said the participation of the employees in the strike was encouraging with more than 60 per cent of them abstaining from work in the Capital. In Haryana and Punjab, the strike was near-total, he said.
Post services were affected throughout the country and hardly any mail was delivered. The department claimed that it had made elaborate arrangements to keep functional like the Speed Post, the booking of money orders and the registration of letters and parcels.
Intervening in the Rajya Sabha after members of left parties raised the issue during zero hour, the Prime Minister said that even though the attitude of the employees was not cooperative, the government was keen on ending the strike.
Mr Vajpayee said the exercise to end the strike was still on and hoped that a solution would be found to end the impasse.
Earlier, raising the issue members of the Left parties, Mr Nilotpal Basu and Mr Dipankar Mukhopadhyay, expressed concern about the problem faced by people due to the strike.
Several Opposition members, including Mr Janardhan Poojary of the Congress, Mr Naresh Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Ms Kamala Sinha of the Janata Dal supported the Left party members and urged the Prime Minister to make a statement on the strike, which began yesterday.
In the Lok Sabha, members cutting across party lines, supported the demands of the postal employees, including the implementation of the Justice Talwar Committee’s report on extra-departmental (ED) employees who manned the rural postal services. The members said the ED employees were treated as bonded labourers and they were not paid decent wages. The 10-point charter of demands also included the finalisation of the bonus formula and immediate grant of additional bonus.
Raising the issue during zero hour, Mr Basudeb Acharya of the CPM said that the Fifth Pay Commission had given a raw deal to the extra-departmental employees and demanded that anomalies in their pay-scales should be removed.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, tried to pacify the agitated members by saying that the government was equally concerned about the agitation and the Communications Minister would make a statement later in the day.
The agitated members demanded that the Communications Minister come to the House and make a statement. They said they were not satisfied with Mr Khurana’s reply.
Mr Vaiko of the MDMK, which is an ally of the BJP-led coalition, said the demands of the ED employees were genuine and had been hanging fire for several decades. He said the ED employees who had been running the rural postal services were being treated like bonded labourers.
Mr B.C. Khanduri of the BJP, Mr Mullapally Ramachandran of the Congress, Mr Venugopalachary of the TDP, Mr P. Mukherjee of the RSP, Mr Chandramohan Tripathi of the BJP and Mr Ram Vilas Paswan of the Janata Dal also supported the demands of the striking employees and urged the government to hold discussions with the striking leaders to end the impasse.
Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav said the strike had hampered the postal services and people were not getting letters. He said the government should initiate talks with the union leaders.
The Shiv Sena leader, Mr Madhukar Sarpotdar, complained that the Speaker was not allowing members from the Treasury Benches to express their views and the Opposition was getting preference.
To this, Mr Paswan reacted by saying that there was a difference between the Opposition and the ruling party. He said the Opposition could walk out of the House and asked Mr Sarpotdar whether he was willing to do the same.
Mr Khurana expressed regret over Mr Sarpotdar’s comments on the Chair, but also criticised the Opposition for not allowing him to speak.

Next Indo-US talks in Delhi
Meeting ends without result
FRANKFURT, July 10 (PTI) — India and the USA today announced further talks in New Delhi on July 20 and 21 after ending their second round of discussions on nuclear issues apparently without achieving any tangible result towards resolving sharp differences over disaramament and non-proliferation.
A cryptic three-sentence official statement, issued at the end of the two-day talks at an undisclosed venue here between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Special Envoy Jaswant Singh and US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, merely said the two sides had decided to continue their discussions in New Delhi after agreeing that the bilateral contacts were "very useful and constructive".
"Both sides have agreed that these very useful and constructive contacts will continue," the statement said after the second round of talks since the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests in May.
Keeping with the desire of the two countries to continue the dialogue, the two delegations also discussed the "agenda" for Mr Talbott’s forthcoming visit to New Delhi for the third round of talks.
A State Department official in Washington, commenting on the talks held in four sessions, including the one over dinner last night and one during breakfast this morning, totalling over eight hours, said they "covered a range of issues, including non-proliferation and security matters".
It is important for both India and the USA to "clearly understand each other’s position on this vital issue", the State Department official told reporters.
Neither Jaswant Singh nor members of his delegation were available for comments on the talks which revolved around matters relating to disarmament and non-proliferation as well as regional and international developments.
Other members of the Indian delegation were India’s Ambassador to the US Naresh Chandra, and Alok Prasad and Rakesh Sood, Joint Secretaries in the External Affairs Ministry in charge of the Americas and Disarmament Divisions respectively.
The US delegation included Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary of State in charge of South Asia, and Bruce Riedel, a member of the National Security Council.
There was no confirmation whether India insisted during the talks on its right to develop a nuclear arsenal capable of giving it a "minimum deterrent" against China.
Washington has already made it clear that this is unacceptable to it and demanded India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) immediately and unconditionally.

Dogged by shortage of 'detectives'
From Jupinderjit Singh
PATIALA, July 10 — The dwindling number of 'canine detectives' in the Punjab police dog squad coupled with continuous posting on deputation of the remaining number with ministers' security, has seriously affected the investigation of many a case of theft, robbery and murder in the state.
Information collected from various police district headquarters has revealed that there are less than 25 dogs in the state, while the approved number of them is 82 and the actual requirement is 130 plus. As much as 60 per cent of these tracker and sniffer dogs are serving round the clock with the security wing of ministers in the state or with members of Parliament from the state. Still many other ministers of the state and the Centre have been making persistent demands about the supply of these trained dogs for their security.
This posting of dogs with ministers' security staff, though necessary in one case or two, has defeated the very purpose of the formation of dog squad instituted basically for tracking down the criminals involved in a crime or for sniffing explosives to safeguard public security.
Out of the 23 police districts there is not single dog available with Batala, Majitha, Tarn Taran, Khanna, Jagraon and Barnala. Moga, Muktsar, Nawanshahr and Mansa are also waiting for the first appointment of the dogs.
Patiala, Jalandhar and the border districts ranges do not have more than five dogs each in sharp contrast to the required number of almost 50. The government railway police also has three dogs while the requirement is of 16. Due to this shortfall, there is only one dog available for two or more districts. The problem increases when a dog is required at two places at the same time. Precious time is wasted in the transportation of dogs from one district to another resulting in the fading away of scent left behind by the criminals.
To quote a recent example, the dog squad arrived too late at the scene of an armed robbery at Chaura village near here a couple of weeks ago. Villagers said while the robbery took place at around 3.00 a.m, the dog squad reached the village in the afternoon. That too, inquiries revealed, was made possible as no VIP duty was assigned to the dog squad on that day.
Police officials still remember the work performed by the dog squad in tracking down terrorists during the troubled era of the state. The story of a dog in the Amritsar range who lead the police to a terrorist hideout was oft repeated by various police officials.
Even sniffer dogs, the second type of detective dogs, are mostly doing duty permanently with ministers' security staff or deployed with VIP security. Most of the times they are not available when needed at sensitive public places where there is a threat of planting explosives or where some suspicious objects are found.
Interestingly, the police aware of the urgent need to fill vacant posts of dogs, had compiled a report in 1996 about the pathetic condition of the dog squad. It had submitted a proposal for more requirement of dogs in order to make proper and clinching investigations.
It also lamented the fact that the Punjab police was relying on the Border Security Force for the supply of these dogs which can provide for only two or three dogs in an year. Moreover, the state lacks a training school for dogs.

Senate drops farm sanctions
WASHINGTON, July 10 (UNI) — In an unusual move, President Bill Clinton has issued a strong endorsement shortly after the Senate passed a Bill recommending lifting of the economic sanctions, though partially on India and Pakistan to penalise them for their nuclear tests in May.
The 100-member Senate, on a vote of 98-0, approved the legislation, last night permanently exempting loan guarantees extended by the us agriculture Department for food and other agricultural commodities from the India-Pakistan sanctions.
"Food should not be used as a weapon, and I will resist any action that would lead to a de facto grain embargo", the President said in a statement.
Immediately after the senate panel on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Chairman Sam Brownback announced his plans to push for the lifting of the remaining sanctions on the two countries.
Mr Brownback, a Republican who visited New Delhi and Islamabad, along with a fellow lawmaker Charles S. Robb (Democrat) last week to study the situation in South Asia, agreed with the President that food must never be used as a political weapon or a foreign policy tool.
Passage of this legislation is an important first step, Mr Brownback said adding, we need to begin repealing the remaining sanctions on India and Pakistan. And, we must act now.
Mr Brownback, said his committee would begin hearings next week on whether to lift other economic sanctions on Pakistan and India, perhaps with some conditions such as an agreement by those two countries to avoid provocation in the contested Kashmir territory.
It all comes down to trying to build peace in the region, he said. There are some minimalist requirements we could put in.
Mr Brownback was convinced that Pakistan, in particular, was on the brink of economic collapse. Our sanctions are only further destabilising the region. We must act immediately to put in place a plan to repeal the remaining sanctions to reduce tensions and to re-engage the USA economically and diplomatically in the region, he remarked.
Senator Robb said the Senate action was a recognition of the fact that the impact of sanctions was clearly limited. "The situation in South-Asia is far too important to be micromanaged by (us) Congress", he added.
Before, it becomes a law, the legislation must secure the approval of the House of Representatives, with the strong backing of the farm lobby, the Bill would see through the other House, according to observers.
The legislation, expected to become law within a couple of days, would clear the way for US farmers to bid on a major Pakistani wheat tender, scheduled for July 15. Pakistan, which has emerged as the no. 1 market for US white wheat, wants to buy 350,000 tonnes of wheat next month.
For want of this measure , American farmers, already enduring low wheat prices, would have been prevented from exporting wheat to Pakistan. The sanctions have frozen the remaining $88 million in wheat credits for Pakistan this year and threaten up to $350 million in new credits for next year.
The haste with which the Bill had been pushed through was to meet the July 15 deadline for submitting tenders for the wheat sale. Senators had warned against the delay in the passage of the Bill.
India is not nearly as important a customer of US farm products, importing about $142 million in total agricultural goods last year.
However, the near-unanimity on the Bill followed only after its sponsors agreed to scale back their original proposal, which would have given President Clinton authority to temporarily suspend until next March any or all of the other economic sanctions imposed by the USA.
Several senators raised concerns about lifting the broader sanctions, saying such a move was too rushed and urging instead a comprehensive examination of the dozens of US sanctions in place and whether American interests are being served.
"We should rethink sanctions across the board and what we mean by them," said Senator John Glenn (Democrat). He is the author of the 1994 law under which the Clinton Administration was forced to impose nuclear-related sanctions on New Delhi and Islamabad.
Later, Mr Mcconnell told reporters that he wanted the Senate to consider broader legislation in September. He wanted to allow the US export-import bank and the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation to resume lending critical to US trade in the region, and give the President more discretion over other penalties.
"We got a lot more to do," said Senator Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (Republican) said he would press ahead with his own proposal, which would make it more difficult for Congress or the executive branch to impose unilateral sanctions.
"They tend to harm our industries and hamper our foreign policy more than to advance their stated goals," Mr Lugar said. "This Senate needs a broader debate on economic sanctions and their consequences."

PM's offer to Pakistan on N-issue
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 10 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today invited Pakistan to jointly work towards total global nuclear disarmament.
In a categorical reiteration of the country’s policy, Mr Vajpayee said that India would not sign the CTBT unconditionally.
Replying to a two -day long debate on the working of the External Affairs Ministry in the Rajya Sabha, which was initiated by Mr Pranab Mukherjee yesterday, the Prime Minister said the time had come for India and Pakistan to work out a bilateral agreement that they would not first use the nuclear weapons and "together they should appeal to the nuclear-weapon countries for evolving a time-bound programme for total elimination of nuclear weapons".
"We have already declared a moratorium on further nuclear tests and are ready to turn it into a de jure agreement", the Prime Minister said, while reiterating India’s stand on the CTBT.
Strongly refuting the Opposition charge that Pokhran-II had eroded a national consensus on the country’s foreign policy, the Prime Minister said that the government had only exercised the nuclear option, that was existing for long, in the background of the deteriorating security enviornment in the region. The nuclear tests were conducted in defence of vital security interests of the country, he said in a strong defence of the steps taken by the government in May.
Disclosing that the government wanted to take the Leader of the Opposition into the confidence before conducting the May 11 nuclear tests but could not do so as he was not available, the Prime Minister regretted that the Opposition had tried to derive political mileage after the tests.
In a direct reference to the Opposition’s charge that it was not taken into confidence prior to the tests, Mr Vajpayee said there was no need to take the entire Opposition into confidence and recalled that Mrs Indira Gandhi had not done so when the 1974 Pokhran test was conducted. "I was then in the Opposition and I was considered good but the then Congress Government had not taken me into its confidence", he said. "We did not complain then because it was a sensitive issue".
Instead of projecting a picture of national unity abroad at this juncture, the Opposition had been speaking in different voices, the Prime Minister said. "If a picture of unity was not projected on such a sensitive issue,then security interests of the country would get hurt", he said.
However, the government would continue to strive for a foreign policy consensus, Mr Vajpayee said, lauding the former Prime Minister, Mr V.P. Singh, as a "true nationalist".
Referring to Mr V.P. Singh’s remarks in a recent interview to the BBC, the Prime Minister said that the former Prime Minister had lauded the country’s scientists for the nuclear tests. Though Mr V.P. Singh had differences with the present government on many issues he was with it on the issue of national security, Mr Vajpayee emphasised.
On Pakistan, the Prime Minister said that India wanted friendly relations with Islamabad and expressed the hope that his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Nawaz Sharif, on the sidelines of the Colombo SAARC summit later this month would pave the way for the resumption of the long-stalled dialogue between the two countries.
Ruling out any third-party mediation in resolving outstanding issues between India and Pakistan, Mr Vajpayee thanked those countries which had expressed their desire to help, saying that "we will solve problems through direct negotiations with Pakistan".
He said the previous government headed by Mr I. K. Gujral had held talks with Pakistan and evolved a formula for future discussions, but regretted that the cooperation for negotiations was lacking on the part of Pakistan.
At the same time, he said without naming Pakistan that India would continue to keep a watch on the intentions of a country which had clandestinely acquired nuclear technology to assemble a nuclear device.
Referring to India-China relations, the Prime Minister said that Delhi was keen on resolving the border dispute with Beijing by giving a further boost to the dialogue. "There is peace and stability along the Sino-Indian border", he pointed out.
On the issue of economic sanctions, the Prime Minister admitted that the country would have to face some difficulties, but added that the country had the will to absorb the fallout of the sanctions. He said that the government was ready to take the Opposition into its confidence on the issue and take its suggestions and advice into account to build a national consensus.
Mr Vajpayee said that while the effect of the sanctions was difficult to gauge at present, humanitarian and development-related aid had not been stopped and those in the pipeline would also be received.
The Prime Minister said that a debate was going on in the USA as to whether the country imposing the sanctions or the country against which the sanctions were aimed at would be more hurt.
The Prime Minister rejected the Opposition’s charge that the country had been isolated after the tests.

JKLF chief arrested
Tribune News Service
SRINAGAR, July 10 — Mohammad Yasin Malik, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), and his close associate Javed Ahmad Mir along with over 12 others were held here today while leading a procession towards the Hazratbal shrine on the Friday following Id.
Over two lakh devotees offered Friday prayers at the Hazratbal shrine this afternoon. The holy relics of Prophet Mohammad that are placed at the shrine of were exhibited. Prayers were also held at various other shrines and main mosques in the valley.
Arrangements were made for transporting people to and from Hazratbal after offering the Friday prayers.
The JKLF leaders were prevented by the police from marching towards the shrine at Hazratbal before the prayers.
The group of over 200 persons had earlier arrived from Nowhatta area.
The vehicles were stopped at Sodrabal by the police from where the JKLF leaders and their supporters marched towards the shrine. The police stopped them from entering the shrine area near the main gate of the University of Kashmir campus. The processionists raised slogans against the police and the security forces. After about half-an-hour of altercation with the police Mohammad Yasin Malik and Javed Ahmad Mir and their supporters were taken away in police vehicles.
Other leaders of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) including its chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and spokesman Abdul Ghani Bhat are already under house arrest. Some of other leaders were also not allowed to reach Hazratbal today.

UK bans N-related goods' export
to India, Pak
LONDON, July 10 (PTI) — Britain today announced ban on export of all nuclear-related goods to India and Pakistan and snapped all contacts between nuclear scientists and establishment of these two countries and their British counterparts.
The move was announced in the House of Commons by the Minister in the Foreign Office, Tony Lloyd, who said these new measures were "over and above the strict controls that already restrict such exports".
"We will also consider export licence applications for military items and other dual-use equipment to either country with particular vigilance," the Minister said in a written reply to a parliamentary question from Dr Stephen Ladyman.
Mr Lloyd flayed the recent nuclear tests by India and Pakistan charging that they "flew in the face of international consensus against nuclear proliferation".
"Under these regrettable circumstances it is right that we should deny the export of nuclear-related goods to India and Pakistan," he said.
The British action came even as India and the US were holding high-level discussions in Frankfurt to iron out differences on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The ban is almost meaningless as India and Britain have never had any cooperation in the field of nuclear development. A foreign office spokesman said he also could not recall any Indo-British tie-up in nuclear field.
A foreign office note said in addition to the strict controls already in place on the export of nuclear-related goods to New Delhi and Islamabad, Britain under new measures announced today would deny all export licences applications for items listed on the nuclear suppliers group dual-use list.
The ban would also be enforced on other goods to these end users which could contribute to the Indian and Pakistani nuclear programmes, the spokesman said.
"All contacts by British scientists or nuclear personnel with Indians and Pakistanis will be discouraged and no visit by Indians or Pakistanis to British nuclear facilities would be permitted," the note said.

Kainth flays govt on Udham Singh Nagar
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 10 — Mr Satnam Singh Kainth, an Independent member from Punjab, today urged the government to exclude Udham Singh Nagar from the proposed Uttaranchal state.
Raising the issue during zero hour in the Lok Sabha, Mr Kainth said the farmers from Punjab had strived hard to convert the rocky terrain into a green belt and their interests should be protected. He said Udham Singh Nagar should be retained in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the government announced in the House that the Union Territory of Pondicherry would be accorded statehood status.
Replying to a question raised by Dr Subramanian Swamy, Mr Khurana said the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, had made it clear that along with the statehood for Delhi, the Union Territory of Pondicherry would also be granted statehood.
Violence and the deteriorating academic standards in the Banaras Hindu University also figured in the Lok Sabha with the Samajwadi Party members urging the government to save the prestigious university.
Mr Khurana said the issue would be referred to the Human Resources Development Ministry.
Mr Nirpen Goswami of the Congress raised the issue of supply of sub-standard rice to the North East and displayed a sample of rice supplied by the Food Corporation of India. He charged the Food Ministry with showing indifference to the region.
Members of the DMK and the AIADMK raised the Cauvery river water issue and urged the Centre to ensure implementation of the interim award of the Cauvery Tribunal. Congress members from Karnataka objected to the issue being raised in the House. Mr R.L. Jalappa said the matter was sub-judice as it was pending before the Supreme Court.
The RJD leader, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, sought to know from the Speaker as to when the MPs would be allotted accommodation in the Capital. He said already three months had passed since the Lok Sabha poll and they were yet to be allotted houses.
Ms Bhavana Chikhalia of the BJP urged the Centre to give an assistance of Rs 500 crore for Gujarat to compensate for the damages suffered by the state due to cyclone.
Mr Sudip Bandopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress demanded that voters identity cards should be made mandatory to stop malpractices during elections.