Saturday, October 30, 1999
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Poll to 3 Assemblies by March 31:
Gill NEW DELHI, Oct 29 — The Election Commission said today that the Assembly elections in Bihar, Orissa and Manipur would be held before March 31 even as it ordered summary revision of rolls across the country, except in Jammu and Kashmir, with the qualifying date as January 1, 2000, to include or delete voters. Review diesel price hike: Oppn |
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 Children watch a poster at the Perfect Health Mela which opened in the capital on Friday. - Photo by Vijender Tyagi.
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‘Safe passage’ to intruders decried NEW DELHI, Oct 29 — The Opposition today castigated the government for its “failure” in Kargil by giving “safe passage” to Pakistani intruders and losing precious lives of armed forces personnel, as the Treasury Benches charged the Congress and other Opposition parties with putting impediments in the passage of important legislation like the Women’s Reservation Bill. India’s N- programme safe:
Chidambaram SHSAD
to contest SGPC elections No
arrears due as rent: V.P. Singh Thackeray
pleads not guilty SC
order on Cong nominee’s plea Demand
to raise scribes’ wages |
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Poll to 3 Assemblies by March 31: Gill NEW DELHI, Oct 29 (PTI) — The Election Commission said today that the Assembly elections in Bihar, Orissa and Manipur would be held before March 31 even as it ordered summary revision of rolls across the country, except in Jammu and Kashmir, with the qualifying date as January 1, 2000, to include or delete voters. "Arrangements for polling in the three states have to be made before the close of the financial year on March 31 to allow the Assemblies to take vote-on-account for expenditure after that date," Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill told reporters here. The five-year tenure of the Assemblies of Bihar, Orissa and Manipur expire on April 9, March 22 and March 21 respectively. Parrying questions on the poll schedule, Mr Gill said the commission, while deciding the dates, would take into account the fact that examinations were held in March in schools and colleges which were used as polling stations. Asked if the three states would go to the polls together, Mr Gill said: "Probably they will be going to the polls at the same time." Referring to the summary revision of electoral rolls, he said the draft existing rolls would be published on November 15 and the time for filing claims and objections would be till November 30, both days inclusive. Mr Gill said disposal of claims and objections and preparation and printing of supplements of the electoral rolls would be completed by January 5 and the final publication would take place on January 7. Special attention would be paid in updating the rolls in Bihar, Orissa and Manipur since they would be going to the polls as soon as the rolls were ready. Asked why Jammu and Kashmir had been excluded from the revision process, Mr Gill said the summary revision in the border state would take place after the winter as the capital would shift now from Srinagar to Jammu. The summary revision of rolls in J&K had last taken place in 1998 with a cut-off date of January 1. The Election Commission has held that it is not within its jurisdiction to take action against Minister of State for Petroleum E Ponnuswamy and Kerala Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar for alleged electoral offences and said that the aggrieved parties could seek legal remedy, if they so desire. "If anyone is alleging electoral offence, they can go to the appropriate court and seek legal remedy. The commission has no role to play in this. It is for the courts to decide,"Mr M.S. Gill told reporters here today. However, the commission
has sought an explanation of the presiding officer of the
booth where Mr Ponnuswamy voted, the CEC added. |
Review diesel price hike: Oppn NEW DELHI, Oct 29 (UNI) — The Opposition today made a strong appeal to the government to review the recent 35 per cent hike in the diesel price which has hit the common man dearly. Initiating a short-duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Suresh Pachouri (Cong) pointed out that no previous government had hiked the price of diesel to such an extent in one go. The people, in general, and farmers, in particular, had been affected as prices of all commodities had gone up because of this hike. He regretted that such an important decision had been taken by the care-taker government without consulting the Opposition. The government could have waited for a few days as elections were over and a new government would have come into being. Mr Raghavji (BJP) however, justified the hike, saying that if it had not been done the deficit in the oil pool would have gone up. The decision of the government was in line with the policy to fix petrol and diesel prices as per the prevailing rates in the international market. Mr Raghavji said as the oil pool deficit was increasing every year the government should think of reducing subsidy on kerosene and LPG. The government was giving a subsidy of Rs 5.50 on diesel but it was either being used for adulteration of petrol and diesel or sold in the black market all over the country. He emphasised that the government must increase indigenous production of crude oil if it really wanted to control the oil pool deficit. Mr R. Margabandhu, AIADMK, and Mr Ramashanker Kaushik, SP, pleaded to roll back the hike in the diesel prices saying the people were very agitated Mr Dipankar Mukerjee (CPM) said the hike in the diesel price has a chain reaction as a result of which the prices of most of the commodities have gone up, severely hitting the poor. Mr R. K. Malaviya (Cong) urged the government to withdraw the hike. Mr Ramachandra Reddy (TDP) said the government could have brought this hike in at least three to four stages. Mr S.P. Gautam (BJP) suggested that a family of four members should not be allowed to have more than one vehicle. Mr Balkavi Bairagi (Cong) alleged that the present hike in the diesel price only suggested obligations in the form of pre-election donations which had to be repaid. Ms Jayshree Mohanta (AGP) urged the government to increase the royalty on crude to bring a parity with the selling price and give special subsidy on all petroleum products including diesel for the North-East, specially for Assam, as the region was dependent on road transport. Replying to the debate, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik ruled out the rolling back of the hike and contended that the revision was in conformity with the formula evolved by the governments in the past. Mr Naik said there had been upward and downward revision of price of this commodity nine times on the basis of this formula adopted by the Cabinet in 1997 after the resolution adopted in January, 1995, for reconstruction of oil industry and for maintaining parity between the purchase of crude oil in the international market and the selling price. If there was no revision in the price now, the oil pool deficit would have touched Rs 10,000 crore and the government was left with no alternative except to bridge the gap. The import could not be curbed because it would have been impractical and the government had to resort to this unpopular measure with a heavy heart, he said. The minister said the
All-India Motor Transport Congress which spearheaded the
agitation seeking rolling back of the diesel price was
apprised of the situation and told that it could not be
done in the national interest. They had accepted the
government contention. |
Prasar Bharati ‘needs to focus on quality’ NEW DELHI, Oct 29 (UNI) — The Information and Broadcasting Minister Mr Arun Jaitley is in favour of Prasar Bharati strengthening its present set-up instead of starting new channels to compete with the private satellite television channels. The minister also feels that Prasar Bharati cannot achieve its goals until it strengthens its marketing and quality and takes full advantages of its reach and captive viewership by properly packaging its educational, informative and entertainment programmes. Mr Jaitley told UNI in an interview that he was yet to come to a view on the reported statement by his predecessor on the winding up of Prasar Bharati and said it would be able to form a proper opinion only after analysing different viewpoints. The government had the mandate to carry out a review of Prasar Bharati and therefore he would reverse his comments till this was over, he added. However, he was clear that the primary objective of Prasar Bharati should be “credibility, quality, commercial viability and non-corruptibility”. Any review of Prasar Bharati therefore would keep this in view. As a public service broadcaster, Mr Jaitley said Prasar Bharati’s role was that of an educator who had the right to educate effectively. “Professionalism demands that we must first strengthen what we have instead of jumping into new channels”, the minister said while answering a question about the subcommittee set up by the board of Prasar Bharati to study the starting of an education channel. Replying to a question about the uncertainty surrounding employees of Prasar Bharati who were still not sure whether they were autonomous or government servants, he said this would be decided as part of the review. But Mr Jaitley felt that IAS and the Indian Administrative or Indian Information Services officers should ordinarily have no place in a broadcasting organisation. He noted that former Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan’s view that Prasar Bharati had no relevance at the present time was obviously based on the view that the media could not be used in a partisan manner in a scenario where there were several channels and the viewer had the right to switch elsewhere. The concept of an autonomous corporation had been visualised at a time when there was only one broadcaster — Doordarshan. But he said it was also felt by some that a strong and professional Prasar Bharati board should be given a chance to work. But this board should neither be pliable nor hostile, and should be fully professional, he said. On a question about radio, Mr Jaitley said the process of competitive bidding was on for the FM channels following a decision taken in July to allow private operators to set up FM broadcasting channels in 40 cities. The Government had then made it clear that FM broadcasting would not be permitted in the field of news and current affairs and the channels would be free-to-air. Regarding film industry the minister said it must discipline itself and tone up its organisation if it is to take advantage of the industry status given to it. Confirming that he had already given directions that there should be an immediate follow-up of the government’s decision to give industry status to the film industry, Mr Jaitley said this would involve discussions with other departments which were also involved. He agreed that he was in favour of a single-window service to the film industry, so that his ministry could become a nodal ministry. At the same time, he
said that it was necessary to find out ways in which
cinema can be scrutinised against loans. The film
industry must realise that ‘the colour of money is
the official. |
‘Safe passage’ to intruders decried NEW DELHI, Oct 29 (PTI) — The Opposition today castigated the government for its “failure” in Kargil by giving “safe passage” to Pakistani intruders and losing precious lives of armed forces personnel, as the Treasury Benches charged the Congress and other Opposition parties with putting impediments in the passage of important legislation like the Women’s Reservation Bill. Initiating a discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s Address, Mr U. Venkateswarulu, leader of the major BJP ally the Telugu Desam Party, sought urgent steps to prevent the VHP and other “communal” bodies from carrying out protests against the forthcoming visit of the Pope. Stating that the TDP firmly stood for the right to freedom of religious expression, he said the government should initiate action to create a congenial atmosphere during the Pope’s visit and commended the role of Christian missionaries in the welfare of downtrodden sections of society. Charging the Congress with destabilising several governments, including that of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, he said such an “anti-democratic” stance of the party had led to the reduction of its numbers in Lok Sabha. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav accused the Vajpayee Government of “irresponsibility, negligence and lack of foresight” on the Kargil issue which, he said, led to the armed forces losing many lives. Mr Indrajit Gupta (CPI) said the government should tell the House whether the intelligence agencies had failed to gather information about the Kargil intrusion or if warnings sent by these agenices had been ignored. He said though a committee had been set up to review the Kargil episode, there had been no inquiry into the intrusion. Criticising the government for not discussing the issue in the Rajya Sabha when the operation was on to push back the Pakistani intruders, he said Parliament, being the supreme sovereign body, could be kept in the dark. Stressing the need for political stability to ensure development and progress, he said the proposal for a fixed term for the Lok Sabha was welcome, but might not be possible. He said a serious thought should be given to introducing the proportional representation system instead of resorting to far-reaching constitutional amendments. Referring to the vote of confidence issue, he said “much has been made by the government that it fell because of one vote ...... but a no-confidence motion should be carried out only if it has a two-thirds majority in the House.” He said the highest priority should be given to check alarmingly rising population if the country had to progress. Mr Somnath Chatterjee (CPM) alleged that the text of the Address was full of jargon and promises without a single programme of action. Mr Chatterjee said the government promised governance by a consensus but had not evolved consensus on any major issue, including an increase in diesel price. He accused Mr Vajpayee of “steadily transforming from a statesman to a partisan political leader”. The CPM leader said the timing and “incompleteness” of the Bofors charge sheet showed political vendetta and added that there was no mention in the Address of holding any inquiry into the “telecom, sugar and wheat scandals”. He questioned the
government’s commitment to secularism “with
allies like the one disenfranchised because of communal
propaganda” and pointed out that the Address did not
mention the plight of the minorities. |
India’s N- programme safe: Chidambaram MUMBAI, Oct 29 (UNI) — The Atomic Energy Commission Chief Mr R. Chidambaram today allayed apprehensions about the safety aspects of India’s nuclear power programme, saying that the country’s safety record has been good and recognised worldover. “Our safety record has been recognised worldover. This is because no directive of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has ever been violated,” Dr Chidambaram said while addressing a gathering of scientists and technocrats at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre here on the occasion of the 90th birth centenary of the centre’s founder Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha. Statements airing fears about a possible nuclear accident in the country were being made without any scientific basis, he said. “It is a symptom of technological diffidence in some persons who consider that, as a nation, India is not capable of dealing with high technology. “Homi Bhabha did
not think so. I do not think so. And there is no doubt
that all of you, who have a spectacular record of
achievements, do not think so”, he said, adding,
“technological diffidence is an invitation to
technological colonialism.” He hoped the country
would work to prove that India’s high technology
capabilities were as good as those in developed
countries. |
SHSAD to contest SGPC elections NEW DELHI, Oct 29 (UNI) — Signalling the start of yet another ‘fight for supremacy’ between the Badal and Tohra Akali factions, the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal, (SHSAD) headed by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, has, contrary to its earlier announcement, decided to contest the November 10 Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections for the post of president and executive members. Mr Tohra has ruled himself out of contest, and said he would instead put up a party candidate for the post of President, which he held for 25 years. Though Mr Tohra refused to divulge the name of his party candidate for the post, Akali sources said Mr Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, who had earlier put in a short stint as acting president of the SGPC, would be pitted against present SGPC President Bibi Jagir Kaur who was likely to seek re-election as a candidate of pro-Badal SGPC members. Meanwhile, the sources
said the coming SGPC elections might witness a keen
contest between the two factions as the Badal camp had
witnessed some erosion in its overwhelming support base
among the SGPC members. |
No arrears due as rent: V.P. Singh NEW DELHI, Oct 29 (PTI) — Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh today said he had no arrears to be paid as house rent for government accommodation and was not a defaulter in payment for using defence aircraft. Referring to a public interest litigation (PIL) regarding unauthorised occupation of government accommodation by various persons, including himself, he said that after demitting the office of Prime Minister he was allotted the current premises and “It was not a case of overstaying at a place after demitting office”. He said that four years
ago, during the Congress rule, the issue of unauthorised
occupation of government accommodation had been brought
to the notice of the court in a PIL and he had written to
the government saying he had been allotted the present
premises. |
Thackeray pleads not guilty MUMBAI, Oct 29 (PTI) — Shiv Sena chief and editor of party’s mouthpiece “Saamna” Bal Thackeray and two others today pleaded not guilty before a local court in a defamation case filed by Abu Asim Azmi, president of Samajwadi Party’s city unit. In the jam-packed courtroom, amid a battery of lawyers, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate A.A.A. Kidwai explained the charges individually to Mr Thackeray, Mr Subhash Desai and Mr Sanjay Raut, printer-publisher and executive editor of the newspaper, respectively. All three accused have been charged with offences under Sections 500, IPC (defamation) and 501, IPC (publishing defamatory matter with full knowledge that it is defamatory). They were summoned by the magistrate on October 15 to appear in person before him after the complainant alleged that the accused were “deliberately” trying to avoid their presence before the court. Mr Azmi’s counsel
Majeed Memon informed the court that his client had
received threatening calls today, warning him not to
pursue the case against Mr Thackeray or else face stern
action. |
SC order on Cong
nominee’s plea NEW DELHI, Oct 29 — While setting aside the findings of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, the Supreme Court has directed the Designated Judge to try expeditiously an election petition filed by Mr Mahendra Pal, a Congress candidate, who had challenged the election of Mr Ram Dass Malanger (BJP) from the Kutlihar Assembly constituency to the Himachal Vidhan Sabha. The high court had
dismissed his petition by its order dated June, 1998, on
the ground that the petition lacked particulars as
required under section 83 of the representation of the
People Act and that such pleadings did not furnish a
cause of action. |
Demand to raise scribes’ wages NEW DELHI, Oct 29 (PTI) — A demand for immediate revision of wages of journalists was made in the Lok Sabha today. Kerala Congress (Mani)
member P.C. Thomas, through a special mention, said the
wage revision for journalists had not been done for a
long time and the government should take immediate action
on the matter. |
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| 80-year-old gets third
D.Litt NAGPUR: Age is no bar for learning as is evident in the case of 80-year-old retired head of Nagpur University’s English Department, Dr Ranendra Narayan Roy. Dr Roy was conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters (D. Litt) in the faculty of arts at the university’s 86th convocation by the Governor and Chancellor of the university, Dr P.C. Alexander, here on Thursday. This was Dr Roy’s third D.Litt in five years. — UNI Tusker grieves over
mother’s death ‘Dead’
persons stage dharna Mountaineers
rescued by IAF 3 die in
explosion Malaria on the
rise in Calcutta AISAD (Babbar)
to observe ‘black week’ Health institute
offered membership Six murdered
over land dispute 5 killed in road
mishap ITBP on Net |
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