Friday, July 10, 1998
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Decision
on IAF pilots' allowance soon, govt tells HC New Delhi, July 9 — The Union Cabinet will soon take a decision on the Defence Secretary’s report on a dispute over the hike in the allowance of pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF) within four or five weeks ... No-trust move against Keshubhai govt fails GANDHINAGAR, July 9 — The Gujarat Assembly today rejected a no-confidence motion against the four-month-old BJP ministry led by Keshubhai Patel by 63 votes... |
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Develop
full range of missiles: House panel NEW DELHI, July 9 — The government has been asked to go ahead with the development of the full range of missiles in addition to variants of Agni currently under development...
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| Govt
rapped for starving health plans NEW DELHI, July 9 — The parliamentary standing committee on health has rapped the government for making a meager allocation of Rs 280.37 crore in the Ninth Five Year Plan for the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy... Bail plea of Ashok Jain rejected MUMBAI, July 9 — A local court today rejected the bail plea of media baron Ashok Jain, currently in judicial custody at the Bombay Hospital, in a case of alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA)... |
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Decision on IAF pilots' allowance soon, govt tells HC Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 9 — The Union Cabinet will soon take a decision on the Defence Secretary’s report on a dispute over the hike in the allowance of pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF) within four or five weeks, counsel for the Centre informed the Delhi High Court today. The Ajit Kumar Committee report was being discussed by the Cabinet, counsel Rakesh Tiku submitted before a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Mahinder Narain and Mr Justice Mukul Mudgal. The payment of the allowance under dispute was being frozen at present and none of the pilots was getting it, he stated. The Bench accepted the request of the government to grant it eight weeks to take a decision on the matter and fixed September 14 for hearing on all 33 petitions by ground duty officers challenging the manifold hike in the pilots’ allowance as recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission. The petitioners alleged that since the inception of the IAF, there had been disparity in the service conditions including promotion, posting and allowances.  Some petitioners had alleged that those who had expressed their views against the disparity in the allowance between ground duty officers and pilots had been harassed and asked to immediately join high altitude bases in Leh and Thois in the Ladakh region and distant places like Car Nicobar. It was alleged that the IAF had resorted to this punitive measure without even specifying the period of stay of such officers in the Ladakh region and their assignment in the Car Nicobar base. In November and December last year, several ground duty officers at certain Air Force bases had come out in the open against the disparity in the service conditions between them and the pilots. The government then appointed a committee headed by Defence Secretary Ajit Kumar to look into all inter-service and intra-service aspects in the interim period. The resentment among aeronautical engineers and the ground staff started after the flying allowance of fighter pilots was hiked to Rs 9,000 per month in October. Later, the wives of officers and men held demonstrations at some air bases after the allowance for transport and helicopter pilots was increased to Rs 7,000. In contrast, the allowance for the ground duty staff was Rs 700. |
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| Develop full range of missiles: House panel Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, July 9 — The government has been asked to go ahead with the development of the full range of missiles in addition to variants of Agni currently under development. The Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence, in its first report released today, has said: "Government should go ahead full steam in a time-bound manner to develop the full range of missiles in addition to the variants of Agni currently under development as a deterrent to potential enemies from using their ballistic missile capabilities against any of our assets". Pakistan had reportedly positioned its missiles targeting Indian cities, the 43-member committee headed by Lok Sabha member Sqn Ldr Kamal Chaudhry said in its report while justifying the need for developing the missiles. The committee welcomed the clearance granted by the government for the development of the "extended range" version of the Agni missile system and said: "Pakistan continues its missile development programme which was primarily aimed against India." "China has also developed a large number of missile systems which can target any part of the country against which we have no credible missile deterrent," it said. Agni, a re-entry missile system, has been test-fired on three occasions from the interim test-firing range at Chandipur in Orissa and has a range of 1,500 km. The extended range version of Agni, currently under development, will have a longer strike range, besides some other features. Emphasising the importance of missiles in a country’s political and strategic diplomacy, the committee recalled that it had earlier also asked the government to review its technology demonstrator — the Agni missile project and take it to its logical conclusion. While quoting the Defence Ministry, it said that the Agni project had given the country the option to develop a missile system capable of delivering a conventional payload at longer ranges with high accuracy. The Ministry of Defence declared that the "Agni option had not been closed," and that all steps would be taken to safeguard the security and territorial integrity of the country. Lauding the efforts of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in progressively enhancing self-reliance in the Defence systems, including missiles, the committee strongly recommended that the budgetary allocations for the organisation should be increased. "This process may start from the current year itself by raising the current year’s allocation to the level of 8 per cent so that indigenisation efforts of the DRDO do not suffer for want of funds," it said. The committee said that the defence budget of Rs 41,200 crore for the current financial year should be increased to provide for various modernisation and upgradation schemes of the armed forces vital for the defence preparedness of the country. Describing this low level of funding as totally insufficient to meet the crucial requirements, including the modernisation of the armed forces, the committee said the 14.13 per cent increase in the defence Budget was just about enough to meet the outflow of the Fifth Pay Commission’s recommendations — estimated at 10 per cent of the budget estimates — and the general inflation of about 6 per cent. Rupee devaluation had further eroded the Budget capacity. Thus, in real terms the provision for items other than salaries and allowances had remained static, if not reduced. In terms of percentage of the GDP also the defence Budget had been stagnating at 2.4 per cent during the past decade. |
| Pesticides eat into human vitals NEW DELHI, July 9 (PTI) — Pesticides continue to be used extensively in India despite warnings from scientists and studies have shown that residents of Delhi have one of the world’s highest levels of DDT accumulated in their body fat. An ongoing national conference on health and environment was told while India had increased its food production by four times it had increased its pesticide consumption by nine times, leading to contamination of the eco-system. Dr H.N. Saiyed from the National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad, told the conference, organised by the Centre for Science and Environment, that studies among the general population in India had revealed high levels of pesticide residues in blood, fatty tissues and human milk. Exposure to these toxins lead to dysfunctions of the central nervous system, and reproductive disorders, Devika Nag of King George Medical College, Lucknow, said. Malathion continues to be used in anti-mosquito fogging despite its harmful effects as a neurotoxin. It has an extremely low efficacy — killing only about 10 per cent of mosquitoes. But, says V.C. Sharma from the Malaria Research Centre, “India continues to use this pesticide for political reasons.” Pesticidal contamination of the animal feed has led to widespread contamination of milk products, including human milk, the conference was told. |
| No-trust move against Keshubhai govt fails GANDHINAGAR, July 9 (PTI) — The Gujarat Assembly today rejected a no-confidence motion against the four-month-old BJP ministry led by Keshubhai Patel by 63 votes. In all, 54 Congress and Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) members voted in favour of the motion, while 116 BJP members and an Independent voted against it. Earlier, the House rejected the motion by a voice vote. However, Speaker Dhirubhai Shah allowed the demand of Government Whip Bharat Barot for a division vote.The motion, moved by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Amarsinh Chaudhary and the RJP leader Mr Mansinh Chauhan, was discussed for over four hours. Three Congress members, Dhirsinh Parmar, Udesinh Baria and Barjul Patel, were absent during voting due to ill health. Earlier, defending the government, Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel said all precautionary measures were taken to deal with the cyclone disaster. The administration had geared itself up to meet the situation and a meeting of secretaries was held on the previous day to plan the strategy to meet the situation, he said. On the law and order situation, Mr Patel said the crime rate had gone down as compared to last year. Giving details, he said as against 751 criminal incidents recorded in the first half of 1997, there were 711 crimes in the same period this year. He said the government was making all efforts to boost the morale of the police. Moving the motion, the leader of the Opposition, Mr Amarsinh Chaudhary, launched a scathing attack on the government for its alleged failure to tackle the cyclone situation and demanded the appointment of a commission to look into the government’s failure to tackle the natural calamity that affected 12 coastal districts of the state. He held the government machinery responsible for the high toll. He blamed the Kandla Port Trust authority for not alerting the labourers in the area. He criticised the Central Government for not providing adequate help to the state after the cyclone. The state government had demanded Rs 600 crore from the Central Government but only Rs 29 crore had been received so far. Citing a case of how a senior minister in the BJP government was sidelined, Mr Chaudhary said though Industries Minister Suresh Mehta was present in Kutch, the authority of signing cheques was not given to him but to a junior minister. Mr Chaudhary alleged that the BJP Government had links with the RSS, the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Durga Vahini and alleged that representatives of these organisations were functioning in the Chief Minister and other ministers' offices having "full control" over major decisions. |
| Govt rapped for starving health plans NEW DELHI, July 9 (PTI) — The parliamentary standing committee on health has rapped the government for making a meager allocation of Rs 280.37 crore in the Ninth Five Year Plan for the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy. In its report submitted to Parliament recently, the committee headed by Mr S.B. Chavan said that there was no justification in providing an outlay of Rs 280.37 crore as against the original demand of Rs 1997.87 crore of the department, later revised twice at the request of the Planning Commission first to Rs 1436 crore and then to Rs 754 crore by phasing and deferring some schemes. Even the working group set up by the Planning Commission itself for the development of indian systems of medicine and homoeopathy during the Ninth Plan period had suggested an outlay of Rs 1840 crore, it pointed out. The committee said the meagre outlay would defeat the very purpose of establishing a separate department for promotion of Indian systems of medicine. |
| Bail plea of Ashok Jain rejected MUMBAI, July 9 (PTI) —A local court today rejected the bail plea of media baron Ashok Jain, currently in judicial custody at the Bombay Hospital, in a case of alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). Metropolitan Magistrate S. N. Dikshit, pronouncing the operative part of his order in a jam-packed courtroom, directed that a panel of doctors be appointed forthwith to examine the health of the accused. The Magistrate directed that one of the doctors be appointed by the Additional Director-General of Health Services posted in Mumbai and another by the Bombay Hospital. The Magistrate further ordered that the panel should file before it a report on Mr Jain’s health specifically mentioning whether he was fit to be taken to Delhi for further interrogation and appearance before a court. |
| In brief 6 killed in road mishap JAIPUR: Six persons were killed and one injured when a tempo in which they were travelling collided with a truck coming from Nal, in Bikaner on Wednesday, the police said. While two of the passengers died on the spot, four others succumbed to their injuries later at the hospital. A case has been registered against the driver of the truck. — PTI Landslides toll rises to 9 SILIGURI: The toll in landslides in Darjeeling district went up to nine on Thursday with one more body recovered from the Gomti area of Kurseong subdivision, official sources said. Darjeeling District Magistrate Navin Prakash said two persons were still missing, while four had been rescued from under the rubble in a serious condition. Rescue and restoration work was in full swing following a let-up in the rains, which had been lashing the district for the past one week. — PTI Kits to detect crop disease HYDERABAD: Scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) here, in collaboration with the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) and assistance from the Andhra Pradesh Government are developing inexpensive kits to detect poisonous chemicals like — aflatoxins which contaminate many agricultural commodities. ICRISAT senior virologist D.V.R. Reddy here said the Department For International Development (DFID), United Kingdom had committed funding for the project. — UNI Tea ‘lowers’ cholesterol level DARJEELING: The cup that cheers, not only has a refreshing effect but also controls cholesterol levels by cleansing the blood of heat and impurities. The maximum effect is derived when one drinks black tea and preferably without sugar. Darjeeling Planters Association says that medical research confirms many claims of the ancient Chinese about the benefits of tea while proposing fresh areas for investigation. — UNI Militants kidnap three AGARTALA: Three persons, including two brothers, have been kidnapped by militants from disturbed West Tripura district, the police said on Thursday. According to the police, a group of tribal militants stormed into the house of a CPM supporter Ajit Debnath, in Khamarbari village in West Tripura district on Wednesday and kidnapped his two sons Biplab and Bimal at gunpoint. The ultras have reportedly demanded ransom for their release. — PTI Cong leader shot dead HYDERABAD: Veteran freedom fighter and Congress leader, Koli Gopala Rao, was shot dead by extremists of the outlawed Peoples’ War Group at Chennur village in Adilabad district on Tuesday, a report here said. In another incident, extremists along with over 100 villagers raided the house of a landlord and took away food grains, household articles and gold ornaments worth Rs 10 lakh in Ponthangal village of Nizamabad district on Wednesday. — PTI Probe against Health Minister CHENNAI: A court on Thursday ordered a probe into the allegations of misuse of office by state Health and Electricity Minister Arcot N. Veerasamy in obtaining contracts for his brother to erect hoardings in the city. Acting on a private complaint, the Principal Sessions Judge, R. Bhanumathy, directed the state Director General of Police to constitute a special team, headed by an officer of the rank of Superintendent of Police, to investigate the charges and report to the court within two months. The judge posted the case for September 11 for further hearing. —PTI |
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