Thursday, April 8, 1999
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Bhagwat may face court martial NEW DELHI, April 7 — Defence Minister George Fernandes today stepped up his attack on the dismissed Navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat virtually accusing him of "treason" and indicating that court martialling him would be considered. Jaya's counsel withdraws remark NEW DELHI, April 7 — AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha’s counsel today withdrew his remark before the Supreme Court that Centre’s notification on the trial of corruption was bad in law as it was issued without proper consultation with the Madras High Court. |
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 The President, Mr K. R. Narayanan, receiving the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the Capital on Wednesday. Photo by Vijender Tyagi.
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Sonia to head Cong govt: Pawar VARANASI, April 7 — Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar today asserted that there was no comparison between the Bofors issue and the Bhagwat episode and the Congress was not politicising defence matters. UNESCO
okays institute Pension
for Delhi’s senior citizens Air
fares stable in 1998-99
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Bhagwat may face court martial NEW DELHI, April 7 (PTI) — Defence Minister George Fernandes today stepped up his attack on the dismissed Navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat virtually accusing him of "treason" and indicating that court martialling him would be considered. Charging Bhagwat with leaking a "top secret" defence project to two newspapers, Mr Fernandes said the resultant damage could not be quantified and its ramifications were "far too big". In an interview to Karan Thapar for his ‘On the Record’ programme scheduled to be telecast by Doordarshan tomorrow, the minister was asked if leakage of the project was tantamount to treason. "Yes, it is," he answered. "Will you now consider court martialling him (Bhagwat)?,’’ the questioner asked. Mr Fernandes replied, "it is a suggestion for action. It is a suggestion on which one would apply one’s mind." Asked how soon a
decision would be taken, the minister said "Time is
not important in these matters. Decision making is
important at this point of time." |
Jaya's counsel withdraws remark NEW DELHI, April 7 (PTI) — AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha’s counsel today withdrew his remark before the Supreme Court that Centre’s notification on the trial of corruption was bad in law as it was issued without proper consultation with the Madras High Court. Withdrawing his yesterday’s remark to this effect, the counsel, P.P. Rao submitted before a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice G.T. Nanavati and Mr Justice S.P. Kurdukar that the state government by creating three special courts exclusively to try 46 corruption cases against Ms Jayalalitha and others wanted to disqualify its political opponent through "malicious prosecution". He said the state government had done nothing against the present Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who was indicted by the Sarkaria Commission in 1980, but had shown great hurry in the prosecution of the former Chief Minister. However, counsel for the Tamil Nadu Government V.R. Reddy was quick to point out to the court that there was no case pending against the present Chief Minister and the successive governments of AIADMK from 1980 did not initiate any action in that regard. Mr Rao contended that the Prevention of Corruption Act did not permit the state government to issue notifications of April 17 and 30, 1997, to create three courts for exclusive trial of cases against Ms Jayalalitha, some of her former Cabinet colleagues and certain bureaucrats. The arguments would
continue tomorrow. |
Fresh tremors in Garhwal region GOPESHWAR, April 7 (PTI) — Two fresh tremors hit the Chamoli district in the Garhwal hills tonight taking the number of quakes in a day to four, district officials said tonight. Although there was no immediate report of loss of life or damage to property in the tremors that shook the region late into the evening, those during the wee hours damaged several houses and blocked roads and footpaths at a few points, the officials said. The tremor measuring 5.0
on the Richter scale struck the Chamoli district at 9.19
P.M. The tremor at 9.54 p.m. measured 4.6, the officials
told PTI. The first quake at 1.07 a.m. also measured 5.0,
while the second one at 2.17 a.m. hours was recorded at
4.5 on the Richter scale. |
Sonia to head Cong govt: Pawar VARANASI, April 7 (UNI) — Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar today asserted that there was no comparison between the Bofors issue and the Bhagwat episode and the Congress was not politicising defence matters. Mr Pawar told reporters here that the Bofors issue was a “brazen lie” with origins in foreign countries and was disseminated here by opposition parties to destabilise the then Rajiv Gandhi government. Without any proof the non-Congress parties would spread lies. Bofors was one such weapon used for character assassination, he claimed. Mr Pawar noted that the Bhagwat episode, on the contrary, was a “serious matter” as issues of national security were involved in it. “At least the country has a right to know the truth behind the charges and counter-charges being levelled against each other by Defence Minister George Fernandes and sacked naval chief Vishnu Bhagwat.” To a question whether the Congress was taking revenge on the Bharatiya Janata Party by raising the Bhagwat issue, Mr Pawar said, “The Vajpayee government has failed to satisfy both political leaders and the people on the exact reason regarding the sacking of the naval chief.” “We are not passing any judgement over the charges of corruption levelled against the Defence Minister but a joint parliamentary probe is essential to bring out the truth,” he added. Mr Pawar, without naming former Prime Minister V.P. Singh, said there was a gentleman who claimed that he had the list of recipients of Bofors pay-off in his pocket. “A decade has passed after that but the list is still in his pocket. Similar will be the case with the BJP on this (Bhagwat) issue,” he added. The Congress leader accused the BJP government of having acted in an irresponsible manner in the Bhagwat episode. If Mr Bhagwat was really a threat to national security why had the government appointed him chief of Joint Services Committee three days prior to his sack, he asked. Mr Pawar said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi would head the government if the party came to power at the Centre. Mr Pawar said Mrs Gandhi, being the leader of Congress Parliamentary Party, was a “natural choice” for the post of Prime Minister. Asked why he would not make claim for the PM’s post, Mr Pawar replied, “me and Manmohan Singh are leaders of the party in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha respectively. As per the convention only the leader of the parliamentary party can head the government.” He maintained that the
‘foreigner’ stamp would not mar the chances of
Mrs Gandhi becoming Prime Minister. “The furore over
the foreign origin has become a non-issue and nobody
would raise it now when the citizens of India have
accepted her as a national leader having a vision and
commitment to the people,” he noted. |
UNESCO okays institute DELHI, April 7 (UNI) — In a major development, UNESCO has approved the setting up of an international institute for special education in India, the first of its kind in the world. When fully operational, the institute would act as a resource-cum-training centre for the entire Asia-pacific region to equip teachers to deal with students with disabilities in the set-up of an integrated classroom, official sources said. A consultant has been given the task of carrying out a feasibility study and to frame a draft proposal for setting up the institute, they said. The centrally-sponsored scheme of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) is also to be revised to strengthen the training and evaluation components and to raise the financial ceiling for certain facilities to disabled children. The scheme, which is presently in operation in 26 states and union territories, provides for 100 per cent assistance for the education of disabled children suffering from mild to moderate handicaps in common schools with the help of educational aids, incentives and specially trained teachers. It is officially estimated that some 65,000 children are currently benefiting from this scheme. The persons with Disabilities (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation), Act 1995 places a statutory responsibility on the government to ensure that every disabled child had access to free education in an appropriate environment till the age of 18 years. While the Ninth Plan proposes an allocation of Rs 100 crore for the IEDC, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in the 1999-2000 Budget proposed an outlay of Rs 13 for the scheme, the same as the budgetary and revised estimates for the previous year. A review of the IEDC has
revealed several major constraints in the implementation
of the scheme sources said. |
Pension for Delhi’s senior
citizens NEW DELHI, April 7 — All needy senior citizens living in Delhi would be entitled to a pension of Rs 200, the Delhi Health Minister, Dr A.K. Walia, said today. Announcing this at a seminar on “health challenges of the elderly organised” by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr Walia said the scheme would benefit about 25 lakh elderly persons in the Capital. He said application forms were available with the MLAs. Dr Walia said unlike previous years, the pension would not be given to a limited number of people. The IMA planned to organise health camps for about five crore senior citizens throughout the country. The local branches of the IMA had started 11 such camps. The general secretary of the IMA, Dr Prem Aggarwal told newspersons here that the IMA supported the World Health Organisation’s theme of commitment to senior citizens this year. Dr Aggarwal said members
of the IMA had volunteered to spare time to provide
service at these camps. |
Air fares stable in 1998-99 NEW DELHI, April 7 — Air fares originating in India were flat over the last quarter, and over the last year with the exception of a 1.1 per cent drop in first class fares according to a survey by American Express. The American Express Airfare Index reveals that airfares around the Asia-Pacific region have stabilised during the first quarter of 1999 after a year of substantial increase. Director of American Express Purchasing Management Group, Mr Eric Meierhans, however, cautioned that “the current pause in price increases is not likely to be sustained throughout 1999.” “The flat fares this quarter have been caused in the main by the improvement in the exchange rate of many Asian currencies against the US dollar’s after last year’s devaluation”, Mr Meierhans said. In fact, over the last quarter the market showing significant changes in airfares are Pakistan and New Zealand, the survey observes. In Pakistan, over the past quarter, business and economy fares increased 22 per cent and first class fares were up 18.5 per cent over the past quarter. Compounding on increases from early last year, airfares from Pakistan have increased around 40 per cent over the past year, in a market where inflation is 6.4 per cent. Mr Meierhans said the “by looking at the airfare trend over the last twelve months or even over the last three years a very steep climb in costs is apparent”. The index reveals that Asia-Pacific business class fares are up by 14 per cent over the last three years. First class fares are up by 12.3 per cent, while economy fares are up only by 10 per cent — an evidence of the widening gap between premium and economy fares. In the last quarter,
first class fares increased by 0.3 per cent while
business class fares increased by 0.5 per cent, full
economy rose by 0.5 per cent and discount economy by 0.3
per cent. Over the year, first class fares rose by 4.9
per cent, business class fares climbed by 5.3 per cent
and full economy was up by 4.1 per cent, the survey
reveals. |
Sikh relics to be on display
today New Delhi, April 7 — The World Punjabi Organisation (WPO) will display the Sikh relics and "shastras" of Guru Gobind Singh and horses from Takht Sri Hazoor Sahib tomorrow at Sun Villa, on the Delhi-Gurgaon highway to mark the tercentenary celebration of the birth of the Khalsa. The "shastras" of the guru are being specially brought by air from Takht Sri Hazoor Sahib (where he breathed his last) and displayed for the people to pay respects. A kirtan darbar is being
organised in which Yogi Harbajan Singh from the USA
accompanied by 300 Sikhs from the USA and Europe will
participate. Among the participants, Bhai Chand Afzal, a
descendant of Guru Nanak’s disciple Mardana, will
sing hymns along with Bhai Chaman Lal. The high-tech
light and sound show, "Bole So Nihal", which
was held last year, is being dubbed into English to be
later staged in New York, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver,
London and Glasgow next month, the WPO said. |
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| Ancient paintings found PATNA: An Army trekking team of 23 Infantry Division has stumbled upon more than 25 rock shelters featuring paintings in the thick jungles of Kaimur hills, an offshoot of Vindhyachal mountain range covering Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Among the finds, the rock painting of a mammal with a very long neck, small head, a bulky body and a small tail resembling the dinosaurs is the most interesting one while other paintings included that of war scenes and animals. — UNI Fish chokes fisherman to
death Muslims’
plea on Delhi police order Case against
Dara interviewer HC against use
of loudspeakers International
airport for Jaipur 5 killed in
building collapse 2 Assam Rifles
personnel killed |
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