Sunday, August 1, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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Cong sets up panel for
minorities |
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Do not take sides, PCI
chief counsels Press Sainik Sangh for proxy voting INLD joins NDA
HC rejects Pepsi plea for
injunction Telecom issue: BJP agrees to
debate
Pak must restore trust: PM 9 held for drugging passengers
Benazir, Zardari ‘may live
apart’ Kargil issue will harm BJP:
Dikshit Minister alleges conspiracy by
Jats Flood situation in Bihar
‘grave’ |
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Cong sets up panel for minorities NEW DELHI, July 31 (PTI, UNI) — In a move aimed at winning the confidence of minorities in the crucial Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the Congress today constituted a 17-member coordination committee to interact with minorities which includes cine stars Dilip Kumar and Sunil Dutt. Sunil Dutt, a former MP, will be the convenor of the committee which will look after Mumbai as also the rest of Maharashtra, Chairman of the party’s minority affairs Arjun Singh said in a statement. Other members of the committee include Mr Hussain Dalvai, who had recently joined the Congress after quitting as President of the Maharashtra unit of the Samajwadi Party, and senior state Congress leader Rafique Zakaria. The benefits of Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s leadership for the country, the concrete achievements of 45 years of the Congress rule and the adverse impact of non-Congress governments especially the Vajpayee regime will be the highlights of the Congress party’s election campaign. Focus on the rural poor will be a major element of the campaign which will also expose the bus ride,bomb and Budget of the Vajpayee government. The Kargil issue is a human issue and so naturally human questions will be asked on the subject,party spokesperson Kapil Sibal said. After a two-week long exercise the party has selected three agencies for its advertising campaign. The Congress has many achievements it can proudly project and the party will do it with adequate emphasis during the campaign, he said. The Congress was responsible for the Green Revolution, promotion of industrial infrastructure, reservation for women, Panchayati Raj, liberalisation, reduction of voting age to 18 and the great nuclear test of Pokhran I, Mr Sibal said, stressing that all these would be highlighted during the campaign. The party had also done the ground work for many other things which other governments could follow up, he pointed out. Mrs Sonia Gandhi herself would be a key factor of the campaign strategy and the nation would be told as to what she could do for the country, Mr Sibal said. Apart from this national campaign, there would be special local campaigns highlighting local issues along with national issues, he said. The whole campaign is
structured on the clear idea that the Congress will win
the elections, he said. |
Shiv Sainiks lathicharged NEW DELHI, July 31 — The Delhi police today resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the activists of the Shiv Sena demonstrating against the decision of the Election Commission, which has deprived its chief, Mr Bal Thackeray, from voting. The demonstrators shouted anti-Election Commission slogans and tried to break the barricade when police personnel stopped them from marching towards the EC office. They were stopped near the Parliament Street police station. Thereafter, they courted arrest. The protest was led by the President of the Delhi unit of the Shiv Sena, Mr Jai Bhagwan Goel. He criticised the commission for disenfranchising their supremo. Later, a delegation of
the Sena submitted a memorandum to the President, Mr R.K.
Narayanan, demanding restoration of voting rights to Mr
Thackeray. |
India had been "hostile" to USA NEW DELHI, July 31 (UNI and PTI) — The External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh said today that India had been unnecessarily hostile to America on many occasions. After the cold war had ended, the cold war mentality did not end in India, he said. In an interview to Star News channel, Mr Jaswant Singh said India had gone wrong in the past. He said a consensus would have to be evolved after the elections on signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Mr Jaswant Singh said he has been telling the world that there was now a "Pakistan problem’’.. and not a Kashmir problem. Earlier, he said, the USA was "in the forefront of dealing with consequences of the (Pokhran) tests. They took upon themselves the self-appointed leadership to give prescriptive to India about what to do or what not to do." But now there is international recognition of the new realities in South Asia and India is being viewed as a "stabilising factor", he said. Ruling out early resumption of the dialogue with Pakistan, he said, this could be considered only after Islamabad stopped sponsoring, aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism. Pakistan, he emphasised, has to "come to terms with its history and geography". Referring to Pakistan betraying the trust put on track by the Lahore process, he said, "diplomacy is not duplicity and trust cannot be established without candour." He made it clear that no outside mediation on Kashmir would be acceptable to India as international mediators were known to bring their own agenda as was done in Tashkent. India and Pakistan speak the same language and can find an answer to the problem themselves. "We don’t need interpreters," the External Affairs Minister said. Firmly rejecting the
suggestion to convert the Line of Control into a
permanent border, he recalled that the Parliament
resolution categorically stated that the whole of the
state of Jammu and Kashmir is Indian territory and no
government had the authority to change that. |
Do not take sides, PCI chief counsels Press MUMBAI, July 31 (PTI) — Chairman of the Press Council of India, P.B. Sawant, today cautioned newspapers against becoming mouthpieces of political parties during the forthcoming general election and urged them to desist from carrying pre-poll surveys as these might influence the voters. Addressing the 58th annual general meeting of the Indian Language Newspapers Association (ILNA) here, he also cautioned the language newspapers against encouraging casteism and communalism which resulted in "arousing passions of the people and ultimately threaten the democratic fibre of the nation". Stating that the language newspapers had a wider role to play as they were in constant touch with the grassroot people, he said during the election period these newspapers played an important role. Mr Sawant said that unfortunately those who controlled the media tended to take sides during the election which should be discouraged. He regretted that foreign countries were trying to put India into economic and political "slavery" through debt traps and alleged that some Indian journalists were on the pay rolls of international agencies and organisations who were attempting to "destabilise" the nation. Mr Sawant referred to the Kashmir problem and said that the issue had been "Islamised" today and some Muslim countries were supporting Pakistan on the ground that majority of population in the state was Muslim. The press, Mr Sawant opined, should not fall into this trap of giving religious colour to this issue and instead try to assuage the feelings of people of Kashmir by making them feel secure. The country, he said, was spending Rs 100 crore every day to defend its borders. If this money was diverted to meet the basic needs of people, the nation would prosper, he said calling upon the press to educate the masses on this aspect. Media should also make people aware of how India was being subjected to "economic slavery" through the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and multinationals, he added. BANGALORE (UNI): Meanwhile, Chief Justice Y. Bhaskara Rao and Mr Justice A.V. Srinivasa Reddy of the Karnataka High Court today declined to admit a writ petition seeking to restrain nine newspapers in the city from publishing pre-poll analysis and reports based on religion and caste for the coming elections to the Lok Sabha and state assembly. The petitioner, B. Krishna Bhat, contended that according to the provisions of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, soliciting votes on the basis of religion or caste amounted to a "corrupt practice" and election of the candidate indulging in such practice should be invalidated. However, in the case of
newspapers, there was no such bar on the publication of
pre-poll analysis and reports based on caste and
religion, the petitioner pointed out and sought a
direction to them to refrain from publishing such
reports. |
Sainik Sangh for proxy voting NEW DELHI,July 31 (UNI) —The Sainik Kalyan Sangh, a body of ex-servicemen and prominent citizens of the country have appealed to all political parties to support the system of proxy voting for the Indian armed forces. At a press conference called by the Sangh, Air Marshal Bawa (retd), Major-General Surindra Kumar, PVSM (retd), and Brig S.B. Sibal (retd), raised the issue of proxy voting for the armed forces and the urgent need to grant them Fundamental Right to vote. Mr Javed Akhtar, Ms Yamini Krishnamurthy and Ms Nafisa Ali were also present at the press conference to pledge their support and to appeal for the cause. "Though the Indian people feel a strong emotional bond with the soldiers fighting at the borders, their real issues still remain unattended. By doing so, we alienate the large number of serving personnel, ex-servicemen and their families who together constitute over three crore. The soldiers feel neglected and demoralised since they are totally ignored in the poll process," said Air Marshal Bawa. Emphasising the need to grant the soldiers, their basic Fundamental Right — the right to vote, Major-General Kumar said, "by law the system and the right exist but it is non functional. We need to adopt a system that works on a realistic plane for our men protecting our country and the only workable solution is the system of proxy voting." Brig Sibal, commending the public response towards the Kargil conflict, and, the Indian public has shown concern, respect and love for the soldiers. It was the first time during this conflict, that efforts have been made to give the soldiers their due. He made an appeal to all
political parties, to come to a consensus and work
towards giving the soldiers their Fundamental Right to
vote. |
INLD joins NDA NEW DELHI, July 31 (UNI) — The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) formally joined the National Democratic alliance (NDA) participated in its meeting here today as a full fledged member. INLD working president and Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala said the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) headed by former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, was no longer a member of the NDA. The announcement of joining the NDA was made by the party last week. The INLD earlier had declined an invitation to the NDA meeting saying that it would never participate in it. So long as the HVP was part of the BJP-led front. The BJP recently broke
relations with the HVP and joined hands with the INLD in
forming the Chautala government in Haryana. |
HC rejects Pepsi plea for injunction NEW DELHI, July 31 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court has rejected Pepsi’s plea seeking to restrain its arch rival Coca Cola from luring away its employees and business associates. "Injunction can not be granted to create a situation such as "once a Pepsi employee, always a Pepsi employee", Justice Dalveer Bhandari said in his 90-page order, yesterday. If such an injunction was granted it would almost lead to a situation of "economic terrorism" or a situation creating conditions of "bonded labour", the judge said. Pepsi had alleged that Coke had conspired to disrupt petitioner’s business operations by inducing its key employees and associates to break existing contract illegally. The judge said the freedom of changing employment for improving service condition was a vital and important right of an employee which could not be restricted or curtailed by court injunction. The court said, at this stage, it was difficult to hold that Coca Cola resorted to business practices which were unethical, illegal and constituted torturous interference in the business of Pepsi. While rejecting
Pepsi’s plea for interim injunction against Coke,
the court fixed September 23 for hearing on the main
petition of Pepsi. |
Telecom issue: BJP agrees to
debate NEW DELHI, July 31 — Tired of daily grilling of the Vajpayee government on the Telecom issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party today invited the Congress and the CPM for an open debate on the allegations and charges of corruption in the implementation of the New Telecom Policy (NTP). Briefing reporters, the BJP spokesperson,Mrs Sushma Swaraj, said that since the Congress and the CPM has been raising the telecom issue for the past three days, it would be better if they came for an open debate under the full public glare so that the issue was settled. Giving replies to the opposition’s allegation of corruption in the NTP, Mrs Swaraj said that every decision has been taken with objectivity, transparency and taking the opposition’s view into account The government has not
violated the Election Commission code of conduct, Mrs
Swaraj asserted saying that the NTP was implemented on
July 6 while the code of conduct came into effect on July
11. |
JD (Gowda) expels MP unit president NEW DELHI, July 31 (PTI) — The Janata Dal headed by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has "expelled" Madhya Pradesh state unit President Bachan Naik for supporting Mr Sharad Yadav led dal faction. Mr Gowda appointed Mr
Ram Lakhan Singh, a former MLA, in place on Mr Naik, a
party release said today. |
Helmet issue NEW DELHI, July 31 — Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today sought the intervention of the Prime Minister for exempting Sikh women from wearing helmets throughout the country. Wearing of helmet is against the tenets of Sikhism and wearing of helmet hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh community, Mr Badal told the Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee, in the meeting. The Shiromani Akali Dal president urged Mr Vajpayee to give directions to the Union Home Ministry for issuing suitable notification to exempt Sikh women from wearing helmet throughout the country Sentiments of the Sikh “sangat” should be respected and necessary notification by the Union Government be issued in this regard without any further delay, Mr Badal told the Prime Minister. Mr Badal informed the Prime Minister that SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur and various Sikh organisations all over the country had already resented over this issue and put up strong protest at different forums. The Chief Minister said he had assured Sikh organisations who met him at Jalandhar recently to take up this issue at the highest level at the Centre. Following a Delhi High Court directive, the Delhi Traffic Police from November 1, 1997, started enforcing the rule which makes it compulsory for pillion riders to wear helmets. Similar orders were passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court later. The former Attorney-General, Mr Ashok Desai had advised the Delhi Government that an exemption to women pillion riders cannot be given under the present status of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1989. Mr Desai had said that an amendment granting special exemption to women pillion riders had to be brought about in the Act by the Centre and the state government cannot modify it. The Act is applicable
throughout the country and there should be parity. The
subject falls in the Central list, the former
Attorney-General, in his communication to the Delhi
Government stated. |
Pak must restore trust: PM NEW DELHI, July 31 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today asserted that “trust has to be restored” for good relations between India and Pakistan and hoped Islamabad would think about it. “We want good ties with our neighbours but we cannot clap with one hand,” he said addressing students of DAV schools at a function here. Mr Vajpayee said he had gone to Lahore with a friendship message but got enmity in return. “This has hurt us. For good relations it is necessary that trust is restored,” he added. Resenting that innocent people were being killed in Jammu and Kashmir, he asked “ is this the way to establish good relations. Is this the way to prepare for talks?... I hope that across the border it will be given a thought.” The Prime Minister said though Kargil had been cleared of Pakistani intruders, shelling continued in the sector. He assured that everything possible would be done to see that Kargil was not repeated in future. Praising the jawans, he said, their sacrifices would not be forgotten and steps were being taken to ensure that the families of the martyrs did not face difficulties. Announcing that a comprehensive scheme had been envisioned for the families of the martyrs and the injured soldiers, Mr Vajpayee said “if we cannot take care of those who give their lives for the country we have no right to our motherland.” He said the Kargil conflict had created an awakening all over the country “which proved that though we want peace we will fight for the country.” The Prime Minister said the soldiers had won the Kargil battle in difficult terrain and circumstances kept the pride of the national tricolour. Referring to links with the Arya Samaj from his childhood days, he said “I learned patriotism from there.” Earlier, a cheque for Rs 1.11 crore was presented to him as contribution towards the National Defence Fund from DAV staff and students. DAV Vice-President G.B.
Chopra, presenting the cheque, said the students had
contributed Rs 10 each and the staff a day’s salary. |
Jalandhar train looting NEW DELHI, July 31 - The Delhi Police today arrested an inter-state gang of nine wanted for drugging and looting of 25 passengers of Amarpali Express train in Jalandhar on July 27. The arrested were identified as Mohammad Azad, Mohammad Mustaq, Mohammad Anwar, Mohammad Alam, Mohammad Raqeeb, Mohammad Babar, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Muteem and Parveen Kumar. They operated on long-distance trains specially in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), P.K. Srivastava said. All are in 20 - 30 age group and belong to Barauni in Begu Sarai district in Bihar. In Delhi, they resided in Tri Nagar, the DCP said. The kingpin of this gang is Mohammad Babar. He was arrested at Rewari in 1996 and was released this month. The modus-operandi of the gang was to arrive at the station a few hours before departure time of the train where they marked their probable victims. During journey they would offer the victims cream biscuits, tea or laddu laced with drug known as “Ativan”. The DCP said within half-an-hour the passengers would become unconscious following which they would remove their belongings. Each member of the gang was assigned his specific task. They would disappear after looting the victims. They would meet again at the pre-decided place. During interrogation they disclosed that they had operated on almost every two or three days for more than two years. The accused admitted they had drugged and looted several hundred passengers during the past two years. Recently they drugged and looted five passengers of Ganga Yamuna Express in Bhiwani, one on Uchahar Express Between Ambala and Delhi and two in the Amarpali Express from Amritsar to Barauni. The police recovered a
number of suit cases and the drug, Ativan, from their
possession, the DCP said. |
IAF loses war against elephants TEZPUR (Assam), July 31 (UNI) — The Indian Air Force (IAF), with all its squadrons, missiles and hi-tech surveillance gizmos, may have emerged triumphant in the operation to evict intruders from Kargil but the entire might of the IAF has failed to take on another breed of intruders who have caused sleepless nights to pilots and station commanders posted at the air station in Tezpur. So far, the IAF has failed to win their war against elephants which regularly stray into the IAF base, suspending all IAF field activities for hours, and sometimes days, says the IAF top brass based at Salonibari. Their runways are regularly occupied, even pilots attacked and station commanders are passing sleepless nights planning attacks on these intruders. For the past few years, during the months of September to February, wild elephants migrating from the hills of Arunachal Pradesh to southern parts of Assam stop over in the “sal” forest in and around the air station. This being the only
forest left in the area these animals take shelter here
during the day and move out in search of food at night to
return again in the early hours of the morning. During
their movement they destroy everything that comes in
their way. |
Benazir, Zardari ‘may live apart’ NEW DELHI, July 31 (UNI) — Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has said she and her jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari are rethinking their “life together” and may live apart for a few years to enable her to concentrate on politics. “May be it is important that while I do politics he steps out for a while and then he can decide what he wants to do when I am not doing politics,’’ she said in an interview with the weekly “Sunday.’’ “My husband and I have discussed this a number of times and we think that he just needs some time out so that the world can see him for what he is,’’ she added. The former Prime
Minister, who has been sentenced in absentia to five
years in jail on charges of corruption, accepted that Mr
Zardari was a political liability. |
Kargil issue will harm BJP: Dikshit NEW DELHI, July 31 (PTI) — Kargil will be a major issue in the coming Lok Sabha elections and have a negative impact on the BJP and its allies, the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Shiela Dikshit, said today. “Eventually it is going to show on the BJP negatively. It is going to show that the BJP government was not even able to defend the borders of our country,” she said in an interview to Eenadu Television (ETV). The Chief Minister said there was more possibility of the Kargil developments becoming an issue for Delhiites since the Capital has an “enlightened public” and a plethora of newspapers and periodicals. But, she said, it may not become a major issue in the countryside where people have to grapple with their daily problems like availability of essential commodities. Asked whether the foreign origin of the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, will become an election issue, she said it was not an issue with the people and blamed the BJP for always trying to whip up non-issues, an ETV release said. Claiming that no anti-incumbency factor would go against her government, Ms Dikshit said last time soaring prices and dropsy deaths proved to be the undoing of the BJP government. “We do not have any such failures,” she claimed. She also claimed that the recent hike in prices of vegetables in the Capital would not affect the prospects of Congress, saying, “This is a temporary phase”. She expressed confidence that the opposition BJP will not get any “onion tonic” to help them overcome the wave in favour of Congress since last election. To a question whether Ms
Gandhi would extensively campaign for the seven Lok Sabha
seats in the city, Ms Dikshit said the party president
was hard pressed for time and might address two or three
meetings. |
Minister alleges conspiracy by Jats JAIPUR, July 31 (PTI) — The Rajasthan Minister of State for Medical and Health, Mr Rajendra Chaudhary, who escaped unhurt in an attack by Jat Mahasabha activists in Jodhpur on Thursday, today alleged that it was a “conspiracy to eliminate’’ him. “I was made the target of the attack because I have been trying to tell the people the exact procedural position for according Other Backward Classes (OBC) status to Jats to remove the confusion being created by the Jat Mahasabha, which has made the social forum into a political springboard for their petty ambitions,’’ Mr Chaudhary said at a press conference here. Asserting that the demonstrators at the Jodhpur Railway Station wanted to attack him, he accused the police of utter negligence and failure in protecting him. The Chief Minister, Mr Ashok Gehlot has ordered an inquiry into the incident by the District Magistrate, Jodhpur, he added. Mr Chaudhary charged the BJP with supporting the Jat agitation for reservation to create problems for the Gehlot government. Meanwhile, 15 of the 19
persons involved in the attack on the 2nd class AC coach
of Inter City Express, in which Mr Chaudhary had reached
Jodhpur on Thursday night, had been arrested, official
sources said. |
Flood situation in Bihar ‘grave’ PATNA, July 31 (PTI) — The overall flood situation in Bihar showed no let-up with rivers like the Ganga, the Kosi, the Bagmati, the Kamla Balan and the Burhi Gandak in spate even as relief measures were further stepped up following the directive of Governor, B.M. Lal. The Governor, who undertook an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in north Bihar districts yesterday, expressed displeasure over the scanty relief operations and asked the district authorities to take all possible steps to meet the needs of the affected people. A Raj Bhavan spokesman
said while undertaking of survey of Darbhanga and
Sitamarhi districts, worst-hit by the floods, the
Governor directed the officials to arrange adequate
number of boats to provide relief to those marooned. |
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| Three Pak nationals held CALCUTTA: Three Pakistani nationals travelling with ‘dubious’ documents were arrested on Friday after they were detained by Customs officials at Tetulia in North 24 Parganas district. According to official sources, the Pakistanis were proceeding to Hakimpur, situated on the Indo-Bangladesh border en route to Bangladesh, when they were intercepted. Later, all three were arrested. — UNI Jewellery
store owner robbed D.K. Naikar
passes away 2 killed by NSCN
militants |
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