Wednesday, August 4, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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Govt defends telecom
package ‘Onus on Pak to repair
ties’ |
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NCP, SP ‘start
talks’ with Gowda-led JD
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BJP releases first list of
nominees Arunachalam rejoins Cong Reject TOI plea, govt urges HC Build vibrant India, exhorts Sonia
JKPDP apprehends rigging George’s visit: Cong seeks
explanation BJP, DMK reach accord
Indefinite fast by students |
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Case deferred till Aug 10 NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (PTI,UNI) — The Union Government today stoutly defended the new telecom package (NTP) saying without this there would have been a disruption in this vital segment of communication services but committed itself to maintain status quo on the NTP till August 10. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S.N. Variava and Mr Justice S.K. Mahajan while fixing August 10 for further hearing on the PIL filed by the Delhi Science Forum clarified that there was no stay operating on the NTP and allowed the government to "accept payments on arrears from the operators till that date." During the hearing, the Bench wondered as to what was the urgency that "the caretaker government took such a major decision when the code of conduct as announced by the Election Commission (EC) had come into force". Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee argued that the government took this decision in public interest as "strict enforcement of licence conditions would in many cases lead to serious financial losses, if not bankruptcy, of large Indian companies already in the field, who have to shut down operations and there would be disruption of this vital segment of the communication services." He said the government decision had not been taken in haste as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had on October 24 made the stand of his government clear on "question of resolution of telecom operators’ problem." Mr Sorabjee said any termination of the licence would have had an immediate dampening effect on foreign and domestic banks and financial institutions and could well result in lack of confidence of investors in the Indian telecom sector. Whereas in the NTP, the government was to recover 35 per cent of the total outstanding arrears amounting to over Rs 400 crore from the operators by August 15 and total recovery by January 31, 2000. He said the entire scenario was vitiated by the allegation that the changes envisaged in the NTP were to benefit certain telecom operators. On the contrary, the revenue sharing regime envisaged in NTP would usher in competition, new technology and hence result in lower tariff rates and better services to customers, the Attorney-General said. The new package had been formulated after suggestions from the Group on Telecommunication (GoT) constituted by the Prime Minister on November 20 last year to go into the problems faced by the telecom sector which had suggested remedial measures. Referring to the reported reservations expressed by former Communication Minister Jagmohan on the NTP, Mr Sorabjee said the new package was formulated after taking opinions of Mr Jagmohan and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission K.C. Pant. The high court gave a week's time to the private telecom operators to consider its proposal for placing the revenue-sharing formula before the new Parliament and making the package subject to the decision there. While deferring the matter, the Bench continued the applicability of the undertaking of Mr Sorabjee that no irreversible step would be taken against the operators and no third party right would be created till the next date of hearing. The judges clarified that no stay had been granted on the PIL filed by the forum and the government was free to accept payment towards the arrears by the operators. Counsel for Basic Cellular Operators K.K. Venugopal and counsel for Circle Cellular Operators Harish Salve urged the court to give them some time for considering the proposal. The court had proposed that let the operators give an undertaking that if the new policy decision taken by the government was placed before Parliament and rejected, they would abide by its decision and pay the dues against them till that date without any delay. Mr Venugopal and Mr Salve submitted that the old package was turning out to be troublesome for the operators as far as raising of funds was concerned and the new package would help them raise money through international market easily. Meanwhile, CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee today accused the BJP of launching a misinformation campaign that he had pleaded for the new telecom package through a letter to the Prime Minister. "My letter is being twisted and misinterpreted to justify the government decision on the new telecom package just to take political advantage," he said while talking to reporters here. Mr Chatterjee pointed out that he, in his capacity as chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communication, had in his report submitted to Parliament in April, 1999, expressed reservation about the impact of privatising telecom. He clarified that in his letter to the Prime Minister he had simply asked for a review and objective assessment of the telecom policy with an open mind in the light of the representations received by the telecom operators. This review was never undertaken by the government, he said. In the letter in
question, he clarified he had drawn the attention of the
government to the possibility of foreign telecom
companies taking over the domestic network. "I
considered it my patriotic duty to do so," he said.
"I had also stressed in my letter that national
interest should not be sacrificed in whatever policy is
adopted for the telecom companies. But what was done by
the government was contrary to national interest,
intended only to serve narrow political interests of the
BJP, he said. |
BJP releases first list of
nominees NEW DELHI, Aug 3 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani and Mr Krishan Lal Sharma will contest from Lucknow, Gandhinagar and Chandigarh, respectively as BJP today cleared 111 nominees for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The majority of the cleared nominees are the sitting Lok Sabha MPs from the 12th Lok Sabha. Mr Sat Pal Jain, sitting MP from the city, has been dropped this time. All three sitting MPs from Punjab, Mr Vinod Khanna from Gurdaspur, Mr Dayal Singh Sodhi from Amritsar and Mr Kamal Chaudhary from Hoshiarpur have been renominated. From Himachal Pradesh, the former Chief Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, from Kangra, Mr Suresh Chandel from Hamripur and Mr Maheshwar Singh from Mandi have been retained. The BJP General Secretary, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, said here today announcing the first list of the party candidates. Both party MPs from Jammu and Kashmir — Mr Vaidya Vishnu Dutt from Jammu and Mr Chaman Lal Gupta from Udhampur — have been renominated, Mr Naidu said. He said the central election committee of the party would meet again on August 10 to finalise the rest of nominees of the party from the rest of states, including Haryana where negotiations with the Indian National Lok Dal were still continuing. The Minister for Urban Development, Mr Jagmohan from New Delhi, Mr Vijay Goyal from Chandni Chowk, Mr Lal Behari Tiwari from East Delhi have been renominated and Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra has been fielded from South Delhi which was represented by the former Delhi CM, Mrs Sushma Swaraj who had declined to contest this time. Two former CMs of Delhi — Mr Sahib Singh Verma and Mr Madan Lal Khurana — have been given clearance to contest from outer Delhi and Sadar Lok Sabha constituencies. The former Mayor of Delhi, Mrs Anita Arya, is being fielded for the Karol Bagh (reserved) constituency. The Minister for Human Resource Development, Dr M.M. Joshi, has been renominated from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. UNI adds: Among the ministers, Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar will be seeking re-election from Bangalore South, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje from their respective constituencies in Rajasthan. Mr Bangaru Dattatreya, Minister of State for Urban Development will be seeking re-election from Secundarabad, while former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Shanta Kumar will be contesting from Kangra Lok Sabha seat. Minister of State for Railways Ram Naik will seek re-election from north west Mumbai, while his cabinet colleague Devendra Pradhan has been fielded from Deogarh (Orissa). In West Bengal, the BJP has finalised the names of 11 candidates including that of the state unit President Tapan Sikdar from Dum Dum. The controversial Bankura seat for which the Trinamool Congress is staking claim remains a bone of contention. Mrs Vijay Raje Scindia
is not contesting this time because of ill-health, he
added. |
NCP, SP ‘start talks’ with Gowda-led JD NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (PTI) — The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have initiated talks with the H.D. Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal to form a viable alternative front for contesting the ensuing elections, NCP President Sharad Pawar said here today. "Talks are on with the Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has already spoken to Mr Gowda and we all want to work together", Mr Pawar told reporters here after addressing the party’s Delhi unit convention. In reply to a question, he denied having initiated any move for an electoral understanding with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Earlier, addressing the convention, attended among others by several Muslim leaders, besides party colleagues, P.A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar, Mr Pawar said that the NCP was likely to contest about 150 Lok Sabha seats. "It may be 100, 120 or 150. Number is not important. But we will field only those who are devoted to the party’s principles and common people's cause", he said. Devoting most of his speech to castigating the Congress and its president Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the former Defence Minister said it was unbecoming of the Congress "to keep on messing up things by demanding a white paper and debate on Kargil when the jawans were busy fighting the enemy." "We did not support
such a demand then", he said, adding "now it is
time to debate about all these. The Prime Minister owes
an explanation on why the intrusion took place and how it
is a BJP victory." |
‘Onus on Pak to repair ties’ NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (PTI) — India today asserted that it was incumbent upon Pakistan to cease sponsorship and instigation of cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir to facilitate creation of a “conducive atmosphere” for the resumption of the composite dialogue process. “The onus is now on Pakistan to repair the damage it has done to the Lahore process (by the Kargil incursions),” an External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters in response to questions adding that Islamabad had to take “necessary tangible steps” for this purpose. The spokesman replied in the negative when asked if Pakistan had so far taken any concrete step on stopping cross-border terrorism. On the contrary, certain activities in the post-Kargil phase besides comments from Pakistani leaders had only reinforced India’s apprehensions that there was no let up by Islamabad in aiding and abetting terrorists. He said the dialogue
could not be held in a vacuum with cross-border terrorist
activities continuing on the one hand and talks being
held on the other. |
EC asks J&K Govt to
transfer 5 men NEW DELHI, Aug 3 — The Election Commission today asked the Jammu and Kashmir Government to transfer three senior civil officers and two police officers as they have been found "inadequate" to the requirements of conducting Lok Sabha elections. The Commission also ordered immediate replacement of the District Magistrate of Nanded in Maharashtra with its concurrence so that the election there could be conducted in a free and fair manner. The commission took the decision at a meeting called to take a detailed and comprehensive review of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir vis-a-vis the general election scheduled. Jammu and Kashmir is to vote on the first part of the poll exercise staring with the first poll date on September 4 and then on September 11 and 17. The Commission after detailed review of the administrative experience and background of the current incumbents holding important election-related posts of Returning Officer and District Election Officer as District Magistrates and Collectors, has found some of them to be inadequate to the requirements, an EC note said. Accordingly, the Commission has asked the Jammu and Kashmir Government to urgently suggest substitutes in respect of the Collectors of Anantnag and Baramula districts. In another case, the commission has found the head of district civil administration was a local officer. It has suggested to the state Government to shift the person out of the present assignment as it was done during the last general election. The Commission has also
asked the Jammu and Kashmir Government to make changes in
the police hierarchy in respect of two senior police
officers — one in-charge of a range and the other
in-charge of a district, in the light of its detailed
assessment. |
Arunachalam rejoins Cong NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (UNI) — Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) leader and former Union Minister M. Arunachalam today formally rejoined the Congress giving a boost to the party’s prospects in Tamil Nadu. Fighting communalism was now the major issue, Mr Arunachalam said, adding that he attempted to bring the entire TMC back to the Congress fold. Having failed, he had decided to rejoin the Congress. Replying to questions, the former Union Minister said his return to the Congress was unconditional and he had not sought the party's Lok Sabha ticket. The constituency he had contested seven times had been allotted to the AIADMK under the seat adjustment with that party. Asked whether the AIADMK issue which forced him to leave the Congress in 1996 was relevant now that the party had again forged ties with that party, Mr Arunachalam said fighting communalism was now the major issue and not the AIADMK. AICC general secretary
R.K. Dhawan formally welcomed Mr Arunachalam into the
party fold. TNCC president Tindivanam Ramamurthy said Mr
Arunachalam's induction would give a boost to the party,
especially among the Dalits. AICC secretary Anil Sastri
was also present on the occasion. |
Reject TOI plea, govt urges HC MUMBAI, Aug 3 (PTI) — The Centre today urged the Mumbai High Court to reject in limine a petition filed by Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd (Times of India group) which sought an oral hearing before the Manisana Singh Wage Boards for journalists and non-journalists formalised their tentative proposals. Counsel for the government Suraj Shah submitted that the petitioner had earlier been given an opportunity to be heard but it chose to ignore it. The filing of petition at this juncture could be attributed to "delay tactics" being adopted by Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd as the tentative proposals of the wage boards were almost at the finalisation stage. Mr M.B. Ghodeswar and Mr Justice B.N. Srikrishna allowed the government to file a detailed affidavit and adjourned the matter to August 12. The Bench ruled that it would first hear the petitioner before deciding on the intervening applications filed by the Bombay Union of Journalists and the Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha (a recognised Union of Times of India group). The court had on July 27 allowed the All-India Newspaper Employees Federation (AINEF) and the Times of India allied Publications Employees Unions to intervene in the matter, and restrained the wage boards from announcing their tentative proposals till today. Meanwhile, the AINEF
today filed an affidavit contending that the petition was
misconceived because Bennett Coleman and Co had
themselves admitted therein that it did not consider
necessary to make oral arguments before wage boards
earlier as its case was fully covered by written
submissions. |
Build vibrant India, exhorts
Sonia NEW DELHI, Aug 3 — The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, today urged the youth to build a strong and vibrant India by resorting to value-based culture of politics. “Strong and vibrant India is my dream and should be dream of today’s youth,” Mrs Gandhi said while giving a lecture on “India and the third millennium”, the inaugural speech of the lecture series on “Vision of the Future”, organised here by the Indian Youth Congress. She said: “Whether this dream could be achieved depends on the youth and they should be prepared to sacrifice their lives for this.” The Congress president said: “What the country needs now is a new national consciousness with dynamism of not yielding to anything to achieve the dreams.” Calling for a value based public and political culture, she said: “We did not form the government at the Centre even though we had an opportunity to do so. We wanted to set an example for others and send a message that we stand for value-based politics and are not opportunists.” The material progress of the country should be coupled with the spiritual strength of the nation, Mrs Gandhi said, adding that co-option of the material progress and spiritual values would raise the image of India globally. Recalling the vision of
India as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru,
Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, she said: “Any dream
of the future would be futile if poverty, ignorance and
inequality are not eradicated.” |
JD fate hangs in balance NEW DELHI, Aug 3 — The fate of the “real” Janata Dal continued to hang in balance as the Election Commission today directed the rival factions of the Dal led by Mr Sharad Yadav and Mr H.D. Deve Gowda to file written submissions on August 6 in support of their claims to be the rightful holders of the party symbol, the “chakra”. Even as the rival factions of the Janata Dal continued to squabble and claimed their right over the “chakra”, the Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill, and Election Commissioners G.V.G. Krishnamurthy and J.M. Lyngdoh after hearing the oral submissions from the representatives of the two factions, adjourned the matter till August 6. Only after a thorough checking of the written submissions from the two factions, the Election Commission would take a decision on which of them would be the “real” Janata Dal and accordingly allot the poll symbol to it. Both factions were represented at the Election Commission by senior advocates and senior leaders from the respective groups were also present. While senior counsel G.L. Sanghi presented the views of the Janata Dal faction led by Mr Sharad Yadav, senior advocate R.K. Anand represented the Deve Gowda faction. The leaders present at the Election Commission included Mr Sharad Yadav, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr S.R. Bommai, Prof Madhu Dandavate and Bapu Kaldate. The matter went to the commission after the Deve Gowda faction staked its claim over the party symbol and accordingly submitted a petition with the commission. The Janata Dal had split late last month after its Political Affairs Committee (PAC) was unable to reach a decision, even after three days of deliberations, on whether or not to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Coming out after the hearing, the former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and a senior Janata Dal leader, Prof Madhu Dandavate, a member of the Deve Gowda group, said the rival faction had violated the party constitution, which very clearly barred any unit or member from aligning with a communal party. The Deve Gowda faction also contested the rival group’s assertion that the PAC did not have the authority to expel the party president or take a major policy decision. As per the changes made under the rule making powers of the party constitution in August 1994, the PAC was given all powers on political, economic and social matters, Prof Dandavate said. Substantiating this claim, he further said it was the PAC which had taken the decisions on the imposition of President’s rule in Bihar and the pulling down of the BJP-led Government. Mr Sharad Yadav and Mr
Ram Vilas Paswan, on the other hand, contended that the
PAC was a creation of the party president and did not
enjoy any authority under the party constitution.
“The PAC does not have any power to remove any party
president,” they said. |
JKPDP apprehends rigging NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (PTI) — The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party led by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed today expressed the apprehension that the Lok Sabha elections might be rigged in the state, especially in the valley. A party delegation, which met Chief Election Commissioner M. S. Gill, said there was need to take adequate and timely measures to prevent misconduct of elections and rigging “in the light of past experience”. In a memorandum submitted to the CEC, the delegation alleged that the state government, on the eve of declaration of the election schedule, had effected some appointments and transfers which could affect the elections. “It is generally and reasonably believed that the only reason for these expedient and illegal postings is a determination and readiness on the part of the ruling party to rig the elections,” the memorandum said while requesting the EC to appoint at least one observer for each assembly segment during polling. The delegation also requested the commission to take serious note of such action and remedial measures to ensure a free and fair poll. About the allotment of a
symbol to the newly formed party, the delegation,
comprising Muzaffar Beig, Ghulam Hassan Mir and Mr B. K.
Vaishnavi, said the EC might consider giving a preference
to the party in the choice of an electoral symbol. |
George’s visit: Cong seeks explanation NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (UNI) — The Congress today sought an explanation from the government about the mysterious visit of Defence Minister George Fernandes along with his party functionary, Ms Jaya Jaitley to Chakrata, a high security place in UP under the control of RAW. Talking to newspersons, Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi said Mr Fernandes, along with Ms Jaitley visited Chakrata on May 20 in the company of Mr Arvind Dave, the then RAW chief, according to a newspaper report. Mr Jogi demanded that the government should explain how the normal law, which prohibited private citizens to enter this area, was exempted in this particular case and if so who had given the sanction. The issue assumes seriousness since it involved the defence of the nation, he said. Mr Fernandes had used the aircraft belonging to the Aviation Research Centre of RAW. The Congress also
condemned what it described as the Vajpayee
Government’s efforts to politicise the issue of
proxy voting by the armed forces. Congress spokesperson
Kapil Sibal said the party had opposed it on the grounds
that the caretaker government had no powers to tamper
with the Representation of People Act. |
BJP, DMK reach accord CHENNAI, Aug 3 (PTI) — The BJP and the DMK today struck an accord on seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu. The deal was reached after Union Power Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam held an hour-long, parleys with DMK President M. Karunanidhi here. Mr Karunanidhi told reporters that the parleys were moving forward smoothly, and the entire issue would be wrapped up when the DMK and BJP leaders hold their final rounds of discussions with him. However, neither Mr Karunanidhi nor the BJP’s interlocutor, Mr Kumaramangalam was willing to reveal details of the DMK-BJP accord, saying there would be a comprehensive announcement later. Amidst speculation that
the MDMK was unhappy with the drift in the talks, Mr
Kumaramangalam said he had spoken to the DMK chief on
behalf of the MDMK too, but declined to confirm
suggestions that a combined offer had been made for the
BJP and MDMK on the lines of the PMK-TRC package. |
Unauthorised colonies NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (UNI) — The Delhi High Court today rapped the central government and Delhi Government for failing to prepare a composite package on regularisation of the capital’s more than 1,000 unauthorised colonies and gave them a last opportunity to take a decision by November 15. A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Devinder Gupta and Mr Justice S.K. Aggarwal warned that if the governments failed to comply with the court’s directive by November 15 the court will be compelled to pass directions on its own. The Bench directed that the composite package be prepared and advance copies be supplied to the petitioner and the parties one week before the next date of hearing in the matter on December 6. Central government standing counsel H.S. Phoolka submitted before the court that the Ministry of Urban Affairs had through an affidavit submitted that it was actively pursuing the matter. The government had sought some time to place the comprehensive guidelines on the regularisation of the colonies. But the Judges viewed the repeated adjournment in the matter seriously and said: “Do whatever thing you want to, but take a decision by November 15, otherwise we will decide.” “A number of opportunities have already been allowed. We grant a last opportunity to file the comprehensive proposal to sort out the problem,” the judges observed in their order. The high court had on September 17 last year directed the government to evolve a composite package to settle the matter for ever. Among the details sought
by the court are the number of unauthorised colonies
which would be eliminated from the process of
regularisation because of non-fulfilment of the
guidelines. |
Indefinite fast by students NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (UNI) — Members of the Assamese Students Association, Delhi, today began an indefinite fast at Rajghat here, to focus attention on the need for development works to stop recurring floods in the state. The protest by 25 members of the association which was to begin on Sunday was postponed because the police threatened to arrest the protesters if they sat at Jantar Mantar, a kilometre away from Parliament House. The demands of the
association include long-term regional cooperation,
especially in the water resources sector. |
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| Bus passenger is not
consumer: HC KOCHI: A bus passenger is not a consumer, according to the Kerala High Court. A Division Bench of the court held on Monday that neither a bus passenger would answer the definition of a “consumer” under the Consumer Protection Act nor the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), a statutory functionary under the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, was a provider of any service against whom a consumer can complain before a consumer court for inadequacy of service. — PTI Bihar MLA suspended Doctor’s
hands chopped off Kamal Kumari
National Award Charges framed
in BMW case Rs 1.25 lakh
relief for 8-yr-old boy Firearms banned |
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