Saturday, December 25, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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BJP national council
meeting on Dec 28 |
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 The world's tallest statue of Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi was to be unveiled at Bandra reclaimation in North Mumbai on Friday at the site of Vishwa Shanti Mahayagna on 121 Havan Kunds which begins on Saturday. — PTI photo |
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Dasmunshi may head WBCC Suspicious vessel detained Board chief cannot be member: HC Heptulla’s plea to EC Nationwide alert to nab judge Oil Ministry scheme for Kargil
widows Hurriyat split over talks Hindi unifying force: Advani PCCs to be revamped |
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BJP national council meeting on Dec 28 NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (UNI) — Strengthening the organisational set-up and a focus on ideology will form part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s millennium declaration at its two-day national council beginning at Chennai from December 28. The millennium declaration will not be in violation of the agreed principles of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), party sources said. It is comparable with the principles and policies of the Jana Sangh in early 1960s, the sources said. It will not be a very voluminous document, sources said. The organisational aspect will take care of strengthening the BJP from the grassroot level and the second aspect will try to explain to the people how it is better than other political parties, they said. Party President Kushabhau Thakre will preside over the national executive, which is meeting a day earlier, and the council. The executive will discuss the proposed amendments to the party constitution, which was presented to Mr Thakre by party Vice-President Jana Krishna Murthy. The amendments will then be placed before the council for ratification. The Krishna Murthy Committee made sweeping recommendations to the party constitution to prevent unwanted elements from infiltrating into the BJP. The 10-member committee had submitted its recommendations, numbering over 20, to Mr Thakre on November 30. It recommended that the presidents, from local unit level to all- India level, should have one term of three years instead of two terms of two years each as at present. This is to facilitate the party president to work atleast for two-and-half-year without any disturbance as six month’s time is lost in conducting elections. The amendments do not automatically entitle one year extension to Mr Thakre in his present post. His existing two-year-term expires in May next year. The criteria of the
ordinary membership has been recommended to be reduced
from existing 10 years to five years. And the membership
fee increased from Rs 2 to Rs 5. |
Pak training Chechen mercenaries: Russia NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (UNI) — Russia has irrefutable evidence to prove that those who were involved in Kargil are also spreading terror in Chechnya and mercenaries are being trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan and funded by Osama Bin Laden, the Russian Embassy claimed here today. A Russian Embassy spokesman said here that Saudi terrorist Osama Bin Laden had paid more than $ 25 million to Chechen terrorists out of his nearly 300 $ million fortune. The mercenaries, mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan and some West Asian countries, were being trained and imparted Islamic education in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He claimed that nearly 95 per cent of the Chechen territory had now been freed from the terrorists and it would be two or three weeks more when the entire Chechnya was freed. The terrorists were now escaping high up into the mountains and the Russian troops had cut off all supply lines to them. "It is now a matter of time, may be two or three weeks more when Chechen capital Grozny will be free,’’ he added. Asked about the Russian reaction to the Chechen leaders’ offer of talks, a Russian Embassy official said "you cannot have talks with terrorists.’’ "On one hand they (the USA) are opposing terrorism and on the other playing a dubious role’’ regarding terrorism in Chechnya. The spokesman, however, said China’s role had been "quite positive and they had appreciated Russia’s stand’’ on the issue. Asked whether they were
getting enough cooperation from India, he said the
External Affairs Ministries of the two countries were
regularly in touch in the matter. The two countries share
the same concern and were affected by the same malaise. |
Dasmunshi may head WBCC CALCUTTA, Dec 24 — Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, MP and the Congress’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha is likely to be party’s chief of the West Bengal unit replacing Mr A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chaudhury. Mr Dasmunshi is currently the working president of the state unit. Mr Khan Chaudhury has already expressed his desire to step down on health grounds. Mr Dasmunshi, however, would prefer a berth in the AICC. He would prefer Mr Somen Mitra take over as head of the unit, which he had been doing for the past one decade before Mr Khan Chaudhury took over. Several prominent Congress leaders, including Mr Subrata Mukherjee, Mr Sadan Pande, Mr Pankaj Banerjee and Mr Sovandeb Chatterjee have already left the party and joined hands with Ms Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress. The central leadership
feels under Mr Dasmunshi the Congress and Trinamul
Congress will come closer. Perhaps even fight jointly
against the Jyoti Basu led left-front government in power
since 1977. |
President, PM greet people on Christmas NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (UNI) — The President, Vice-President and Prime Minister have greeted the people on the occasion of Christmas. President K.R. Narayanan, while recalling the message of compassion and love that Jesus Christ preached, said his ideas were revolutionary in his time and even today. "Let the Christmas candles glow with the ideas of oneness of humanity. The holiness of the individual and perfectibility of man, kindling peace and goodwill in our midst," he said in his message. Vice-President Krishan Kant observed that Jesus brought hope and promise of the kingdom of God on earth as the object of man’s inner spiritual evolution. Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee noted Christmas as an occasion that
heralds the season of joy, peace and brotherhood.
"On the last Christmas of this millennium, let us
look forward to a new age of peace, prosperity and
fraternity among all peoples, irrespective of their
faith," he said. |
Suspicious vessel detained NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (PTI) — Close on the heels of the capture of ‘MV Allondra Rainbow’ with its hijackers in the Arabian Sea, the Coast Guard today found another merchant vessel ‘hijacked’ by its 25 Ukranian crew under mysterious circumstances in seven miles in Indian waters after changing its name and while attempting to sell its cargo off the Indian coast. The Coast Guard boarded a merchant ship operating under suspicious circumstances anchored off Pondicherry and found the vessel was carrying a cargo of 15,000 tonnes of finished steel under a different name, an official release said here. On examination of documents it was found that the crew had changed the vessel’s name from ‘Kobe Queen - 1 to ‘Gloria Kopp’ and also sold 2,000 tonnes of its cargo at Senegal instead of carrying it to its destined consignee at Reo Haina in Jamaica, it said. The crew, after loading the cargo in Istanbul on July 7 for Jamaica diverted the ship to West African waters, it said, adding that the 1976 ship registered in Panama changed its original name to avoid detection. A global alert was made by the cargo insurance company. "The vessel’s movements are shrouded in mystery since it has also been reported to be coming to Chennai," it said, adding that a large number of ships were diverted and sold along with their cargo around the world in maritime frauds and indian waters were also "found convenient" for the same. mumbai: The police suspect the involvement of the crew of foreign ship ‘Alondra Rainbow’ jointly with the 15 Indonesian pirates arrested recently in the alleged supply of arms to ltte, Mumbai high court was informed yesterday. Detailed investigations
in this regard were required to be done, the police,
represented by Additional Advocate General P. Janardhan,
told Justice H. L. Gokhale who heard a petition filed by
a foreign company ‘Alondra Maritime sa’ seeking
the unconditional return of the vessel rescued by the
Coast Guard and Navy from the clutches of pirates in high
seas recently. |
Board chief cannot be member: HC NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (PTI) — In a ruling affecting members of various government boards, the Delhi High Court today held that a member on appointment to the post of president or vice-president on a fixed tenure loses the right to revert as member after completing the term of that post. A member cannot retain lien after his "substantive selection" to the post of president and vice-president for a fixed tenure as his lien to membership stands terminated with such appointments, a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Arun Kumar and Mr Justice D.K. Jain ruled while rejecting an appeal of former President of Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT) Harish Chander. The court said it was a settled law that "a person once appointed to another post cannot hold lien to a permanent post at the same time". Mr Chander, who relinquished office of CEGAT President on April 12, 1995, after completing three years’ tenure, had moved the high court against Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order dismissing his claim that he was entitled to continue as member till the age of 62 years under the CEGAT rules. Mr Chander’s counsel had challenged the CAT order on the ground that his client was appointed as CEGAT president on the basis of "selection" procedure by the appointment committee of Cabinet (ACC), and, therefore was out of the purview of the CEGAT rules. Mr Chander had claimed that his lien as member of the CEGAT was only suspended, not terminated at the time of his selection to the post of its president under the relevant rules. His counsel further argued that as his client was a permament member of the board, he could not be removed before completion of 62 years as prescribed in the rules. However, this was opposed by Additional Solicitor General S.B. Jaisinghani, who contended that in view of law recruitment to the post of president was direct on approval of the ACC and on the basis of the same Mr Chander’s appointment was "fresh and independent". The CAT had also held
the same view, while dismissing his claim for
continuation of member of the CEGAT. |
Heptulla’s plea to EC NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (PTI) — Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla today said the Election Commission should exempt the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) from its model code of conduct if there was an election as it was a developmental scheme implemented by all members irrespective of their party affiliations. Ms Heptulla told
reporters that she had already made a request to the
Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill recently in this
regard. |
Nationwide alert to nab judge MUMBAI, Dec 24 (PTI) — A countrywide alert has been sounded to nab an absconding suspended judge against whom a non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued in an extortion case in which underworld don Chhota Shakeel is an accused. All police commissionerate areas in the country have been alerted and the airports asked to keep a watch on judge J.W. Singh against whom a nonbailable arrest warrant was issued on last Wednesday by a special court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), police sources said today. A police team has left for New Delhi to trace him who is believed to have gone there either to seek bail or to file an appeal against the order of Mumbai High Court, which on December 17 rejected his plea to quash proceedings against him under the MCOCA. The police has questioned Singh’s wife, two sons and a daughter who reportedly denied that he was absconding. According to them Singh has gone to Delhi for seeking redressal of his grievances through the Supreme Court, the sources said. The police filed an FIR on November 1 booking Singh under the MCOCA for allegedly striking a deal with Chhota Shakeel on telephone through a conduit to recover Rs 40 lakh chit fund money due to his family from one Sardar Singh Abrol alias Dara. Singh in his petition
before the High Court had denied that he had developed
links with Chhota Shakeel or that his help was sought to
recover the chit fund money. |
Hurriyat split over talks NEW DELHI, Dec 24 — The All- Party Hurriyat Conference is split over toeing a strong pro-West line or continuing with its pro-Islamabad position. Maulvi Farooq and Mr Lone were snubbed by Mr Gilani when they went to meet him in the jail with sources saying both Mr Gilani and Mr Malik asked the two visiting Hurriyat leaders to stop issuing statements for a dialogue with the Indian Government as the APHC had not authorised them to take a position. As a matter of fact, the APHC is itself divided on the issue. While Mr Lone and Maulvi Farooq, who have been in touch with western diplomats, have been asking to make the organisation more representative, Mr Gilani and Mr Malik, under Islamabad’s pressure have opposed opening up of the organisation. Mr Lone and Maulvi
Farooq were, at least till the ouster of the former Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif, hopeful that their line would
triumph. But the military takeover in Islamabad has once
again put the hardliners back in control. |
Hindi unifying force: Advani NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (PTI) —Vice-President Krishan Kant today said acceptability of Hindi in different parts of the country would continue to increase with the information technology revolution and widening reach of cinema and television. "Hindi has to prove its own strength and define its role in the rapidly changing global scenario as a strong national language can establish its acceptability in the multilingual society like India", he said presenting the ‘Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha Awards’ here. Mr Kant said with the advent of information technology and increasing awareness among the middle class, Hindi acquired greater acceptability in the country over the years and today it was the main medium of communication even in non-Hindi speaking areas. He said the acceptability of Hindi as national language mainly depends on its acceptability as a language of communication but there was not much debate on Hindi’s capability in this regard. The prosperity of Hindi literature would lead to its acceptability as the national language, he said, stressing the need for adopting an integrated approach in this direction. In his welcome address, Home Minister I.K. Advani said concrete steps should be taken to ensure that spread of Hindi keeps pace with the revolution in information technology. Describing Hindi as a major unifying force, he said cinema had been playing a key role in spreading the language across the country. In all, 27 awards were presented in different categories to ministries and departments of the Central Government, banks, financial institutions and public sector undertakings for outstanding achievement in the implementation of the official language policy. While three awards were
given to ministries and departments with more than 300
employees, three were presented to those having less than
300 employees and three individual awards were given for
writing original books in Hindi. |
PCCs to be revamped NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (PTI) — Close on the heels of the AICC reshuffle, changes in the pradesh Congress committees would be effected wherever necessary. This was stated by party spokesman Anil Shastri today, a day after Congress President Sonia Gandhi reconstituted the party working committee and the AICC secretariat. Mr Shastri clarified senior leader Arjun Singh continues to be the Chairman of the AICC minority affairs Department. "Status quo continues" as regards the chairmen of various departments, including relating to media headed by Pranab Mukherjee and SC ST department headed by Ms Meira Kumar, he told reporters here. Replying to a question as to who among the new general secretaries would look after the party affairs in Madhya Pradesh, he said as soon as a decision was taken it would be intimated to the media. Asked why senior leader
V.N. Gadgil had been removed as a special invitee to the
CWC, he said the changes showed that the Congress was not
a static party. He also made it clear that removal of any
leader from any post was in no way a reflection on those
affected by the changes. |
Oil Ministry scheme for Kargil widows NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (PTI) — The Centre today asked the states to accord highest priority to giving clearances for allotting lands for LPG dealerships and distributorships to the widows of Defence personnel who died in the Kargil war. The government has announced a special scheme for allotment of 500 petrol stations and LPG agencies to the widows or the next of kin of the defence personnel who laid down their lives in "Operation Vijay", Petroleum Minister Ram Naik told a conference of state Ministers of Food and Civil Supplies here. Mr Naik said that he had already written to the Chief Ministers to accord highest priority in giving the requisite clearances as also allotting land so that these dealerships/distributorships were commissioned as expeditiously as possible. The Petroleum Ministry
has already finalised the names of 116 widows or the next
of kin of the Defence personnel killed in ‘Operation
Vijay’ to whom delarships and LPG distributorships
were to be awarded, he added. |
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| TDP retains Sirpur seat HYDERABAD: The ruling Telugu Desam Party has retained the Sirpur Assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh with its candidate, Mr P. Rajyalakshmi, defeating her Congress rival Mr K. Konappa, by over 29,000 votes. The election to the Sirpur constituency, which was countermanded following the killing of TDP candidate and MLA P Purushothama Rao by Naxalites a few days before the polling in September, was held on December 20. The TDP had fielded Rajyalakshmi, wife of the slain legislator. The strength of the TDP in the State Assembly has now gone up to 180. — PTI Ex-MLA’s son gets 10
yrs’ RI Journalist G.N.
Gujarathi dead Gonda BJP leader
shot Army alerts tea
gardens DA sop for Bihar
staff Life term for
killing mistress |
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