Tuesday, January 5, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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BJP endorses economic
policies Govt
defends T-90 tank deal |
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GDP growth down to 6.5 pc Cut
defence outlay: Prof Sen Five
of Babloo-Goga gang arrested Fest
to open with ‘Elizabeth’ Resolve
crisis in JD: Patel A
glimmer of hope for blind |
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BJP endorses economic policies BANGALORE, Jan 4 — The BJP has supported the government's decision of permitting 26 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector and the need to amend the Patents Act, a move that signalled victory for the pro-reform lobby within the organisation. The party's stand was formalised through a resolution on the economic situation by the national executive during the two-day meeting which concluded yesterday. The resolution, which also suggested a nine-point perspective for the government, was released by the party's General Secretary, Mr K.N. Govindacharya, here today. Interestingly, it come a day after the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, asserted that while "widest consultations are desirable, the decision of the government is final". However, while the party articulated its stand and support on the quantum of FDI it remained silent on the 14 per cent quantum earmarked for NRIs/OCBs with Mr Govindacharya stating the party would assess it later. Yet a senior BJP leader said what was important was that the party chose to send a message that it endorsed the government's decision. The resolution said the FDI should not exceed 26 per cent of equity and that the foreign investor should not be the single biggest shareholder in such an insurance company. It also suggested that insurance companies with foreign equity must comply with all guidelines issued to the LIC and the GIC from time to time and that premia funds should not be allowed to go out of the country under any circumstances. Most of these safeguards are already part of the Bill now with the select committee of Parliament. On the proposed amendment to the Patents Act, the resolution said the need arouse out of India's obligation under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) treaty. "In consonance with the thinking in the party, the government has adopted the necessary safeguards to ensure that the changes do not affect the areas of agriculture, drugs, chemicals and medicines, as well as the arena of bio-diversity" the document reads. It also showered praise on the government for "making the best of the bad situation" claiming that the party had inherited a "declining economy". Mr Govindacharya said the party applauded the Vajpayee government for standing up to the sanctions applied in the wake of the May nuclear tests. "The fundamentals of the country are strong and our expectations have come true. That the sanctions did not hurt is also proved that now there is talk of it being lifted," he said. The party said that though the BJP-led government had taken all required "investor friendly" measures the results were slow in coming in. It, however, noted that several industrial sectors had started looking up and there is growth in consumer goods. On energy sector, it said the government had taken some steps to meet the country's requirements and urged the government to initiate further steps to enhance power production to meet the future demand. It said the growth of agriculture and service sectors had been excellent and would help in boosting the overall economic performance in spite of the industrial slowdown. The party said the government had provided for 58 per cent outlay for the agriculture and the rural development sectors in the Budget and said it hoped the results would soon be felt at the ground level. Turning to subdued market sentiments, it blamed the previous governments for the situation, including the non-return of small investors. While complimenting the government for initiating amendment to the law regarding the non-banking financial companies, the resolution urged for action against the unscrupulous elements who exploited small investors. Although the party virtually endorsed the Vajpayee's government policy, it did attempt not sounding entirely in agreement stating that though the government was the best judge of the country's economic situation and was best placed to take appropriate steps, it urged the government to "evolve a consensus among major political parties on the key economic issues". The party also gave a nine-point perspective on what the government should have in the long-term and it included, shortlisting economic priorities, give utmost importance to rural development, basis health, drinking water and shelter for poor, strengthen small-scale and cottage industry, intensive pro-poor employment schemes. Priority to the Prime Minister's special scheme of 7,000 KM national expressway in terms of resource mobilisation, make it obligatory for importers of consumer goods and luxury items to earn foreign exchange need by them through exports, stability in prices of essential commodities, make public distribution system targeted and strengthen it and speed up the disinvestment process and release huge blocked funds for investment in social and infrastructure sectors, were also suggested. Although the party did go alongwith the government on the WTO, it suggested that a consensus must be evolved on the approach required towards tackling "undesirable external forces, as also the entire gamut of the WTO obligations and their impact on India's economic sovereignty". To a question if the party
had abandoned the "Swadeshi" plank, Mr
Govindacharya said the same stood reflected in the
document. "We have always advocated that Indian
resources and Indian talent must be promoted but it does
not abandon looking for foreign capital and
technology." |
Govt defends T-90 tank deal NEW DELHI, Jan 4 — The Government today termed as "motivated interests", the suggestions that T-72S tanks were superior to the T-90S tanks the country likely to buy from Russia and clearance for which was accorded by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), recently. Reacting to the demand for an inquiry into the purchase of the T-90S from Russia in a Rs 4,500 crore deal from former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the decision to begin the process of trial, evaluation and acquisition of the tanks was taken in February 1998 by the then Defence Minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, after the minister was shown the tanks during a visit to Russia. In a statement issued late in the evening the ministry said, on receipt of letters from various persons including the former Prime Minister, Mr H.D. Deve Gowda recommending procurement of T-72 S tanks, the MoD once again asked for comments of the Army Headquarters at the level of the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, who categorically asserted, "any suggestion that T-72S is superior to T-90S is incorrect and stems from motivated interests". The ministry said that it was during the visit of the then Defence Minister to Russia in September 1997 that the Russians for the first time offered T-90S tanks. Considering the urgency of requirement the then government decided to evaluate the tank by a technical delegation headed by a Lt. Gen, who is currently the Deputy Chief of Army Staff. The former Prime Minister Mr H.D. Deve Gowda had earlier today warned the government against going ahead with the Rs 5000 crore T-90 tank deal with Russia saying national interest should not be jeopardised at the instance of unscrupulous elements and vested interests. Addressing a news conference here, he said the T-90 sought to be inducted into the Army, besides being expensive had also not been tested under Indian conditions and that the tank, which was still under trial, was not likely to be inducted even into the Russian Army. The former Prime Minister, however, declined to reveal the identity of the arms dealers who are forcing the government to go in for the deal saying only that an inquiry would reveal the truth. "Without casting any aspersions on anyone involved in this exercise, I would earnestly urge Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee to allay the fears that have erupted because of the hush hush manner in which the deal is being pushed through," he said. Mr Gowda said according to his information the CCPA cleared the deal recently brushing aside the clarifications he had sought from the Prime Minister. The two letters he had written to Mr Vajpayee since November were yet to be acknowledged forcing him to raise the issue in public. The former Prime Minister said in these two letters he had pleaded with the government not to push the sale of outside tanks ignoring indigenous manufacturing facilities at Avadi in Tamil Nadu. The government, he said, was contemplating purchase of third generation main battle tanks to replace its ageing fleet of Vijayanta tanks. The choice had narrowed down to two tanks T-72 S and T-90. The country was already producing T-72 M1 tanks at its heavy vehicles factory at Avadi. Any new entry in this series should fall in line with the existing family as it will provide better inventory control and logistic support at a relatively low cost, he said. Mr Gowda recalled that T-72 and T-80 were evaluated in India way back in 1992-93. The T-80 although latest tank in Russia was rejected due to its turbine engine overheating in summer in India. In the case of the controversial T-90, the tank has been evaluated only by a delegation and that too in Russia in February last year. The T-90 being a heavier tank than T-72 S, its evaluation in extreme winter and summer in inhospitable terrain such as the Rajasthan desert was necessary. Mr Gowda said he would not
have come out in public over a sensitive matter like the
tank deal but for the apathetic attitude of the BJP
government over the important issue. |
Ninth Plan draft NEW DELHI, Jan 4 (UNI) — The draft Ninth Plan is likely to be considered by the Cabinet at its meeting tomorrow with the Planning Commission having incorporated the priorities of the BJP government at the Centre. After consideration by the full Planning Commission it was announced that the GDP growth rate projections are being brought down to 6.5 per cent from seven per cent envisaged in the draft document prepared under the leadership of Mr Madhu Dandavate. Budgetary support to the plan was maintained at Rs 374,000 crore. The approach to the Ninth Plan was approved by the National Development Council (NDC) nearly t wo years back at which it was decided that investment rate during the plan will be 28.3 per cent domestic savings were envisaged at 26.2 per cent, fiscal deficit at 4.1 per cent while the current account deficit was anticipated at 2.1 per cent and exports were expected to grow by 14.5 per cent while imports were estimated at 12 per cent. However, latest
indications from the commission speak of a sharp increase
in the fiscal deficit, fall in exports as well as
imports. |
Cut defence outlay: Prof Sen NEW DELHI, Jan 4 — Nobel laureate Prof Amartya Sen today urged India and Pakistan to reduce their military expenditure and divert the funds for development activities. Suggesting that the reduced defence outlay could be used for development purposes, the Nobel laureate said "India and Pakistan can do less on their own than they can do together and it is important to have dialogue or better international relations". A bilateral dialogue between the two countries was "important" to overcome pressure from the big five countries to buy their conventional arms, which drain South Asian economies, Professor Sen said addressing mediapersons here. Highlighting the fact that a substantial portion of the gross domestic product was being diverted to the purchase of military hardware, he said if that amount was used in development activities the standard of people living in the third world would improve. Referring to a 1995 study, he said 85 per cent of the conventional arms were sold by the permanent members of the Security Council to the developing countries, much of which found its way into Africa and Asia. Professor Sen said defence expenditure had both a demand and a supply side and it was important to "scrutinise and examine the pressure that comes from the sellers side on military expenditure". Military hardware were brought from the big five countries and sold to the third world. Admitting that the military expenditure was high in the sub-continent, Professor Sen said there ought to be more public discussions on the issue. He observed that the leaders of the two countries should think "not in terms of slashing defence expenditure, but to what extent it needs to be done vis-a-vis development expenditure." Lauding the work of late Mehbub-ul-Haq of Pakistan, former Pakistan Finance Minister, he said he contributed significantly to show the positive effects of demilitarisation on development. Underlining the importance of elementary education in a country’s development process, he said there was massive under allocation of resources towards elementary education in India. There was also need for greater monitoring of public expenditure by the creation of interest groups by giving them certain powers." This will serve the purpose of monitoring better", he said. On asked whether funds were adequately available in India for ensuring primary education for all, he said many countries who were "no richer than India were able to achieve much more than us". Even within India, states like Himachal Pradesh and Kerala had made significant progress in this regard. Provision of primary
education was a very labour intensive activity and it did
not require much foreign exchange and could be marshalled
by resources within the country. |
Defence Ministry to have new structure NEW DELHI, Jan 4 (PTI) — In a move to give the three services — Army, Navy and Air Force — greater say in its decision-making process, the Ministry of Defence will have a "wholly new structure" by the end of this month, Defence Minister George Fernandes announced today. "The Ministry’s whole structure will be changed. I am keen about it. By this monthend, there will be integration of the Ministry with the forces so that decision making is speeded up and the three services have a say in that process," Mr Fernandes said. The move comes in the backdrop of complaints of bureaucratic interference by the services and the recent dismissal of Navy Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat who was sacked "for deliberate defiance of the established system of Cabinet control over the defence forces". During the wide-ranging interview, the Minister strongly defended the dismissal of Admiral Bhagwat, disclosing that he had not been given the option of resigning. "We never considered any other option," he said when asked if the Admiral had been asked to resign. Mr Fernandes saw no basis for apprehensions that the sacking of the Naval Chief would have a demoralising effect on the services. "I don’t think so. Personally my opinion is the defence forces are wedded to discipline and the officers at the top are to see that this is enforced very strictly. Therefore, there is the right kind of atmosphere that goes down below. Everyone will understand the fact such a decision (to remove Bhagwat) was taken after serious consideration," the Minister said. Asked whether the appointment of Vice-Admiral Harinder Singh as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet stood, he replied that the appointment on which Admiral Bhagwat differed with the government would be done after the new Naval Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar had looked into it. On the integration of the Ministry with the services, Mr Fernandes said he had received three different proposals from the service headquarters with some commonalties and some diverging views besides other inputs. "By this monthend, you will have a wholly new structure". Asked about Admiral
Bhagwat’s comments that even a peon was given a
show-cause notice before being sacked, he said: "We
never considered any other option. Withdrawal of the
pleasure of the President under Article 310 of the
Constitution which was manifest in Section 15 (1) of the
Navy Act does not call for any show- cause notice or
chargesheet". |
Five of Babloo-Goga gang
arrested NEW DELHI, Jan 4 — With the arrest of five alleged dreaded criminals of Babloo Srivastava-Irfan Goga gang yesterday , the Delhi Police claimed to have averted kidnappings for ransom in capital. They were allegedly involved in murders, abductions and extortions in different cities in the country. The police received tip-off that members of Babloo Srivastava Irfan Goga gang had a plan to kidnap Gaurav Rathi (22), a son of proprietor of, Rathi Steels from his residence in Sadhna Enclave in South Delhi. The gangsters had information that Gaurav had his factory in Ghaziabad. One of the arrested gangster, Abdullah got all this information by some insiders. The gangsters had reportedly links in Lucknow, Allahabad, Dharbhanga, Hardwar, Calcutta and Mumbai, Gujarat and Karnataka, according to the Joint Commissioner of Police, Mr Amod Kanth. The Delhi Police constituted a team and started tracking down the movements of the gangsters. The police team visited Lucknow, Allahabad, Dharbhanga, Hardwar, Calcutta and Mumbai. Mr Kanth said the police got information that the gangsters were moving in a white Maruti car in which they wanted to kidnap Gaurav Rathi. A team was deployed near Pushp Bhavan on the Marshal Tito Marg in South Delhi. While the team was chasing criminals they fired at them. But the police succeeded in overpowering the criminals. The members were identified as Abdullah Khan Rahman alias Abdullah, Arshad Hussain alias Javed, Khallid Siddiqui, Tariq Siddiqui and Mohammad Akbar Ansari. They belong to Darbhanga district in Bihar. However, during interrogation they disclosed their involvement in kidnapping-cum-murder case of Sagar Ladhkath in Pune in 1998, kidnappings of Gautam Adani in Ahmedabad an Amrender Singh in Muzaffarpur and attempted kidnapping of Babu Bhai Sanghvi in Bhuj and Satish Shetty in Hubli, according to Mr Kanth. Their future planning was
of kidnapping of Gaurav Rathi, kidnapping of Mr Sinha
owner of Sinha Nursing Home at Darbhanga in Bihar. |
Fest to open with ‘Elizabeth’ HYDERABAD, Jan 4 (PTI) — Shekhar Kapoor’s much acclaimed film ‘Elizabeth’ will be the inaugural film for the 30th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) which opens here on January 10, film festival director Malati Sahai said here today. The 10-day festival, to be inaugurated by the evergreen hero of the Indian Cinema Dev Anand, will screen 85 films from 45 countries made in the past two years in the ‘cinema of the world’ section, Ms Sahai told reporters. The selection of ‘Elizabeth’, the revisionist epic of the 15th century which bagged the Golden Globe Award and was screened at the Toronto and Venice film festivals, tags the strong Indian connection to the international event. Starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush and Richard Attenborough, the film was widely acclaimed for its lucid style and splendid cinematography. ‘Fire’ famed Deepa Mehta’s latest venture ‘Earth’ was not sent for the preview for considering as inaugural film, Ms Sahai clarified when asked why Ms Mehta’s film, set in the partition era, was not included in any of the sections of the festival. Other prominent films to be screened in the world section include, Bernardo Bertolucci’s ‘Beseiged’ (Italy), Carlos Marcovicii’s ‘Who the Hell is Juliette?’ (Mexico) Rolf de Heer’s ‘Dance to My Song’ (Australia), Claude Chabrol’s ‘Rien Ne vu Plus’ (France), Abolfazl Jalili’s ‘Don’ (Iran) and John Boorman’s ‘The General’ (Ireland). Meanwhile, celebrated Italian film maker Bernardo Bertolucci will be honoured with “Life-Time Achievement” award for his outstanding contribution to the world of cinema at the IFFI. Bertolucci, the creator of
the masterpieces like “The Last Emperor” and
Little Buddha” has been selected for the award which
carries a golden peacock and a certificate, the Director
of Film Festivals Malati Sahai said here. The award will,
henceforth, be given annually to a foreign film marker. |
Resolve crisis in JD: Patel BANGALORE, Jan 4 (PTI) — The Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr J.N. Patel, today asked Janata Dal President Sharad Yadav to resolve the imbroglio in the state unit at the earliest. Mr Patel told PTI here that he had requested Mr Yadav to convene either the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) or the executive meeting to find a solution to the state unit imbroglio so that he could initiate measures to tone up administration and strengthen the party. “Let him (Yadav) decide as early as possible”, he said when asked whether any timeframe has been set to resolve the crisis. Mr Patel said Mr Yadav called up two days ago and sought clarifications on the former’s reported statements that he would continue as Chief Minister till the November Assembly elections in the state. The Chief Minister said he clarified that he had only responded to a query by mediapersons, who asked whether he would continue as Chief Minister till November. “How can I say I won’t continue?” he asked. Mr Patel said the issue of a change of leadership was not on the agenda now and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda had mooted certain changes, including dropping of some ministers to draft them for organisational works and shifting of some officials. He said he was not in favour of dropping some senior ministers at this stage as he felt it was too late to resort to such experiments. “Had it been done two years ago, it would have been proper”. Th Chief Minister said none of the senior ministers had volunteered to sacrifice their ministerial berths to take up organisational responsibilities. Mr Patel has plans to
deploy four teams of ministers to tour the state from
this month to review developmental work and gear up the
party for the coming Assembly elections, but the delay in
resolving the crisis by the party high command had come
in the way of implementing the decisions. |
A glimmer of hope for blind NEW DELHI, Jan 4 (PTI) — Even as India observes Braille Day today, the country’s first and only Braille newsletter continues to chug along for the past two decades despite severe financial constraints. Chaman Prakash Sharma launched ‘Samarth Chetna’ 21 years ago with the objective of educating and keeping visually impaired people like him abreast with world affairs and developments on the social front. “When I was studying in a blind school, I used to have great difficulty in keeping pace with people with normal eyesight due to lack of study material in Braille.” “It was then that the idea of bringing out a Braille newsletter took root in my mind,” says Mr Sharma. “I basically wanted to make information available to the visually impaired people as easily as possible,” he says but adds quickly that it’s no mean job to churn out 100 issues every week. “One Braille weekly newsletter consists of 88 pages and costs more than double in printing as compared to its conventional counterpart as Braille characters being large, take up double space. Printing costs being more,
he has to limit the output to 100 copies even though
4,000 could sell off easily. |
Tax returns: school body to
meet Mayor NEW DELHI, Jan 4 — The representatives of the Federation of Public Schools are planning to meet the Delhi Mayor, Mr Yog Dhyan Ahuja, on January 7 to seek an extension till March 31 for filing their property tax returns. The relaxation, if given, to the schools will result in a big financial loss for the corporation in the form of interest a senior municipal corporation official pointed out. The last date for the
filing of returns was September 30. Around 30 per cent of
the schools in the federation have still not filed their
returns. |
11 govt offices to be shifted from Capital NEW DELHI, Jan 4 (PTI) — Some central government offices will be shifted to Delhi’s satellite towns in a bid to decongest the Capital. The 11 offices to be shifted include Coast Guard headquarters, National Crime Records Bureau (Home Ministry), Research and Development (Postal Department), Department of Supply and National Capital Region Planning Board. The offices will be
shifted to Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon, an
official release said here today. |
Home Guards’ memo NEW DELHI, Jan 4 — The Delhi Home Guard Welfare Association has submitted a memorandum to the Union Home Minister highlighting its grievances. An association press note stated that ‘partisan’ approach was being adopted in discharging the Home Guards from service. While a large number of
jawans were being discharged from duty after three years
of service, according to the established principle of the
Bombay Home Guard Act, several persons who have put in
eight to 10 years of service have been retained. |
Maths puzzle solved? NAGPUR, Jan 4 (PTI) — A Nagpur University mathematics Professor has claimed that he has found an alternative short and simple proof of the 361-year-old internationally known Fermat’s last theorem (FLT) — a mathematical puzzle. The proof was presented by V.K. Gurtu, Professor and Head of the Mathematics Department in the Laxminarayan Institute of Technology, Nagpur University, at the 64th annual conference of the Indian Mathematical Society held at Hardwar. The FLT was given by the
famous 17th century French jurist and mathematician
Pierre de Fermat in 1637 in a marginal note on the
well-known Pythagoras theorem. |
Kavi Pradeep Samman MUMBAI, Jan 4 (PTI) — The "Kavi Pradeep Shikhar Samman" has been instituted by the Malwa Rangmanch, a cultural group, in memory of poet Pradeep. The award would be presented to an individual for his or her outstanding performance in the field of music on February 6, the birthday of the poet, director of the rangmanch, Mr Reshav Rai, said in a statement here today. The award, comprising Rs
51,000 in cash, a certificate of honour and a shawl,
would be presented at a cultural programme organised in
the home district of the poet in Mahakaleshwar town,
Ujjain, he said. |
Next executive meeting in April BANGALORE, Jan 4 (PTI) — The BJP today announced that the party's next National Executive meeting will be held during April. Party president, Kushabhau
Thakre told newsmen that the National Executive had
decided to hold the next meeting in April, but not
finalised the date and venue. |
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| Maestro’s tribute to
Protima Bedi JAIPUR: Grammy Award winner maestro Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt has created a new raga “Gaurima” to pay his tribute to the late Oddisi dancer Protima Gauri Bedi, affectionately known as Gauri Ma. Bhatt will present the new raga at the Vasanthabba-99 festival next month at Nrityagram, the dance village, established by the late dancer near Bangalore. The raga captures Protima’s exuberance, grace and zest, highlighting her charismatic personality and depicts her intense struggle to bring up her dream child Nrityagram. — PTI Orissa
police to keep pigeon wing 9 killed, 10 hurt
in road mishap 6 drowned as
tractor falls into river Vora demands ban
on communal forces |
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