Wednesday, January 20, 1999
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New Arunachal ministry sworn in ITANAGAR, Jan 19 — A 30-member ministry led by Mr Mukut Mithi of the Arunachal Congress (M) was sworn in here today, a day after Mr Gegong Apang bowed out of office after losing a confidence vote. J&K boys among 16 to get bravery award NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — Id could not have been more memorable for the Srinagar-based Ahmed brothers who were among the 16 children to be given a reception by the Indian Council for Child Welfare here on Tuesday in recognition of their bravery. |
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Excise slab numbers to be cut NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — Reduction in the slabs of Excise to three and continuation of import duty are likely to be the highlights of next Union Budget, the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha indicated today.
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Another plea to HC on Bhagwat MUMBAI, Jan 19 — Close on the heels of the High Court rejecting a public interest litigation that sought disclosure of material on the basis of which former Navy chief Vishnu Bhagwat was sacked.
Five-day
Swadeshi Mela from Jan 25 ‘Attacks
on Christians going on for a year’ Bumper
wheat crop expected |
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New Arunachal ministry sworn in ITANAGAR, Jan 19 (PTI) — A 30-member ministry led by Mr Mukut Mithi of the Arunachal Congress (M) was sworn in here today, a day after Mr Gegong Apang bowed out of office after losing a confidence vote in the state assembly. Governor Mata Prasad administered the oaths of office and secrecy to Mr Mithi and his team at Raj Bhavan and asked the Chief Minister to prove his majority within seven days. The council comprises 19 ministers of Cabinet rank and 10 ministers of state. Except 10, all were ministers in the outgoing Gegong Apang ministry. Six Independents have been inducted as ministers of state. Apart from 24 AC(M) legislators, the new government has the support of eight Independents who have become associate members of the AC(M). Four Congress MLAs are also supporting it from outside. Mr Mithi told reporters after the swearing in that he was ready to prove his majority on the floor of the House “as soon as possible” adding “the sooner the better, and I will do the needful.” The portfolios of the ministers would be announced in a day or two, he said. A special session of the state assembly will be held on January 21 to allow Mr Mithi to prove his majority, official sources said. The decision to convene the House on January 21 was taken at a Cabinet meeting soon after the swearing in, the sources added. Outlining his government’s priority, Mr Mithi said his main task was to restore peace in the state for which he would initiate a dialogue with underground elements. Replying to a question on underground activities in Tirap and Chaplang districts of the state, he said though the Centre had recently declared a ceasefire with Naga outfits operating in Nagaland, “somebody should initiate a dialogue and keep the Centre informed of the developments.” Mr Mithi also attached considerable significance to the refugee problem, the Assam-Arunachal boundary issue, the unemployment problem and the need for transparency in the administration. The new Chief Minister
said he would like to revamp the administration and make
it more responsive and people-friendly. |
Excise slab numbers to be cut NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — Reduction in the slabs of Excise to three and continuation of import duty are likely to be the highlights of next Union Budget, the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha indicated today. " It is my endeavour to have three excise duty rates apart from zero," Mr Sinha said while delivering a special address at a conference of tax executives organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) just 40 days ahead of the Budget here. The three rates would be classified as merit, mean and non-merit and the government has already formed a group to list the goods that would be classified under these heads. " There will be clear demarcation between merit and demerit rate goods and we will go by very clear and well defined principles in this regard and the level of rates are being worked out", he said. Any number of slabs lesser than the existing 16 would result in the simplification of procedures, the Finance Minister said adding that interpretations would be such that it does not vary from one Excise Commissioner to another. The purpose is to try and evolve principles which cannot be assailed and any kind of departure would imply a departure from the principle, he said. Regarding the import duty, Mr Sinha indicated that the special additional duty (SAD) of four per cent is unlikely to be done away with . " There is no reason why we should have zero duty on a whole host of goods", he said adding that "the government losing its revenue is no way of economising". " A minimum floor tariff is under my examination at this point of time and hopefully it is going to be a part of the Budget", he said. Acknowledging that the domestic industry needs some kind of protection, Mr Sinha said that "if the Indian industry needs more time it’s the government’s responsibility to provide that time". Allaying fears that the government was reverting to protectionist policies, Mr Sinha said that "this is not protectionism but wherever necessary breathing time will be provided. Admitting that the anti-dumping mechanism as it exists in India today is very cumbersome, he said that "in the international situation this is not enough ". It is imperative to streamline procedures so that domestic industry does not face unfair competition, he added. On the issue of direct taxes the Finance Minister indicated that any further reduction in rates are unlikely to take place. "We have one of the lowest rates today resulting in better tax compliance over the years", he said. "My effort would be to continue with the simplification process in the Budget", Mr Sinha added. Expressing concern over
the poor performance of the export sector, the Finance
Minister said that if the trade deficit is not
controlled, it might reflect in the current account
deficit. |
News analysis NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — The current tussle for control of the Railway Ministry has brought into focus the importance of this principal mode of transport in the socio-political life of the country. Indian Railways, the second largest rail system in the world, has become the bone of contention which is capable of choking the Atal Behari Vajpayee regime. It is now well known that the Trinamool Congress leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee, demanded the Railway Ministry as the price for her party joining the government and the reluctance of the Prime Minister to accede it at the cost of shifting the present incumbent, the Samata Party’s Mr Nitish Kumar, led to the postponement of the Cabinet expansion on January 15, Mr Vajpayee’s pronouncement in the Press notwithstanding. What is it that makes the Railway Ministry so attractive for a politician to put almost everything at stake ? Is Ms Banerjee asking for the moon ? For all practical purposes, Indian Railways is like a government within a government. A Ministry that enjoys the unique distinction of presenting a separate budget in Parliament, has its own communication system, independent sources of energy and security. Above all, it has one of the largest workforce in the country, employing 15.84 lakh persons. In practical terms, the writ of the Railway Minister runs as far as the railway lines go and as per current statistics, the total network stretches for 63,000 km across the subcontinent. No doubt, over the years, many of those who headed it have utilised the opportunity for the benefit of their respective constituencies. Nearly five decades ago, the Railway Ministry shot into fame when the then Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned after a train accident in 1956 at Ariyalur in Madras (now Chennai) in which many people lost their lives. Since then, the resignation is often quoted as a benchmark for high standards in public life. Yet, over the years the Ministry is often in the news for things the ministers — like currying favours to people in their respective areas. Whether it was late Kamalapati Tripathi, Lalit Narain Mishra, A.B. Ghani Khan Chowdhury or it is Madhavrao Scindia, C.K. Jaffer Sharief, Suresh Kalmadi or Ram Vilas Paswan, all of them are said to have extended rail benefits to natives of their states or constituencies. It is said that each time there was a new occupant in Rail Bhavan, a new train or superfast express was started, connecting his town/city to a major junction. In recent times, Mr Ghani Khan Chowdhury was dubbed at one time as ‘Minister of Malda’, while Mr Scindia reportedly got the first Shatabdi on track to Jhansi, covering his constituency Gwalior en route. During his tenure, major reconstruction work was carried on at several stations including Gwalior, to turn it into a model station. It is another matter that the start of the reconstruction work coincided with a marriage in the erstwhile royal family. While Mr Kalmadi had, during his short stint, proposed the setting up of a separate division at Pune, his hometown and constituency, Mr Paswan announced the setting up of new zones including one at Hajipur, his constituency in Bihar. The number of free passes he is said to have issued during his tenure drew flak. The present Railway
Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, had altered the situation by
allowing bureaucratic control of the Railway Recruitment
Board as also the powers of the users' committee of
advisory boards and some other avenues of political
patronage. |
J&K boys among 16 to get
bravery award NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — Id could not have been more memorable for the Srinagar-based Ahmed brothers who were among the 16 children to be given a reception by the Indian Council for Child Welfare here on Tuesday in recognition of their bravery. Ovais Ahmed, (15) and his brother, Viqas, (14) prevented a daylight burglary in their house in October, ’97. Students of Burnhall School, Srinagar,the brothers said that while one of them raised an alarm, the other overpowered one of the three intruders. Their grit and courage led to the arrest of a thief. Other children who deserve to be felicitated for their heroic deed are Meerut-based siblings Anchal Grover, (9) and Akash Grover, (10). These children have been selected for the coveted Sanjay and Geeta Chopra award. The two showed exemplary courage in fighting four persons who forced their entry into their house in February’97. Shivani Sharma, Mohammed. Aatif and Anurag risked their life to save their schoolmates from the jaws of death when their bus fell into the Yamuna in November ’97. The posthumous award has been given to Karuna Dube of Khejrabag in Sagar ( Madhya Pradesh) who died while saving the lives of her brother and sister. Karuna’s mother who is here to receive the honour said that she was proud of her daughter. Karuna’s companion, Sudesh Kumar Saudhe has also been awarded. Declared recipients of the National Bravery Award and the Sanjay and Geeta Chopra Awards-1998, the five girls and 10 boys assembled on the ICCW lawns here to meet the Press. Prominent among those present were Sanjay and Geeta’s parents. Admiral M M Chopra (retired) has been the Chairman of the National Bravery Award Committee for 12 years now. The other recipients are Yamini Kanwar from Rajasthan, Pramod Hariom Arora and Sanket Surendra Salvi from Maharashtra, Pramod E from Karnataka, Satyabhama Sahu from Orissa, Ekta from Uttar Pradesh and Mohammad Aslam from Madhya Pradesh. The children will receive awards from the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee at his residence on Saturday. While recipients of the Sanjay and Geeta Chopra award will get a cash prize of Rs 3,500, the rest will get a cash prize of Rs 3000. The posthumous award carries a cash prize of Rs 5000. The awardees will get a silver medal and a certificate each. The secretary-general of the ICCW, Mr F C Pahwa said that the awardees are granted financial assistance till they complete their schooling. In addition, the ICCW provides financial assistance under its Indira Gandhi Scholarship Scheme to those who opt for professional courses. Others are provided assistance till graduation. He added that three seats in engineering and one in medicine are reserved for the children. Mr Pahwa said that the National Bravery Award scheme was started by the ICCW in 1957 and since then, 540 children, including 405 boys and 135 girls, have been given the awards. Ms Anuradha Bajaj,
programme Officer of the ICCW said that the National
Bravery Award sub-selection committee invites nominations
every year from police departments, state government
departments, chief secretaries and the 29 state Councils
of the ICCW. |
Another plea to HC on Bhagwat MUMBAI, Jan 19 (PTI) — Close on the heels of the High Court rejecting a public interest litigation that sought disclosure of material on the basis of which former Navy chief Vishnu Bhagwat was sacked. Another petition has come up urging the judiciary to examine not only his dismissal but also circumstances leading to his appointment and promotion as Navy chief. The petition, filed yesterday by Dilip Karambelkar, Editor of Marathi daily "Tarun Bharat" contended that the public was interested to know the truth not in bits and pieces, but in its totality. The petition poses a question whether Bhagwat was in the habit of raising issues of involvement of others with arms dealers and after achieving his personal desired objectives either allowed the issues to die a natural death or withheld his help for a judicial examination of issues he had raised. It will thoroughly demoralise the armed forces and the Indian Navy in particular if Bhagwat is not made responsible for his serious allegation made in his writ petition No. 2757 of 1990 before the High Court. Bhagwat eventually withdrew the petition upon being assured of his promotion, the petitioner submitted. In that writ petition,
Admiral J.G. Nadkarni and Vice-Admiral S. Jain as
respondents had filed counter affidavits but Bhagwat
caused circumstances for the Mumbai High Court to avoid
judicial scrutiny of contents of the petition as well as
counter affidavits, the petitioner alleged. |
Book to guide scribes on ethics NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — Chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice P.B. Sawant, today said that a journalist earns respect not by the weight of the pay packet he gets but by his character which is reflected in his professional conduct. “Some sections of the press are ignoring the code of ethics and the importance of a mechanism like the PCI to protect and promote the freedom of press,” Justice Sawant said while releasing a book “A Practitioner’s Guide to Journalistic Ethics” brought out by the Media Watch Group. Stating that the PCI’s role was to protect and promote freedom of the press and stop government interference, he said, “their neglect of code of ethics could invite societal pressure on the government to put legal restrictions on them which will mean the end of their freedom.” He underlined the point by saying that emergence of press councils in over 50 to 60 countries reflected that the media honoured such an internal mechanism and opposed government interference. Terming the publication of the book “A Practitioner’s Guide to Journalistic Ethics” as a timely one, Justice Sawant remarked that this book would be handy in case need arose for scribes for referring to it. Welcoming the effort by the authors, Editor of The Tribune, Mr Hari Jaisingh, in a communiqué said “as you probably know, in The Tribune, I have evolved and enforced a comprehensive code of conduct for our journalists.” “I am sure that your work will help to create the requisite awareness among journalists about professional conduct,” the letter by Mr Hari Jaisingh read out at the book release function said. The book, co-authored by Mr Kuldip Singh Arora and Mr P.K. Bandyopadhyay, is a collection of various national and international codes and makes reference to relevant laws in relation to both print and electronic media. Former editor of The Statesman, S. Sahay condemned the attack by some sections of the press on the PCI. He spoke about the change in ethics over a period of time and cited examples to support his argument. He said that despite political, financial and other pressures, a journalist had to follow the ethics as he was accountable to the society. “The need of the hour is to do soul searching and have your own code of conduct,” he said. Speaking at the function, the Executive Managing Editor of the Times of India, Mr Dileep Padgaonkar said it was very difficult to formulate a set of code of conduct at a time when the entire media was in transition and “five to six conglomerates were involved in synchronising the various vistas of communication, including telecom, publications and media”. One cannot talk about ethics without taking note of politico-bureaucratic pressures on journalists, commercial interests of media and ignorance about ethics, Padgaonkar observed. Among others, Press
Institute of India (PII) Director, Ajit Bhattacharjea and
Press Trust of India General Manager, Mr M.K. Razdan,
were also present at the book release function. |
Five-day Swadeshi Mela from Jan
25 NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee will inaugurate a trade fair here on January 25 which intends to promote self reliance and focuses on challenges of globalisation and liberalisation. “The five-day Swadeshi Mela, organised by the Centre for Bharatiya Marketing Development (CBMD), will be a showcase of Indian industry with major private and public sector such as Bajaj Auto, BPL, Videocon, SAIL, Coal India and NTPC participating in it,” Mela convener and BJP MP, Ms Rita Verma said addressing a press conference here today. “The CBMD is of the view that indiscriminate globalisation of the Indian economy initiated in 1991 lacked adequate foresight,” she said and stressed the country needed an economic solution combining local characteristics with an international perspective. Asked whether she saw a contradiction between the BJP-led government’s policy allowing multinational companies into the country and the emphasis on “Swadeshi”, she replied in negative, saying “support for swadeshi does not mean opposition to multinationals.” “Ruling party has its own compulsions because of which the BJP-led government has to make some changes. Otherwise Mr Vajpayee till today is pro-Swadeshi,” she said. She said that the event is not being organised to launch a hatred campaign against MNCs, but to familiarise people with the spirit of Swadeshi. The CBMD is associated with providing marketing facilities for the show and in no case working against transnational corporations, she said. When asked about the CBMD’s concept of Swadeshi, Dr Verma said any company where Indians hold more than 51 per cent of shares is the swadeshi company. Organisers of the Mela sought to allay the apprehensions that the fair is politically-motivated and against multi-national corporations. As many as 300 companies from across the country are expected to participate in the show. The mela showcases the entire canvas of the Indian industry, science and technology and culture, Dr Verma said and added that large, medium, small scale and village and cottage industries would take part in the event. Being represented are the
textile sector, chemicals and fertiliser, automobile,
handicraft, gems and jewellery, leather industry,
information technology as well as core sector industries
like petroleum, petrochemicals, steel and telecom. |
‘Attacks on Christians going on for a year’ AHWA (DANGS), Jan 19 (UNI) — Contrary to popular belief, attacks on Christians in the tribal areas of Dangs in south Gujarat have been going on for the past one year and are not the outcome of a sudden upsurge of the developments on December 25 last year, inquiries have revealed. Even on Christmas when the maximum number of churches and Christian institutions were hit and burnt down, the attacks were not isolated but planned and systematic. With the Hindu activists descending in hordes on several villages around the same time-between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. — to indulge in similar acts or vandalism gives credence to the theory of these being orchestrated, an independent fact-finding team has ascertained. The team, led by Justice S. Suresh, retired judge of the Bombay High Court, who had inquired into the Mumbai riots to bring out the people’s verdict, went around the affected villages and spoke to the tribal villagers and the clergy and Hindu leaders. In submissions made before the team, it was revealed that the first of the attacks was at Kudas village on November 11, 1997, when priest Premchand Gambit was beaten up. On November 14, at Umerpada, 24 Christians were threatened and implicated in false cases. On February 20 last year, at Divan Temroon village and Jamalapada, Christians were beaten up while praying. In May, at Jorsod, Christians attending a two-day convention were attacked. As many as five attacks took place in July. First at Dholidod village, a prayer hall was damaged. A week later, twice an attempt was made to burn the prayer hall at Bobkhal. Two days later, at Payargodi, Sukar Bhai Gambit was attacked and three days later, at Padalkhadi, Christians were attacked while they were praying. In June, at Singhana and Lahan Kadmal, prayer halls were burnt down. In August, at Jamniamal and Morjira, Christian families were attacked and beaten up. All these details have also been compiled in memoranda submitted to the Prime Minister and Government officials by Christian organisations. A month prior to the Christmas attack prayer halls were burnt down in Nirgudmal, Borigouda, Lahancharia, Subir and Kamath. On December 25, prayer halls were set on fire at Gadvi, Jamalapada, Nadagkadi and Padalkhadi. Standing outside a demolished church structure at Gadvi, Lakshubhai Kodgia said he had embraced Christianity voluntarily after the local pastor cured his sons through the reading of the Ten Commandments. “Now I will remain a Christian till my last breath”, he said. At Jamalapada, despite the religious animosity, the tribal bonding was evident. The Hindu tribesmen here conceded their Christian brethren’s request not to burn the prayer hall as its flames would fan into their adjoining houses. The church property was, therefore, brought out and set on fire and the prayer hall only ransacked with lathis, signs of which were visible a week later too. The next day, the activists attacked the prayer halls at Behadun, Karadiamba and Waki and completely demolished these. First information reports have been filed in all the cases. The attacks that
intensified on the third day saw eight churches
completely demolished at Bordal, Sepuamba, Shivbara,
Pipaldagad, Gougan, Karenjpada, Mulchond and Baripada. |
Bumper wheat crop expected NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — India is likely to harvest a bumper wheat crop yielding 67 million tonnes as against 63.5 million tonnes last year which would offset some of the losses suffered in the kharif crops due to unseasonal and untimely rain. Union Agriculture Secretary Kamal Pande told TNS that the agriculture sector was expected to register a growth of 3-4 per cent this year. The substantial increase in acreage under cultivation coupled with good weather has raised hopes of wheat output of 66-67 million tonnes. If this comes true, the Ministry hopes that India would achieve a record foodgrain output in 1998-99 surpassing the 200 million mark. The prospects of a good rabi crop are in addition to the excellent output of commercial crops including oilseeds, pulses, fibres and sugarcane in the last kharif. In the case of commercial crops kharif oilseeds like groundnut, sunflower, safflower and soyabean were expected to register a gain with their output rising to between 14.3 and 14.4 million tonnes, against last season’s production of 14.15 million tonnes. Soyabean harvest was assessed at 6.9 million tonnes against 6.52 million tonnes last year. In a major policy
initiative this year, the rain-fed farming being
practised on over 65 per cent of the crop land has been
accorded greater priority to boost agricultural
production as also to raise farmers’ income. The
programme for watershed development is being strengthened
for this purpose. An additional outlay of Rs 50 crore has
been earmarked for the centrally-sponsored schemes of
soil conservation. |
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| Album of ‘king of
romance’ out NEW DELHI: The legendary “king of romance” Engelbert Humperdinck, who has been thrilling music lovers across generations with his soft romantic numbers, has gone the remix way coming up with an album with “redone” versions of some of his all-time hits like “Spanish Eyes”, “Quando” and “This Night”. The album titled “Engelbert Humperdinck: The Dance Album”, which was released in the West last month and has been topping the charts, has been brought to India by the Milestone Entertainment Label. A company press note said here. — PTI India to launch sea
satellite Racket of fake
railway tickets Maths wizard
presented computer Ancient
manuscripts on microfilm Lata, Mishra,
Thorat honoured |
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