Thursday, June 17, 1999
|
N A T I O N |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
 |
|
|
G-8 likely to back Clinton's stand NEW DELHI, June 16 — Pakistan is not only yielding ground to the Indian forces in the Kargil sector but it seems to be also losing ground politically in the international arena. Clinton's advice to Sharif "recognises intrusion" NEW DELHI, June 16 — Reiterating that talks with Pakistan could resume as soon as the armed intrusion by it was vacated, India today said that US President Bill Clinton’s advice to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the recognition of the cause of problem in Kargil. |
 |
Imams
flay Pak, willing to be drafted |
|
Pawar announces 12-member panel NEW DELHI, June 16 — The Nationalist Congress Party today announced its 12-member Working Committee which included prominent party leaders. Jessica case: HC urged to
cancel accused's bail Health-care
services paralysed Thakre’s
remarks on poll “distorted” Shortage
of funds to hit DU admissions Two
arrested for bank robbery Fear
of war haunts villagers |
|||||
 |
||||||
G-8 likely to back
Clinton's stand NEW DELHI, June 16 — Pakistan is not only yielding ground to the Indian forces in the Kargil sector but it seems to be also losing ground politically in the international arena. The diplomatic setback suffered by Islamabad as a result of US President, Bill Clinton’s stand, conveyed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that the Pakistan’s refusal to pull back intruders from Kargil was blocking efforts to de-escalate tension along the Line of Control (LoC), may be compounded by an equally strong negative signal emanating from the German city of Cologne, where leaders of the economically strong Group of Eight (G-8) are holding their meeting on Friday. The US stand is likely to be endorsed by the other G-8 leaders — Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain and Canada — at the meeting. It is not clear yet if the G-8 would go to the extreme of condemning the Pakistani action in Jammu and Kashmir but indications available here is that it is almost certain that the proactive stand taken by the US administration would be by and large endorsed by other members of the G-8. With its foreign exchange reserves dwindling at nearly $ 1 billion only, Pakistan is heavily dependent on the G-8 countries economically. An aftermath of the Friday’s meeting, therefore, could be stepping up of diplomatic initiative by G-8 leaders for reducing tension in the Indian subcontinent. The mood in the G-8 is upbeat following the group’s successful intervention in the Kosovo crisis. Now that the guns have stopped booming in Serbia, the G-8’s diplomatic offensive is likely to be diverted towards the gunfire across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, Pakistan
tried to put up a brave face today in the aftermath of Mr
Clinton’s last night telephonic talk with Mr Sharif.
In Islamabad, Foreign Minister Sartaz Aziz was quoted by
Reuters as saying that the militants were not under the
Pakistani control and thus hinted that his Government
could do little to satisfactorily respond to Mr
Clinton’s message of stopping hostilities before the
resumption of the bilateral talks. |
Clinton's advice to Sharif
"recognises intrusion" NEW DELHI, June 16 — Reiterating that talks with Pakistan could resume as soon as the armed intrusion by the neighbouring country was vacated, India today said that US President Bill Clinton’s advice to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the recognition of the cause of problem in Kargil. Replying to reporters' questions at the joint briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Defence Ministry, a spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs said here that "it will be possible to put the dialogue process back on the track if the intrusion amounting to aggression is vacated". When asked to comment on the reported advice given by the US President to the Pakistani Premier, the spokesman said that Mr Clinton’s message to Mr Sharif "reflected the international recognition of the cause of the problem in Kargil" which was the intrusions by the Pakistani infiltrators. "As far as the message from President Clinton is concerned, we have not seen its full text but only seen some quotes in newspapers attributed to the White House spokesman", he said adding that India would continue its operations in Kargil till the intrusion was vacated. In a telephonic conversation with Mr Sharif yesterday, Mr Clinton had asked him to pull back Pakistani troops from Indian positions occupied by it, stressing that their presence would put hurdles in ending of fighting. New Delhi, at the same
time, is also expecting a similar statement from the
summit of the G-8 countries later this week, sources
said. |
Congress welcomes Sino-Indian
talks NEW DELHI, June 16 — The Congress today termed New Delhi’s dialogue with Beijing as "constructive and useful’’ and sought to take credit for the improvement of Sino-Indian relations. Mr K. Natwar Singh, Chairman of the AICC Foreign Affairs Department, said today that the party drew this conclusion on the basis of reports in media and said the party hoped Beijing would maintain its helpful stand on Kargil. He said the party had no doubt that the Chinese authorities would have sought some clarifications with regard to the statements made last year by the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes with regard to China. It may be recalled that after Pokharan-II, the Defence Minister had indicated that the country faced a threat from China and the tests were aimed at countering it. "We must also welcome talks between the External Affairs Minister and his Chinese counterpart at this juncture. This would not have been possible but for the visit of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to Beijing in 1988 which added a new dimension to bilateral relations,’’ he said. Mr Natwar Singh said the visit was followed by visits of the then President Mr R. Venkataraman and the then Prime Minister, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao and those by the Chinese Premier Li Peng and Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Mr Zhang Jemin during which several important agreements were signed. The Congress said it expected Beijing to maintain its helpful stand on the Kargil situation particularly knowing the close relations it had with Islamabad. Mr Natwar Singh stopped short of directly naming the BJP-led government as being responsible for internationalising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. "Regardless of the fact that the United Nations Security Council has not taken up the issue, the whole world is talking about the issue. It is on international agenda and the responsibility lies you know where ?’’ To a question whether the US stand asking Pakistan to withdraw intruders from the Kargil signalled the possibility of third-party interference, Mr Natwar Singh said that the Vajpayee-government was itself responsible for the development. He said by choosing to
write letters to the USA after the nuclear test last
year, India invited such an action which resulted in
Washington writing a letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee on
the Kargil situation. |
Imams flay Pak, willing to be drafted NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — Muslim clergy (Imams) today volunteered to go to Kargil to fight Pak-backed infiltrators and castigated Pakistan for its barbaric activities during the conflict. Carrying placards and banners ‘all Imams are with the government and the Army’ and ‘Indian Imams will take revenge for each drop of blood of our martyrs’, a delegation of Imams from across the country met the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, and assured the support of the clergy for all actions taken in Kargil. Maulana Sajid Rashidi, President of Delhi Imam Association, who led the 25-member delegation, supported Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statement that India would not yield even an inch of land to Pakistan. "It is regrettable that Islamabad has violated all accords including the Lahore Declaration," he said. Volunteering to go to the borders to fight the infiltrators, Maulana Syed Salauddin from Andhra Pradesh said "let Pakistan make no mistake. There are still thousands of Haneffuddin in this country who will sacrifice their lives for their motherland". Mr Naqvi said nobody should doubt the patriotism of Indian Muslims who loved their country as much as anybody else. "It will be
slandering if anybody says that Muslims sympathise with
Pakistan. Nothing could be farther from truth," he
said. |
Pawar announces 12-member
panel NEW DELHI, June 16 — The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today announced its 12-member Working Committee which included prominent party leaders. The committee is headed by the party President, Mr Sharad Pawar, and includes, Mr P.A. Sangma, Mr Tariq Anwar, Mr Devendra Dwivedi, all General Secretaries. The other members of the committee, whose list was released today, are Mr K. Prabhakar Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), Mr Jagdeep Dhankar (Rajasthan), Prof B.B. Dutta (Meghalaya), Mr Baleshwar Ram (Bihar), Mr Praful Patel (Maharashtra), Mr Soumyaranjan Patnaik (Orissa), and Ms Veena Nayyar (Delhi). Mr Patnaik is the son-in-law of former Orissa Chief Minister, Mr Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, while Ms Nayyar is a well-known social worker. While releasing the list, Mr Dwivedi said that the nominations to the Working Committee were made by Mr Pawar who was authorised by the party at its national convention held in Mumbai on June 10. Nominations for nine more posts would be made in due course, he said. The party also announced the appointment of convenors in five states. They included K. Prabhakara Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), Satish Kumar (Bihar), Lakshmi Narayan Indoria (MP), K.V. Keditsu (Nagaland) and Jagdeep Dhankar (Rajasthan). Meanwhile, the party President will meet the Samajwadi Party chief, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav for talks on possible alliance between the two parties in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Mr Dwivedi said the meeting would be the first formal and significant interaction between the leaders of the two parties after the formation of NCP. "We are trying to have a broader political understanding of which electoral understanding will be a part,’’ he said. To a question, Mr
Dwivedi ruled out any talks with parties which had
already initiated discussions with the Congress for
alliances. |
Jessica case: HC urged to cancel accused's bail NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — The Delhi police, seeking to cancel bail of three accused in the Jessica Lal murder case, today told the Delhi High Court that the cancellation was necessary to expedite investigation. Standing counsel S.S. Gandhi told Mr Justice Madan Lokur that the weapon of offence was yet to be recovered and the police would face problem in filing the challan (charge sheet) within the mandatory period of 90 days. The police had moved the high court for cancelling the bail of Vikas Yadav, son of Jantantrik Bhahujan Samaj Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP D R Yadav, Amardeep Singh Gill, alias, Tony, Alok Khanna and Amit Jhingan. As the court asked what was the basis for the cancellation of the bail, the counsel said there was reasonable "suspicion" of Vikas Yadav's "involvement" in the crime. The police had alleged
that all four helped prime accused Manu Sharma in fleeing
Delhi and destroying the evidence. The counsel said the
Supreme Court has clearly laid down that in a case where
police had "reasonable" apprehension of the
involvement of a person in the crime, he should not be
granted the bail. |
Health-care services paralysed NEW DELHI, June 16 — Health-care services at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here were paralysed on Wednesday after over 600 resident doctors took mass casual leave. The doctors are protesting misbehaviour by a patient’s attendant and an AIIMS employee with colleagues in two separate incidents last week, said Dr Rasik Vajpayee, officiating spokesperson of AIIMS. He said that doctors had demanded better security, full house rent allowance and payment of salaries during unauthorised absence from work. The committee constituted to probe the incidents has submitted its report to the Director but it remains confidential, Dr Vajpayee said. Although over 400 faculty members of the institute volunteered to run the emergency services, the mass casual leave affected functioning of 24 out-patient departments and special clinics. About 500 patients come to the casualty ward on normal working days, the spokesperson said. He added that the institute was a major referral centre of Northern India. Besides, a lot of patients from Haryana, Uttar Pardesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh come to the institute directly for consultation and medication. The decision to stay away from work for a day was conveyed to the Director of the institute by the Resident Doctors Association, Dr Vajpayee said. He said negotiations were on with doctors but it was not possible for AIIMS to agree to all the demands. Dr Vajpayee said that salaries could not be given for unauthorised absence from work. The doctors have demanded that the 24 resident doctors in the casualty wing who decided to stay away from work from Thursday to protest misbehaviour by patients’ attendants be given salaries. He said that the doctors had demanded that they be paid full house rent allowance and charged instead a nominal rent for the not-so-good hostel rooms. “This, again, has financial implications which need to be examined by the governing body of the institute in consultation with the Ministry,” the spokesperson said. Dr Vajpayee said the
doctors’ demand for beefing up security measures in
the casualty wing and the students hostel is under
consideration. He added that it had been proposed to
bring security under the control of the Medical
Superintendent of the institute. |
Thakre’s remarks on poll
“distorted” NEW DELHI, June 16 — Clarifying that its President Kushabhau Thakre did not support the postponement of the Lok Sabha polls in Chennai on Monday this week, the Bharatiya Janata Party today alleged that the Opposition parties were “creating artificial controversies by distorting statements and events”. Addressing reporters, the party spokesman, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, said that while the BJP had urged the Election Commission to hold elections in June itself, the opposition parties, led by the Congress, then had supported the postponement of elections. “Now they have raised an absolutely baseless controversy by attributing to the President of the BJP remarks which are opposite of what he had said”, Mr Naidu said. Producing photocopies of newspaper reports of Mr Kushabhau Thakre’s statement in Chennai, Mr Naidu said these reports clearly indicated that he had never supported the postponement of elections. Mr Naidu blamed the Congress and other Opposition parties for creating an atmosphere which “would have given heart to forces in Pakistan to proceed in the conviction that the Government of India would not be able to sustain a determined and sustained reaction”. “Instead of raising
baseless controversies, opposition parties should reflect
on the consequences which their actions have inflicted on
the country”, Mr Naidu said reading out from a
written statement. |
Shortage of funds to hit DU
admissions NEW DELHI, June 16 — A financial squeeze and lack of infrastructural facilities in various colleges is likely to affect the aspirations of several admission-seekers to Delhi University. Freshers keen on enrolling themselves for a professional or a vocational course would have to face tough competition to get one of the limited seats available. The registrar of the University, Mr A. K. Panda told The Tribune here yesterday that the university was unable to cope with the overwhelming response to new professional courses. He added that although the university had invited admission forms till June 21, response to the vocational and professional courses introduced in the new academic session had been overwhelming. “ The first admission list will be notified by the colleges on June 28. By now, it is clear that the students seeking admission are inclined towards such courses but we cannot cope with such demand due to limited number of seats. Their number is determined by facilities in each college.” This year, the university has introduced Bachelor of Computer Applications in eight more colleges. The course was offered only in 20 colleges in the last academic session. “The total number of seats for this course in these 28 colleges is now 560,” Mr Panda said. He added that M.Sc. in Microbiology introduced in South Campus offers only six seats. “A student seeking admission to the course has to appear in an All-India entrance test.” An Informatics Centre set up in South Campus will now offer post-graduate degree in Informatics. Sri Ram College of Commerce has started postgraduate diploma in Global Financial Management. Other new courses introduced this year are a three-year bachelor’s degree in Mass Media and Mass Communication in Indraprastha College, a three-year course in Financial and Investment Analysis, B.Sc. (honours) in Bio-Medical Sciences in Acharya Narendra Dev College, BA (honours) in English and Sanskrit and Music in BA (pass course) in Bhagaini Nivedita College. He pointed out that most colleges wanted such courses to be added to curriculum to attract more admission-seekers. “But, we are insisting on infrastructural facilities to provide quality education. A board comprising experts would ensure that quality education is provided in vocational courses. The registrar said that
the resource squeeze which the university was facing was
an impediment in to introduction of vocational courses.
“Infrastructural facilities and money are a must for
such courses. We are asking the University Grants
Commission to fund such courses. Colleges having their
own funds can afford to start courses. For example, Sri
Ram College of Commerce offers a postgraduate diploma in
Global Finance. Similarly, Lady Sriram College Trust is
financially sound.” |
Two arrested for bank
robbery NEW DELHI, June 16 — With the arrest of two persons, the Delhi Police today claimed to have solved a case of robbery committed allegedly in connivance with bank employees in the Capital. Amir Khan alias Raja alias Rahul was arrested on Monday from Shanti Van in North Delhi where he was waiting for his accomplices to commit robbery while Jagdev alias Jagga alias Doctor was arrested from Roshanara Park in the same district, the police said. The police recovered one mobile phone, gold worth Rs 15,000, Rs 75000 in cash and one country-made pistol of .32 bore with cartridges from the possession of Amir Khan while one scooter, one mobile phone, jewellery worth Rs 35,000 and one wrist watch were recovered from Jagdev. According to the police, Amir Khan was allegedly involved in 47 cases of robbery and his accomplice Jagdev in 12 cases, Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern Range), Suresh Rai said. The modus-operandi of the gang allegedly was to become thick with bank employee who informed them about the persons withdrawing heavy amount from the bank. The robbers were five in number. The work was divided in three divisions. One of them, who was identified as Furqan, had contacts with bank employees while the another stole the vehicle used in the crime. Furqan, who is absconding, gave information about the target to the members who stood outside the bank. They chased the target in stolen vehicles and robbed the money, the Joint Commissioner said. Their involvement has
been confirmed in a robbery in Geeta Colony in East Delhi
committed on June 11 in which two agents, Manohar Lal and
Rajat Narang, were robbed of Rs 10 lakh. |
Fear of war haunts villagers SRIGANGANAGAR, June 16 — Haunted by bitter memories of the 1965 and 1971 war and in view of enhanced activities of Pakistani forces along the border, the panic stricken residents in various pockets near Indo-Pak border here have started shifting their households articles and food grains to safe places. Although the Rajasthan,
Chief Minister, Mr Ashok Gehlot, made an extensive tour
of several Army posts and border villages two days back
to boost the morale of jawans and civilians but more and
more residents are fleeing the border area as the war
clouds are perceived as floating in. |
Girl commits suicide NEW DELHI, June 16 — A 17-year-old girl, Shalini Singh, committed suicide by jumping from the 12th floor of Vikas Minar this afternoon. The victim hailed from Agra in UP. She came along with her cousin who lived in Mandawali Fazalpur in East Delhi. She came to ITO in Central Delhi today with the cousin. She went to the Vikas Minar and committed suicide when her cousin went to a nearby shop to purchase something. A suicide note was
recovered from her pocket in which she had written that
nobody should be held responsible for her death. She
committed suicide as she had many trouble in the life,
the police said. |
Jagmohan to hold public hearings NEW DELHI, June 16 — The Union Minister for Urban Development, Mr Jagmohan, will hold public hearings on every Thursday at 4 p.m. at the National Building Organisation (NBO) hall in Nirman Bhavan here, according to a press note released here yesterday. The first such public
hearing would be held on June 24. |
| H |
|
||
| 3 killed in clash over
liquor GOPALGANJ (Bihar): Three members of a family were gunned down allegedly by the dreaded Satish Pandey gang at Semrao village in Bihar’s Gopalganj district early on Tuesday, the police said. Police sources said henchmen of notorious criminal Guddu Rai demanded liquor from the salesman of a vend at Hathua on Monday. When the salesman refused to part with his wares free of cost, he was beaten up and then shot at by the members of the Rai gang. The vend was reported to be owned by Satish Pandey. His gang members raided Rai’s house and shot dead his uncle Kuber Rai (50), Kuber’s son Ritesh (16) and Abhimanyu Rai. — PTI Five washed away in
floods Bhoodan panel to
go Man burnt alive New drug for
malaria Kumbabishekam
performed Raising day
celebrated W. Bengal to
have ‘flawless’ map Oriya novelist
gets Sarala Award |
 |
 |
| Punjab
| Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
