Tuesday, June 22, 1999

M.M. Joshi to lead science delegates
NEW DELHI, June 21 — The Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, will lead a nine-member official Indian delegation to the World Conference on Science which begins in Budapest on June 26.

11 newspapers censured
NEW DELHI, June 21 — The Press Council of India has censured 11 newspapers while issuing warnings to two others for the "violation of journalistic norms’’.

CBI indicts railway engineer
NEW DELHI, June 21 — The CBI has registered a case against a former deputy chief mechanical engineer with the Central Railway in Mumbai for alleged forgery, impersonation, misappropriation and criminal misuse of official position to cheat his office of Rs 14.45 lakh, the agency said here today.

House of SP leader blown up
DALTONGANJ (Bihar), June 21 — Suspected MCC extremists blew up the house of a Samata Party leader Madhu Singh and killed his brother at Bandubar village in Palamu district last night.

Journalist dead
NEW DELHI, June 21 — Veteran journalist and former London correspondent for The Times of India, B.K. Joshi, died here yesterday. He was 75.

Karan Singh seeks RS session
NEW DELHI, June 21 — Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and sitting member of the Rajya Sabha from the state, Dr Karan Singh, has demanded that a three-day session of the Rajya Sabha be convened to discuss the Kargil issue.

Cong for all-party meeting on Kargil
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, June 21 — The Congress today demanded that the Centre should call an all-party meeting to brief the Opposition on the Kargil situation, including diplomatic efforts undertaken by the government.

Referring to the G-8 communiqué, the Congress said though the government claimed it was a great victory for the country, Pakistan was not named and there was no mention of Pakistan’s support to intruders.

"Both sides (India and Pakistan) have been advised to observe restraint. They have also been asked to go in for the resumption of a dialogue and for immediate cessation of fighting,’’ the party spokesman, Mr Ajit Jogi said.

He said the stand taken by the G-8 was similar to the suggestions made by the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Mr Sartaj Aziz, when he came to Delhi for talks earlier this month.

Later, in an informal chat with newspersons the AICC General Secretary, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said the G-8, communiqué did not contain any reference to the intruders.

BJP on G-8 communiqué
The BJP has expressed satisfaction over the decision taken at the G-8 summit regarding infiltration in Kargil.

Briefing newspersons here on Monday, party general secretary, K.N. Govindacharya said, "we draw satisfaction from the contents of the communiqué of G-8 countries and the direction given by it. The points emerging from the communiqué clearly show that the G-8 countries don’t see any ambiguity in the Line of Control (LoC) and it accepts its violation because of large-scale intrusion into Indian territory. Now, it is to be seen whether Pakistan accepts this kind of world opinion."

Pawar flays Cong, BJP
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has attacked the Congress and the BJP for trying to use the Kargil situation for political gains and said national issues required a national response.

In a statement issued here, NCP president Sharad Pawar said the government should hold meaningful consultations with political parties on the issue, something which was yet to be seen.

Blood donation
The Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Trust has said it will donate the blood to be collected on his death anniversary on Wednesday to Army Hospital for the treatment of soldiers wounded in the Kargil operation.

The blood donation camp, organised by the trust every year on the occasion of the death anniversary, will be held this time at the office premises of trust at 12, Willingdon Crescent here.

Relief for martyrs
SILIGURI: The West Bengal Government will provide land for housing, besides Rs 2 lakh to the families of Linchu Pradhan and Man Bahadur Rai who died fighting intruders in Kargil, state's Minister for Municipal Affairs Ashok Bhattacharya said.

The government would also give jobs to a member of each family if there was no scope for it in the defence, Mr Bhattacharya, who met family members of the two martyrs in Darjeeling on Sunday, told newsmen here.

Procession
CHENNAI: About 100 Congress volunteers including women, held a procession of donkeys here on Monday in protest against the Pakistan-backed infiltration in the Kargil sector.

Placards condemning the infiltrators and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were hung around the necks of the donkeys.

Kargil ‘not to affect’ BJP’s poll prospects

NEW DELHI, June 21 (PTI) — Union Home Minister L.K. Advani today emphatically ruled out the possibility of the Kargil developments affecting the BJP’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections and said correct handling of the crisis would earn the confidence of the people.

“Not at all,” Mr Advani told PTI when asked to what extent his party’s electoral prospects would be hit by the charge levelled by Opposition parties that the government had failed in handling the situation “arising out of an intelligence failure”.

“We are dealing with Kargil as a responsible government, and handling it as a case of aggression. We are not at all concerned about the political consequences. A government that handles a crisis correctly is bound to earn the confidence of the people,” he said in an interview.

Asked to comment on a common belief that the government had acted late in pushing back the intruders, the Home Minister asserted that there was no delay in taking action.

“Even if there was any delay, the government’s main concern at the moment is winning the battle. If there is need for a post-mortem examination, it can be done later on,” he said.

Mr Advani evaded a question whether India would go beyond the Line of Control to stop logistical support to the intruders in Kargil from across the border (Pakistan), saying “government does not announce its strategies in this manner”.

On the chances of escalation into a full-fledged war, Mr Advani said: “Because of the multiplicity of authorities in Pakistan, we cannot say there will be no war.”

However, he expressed the view that it would be a limited war as the invasion had been contained and it was a matter of time before it would be “foiled”.

“Diplomatically we have triumphed as Pakistan has been completely exposed as an aggressor,” he said adding he saw “little possibility” of a full-scale war.

Mr Advani said there were no chances of postponement of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for September in view of the developments in Kargil. “The elections will be held as per schedule,” he emphasised.

Student who passed the supreme test

INDORE, June 21 (PTI) — Perhaps it will be for the first time that a university would go to a student’s door to hand him over a degree in absentia.

The recipient, Rajendrakumar Yadav, who appeared for his B.A. final examination before joining the troops, died fighting Pakistan-backed infiltrators in Kargil.

The Vice-Chancellor of Devi Ahalyabai University here, Dr Bharat Chhaparwal, told PTI here today that Yadav had passed graduation in second division.

The soldier, who made the supreme sacrifice, was cremated at his native village in Dhudhariakhedi in Khargaon district with full military honours last Wednesday.

Dr Chhaparwal said he would personally hand over the degree to the bereaved family.

The Executive Committee of the university has decided to introduce a gold medal in memory of Yadav to be awarded to a deserving student every year.

Jawan worried over kids’ future

JAMSHEDPUR, June 21 (PTI) — An Army jawan, Sanjay Singh, is at a loss to whom he could entrust his two minor children as his wife has committed suicide after watching a telecast on June 9 that her husband was “missing in action’’ in Kashmir.

The housewife, Anita Devi, a resident of Chtogovindpur here, sprinkled kerosene and set herself and her nine year-old daughter Nidhi and seven-year-old son Gourav on fire, police said.

Nidhi and Gourav saved themselves by running out of the house and jumping into a water storage tank. They suffered minor burns, while their mother died in hospital on June 11, police said.

The Jawan, who returned here on Saturday after receiving news of the tragedy, said “I can’t believe that Anita is dead. Who will look after the children now?”

Code for pollsters favoured

NEW DELHI, June 21 (PTI) —As India gets ready for yet another poll, professional psephologists have called for a common code for pollsters to ensure that they do not influence voting behaviour and political parties do not use them as part of their campaigns.

It was in the light of this that the Election Commission (EC) during the previous parliamentary elections had suggested banning the publication of opinion poll results two days before any polling, poll watchers say.

“Some discipline is certainly required in the media and among pollsters. Publication of opinion poll results before the actual voting process is over has definitely the potential of swaying voters. Therefore, the EC suggestion was a move in the right direction,” says Dr N. Bhaskar Rao, Chairman of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), here.

“We are also responsible citizens. Responsible exercise of rights is the most important aspect of democracy. It is a known fact that opinion polls do influence public opinion and voting behaviour. So some regulation is always welcome,” says Mr Navin Surapaneni, Director of the local Marketing and Development Research Associates.

“Nobody is banning opinion polls, but only bringing in some discipline for the whole system. It is all part of poll discipline,” says Dr Rao, who has been in the field of election analysis for over two decades.

According to him, the entire methodology of election analysis and poll prediction has undergone a change in recent times in view of the “regionalisation” of Indian politics.

“There is no ‘index of Opposition unity’ now and it has rather become the index of alliances. The alliances are again state-specific. So a very basic thing like the framing of a questionnaire has now undergone a change,” he says.

Apart from the framing of a questionnaire, one also has to carefully select the constituencies to be visited. They have to be “homogenous” in nature and should be “by and large” reflective of the entire electorate to enable one to really draw a safe conclusion, he says.

Then the field workers fan out in the selected constituencies and interview a cross-section of the electorate, instead of concentrating on any one particular group of voters.

Pollsters also agree that psephology as a discipline has come of age in India and the art (or science) of poll predictions is serious business in the country now.

The Development and Research Services (DRS), another opinion survey agency, recently launched a comprehensive CD-Rom and a specialised website on “Indian elections in the nineties.”

“Given the major changes in the party profiles and the emergence of new electoral trends, the CD-Rom and the website present the election trends in the 1990,” says Mr G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, director of the DRS.

“We feel that the historical trends in the earlier years have little relevance in providing any pointers to the future,” he says.

But how reliable are the opinion polls? How does one take into account some of the specific features of the Indian party system such as the discontinuous existence of different parties and short-term election alliances?

While exit polls in the 1996 general election on the face of it seemed to have hit the bull’s eye, a closer look showed these had gone wide of the mark in several states.

As psephologist Yogendra Yadav once said: “It is a good test of the tools one is employing.

“A grossly mistaken prediction is a sure indication of either a non-representative sample in opinion polls or mistaken psephological reasoning.”

Dr Rao of the CMS says “such variations can be avoided with expert framing of questions and years of experience. The framing of questions is very important to avoid lying by voters. There should be checks and balances within the questionnaire itself.”

Pollsters also offer varied explanations for why their calculations go awry sometimes. Undecided voters, a last-minute swing, voter turnout and the lying factor can all upset a forecast even if it is based on a carefully planned opinion poll.

“However, if one follows the basic aspects which comprise the very discipline of psephology, then that would help avoid the pitfalls of poll predictions.

“Systematic election-related opinion polls are based on carefully drawn samples and a highly statistical interpretation of election data coupled with years of experience of voter behaviour to ensure a very little or no margin of error,” says Mr Surapaneni.

“In fact, the publication of the findings of every opinion poll should have at least one paragraph of the sample and the methodology followed,” he asserts.

As Mr Yadav says: “Psephology response to the changing political reality....to go beyond mere elections.”

BSP rules out alliance

LUCKNOW, June 21 (PTI) — The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) today ruled out an electoral alliance with any party in UP and Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha poll and accused Congress leaders of launching “false propaganda” that an alliance between the two parties was on the cards.

Alleging that the Congress propaganda was aimed at arresting the “mass exodus from their party,” BSP vice-president Mayawati said: “Even if Congress President Sonia Gandhi contests from Amethi, the BSP will field a formidable candidate against her”.

“The BSP will contest the poll alone. We will not have an understanding with any party like in the recently held assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh,” she told reporters here.

M.M. Joshi to lead science delegates

NEW DELHI, June 21 (UNI) — The Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, will lead a nine-member official Indian delegation to the World Conference on Science which begins in Budapest on June 26.

He will be accompanied, among others, by Dr V.S. Ramamurthy, Secretary in the Department of Science and Technology, a UNESCO note said today.

About 2,000 participants, including some 100 science ministers, are expected to attend the conference entitled "Science For The 21st Century — A New Commitment.’’

The six-day science meet is organised by UNESCO and the International Council for Science (ICSU) with the support of the Government of Hungary and the Hungarian scientific community.

The three major forums of the conference will focus on:

— Science achievements, shortcomings and challenges.

— Science in society.

— Towards a new commitment — declaration, science agenda and framework for action.

Participants will include representatives from more than 150 of UNESCO’s member states, most of ICSU’s science unions, 170 invited international non-governmental organisations and inter-governmental organisations notably WHO, FAO, OECD and WIPO.

Among those invited to the conference from India are Prof M.G.K. Menon, Dr Y.K. Alagh, Prof C.N.R. Rao, Dr Jyothi Parekh, Dr P.N. Tandon, Dr G. Thyagarajan and Prof M.S. Swaminathan, who will deliver the keynote address on "Science in Response to Basic Human Needs.’’

Twentyfive thematic meetings have been planned which will cover a range of issues such as the nature of science, science in response to basic human needs, science, ethics and responsibility, sharing scientific knowledge, science education, science and the environment, and the biological revolution and its implication for health.

India will seek seven amendments to the draft declaration on science and 10 amendments to the draft science agenda.

The conference will adopt a declaration on "Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge’’ and a "Science Agenda — Framework for Action.’’ the two documents have been drafted by UNESCO and the ICSU after extensive consultations with member states, universities and scientific communities.

11 newspapers censured

NEW DELHI, June 21 (PTI) — The Press Council of India (PCI) has censured 11 newspapers while issuing warnings to two others for the "violation of journalistic norms’’.

‘Samaj, an Oriya daily published from Cuttack, was warned for giving a report tarnishing the image of a local BJP leader.

The District President of the BJP (Malkagiri) had complained against a news item, captioned "Five missing girls rescued from the house of Zila Parishad member’’, dated September 24, 1997.

The council held that the respondent had no material in possession to justify the publication and that the news item had a tendency to tarnish the image of BJP workers in particular and the party in general.

The council was not convinced with the arguments of respondent’s counsel that there was no mention of a particular name of any BJP leader and that the mention of the local MLA and Zila Parishad member was sufficient to identify the alleged accused.

The respondent newspaper was "warned’’ to desist from repeating such type of conduct in future, a PCI note said.

The council also held that the demise of the then Editor had no bearing on the facts of the case nor could it absolve the newspaper which was an independent entity and enjoyed continuous existence.

The council warned Vidarbhache Sattachakra, published from Yavatmal (Maharashtra), for indulging in unethical practices by carrying adverse propaganda near the election dates.

The complainant, Mr Anil Gote, president of the Samajwadi Janata Party, who was contesting the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, had alleged that there was a systematic and wilful campaign intended to damage and malign his reputation with a view to affecting his election prospects.

CBI indicts railway engineer

NEW DELHI, June 21 (PTI) — The CBI has registered a case against a former deputy chief mechanical engineer with the Central Railway in Mumbai for alleged forgery, impersonation, misappropriation and criminal misuse of official position to cheat his office of Rs 14.45 lakh, the agency said here today.

The accused had allegedly initiated three forged requisitions in the name of "Fanuc India Ltd", a firm based in Pimpri (Pune) for the supply of some items worth Rs 8.83 lakh.

He had also initiated four more requisitions in the name of "Scientico Instruments", another firm at Kandivali (Mumbai) for the supply of items like spray cabinet paint-testing equipment, coating thickness gauge, glassometer and scratch-hardness tester, collectively worth Rs 5.62 lakh, a CBI note said.

It said the prices quoted on the requisitions were highly inflated compared to the prevalent market prices. On the basis of these requisitions purchase orders were generated quoting the same price.

The accused allegedly procured the material as per purchase orders and forged relevant documents in connection with the supply of material and then delivered the material to the Central Railway’s Matunga workshop by impersonating as a personnel related with the two firms.

The official also collected cheques worth Rs 14.45 lakh in favour of the two firms, the note said, adding that the original files pertaining to the purchases in the name of "Fanuc India Ltd" had not been traced.

House of SP leader blown up

DALTONGANJ (Bihar), June 21 (UNI) — Suspected MCC extremists blew up the house of a Samata Party leader Madhu Singh and killed his brother at Bandubar village in Palamu district last night.

Superintendent of Police R.K. Singh said the extremists set ablaze the house of Mr Madhu Singh, a former MLA. They escaped with all household goods.

The attack continued for about three hours, the police added.

Journalist dead

NEW DELHI, June 21 (UNI) — Veteran journalist and former London correspondent for The Times of India, B.K. Joshi, died here yesterday. He was 75.

He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. Mr Joshi, who was suffering from some breathing problem, was admitted to hospital on June 19. He died the next day following a cardiac arrest.

Joshi, who served The Times of India for over 35 years, had begun his career as a sub-editor.

The chautha ceremony will be performed tomorrow at Gulmohar Park in South Delhi.

Karan Singh seeks RS session
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, June 21 — Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and sitting member of the Rajya Sabha from the state, Dr Karan Singh, has demanded that a three-day session of the Rajya Sabha be convened to discuss the Kargil issue.

In a statement, Dr Karan Singh, said as the Lok Sabha stands dissolved, the President should convene a three-day session of the Rajya Sabha, "which is a duly-elected House of Parliament, virtually coequal with the Lok Sabha" so that representatives of the people get an opportunity to discuss the whole issue which vitally affects security and the well-being of the nation.

Observing that Operation Vijay will still take "some time to complete", Dr Karan Singh suggested that the Rajya Sabha session should be held "in camera" — without being telecast or covered by the press.

The in-camera session will give the MPs an opportunity to express their views clearly without being quoted and also give the government an opportunity to take into confidence all parties and members in the Rajya Sabha.

2 girls commit suicide
VARANASI: Two girls allegedly committed suicide here on Sunday after failing to clear the intermediate examinations, the police said on Monday. Both of them consumed some poisonous substance after receiving the news of their failure in the examination. They were brought to the district hospital in a serious condition where they died, the police added. — PTI

Ward off bugs the herbal way
LUCKNOW: Ward off bugs the herbal way, say scientists who have developed a variety of ‘natural’ formulations against bugs. Scientists at the Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) here have come out with eco-friendly products like ‘agarbathi’, floor mopping emulsion and sprays to keep bugs in check. “As all the formulations are based on plant extracts, they are safe for use,” a CIMAP scientist A.K. Singh said. — PTI

Zutshi is President of DEPA
NEW DELHI: Well known producer-director Vinod Zutshi has been elected President of the Doordarshan Empanelled Producer’s Association of India (DEPA). In the elections held in the Capital on Sunday Mr Zutshi was elected unopposed for a term of four years. Ten other producers and directors were elected executive committee members of the organisation, which was formed two years ago to highlight the problems of producers who have been making programmes for the national broadcaster. — UNI

3 NLFT collaborators held
AGARTALA: Three collaborators of National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) insurgents were arrested by the security personnel from Kamalpur subdivision of Dhalai district, the police said on Monday. The collaborators were arrested from the Lambucherra, Abirampara and Maharani areas of the district on Sunday. They were allegedly involved in serving tax notices on villagers and looting and kidnapping people, the police said. — PTI

6 killed in road mishap
HYDERABAD: Six persons, including a Sub-Inspector of Police, were killed and nine injured when their van collided with a lorry between Gollapalli and Hamapur villages in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, the police said. The injured were admitted to Anantapur government hospital. While the van was returning from Hindupur, the lorry was on it way to Bangalore, the police added. — PTI

Website for disabled
BANGALORE: India’s disabled are set to have a website of their own. The website will highlight welfare schemes and programmes for the disabled and avenues available for them in education, employment and rehabilitation, it was announced here on Monday. Giving this information to reporters, the Director of the Department of Disabled Welfare, Mr M.V. Vedamurthy, said a two-day national conference of secretaries/directors of the department would be held here from June 24. — PTI