Saturday, November 27, 1999
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Cong 'not
averse' to coalitions 3 BJP MLAs join Sardinha ministry |
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 Life in a Bhubaneswar slum in the aftermath of the cyclone. — PTI photo
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Civic poll: 10 hurt in
clash SPG cover for Sonia, extended
family
Hegde to retire from active
politics Arun Jaitley for economic
empowerment of women
Rally on Nov 29 over Rajiv’s
name in Bofors Inter-state gang busted in Delhi
Manmohan for special package to
North-East |
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Congress 'not
averse' to coalitions NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI,UNI) — The Congress today said that it was not averse to coalitions and cautioned the BJP allies that the saffron party was taking them for a ride and would dump them to come to power at the Centre on its own. "The Pachmarhi resolution has been misunderstood. In principle, the party believes in going it alone. But as we are passing through a transitional phase, as an exception, it has not ruled out coalitions," AICC General Secretary Madhavrao Scindia told a ‘meet-the-press’ programme, organised by the Press Club of India here. Citing an instance, he said the party went in for a coalition in Maharashtra as the mandate was strongly in favour of the secular and progressive forces. Appealing to the BJP allies to introspect, Mr Scindia said the saffron party was "climbing on their shoulders to grab power" and "infiltrate" the system. Stating that the BJP had got foothold in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal due to its allies, he said top BJP leaders did not want to play second fiddle there perpetually. "Then there will be jostling for space as the BJP tries to create an elbow room and its reverberations will be in Delhi also," he said. Mr Scindia, who is also deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, was of the view that the BJP-led coalition would not last long as the basic ideologies of the BJP and its allies were "totally contradictory". Mr Scindia blamed the BJP for destabilising the Congress government in Goa and said the central leadership of the party called off negotiations with the dissidents once they made unreasonable demands. He said the ruling party was out to oust the Congress Government in that state since it was not reconciled to the clear cut mandate given in favour of the Congress, for the first time in 15 years. The last ditch attempt to rope in the dissidents was called off when they stipulated that the rebel leader Francisco Sardinha be made the Chief Minister and that all 11 MLAs who had rebelled made Cabinet Ministers. They were also opposed to the former Chief Minister Luzino Faleiro being made even the Pradesh Congress President. No party with self respect could concede these demands, he said. Mr Scindia refuted reports in a section of the Press that Congress President Sonia Gandhi had declined to meet rebel Congress leaders from Goa and discuss the issue of change of leadership. No such request came from them and all these stories were afterthought to defend their decision to align with the BJP, he said. He predicted the "honeymoon" between Francisco Sardinha and the BJP would not last long. "Right now it is a period of honeymoon when neither the bride or bridegroom can do wrong. It cannot last long. The glaring example of political immorality will soon come to the fore," he said. Mr Scindia, however, evaded a direct reply whether the central leadership of the party favoured change of guard in Orissa saying at the moment its priority was to provide relief to the cyclone-affected in the state. Emphasising the need to declare the Orissa super cyclone as a national calamity, the Congress leader said the Tenth Finance Commission had clearly provided for such an eventuality. "We are not talking in the air when we make this demand," he said. Out of Rs 650 crore released by the Centre for relief operations in the state only Rs 200 crore was granted and the rest had to be adjusted against Plan advance or ways and means advanced. To top it all the state government had to pay an interest of 9 per cent and the loan amount need to be repaid in the next four months, he said. About the banner of revolt raised by dissident leader Subhas Yadav, Mr Scindia said the issues raised by him related to the Centre, especially regarding the excessive import of wheat and sugar which had damaged the interests of farmers. On Mr Yadav's demand for the ouster of Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, he parried the question saying it had to be addressed to Mr Pranab Mukerjee who is in charge of Madhya Pradesh. Mr Scindia defended the decision of the Congress leadership to depute Mr Kamal Nath to the WTO ministerial conference saying he had experience and expertise in dealing with the subject. The Congress would
support the Insurance Bill to open up this sector to
private companies provided the General Insurance
Corporation and the Life Insurance Corporation were
strengthened and the funds secured through 26 per cent
dilution in government stakes was used in building up
infrastructure. |
3 BJP MLAs join Sardinha ministry PANAJI, Nov 26 (UNI) — The 11-member Francisco Sardinha ministry in Goa was expanded today with the induction of three BJP legislators into the Cabinet. This is the first time in 38 years since the liberation of the former Portuguese colony that the BJP finds a berth in the government. Three of the 10 BJP MLAs — Mr Digamber Kamat (Margao), Dr Suresh Amonkar (Pale) and state BJP President Prakash Phadte (Mayem) — were inducted into the Sardinha ministry as a coalition partner in a power sharing arrangement. Chief Secretary Ashok Nath read out the warrants of appointment after which outgoing Governor J.F.R. Jacob administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers. Though, the Chief Minister is yet to allocate departments to the three, a top government source indicated that they could get Power, Education and Health, all key departments. Besides Chief Minister Francisco Sardinha, Deputy Chief Minister Dayanand Narvekar, several ministers, both Lok Sabha MPs from the state, Mr Shripad Naik and Mr Ramakant Angle, Director-General of Police S. S. Sahaye attended the oath-taking ceremony at Raj Bhavan. Prominent BJP workers, including all-India BJP General Secretary Sangh Priya Gautam and Maharashtra BJP leader Sharad Kulkarni, were among those present. Meanwhile, the BJP-Sardinha group combine has decided to put up BJP MLA Ulhas Asnodkar as its nominee for the post of Deputy Speaker. The vacancy occurred following the resignation of Mr Alexio Sequiera in the wake of the revolt against the Luizinho Faleiro government. Mr Sequeira, who belongs to the Sardinha group, is now the Industry Minister. The outgoing Governor
today left for New Delhi on the way to Chandigarh to take
up his new assignment as the Governor of Punjab and
Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh. He
will be sworn in tomorrow. |
Civic poll: 10 hurt in clash JAIPUR, Nov 26 (PTI) — At least 10 persons were injured in a clash between two groups during the Rajasthan civic polls today which registered 58 per cent turnout, the police and election officials said. About 10 persons were injured when two groups of candidates threw stones at each other, police adding that they resorted to lathi charge to disperse the mob in Ward No 34 under Agarwal College polling booth. The police also canecharged supporters of a candidate in Ward No 30 at Jodhpur when they tried to create some disturbance. Some miscreants were rounded up by the police and different cases lodged against them. An Election Commission
spokesman said about 58 per cent of 45.45 lakh voters
exercised their franchise to elect 1427 wardmembers in 45
municipal bodies as the polling ended this evening. |
SPG cover for Sonia,
extended family NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — The Centre today decided to provide for the Special Protection Group (SPG) security cover to the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her two children till December, 2000 while doing away with similar protection to the two sons of former Prime Minister Mr V.P. Singh. The decision was taken after the Centre carried out an assessment of the threat perception to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Vadra, ahead of the expiry of such cover on December 1. Following the assessment, the Union Home Ministry decided that the SPG cover for these individuals will continue after December 1, this year till next assessment due before the expiry of 12 months from December. Orders putting into effect these decisions were issued by the Union Home Ministry today. ‘’The government has considered the latest threat perception reports in respect of these persons and based on the norms set out in the Ordinance, the government is satisfied that the SPG cover for Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her children should continue beyond December 1, 1999 till the next assessment of threat’’ a senior Ministry official said today. However, in the case of Mr Ajay Singh and Mr Abhay Singh, sons of the former Prime Minister Mr V.P. Singh, the Centre after considering the threat perception reports decided that the SPG cover was not necessary for them at present. The President had
promulgated an Ordinance to amend the SPG Act on November
18, this year facilitating the extension of the SPG cover
to the Prime Minister, former Prime Ministers and their
families after 10 years from their demitting office. |
Decision on AJTs soon: Fernandes NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI) — The much-awaited decision on the purchase of Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs) would be taken "soon", Defence Minister George Fernandes said today. "The AJT for the IAF is an immediate requirement and a decision based on its cost-effectiveness, indigenisation and life-span, among other factors, is expected soon," Mr Fernandes told the concluding session of a five-day Air Force Commanders’ conference here. The IAF has sought purchase of at least 60 AJTs for stage-III training of pilots involving tactical and operational fighter aircraft flying. So far, the pilots have been graduating from subsonic Kiran or Iskara planes to supersonic MIG-21 trainers resulting in crashes and a lot of inconvenience. India has been negotiating for purchasing British Aerospace’s Hawks and the French-made Alpha jets. The Defence Ministry has also referred to the Russian-made MIG-AT as one of the options. The Defence Minister told the conference that "steps were underway to remove shortcomings. Negotiations on critical areas are at various stages and we are on the right track." Mr Fernandes lauded the role of the IAF in Kargil and its relief operations in cyclone-hit Orissa. "The demonstration of IAF’s capability in Kargil was marked by courage and innovation and proved that no challenge would be impossible for it," he said. Regretting that "no systematic attempt was being made to create assets" in the three services, he expressed optimism that whatever the challenges, the country would emerge stronger in every respect in the coming days. The Defence Minister regretted that despite the continuing proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir and the critical situation in the North-East, "proper appreciation of the security challenges before the country was still lacking". Earlier, Air Chief
Marshal A.Y. Tipnis said several issues of concern,
including strategic, operational, those concerned with
welfare and administrative ones, were discussed during
the conference. |
Supreme Court enters cyberspace NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — Even as the Supreme Court entered cyberspace today, Chief Justice of India A S Anand said providing inexpensive, speedy and unpolluted justice to the people was the main challenge facing the courts in the next millennium. "There are many challenges which we have to meet as we enter the next century in order to provide inexpensive, speedy and unpolluted justice to the people of this country", Justice Anand, who lighted the lamp in his court along with Justice S P Bharucha and Justice S. B. Majumdar to mark the beginning of the golden jubilee celebrations of the apex court, said. The court has also kept pace with the changing times by launching the website enabling nearly 50 million Internet users across the globe to access the site http://courtis.Delhi.Nic.In/sci which is a storehouse of information regarding the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the High Courts in India. All judgements delivered by the court since January 1, 1999 will be available on the website, which was set up with the help of the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Paying tribute to judges and lawyers of yesteryear who helped in laying the foundation for the development of law as well as indigenous jurisprudence, the Chief Justice said "I have a sense of pride and feel satisfied to note that this court has endeavoured to act in harmony with the spirit of times on the basis of values and norms it had set for itself." The golden jubilee celebrations, which began on the Law Day today, will conclude on January 28, 2000. The draft constitution was adopted by Parliament on November 26, 1949 and the Supreme Court came into existence on January 28, 1950. Among the august gathering in the court were Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Law O. Rajagopal, Judges of the Supreme Court and High Court, Attorney General Soli J. Sorabjee, Solicitor-General Harish N. Salve and other dignitaries. The nic chief, Dr N. Seshagiri, said the nic was trying to arrange good publicity for the website by linking it with 100 special interest groups on judiciary all over the world. Mr Jethmalani promised to bring about changes in the justice delivery system to ensure justice for all. Mr Jethmalani said the government was committed to creating a national judicial commission with full authority for appointment, transfer and removal. The present system was full of deficiencies which needed to be eliminated, the Union Minister said. Within two years, he said he would plug all loopholes in the law responsible for delayed justice. The Chief Justice of India, Dr A.S. Anand, emphasised the need for a scientific analysis of the requirements of the judiciary. "It has not been done in the past 50 years even once," Justice Anand said. For the one billion population of the country a total of about 13,000 judicial officers from the lowest level to the Supreme Court was "grossly inadequate" and was the singular biggest factor for the huge backlog of cases. Justice Anand said the
expenditure on judiciary in the country was only 0.2 per
cent of the gross national product (GNP) and more than
half of the expenditure was generated by itself through
court fees and fines. |
Hegde to retire from active politics NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI) — The Lok Shakti leader Mr Ramakrishna Hegde has said he is seriously thinking of retiring from active politics once his Rajya Sabha term expires. "For the past two years I have been thinking of retiring from active politics gradually. I have two-and-a-half to three years to go as member of the Rajya Sabha. After that I don’t intend to continue in politics. In politics also people should retire," he said in an interview to Rajiv Shukla’s ‘Ru-ba-Ru’ programme to be telecast on Sunday. Stating that politics was not everything in life, Mr Hegde said he intended to revive his passion for reading and writing. "I have a collection of thousands of books most of which I could not read as over the past 40 years I was pre-occupied with going through files, papers and periodicals." Mr Hegde said he was not angry over his non-inclusion in the Vajpayee ministry but felt hurt as Defence Minister and Samata Party leader George Fernandes did not apprise him of the circumstances for his exclusion in advance. "If he (Fernandes) had come to me and told me that due to the forthcoming assembly elections in Bihar it was necessary to give more representation to the state, I would have never asked for it. I have been in and out of power. It does not attract me any more", he said. The Lok Shakti leader said there were several other considerations for his exclusion from the Union Cabinet for which capability was not the only consideration. Stating that he met the Prime Minister twice, Mr Hegde said Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee did not make any offer and simply admitted that there was a mistake (in excluding him). He asserted that he did not aspire for any ministerial post and there was no question of lobbying for any position. The former Union Minister said even earlier he was not keen on joining the Cabinet but accepted it only when Mr Vajpayee insisted as he wanted to give the government a secular look and dispel the impressions that it was only a BJP ministry. Disapproving of suggestions that the merger of the Lok Shakti, the Samata Party and the Janata Dal (United) was aimed at putting pressure on the BJP-led coalition, he said the idea was to ensure stability. Asked about merger of the Lok Shakti with the JD-(U), he said his party’s national executive would meet on November 29 and discuss the issue threadbare before taking a decision. Recalling his
performance as Commerce Minister, he said export growth
rate, which was minus 3 per cent when he took over, rose
to 12.6 per cent. |
Arun Jaitley for economic NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mr Arun Jaitley, has called for a fresh look at some of the legislations meant for the empowerment of women. The laws related to harassment of women and right to maintenance needed to be amended, Mr Jaitley said while speaking at a seminar organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) here. The minister said the real empowerment of women would come through economic empowerment and they should be given equal opportunities in the areas of education, health care and employment. The Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha, Dr Najma Heptullah, has expressed apprehension about the smooth passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament. Dr Heptullah said legislations alone would not improve the lot of women but what was important was a change in attitude towards women’s rights, education and opportunities. "Without the participation of women, democracy will not be complete", he said. The President of the
PHDCCI, Mr Ashok Khanna said though the process of
modernisation had begun to take place in India, the
available resources are largely controlled by the elite
who constitute a minority. |
Fernandes’ no to Cong demand NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI) — Defence Minister George Fernandes today rejected the Congress demand for declaring the devastation caused by the supercyclone in Orissa as a national calamity saying there was nothing in the statute books to make such a declaration. "It is ignorance on the part of the people who aspire to be in government" that the demand for declaring the Orissa cyclone as a national calamity is being raised, Mr Fernandes, heading the task force on Orissa relief operations, said. "There is nothing like declaring a national calamity," he said, adding the Tenth Finance Commission had recommended in 1995 the setting up of a National Fund for Calamity Relief so that states ravaged by calamities of "rare severity" received assistance from the Centre in meeting the situation. Recalling his recent meeting with Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Madhavrao Scindia, he said he had told them that as per the commission’s recommendations, a fund of Rs 800 crore had to be created with 75 per cent of the money donated by the Centre and the rest by the states over a period of five years till March 2000. However, even before this fund was created, Rs 1400 crore "have already been given out on account of this fund." Resources were culled out from different budgetary heads to meet the requirements of natural calamities in different parts of the country, he said. Mr Fernandes said the
Centre had already provided a total of Rs 950 crore to
Orissa, including Rs 450 crore as advance against Plan
expenditure to meet the devastation. |
Next-generation GSLV in planning stage NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI) — The Indian Space Department is planning to build an advanced geostationary launch vehicle (GSLV) which will be more powerful than the one that will be launched next year. The next-generation GSLV will be designed to carry up to a 3.5-tonne satellite into space, compared to the first indigenous GSLV scheduled for launch next year, which can carry up to a two-tonne payload. The proposal for the advanced version is awaiting formal official approval, said Dr B.N. Suresh, Deputy Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSCC) in Thiruvananthapuram, which designs Indian satellite launch vehicles. Currently, India is building its first GSLV which will be equipped with a 7.5-tonne cryogenic engine. Though designed for a two-tonne payload, it will carry a 1700-kg satellite. The next-generation GSLV will need a 20-tonne cryogenic engine and more advanced boosters, Dr Suresh, who is here to take part in a national conference on in-house R&D, told PTI. Meanwhile, the first Indian GSLV, fitted with a Russian cryogenic engine, is expected to be launched in March-April 2000. "We are in the final stages of development," he said. All sub-systems of the vehicle, a three-stage rocket with a solid motor first stage, liquid motor second stage and an upper cryogenic stage, are ready, Dr Suresh said. Currently confirmatory tests on the cryogenic engine are on, and following their completion, integration of the sub-systems will commence at Sriharikota. Earlier at the R & D conference, Space Department scientists urged the Indian industry to play a greater role in satellite and launch vehicle development, given the tremendous commercial opportunities in the space sector. "We expect industry to take over and run space programmes for not only India but also other parts of the world," N. Sampath, Executive Director of Antrix Corporation, the commercial unit of the Space Department, said. He said private companies could build special materials, electronic components and sub-systems needed for the various sub-systems of Indian satellites and launch vehicles which are reaping in foreign exchange for the country. It could also produce and market satellite components abroad. Antrix has established markets globally for Indian satellite products and services. For example, Indian remote sensing data is being marketed in the USA, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and Africa. India is exporting satellite sub-sytems and has started providing polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) services for small foreign satellites. The PSLV launched a German and Korean satellite in May this year along with the Indian OCEANSAT. A Belgian satellite will be launched by the next PSLV and negotiations are on for launch of two more microsatellites of 100 kg each, Sampath told PTI. The Space Department is
also considering another proposal to launch a foreign
satellite as its primary mission, he said. |
Rally on Nov 29 over
Rajiv’s name in Bofors NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) will submit a memorandum to the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, urging the removal of Rajiv Gandhi’s name from the Bofors charge sheet. Addressing a press conference here today, the DPCC President, Mr Subhash Chopra, said the party would hold a rally on November 29, the opening day of the winter session of Parliament, in protest against this "politically motivated act" of the BJP-led NDA government. After the rally, a delegation of senior Congress leaders, including AICC officer-bearers, working committee members, MPs and DPCC office-bearers would meet the President and hand over a memorandum demanding the deletion of Rajiv Gandhi’s name from the column two of the Bofors charge sheet, he said. Stating that the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, would not participate in the rally, he said, the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, was expected to attend the rally to be held at Feroze Shah Kotla ground. The rallyist would, later, march towards Rashtrapati Bhavan. "The Congress
workers are deeply hurt and angry at the framing of their
late leader’s name in a false case," Mr Chopra
said. |
Inter-state gang busted in
Delhi NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — An inter-state gangster and his associates, who had been active in Haryana, Delhi and UP, were arrested today by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. The gangster, Satish, alias Pawan, and his associates, Rakesh and Narender were arrested from Sarai Kale Khan where they had gone allegedly to loot a petrol pump. The police had
information about the plan of the criminals. A team of
the Special Cell was deployed near the petrol pump. The
criminals reached there in a Maruti car. On seeing the
police, they tried to flee. The police team gave chase
and arrested them. |
Manmohan for special package GUWAHATI, nov 26 (PTI) — Former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh today said the Centre should consider a special dispensation for the fund-starved north-eastern states to help them tide over their financial crisis, but insisted on efficient tax administration to mop up the much-needed internal resources by these states. North-eastern states had
problems such as insurgency and unemployment coupled with
industrial backwardness, and needed special attention
from the Centre, he said here. "I sympathise with
the assam situation. On the one hand, acute financial
crisis, on the other, growing unemployment and
insurgency...so it requires special attention from the
Centre and some special dispensation should be granted to
tide over the present crisis," Dr Manmohan Singh
observed. |
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| IAF to honour 132 martyrs NEW DELHI: For the first time, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will honour together 132 of its soldiers who made supreme sacrifices in all armed actions since Independence. The martyrs of the 1948 conflict, Indo-China war of 1962, Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, Operation Meghdoot of 1996-97 in Siachen and the Kargil conflict this year will be remembered and honoured together by the IAF at a unique function here on Saturday. An emblem of honour, a scroll and cheques for Rs 1 lakh each would be handed over to either their surviving widows and children or parents or their eldest brothers or sisters. — PTI Naxalite surrenders Former MP dead European
Commission gives aid M’rashtra
Governor hospitalised Headmaster in
police custody for rape BJP Bihar rath
yatras Sonia flags off
mobile clinic |
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