Saturday, October 2, 1999
|
N A T I O N |
|
weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
 |
 |
|
|
Poll for 3 WB seats may be delayed CALCUTTA, Oct 1 — Elections in several booths in the worst affected areas of flood-ravaged districts of Malda, Burdwan and Hooghly may be held on October 5, instead of October 3, when West Bengal goes to the polls in 42 constituencies, the state chief electoral officer, Mr J. Sircer said. The CEO said he was in constant touch with the Chief election Commissioner to get his final clearance in this regards. |
|
|
NDA
one entity, says BJP Ex-servicemen’s
memo to President ‘Need
to strengthen economy, defences’ NCP
for national debate on poll surveys Farooq’s
charge against Hurriyat IMA
move against quackery Suicide
victim’s husband yet to be arrested |
||||||
  |
|||||||
Poll for 3 WB seats may be
delayed CALCUTTA, Oct 1 — Elections in several booths in the worst affected areas of flood-ravaged districts of Malda, Burdwan and Hooghly may be held on October 5, instead of October 3, when West Bengal goes to the polls in 42 constituencies, the state chief electoral officer, (CEO) Mr J. Sircer said. The CEO said he was in constant touch with the Chief election Commissioner to get his final clearance in this regards. Mr Sircer is also negotiating with the districts administration and the returning officers for making some alternative arrangements for holding elections in the flood-affected places. Mr Jyoti Basu has also proposed deferment of the poll dates but this was turned down by the election commission as well as all other parties. At that time, the state election department had suggested holding of elections of the worst affected booths on some other day. But that too was not acceptable. The state’s CEO had then thought that the situation would improve shortly there would be no necessity for changing election dates. However, the CEO is now convinced that an election is not possible atleast in some 1000 booths in Malda and about 500 booths in Burdwan and Hooghly districts as these polling centres are still under 10ft to 15ft water. So the CEO himself has now suggested that elections here be held on October 5 either by shifting the booths to some other areas or holding elections on floating boats. A final decision in this regards will be taken only by tomorrow (October 2), Mr Sircer said. Already some 90 booths in two Lok Sabha seats of Howrah and 52 booths in three seats in Hooghly have been shifted to safer places. In Burdwan district also, 16 booths at the Balaghar of Katwa Lok Sabha seat and 10 booths of Serampore seat have been shifted. In some of the areas,
elections will take place on boats and the commission
will have to arrange bringing of voters to the floating
booths on boats, the state’s deputy chief electoral
officer, Mr P. Guha Roy said. |
NDA one entity, says BJP NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — The BJP said today that the National Democratic Alliance led by it should be treated as a single entity, thus countering the Congress contention that there was no such identity called the National Democratic Alliance. Exuding confidence that the BJP-led NDA was all set to secure a comfortable majority in the 13th Lok Sabha, the party spokesman, Mr Arun Jaitley, questioned the Congress contention that the President was bound to call the single largest political party to form the next Government. Charging the Congress with initiating a "spurious" constitutional debate during the last two days, Mr Jaitley said the Opposition party suffers from an optical delusion by claiming that there was no such identity called the National Democratic Alliance. "The Congress pretends memory lapse to ignore that representatives of partners of the National Democratic Alliance were physically present to release the Agenda of the NDA in New Delhi", Mr Jaitley said while reacting to the Congress statement. Since the NDA was contesting the election under a common national agenda, Mr Jaitley said they had to be treated as a single entity at the time of formation of the next Government. Predicting that the Congress on its own would fail to reach the figure that the party secured in the last election, Mr Jaitley said the Congress statement was prompted by desperation. He said the constitutional debate initiated by the Congress amounted to their admission that they had given up the hope of winning this election and it was informing the nation of its future intentions. Referring to the track record of the Congress, Mr Jaitley said the party despite failing to secure the people’s mandate had on two occasion made a desperate attempt to come back to power through the back door. The party has now conveyed that it would work for a constitutional perversion whereby NDA majority is to be disregarded. Mr Jaitley when asked about the contention of the BJP in 1996, that it should be asked to form the Government on the basis of it being the single largest party, said at that time there was no other party or group which was bigger than the BJP. The BJP spokesman advised the Congress to learn to sit in the Opposition and behave responsibly rather than pose a threat to Indian constitutionalism. The BJP was confident
that the people of India would meet this challenge thrown
by the Congress with a vote against the Congress, he
added. |
India warns Pak against LoC
crossing NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — India today reiterated that Pakistan would be responsible for any consequences which may result after its failure to prevent the intended crossing of the Line of Control (LoC) by Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) activists on October 4. In response to a question, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said "We had through diplomatic and military channels conveyed in clear and categorical terms to the Government of Pakistan our expectations that Pakistan would prevent on October 4, 1999 any intended crossing of the LoC or the international border in Jammu and Kashmir by activists of the so called Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front". The spokesman further reiterated that Pakistan was obliged to ensure at all times the inviolability and sanctity of the LoC which is of fundamental importance for the maintenance of tranquillity and security. Earlier this week, the National Security Advisor and the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr Brajesh Mishra, had also said that it was Islamabad’s responsibility to prevent any crossing of the LoC. He had also stressed that the armed forces were prepared to shoot at the intruders. Meanwhile, reports from Islamabad indicate arrests of the JKLF supporters who were planning to stage a march towards the LoC with a view to cross it on October 4
|
Ex-servicemen’s memo to President NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — The Indian Ex-Services League (IESL) has demanded that ‘one-rank, one- pension’ should be granted to the defence personnel without any delay and the Centre should either enhance the establishment and Budget of Military Hospitals or special hospitals should be opened for the requirements of ex-servicemen. In a memorandum submitted to the President yesterday, the IESL highlighted various issues of concern to ex-servicemen. One-rank, one-pension, has been hanging fire even after having been accepted by the then Prime Minister, Mr V P Singh,” President of the IESL, Brig Mohinder Singh (Retd) said. The present 50 per cent of pay as pension, granted by the Government along with civilian employees, is denied to the defence personnel from the rank of sepoy to Nb/Sub, as they do not serve for 33 years. They get only 33 per cent to 40 per cent pension despite the weightage of five years granted to them, he said. “It is an irony of fate that in our country a jawan is rated below the “chaprasi” of the Government of India, who gets a pension of Rs 2,100 to Rs 2,200 per month as compared to the jawan who gets the basic minimum pension of Rs 1275 per month. Similarly the higher ranks in the services get less pension than for the service actually put in by them,” the memorandum states. “Military hospitals entertain ex-servicemen only if beds are available as they have to cater to the serving defence personnel and no extra staff or Budget is provided to look after the ex-servicemen. The medical allowance of Rs 100 per month provided to ex-servicemen is inadequate as the cost of medicines has increased tremendously. Besides, the civilian pensioners are getting Rs 250 per month and special hospitals (CGHS) have also been established,” the memorandum points out. It further states that in spite of Vth Pay Commission’s recommendations, the increase in disability pension has not been granted by the Government so far. It is causing great hardship to the old disabled defence personnel. Vice-President of the
IESL, Major-General (retd) A.S. Chopra stated “The
Government has been quite generous in providing grants
and facilities to the Kargil martyrs, disabled and their
parents, but nothing much has been done for the
personnel, who have suffered similarly during the wars of
1948, 1962, 1965 and 1971. Such discrimination is very
disheartening and demoralising. Affected personnel of old
wars should be extended Kargil type facilities without
delay.” |
‘Need to strengthen economy, defences’ MUSSOORIE, Oct 1 (PTI) — India’s economic policy should further its defence and foreign policy interests and vice-versa while the country’s defence strategy must look beyond present threats and capabilities, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K.C. Pant said here today. “A holistic approach to national security demands that the nation should strengthen both its economy and its defences and that the defence policy, the foreign policy, the trade policy and the internal security policy — all buttress each other,” Mr Pant said. He was delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture on ‘Dimensions of India’s Security Concerns’ at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration here. Mr Pant said various strands of policy should reinforce each other to maximise the effectiveness of national policies. “India’s economic policy has to further its defence and foreign policy interests and vice-versa,” he said. The biggest lesson of Kargil, he said, was that a unilateral desire for peace was not enough and durable peace could come only if India was strong enough to deter aggression and maintain internal security with requisite capabilities. “Our defence
strategy must look beyond present threats and
capabilities. In a period of declining defence outlays,
India has to wisely spend its resources to shore up its
defences. It should be ensured that lack of resources do
not affect current military preparedness, research and
development and self-reliance in key areas, which has
become all the more essential in view of technology
denial policies of developed countries,” Mr Pant
said. |
NCP for national debate on poll
surveys NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — The Nationalist Congress Party today said a Joint Parliamentary Committee should be appointed to do an indepth study on an appropriate legislation for governing opinion polls, exit polls and post-poll surveys. " The Committee should submit a report after examining expert witnesses and studying the various aspects and practices in other major democracies which may form the basis for an appropriate legislation for governing the opinion polls, exit polls and post-poll surveys’’ the NCP spokesman Mr Devendra Nath Dwivedi said today. He said the NCP also suggests that representative organisations of the media should also carry a "serious and indepth internal and national debate on the entire gamut of issues connected with the opinion polls’’. The month-long poll and election process, he said, has been marked by an all-round "genuine disquiet’’ about the role played by the opinion polls, exit polls and post-poll surveys. While the NCP, he said, had opposed the EC guidelines on ban of such poll surveys on the ground that they infringed upon the right to free expression and freedom of the press, there was a strong case to have a national debate on it. "The publication or telecast of survey results, particularly of exit polls in the midst of an ongoing election process does raise the question as to whether they exercise an undue influence on the voting pattern’’ Mr Dwivedi said. He also reiterated the
demand that all organisations carrying out such surveys
should explain to the people the methodology and other
technical parameters which went into the surveys. |
Farooq’s charge against Hurriyat NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (PTI) — Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today accused the Hurriyat Conference of adopting a “pro-active” militant line and “running the show for their masters across the border.” He told PTI on phone from Srinagar on the eve of the last phase of elections that people in many areas ignored the poll boycott call by separatists. “But the threat of militants was still very much prevalent in the urban areas where very few people came out to vote,” he admitted. Referring to a sudden spurt in militant activity in the valley, he said “Pakistan after its humiliating defeat in Kargil had warned of another such attempt in other sectors of the state.” “One should basically understand the topography of the region....Borders are not well defined here and the terrains are treacherous...So infiltration can take place somewhere,” Dr Abdullah said. Also when the Army was
moved away from borders to Kargil, a vast gap had emerged
at the border from where militants infiltrated into the
valley, Dr Abdullah said. |
IMA move against quackery NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — The Indian Medical Association has decided to observe Saturday as national anti-quackery day. A delegation of doctors plan to present a memorandum to the President, the Prime Minister, the Union Health Minister and the Chief Minister of Delhi to demand stringent legal measures to end the menace of quackery. The doctors will also assemble at Rajghat to pledge to fight against quackery. Dr Anil Bansal, Chairman
of the IMA anti-quackery cell told reporters here on
Friday that the association would urge the government to
monitor regularly activities of persons prescribing
medicines without any valid degree. The doctors would
also urge regular raids on fake institutions issuing
false degrees. Apart from this, the memorandum would seek
regular checking of degrees of medical practitioners and
stringent action against quacks caught red-handed. |
Suicide victim’s husband
yet to be arrested NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — The Delhi Police has yet to arrest the husband of Sheela Sharma, who committed suicide along with her mother, Indira Devi, at the latter’s residence at Kala Kunj Apartment in Shalimar Bagh area of Northwest Delhi on Wednesday night. DCP Satyendra Garg said that Sheela’s husband, Ashok Kumar Sharma, who is Director-General of Investigation in the department of company affairs at the Monopolistic and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC), had neither come to his office nor residence at Saket where his first wife lived. Sheela was his second
wife who had love marriage with Ashok Kumar Sharma a few
years back. The DCP said that a case of bigamy would be
registered against him. |
Air Force choppers for Tripura AGARTALA, Oct 1 (UNI) — Air Force helicopters have been pressed into service in Tripura to supervise counter-insurgency operations, movement of security personnel and polling personnel to ensure a free and fair poll on October 3. State’s Director-General of Police K.T.D. Singh said here today that two Air Force choppers would be pressed into service till October 4. The state government had made foolproof security arrangements for peaceful poll. The Border Security
Force (BSF) had been asked to tighten vigil along the 856
km Indo-Bangla border with Tripura to prevent
cross-border movement of militants and unauthorised
persons, the DGP said. |
| H |
|
||
| Ceramic bones Calcutta: A new ceramic substance which can replace injured bone fragments in major orthopaedic damages has been developed by scientists here, promising to do away with the high risk of infection in bone transplantation. The novel ceramic made out of calcium hydroxy appetite, a chemical which constitutes 70 per cent of human bones, poses no risk of post-transplant microbial infection and allows free bone growth unlike conventional animal bone grafts or rods. — PTI MSRTC strike called off Mizoram
re-introduces sales tax CPM worker
killed in blast Gujarat Assembly
prorogued 5 die in bridge
collapse Tribals free
farmers Fast over
attacks on Christians Lightning kills
5, injures 24 |
 |
 |
| 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 | |
