Saturday, October 23, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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Talk to Sangh Parivar,
Advani told USA may invest in power, telecom |
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Naidu inducts 28
ministers
Minister for change in legal
system Research on seismic fault under
way Betting racket busted Major reshuffle in Karnataka Govt should curb expenditure:
Bajaj CPM writes to PM on extremism in
Punjab |
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Talk to Sangh Parivar, Advani
told NEW DELHI, Oct 22 — Apprehensive of a negative fallout of the opposition to Pope John Paul II’s visit to India at the international level, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpyaee has asked Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to intervene and meet key Sangh Parivar leaders for scaling down the level of anti-Church protests. While the Prime Minister himself has not taken very kindly to the protests launched by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its sister organisations as it would adversely affect the country’s image internationally, some of the constituents of the ruling National Democratic Alliance like the Telugu Desam Party, have also impressed upon Mr Vajpayee the need to defuse the crisis. The moment news of the visit of Pope John Paul II, who is also the head of the Holy Sea (Vatican), became public, various organisations owing paternal allegience to the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) swung into action for organising opposition to the official visit. Apart from the VHP, Vigil, Viniyog Parivar, Bharti Sanskriti Raksha Samiti are some of the organisations which are at the forefront of the anti-Pope movement. These organisations, led and inspired by the VHP, launched a Dharam Jagran Rath Yatra from Panjim to Delhi yesterday. The yatra was flagged off by none other than VHP leader Sadhvi Rithambhara. She had campaigned for the BJP candidates in the 1991 and 1996 elections but was conspicuously absent this time during the Lok Sabha elections. The Government is also concerned at a statement by Sanskritik Raksha Manch leader, Mr Bal Apte, in Goa that the first step was to warn "foreign missionaries to wind up in India, and if they did not do so the second step would be taken to drive them out forcefully". Mr Vajpayee, the sources said, was worried that considerable international goodwill earned in the Lok Sabha poll would be tarnished with blatant displays of intolerance and hostility towards Christians by these anti-Papal protests. While the Church in the country and various organisations have been drawing the Government’s attention to curb the activities of the Sangh Parivar, the Prime Minister is monitoring the situation closely, the sources pointed out. The national Secretary of the All-India Catholic Union, Mr John Dayal, told TNS that anti-Church protests and opposition to the Pope’s visit would not bring a good name to the country. The Government should take firm action against such elements who are bent upon spoiling the image of the country, he said. Unfortunately, the BJP had not disowned its Hindutva agenda as admitted by some of the ministerial colleagues of the Prime Minister, Mr Dayal said, adding that some statements worsen the situation. "Such statements, we fear, are directly responsible for encouraging the spate of anti-Christian violence that has been reported from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab, among other states, in the wake of the NDA returning to power after the general election", Mr Dayal said. "Worse has been the unmitigated campaign of hate and calumny perpetrated by senior leaders of the RSS and the VHP during the election campaign and even after the formation of the Government", he said, citing reasons for the opposition to the Pope’s visit. Meanwhile, activists of the Janata Sangharsh Samiti today staged a demonstration opposite the historic Red Fort here, protesting against the visit, and burnt an effigy of the Pontiff. The Government is taking all security measures for warding off any untoward incidents. The Pope is arriving on November 5. He would be welcomed informally at Indira Gandhi International Airport by the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh. Pope John Paul II would be accorded ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan on November 6. On November 7, a holy mass would be addressed by the Pope at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. PTI adds: The VHP on Friday categorically stated it was not against the coming Papal visit but would like to have a dialogue with the Pontiff on conversions and "systematic disinformation campaign" allegedly being carried out against Hindus by the Church in India. At a news conference
here, Sanskritik Raksha Manch (SRM), a front organisation
of the VHP, also sought answers from the supreme
spiritual leader of Catholics to several questions on
salvation, Godhood and fundamentalism, besides demanding
an apology for alleged atrocities committed during
inquisitions in Goa, Vasai and other places. |
USA may invest in power,
telecom NEW DELHI, Oct 22 — Investments worth $ 6.5 billion are likely to flow into key infrastructure sectors in India from the US companies, the country’s Ambassador to India, Mr Richard Celeste, said here today. Hailing the recent announcements made by the new government, Mr Celeste said the investment would primarily flow into power, telecom and insurance sectors. Addressing industrialists here today at a meeting organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), Mr Celeste said in the insurance sector alone around $ 3 billion were likely to flow in despite the limit of 26 per cent investment by foreign companies. While the US companies are likely to invest around $ 3 billion in the power sector, around $ 6.5 billion are waiting to be invested as a result of recent changes, the AmbAssador said. He said the major business would be transacted during the visit of the US President, Mr Bill Clinton, to India early next year. Regarding the issue of non-tariff barriers, Mr Celeste said the Deputy Trade Representative of the USA would hold discussions with senior Commerce Ministry officials of India during next month. The US Ambassador said commitment for introducing second generation reforms would not be an easy task for the new government as the high fiscal deficit would involve unpopular decisions. Mr Celeste said India
had earned "special respect for itself by the way it
responded to the Kargil conflict. |
Research on seismic fault under way NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (PTI) — The Meteorology Department has informed the Delhi High Court that research is on about the activeness of seismic fault in Delhi and its surroundings and the vulnerable areas are yet to be established. Met Director V.K. Chopra in a recent affidavit in reply to a public interest litigation seeking evolving of a mechanism for constant monitoring of the tremors in the Capital and its neighbourhood in view of the prediction of strong quake during the next decade, said, "Further study is required to establish the areas more vulnerable to damage due to the earthquake." Expressing ignorance about the predictions and possible loss of about 15 per cent population in the Capital if a quake of 8 magnitude on the Richter scale hit the area, Mr Chopra said "the basis of the loss of population and related damage as mentioned in the petition is not known." Admitting that Delhi falls in seismic zone-IV which is broadly associated with seismic intensity of 8 on Mercalli scale, the affidavit said the aftershocks of recent Chamoli earthquake never exceeded 5.5 magnitude on the Richter scale. The Chamoli earthquake of 6.8 magnitude had caused large-scale damage in the Uttar Pradesh hill district and claimed hundreds of lives. The PIL by advocate B.L. Wadhera while quoting reports of experts, had sought direction to the authorities concerned to make the high rise buildings and bridges in Delhi earthquake proof saying that under the present bylaws, there were no guidelines to make them tremor proof. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) in its reply said its Earthquake Engineering Sectional Committee had formulated nine standards for designing quake-resistant buildings. BIS Joint Director M.C. Chaturvedi in his affidavit said the standard had also been laid for repairing, strengthening and improving old buildings of low-strength masonry. He said the BIS had also specified certain basic horizontal seismic coefficients for some vulnerable towns, including Guwahati, Delhi, Srinagar, Calcutta, Mumbai, Bhopal and Jaipur. The court had ealier issued notices to the ministries of Science and Technology and Urban Development, Meteorology Department, BIS, Department of Space, and Delhi government. All respondents were
asked to file reply to the petition. |
Atal introduces ministers to LS NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (PTI) — As many as 528 of the 535 newly elected Lok Sabha members have so far taken oath, with seven of them making affirmation today in the House. With this, seven other newly elected members are left to take oath. Elections to eight seats of the Lok Sabha, with an effective strength of 543, are yet to be held. Two of these — Bellary in Karnataka and Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, have been vacated by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav as they were elected from two constituencies each. Prime Miniser Atal Behari Vajpayee today introduced the members of his Council of Ministers to the13th Lok Sabha. He introduced the
Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State (independent
charge) to the members soon after Speaker G. M.C. Balyogi
addessed the House after being re-elected to the coveted
post. |
Naidu inducts 28 ministers HYDERABAD, Oct 22 (UNI) — The nine-member Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ministry headed by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was expanded today with the induction of 28 new ministers. Of them, 20 were of Cabinet rank and the rest were Ministers of State with independent charge. Governor Dr C. Rangarajan administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new incumbents at a simple ceremony on the lawns of Raj Bhavan here. Mr Naidu was among the dignitaries who were present on the occasion. The Cabinet comprises four women ministers — three were of Cabinet rank and one Minister of State. With today's expansion, the strength of the Naidu ministry rose to 37. Of the 28 new ministers, Mr N. Siva Prasad and Mr N. Narasimha Rao did not take oath as they could not make it the ceremony in time. The new Cabinet ministers are: S. Aruna, Ayyanna Patrudu, P. Chandra Sekhar, N.M. Farooq, Dr N. Janardhan Reddy, J. Lakshmi Padmavathy, T. Nageshwar Rao, K.E. Prabhakar, K. Pushpa Leela, Ramachander, K. Ramachandra Rao, T. Sitaram, N. Siva Prasad, D. Sivarama Raju, K. Srihari, P. Srinivas Reddy, K. Subba Rayudu, B. Veera Reddy, M. Venkateshwara Rao and K. Vidyadhar Rao. The Ministers of State with independent charge are: P. Bhoomanna, N. Kistappa, C. Krishna Yadav, M. Mani Kumari, N. Narasimha Rao, E. Peddi Reddy, A. Prabhakar Reddy and A. Rajender Prasad. All but Mr K. Srihari,
Mr M. Venkateshwar Rao and Mr C. Krishna Yadav, took oath
in the name of god. |
Have quota for upper castes:
Sahib Singh NEW DELHI, Oct 22 — A former Chief Minister of Delhi and the MP from Outer Delhi, Mr Sahib Singh Verma has said reservation for economically backward persons belonging to the upper castes was worthy of consideration. Briefing newspersons at Haryana Bhavan here today, the Jat leader said, "Any person who is economically backward should be considered for inclusion in the OBC list. If their income is low, they should also be included in the list but this is a debatable issue." Mr Verma said that although the Delhi government had hurriedly announced that it would include Jats in the list of other Backward Classes, (OBCs) it was yet to take a formal decision. "The decision taken by the Cabinet on inclusion of Jats is yet to be sent to the Centre for concurrence." Mr Ramchandra Bainda, MP from Faridabad said that Jats in Haryana also want OBC status. "I’m not in favour of reservation but if Jats in Haryana and Delhi have been assured of OBC status, why should their counterparts in Haryana be discriminated against?" Mr Bainda said that Jats constituted 28 per cent of the total population in the state. He said that the Gurnam Singh Commission had recommended inclusion of Jats in the list of OBCs. He said that about 90
per cent of the 83 soldiers from Haryana who laid down
their lives in Kargil recently were Jats. |
Minister for change in legal system NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (UNI) — Minister of State for Law and Company Affairs O. Rajgopal has called for a national debate for greater Indianisation of the judiciary system. In an interview to the Malayalam daily "Janmabhoomi", he said the country had adopted the British judicial system which was continuing even 50 years after Independence. This was one of the main reasons for delay in disposal of cases, and the backlog which kept mounting year after year. Mr Rajgopal said in the past 50 years, the British judiciary system which was based on the culture and life-style of that country had been blindly adopted. We should have a system which suits our needs, he said. In support of his argument, he said lawyers and judges were required to wear black robes in places like Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh where day temperature was quite high even in the cooler months. It was a debatable subject. Mr Rajgopal felt that the delay in getting justice for various reasons, including the delays managed by lawyers was the main threat to the credibility of judiciary today and suggested that as a first step the number of judges be increased. He said petty cases were also creating a burden in various courts and these should be tackled at the first stage. Besides, he said, the development of infrastructure had not kept pace with the population growth which had been rapid over the years, and it was necessary that this aspect is considered while devising policies. The Law Minister was all for increase in salaries of judges and emphasised the need to raise the living standards of judges right from the level of magistrates. "It had been noticed that criminals and accused often had much more money power than the judges," he said. Mr Rajgopal was supportive of judicial activism, describing it as good for the country and the people in general. But, "over judicial activism" would definitely have a negative effect, he added. Regarding corruption in
judiciary, he said this malady was rampant among all
sections of society. "But I can say it is very
minimal, almost negligible, among this section
(judges)". |
Betting racket busted MUMBAI, Oct 22 (UNI) — The Mumbai anti-extortion cell has unearthed a major cricket match betting racket, arresting eight bookies from the western suburbs of the city. A police press note issued here stated that anti-extortion cell acting on a tip-off that one Ashok Dhirajlal Kamdar (46) along with seven others had been accepting cricket bets at his residence, raided his flat situated at Marve Road in Malad West. As they raided, the officials of the anti-extortion cell found Kamdar accepting bets on eight different telephones. The flat was well furnished and was used for the sole purpose of cricket betting. As many as 13 Panasonic telephone sets, two computer systems with floppies, a Sony colour television set, close circuit television and other electronic accessories collectively valued at Rs 1,66,610 were seized. The seven others
arrested besides Kamdar were Dinesh Maganlal Dattani
(44), Hiten Bhaskar Desai (32), Krishnakant Manohar Ambre
(24), Mukesh Shah (40), Ramesh Panchal (35), Dilip Shah
(42) and Dilip Seth (27). |
Major reshuffle in Karnataka BANGALORE, Oct 22 (PTI) — The Karnataka Government has effected a major bureaucratic reshuffle. Mr S.V. Ranganath has been appointed the Secretary to the Chief Minister in place of Mr B.S. Patil, who has been made the Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department, according to an official notification. Mr A. Bharat, Director-General, Karnataka State Bureau Public Enterprises, has now been appointed as Chairman, Bangalore Development Authority, while Mr N Viswanathan, Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department, has been made the Managing Director, Bangalore Mass Rapid Transport Corporation Limited. Mr J.P. Sharma, Chairman, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, has been appointed the Chairman, Karnataka Appellate Tribunal, in place of Mr Adhip Chaudhuri, who has been made the Director-General, Karnataka State Bureau of Public Enterprises. Mr P.S.S. Thomas,
Principal Secretary, Social Welfare Department, has now
been appointed the Principal Secretary, Energy
Department, in place of Mr Arvind Jadhav who has been
appointed the Karnataka Housing Board Commissioner. |
Govt should curb expenditure:
Bajaj NEW DELHI, Oct 22 — Within a week of assuming office, the Vajpayee-led NDA government has cleared a number of key pending economic legislations thereby sending strong signals about the pace of economic reforms. The clearance of the IRA Bill has pepped up the confidence of investors. The former US Ambassador to India and Vice Chairman of the American International group, Mr Frank G. Wisner had said that foreign direct investment worth more than $ 500 million would flow into the sector. Analysts had predicted that the measures that the Government is going to take reign in the fiscal deficit in light of the Kargil conflict would also play an important role." Instead of the increasing tax rates for improving revenue collection, the focus should shift toward checking wasteful expenditure and misdirected subsidies", Mr Bajaj, the CII President, said. He said, "Indians are feeling confident and it is time to move and move fast". The decisions so far taken by the Cabinet (apart from clearing the IRA Bill) include approval to telecom package allowing basic and cellular operators to migrate to revenue sharing regime from the licence fee regime and pay an interim revenue share of 15 per cent of gross revenues. The Union Cabinet also cleared the Derivative Bill permitting trading in derivatives and bringing plantation companies under legal purview. The other two bills approved by the Cabinet include the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) bill and the Prevention of Money Laundering Bill. It is also understood that the Cabinet was scheduled to discuss a draft information technology bill covering digital signature,data protection and computer offences. However, it reportedly cannot taken it for discussion due to the lack of time. Marketmen said the formation of a stable Government has to be supplemented by sound fiscal and monetary policies to sustain the buoyant market sentiments. "A lot will depend
on how the government sees the early passage of the IRA
Bill and the tackling of the fiscal deficit", a
Delhi-based analyst said adding that FDI in India is
expected to increase significantly once the IRA Bill is
passed. |
CPM writes to PM on
extremism in Punjab NEW DELHI, Oct 22 — The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has urged Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to prevail upon Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to take a firm stand against extremists. In a letter dated October 17, the CPM General Secretary, Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet, has drawn Mr Vajpayee’s attention to some disquieting developments in Punjab. Quoting from a news item in the Hindu of October 11, Mr Surjeet said in his letter that those convicted for the assassination of General Vaidya were commemorated at the Gadhri village in Amritsar. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Puran Singh, according to news report, had eulogised the assassins of Gen Vaidya, Mr Surjeet said in his letter to the Prime Minister. Giani Puran Singh had also showered praises on Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale, the CPM leader said. "More shocking is
the fact that none of Puran Singh’s mentors and
those holding office in the Punjab Government have come
out against this. Neither has anyone in the Badal
ministry publicly disapproved of the action of Puran
Singh, nor is there any move to take disciplinary action
against the Jathedar. It may be recalled that while
removing the earlier incumbent Ranjit Singh, Mr Badal had
observed that his remaining in the seat would encourage
extremism", Mr Surjeet said. |
Truckers’ stir: Railways’
help sought NEW DELHI, Oct 22 — The Surface Transport Ministry today requested the Railways to increase movement of goods in view of the nationwide indefinite strike by truckers. The Secretary for Road Transport and Highways, Mr A.K. Joshi, disclosed here that he had held meetings with senior Railway officials and they had charted a contingency plan to keep disruption of freight at the minimum. The Railways has indicated that it would make available more wagons to keep supply of essential commodities intact. Mr Joshi pointed out
that a majority of industries used the Railways. |
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| Lucknow school in
Guinness Book LUCKNOW: The Guinness Book of World Records has recognised City Montessori School (CMS), Lucknow, as the world’s largest school in a single city with 23,000 students on its rolls in April 1999. This was announced by Jagdish Gandhi, founder manager of CMS, at a press conference here on Thursday. Mr Gandhi said with the rapid advancement in science, technology and communication, the world had become a global village and the school had decided to organise a number of international events to give its students a global exposure. — PTI 3 brothers beaten to
death 52 kg heroin
seized 2 PLA militants
held Copper coins
unearthed New DMK MLA
takes oath ‘Kabab’
fest in Lucknow Kishore Kumar
Award for Gulzar Woman kills
alcoholic son |
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