Tuesday, September 7, 1999
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Last poll phase begins
today Quattrocchi bluffing: BJP |
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PM denies denigrating President NEW DELHI, Sept 6 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today denied having cast aspersions on the President’s office in his speech at an election meeting at Moga in Punjab on Friday.
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EC to take "extra
care" in Bihar Jaswant to visit Nepal on Sept 8 70 p.c. polling in Bellary 4 jawans: India in touch with Pak Cong hails PM’s offer for
probe Sonia mocks at BJP’s claim to
patriotism Vallathol Samman for Prof Nair Vietnamese group shows interest in
ayurveda Lab production of blood cells soon EVMs stored in 13 counting centres Elections website launched |
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Last poll phase begins today NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (PTI) — Filing of nominations for the fifth and final phase of polling for 112 Lok Sabha seats spread over 11 states and 104 Assembly constituencies in four states begins tomorrow with the issue of notification as several aspirants make last minute efforts to beat deadlines to submit papers for the fourth phase which ends this evening. The fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls will cover 14 seats in Assam, 16 in Bihar, 11 in Orissa, 31 in Uttar Pradesh, 42 in West Bengal, two each in Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Sikkim and Lakshadweep. Assembly polls will be held for 60 seats in Arunachal Pradesh, 32 in Sikkim, seven in Andhra Pradesh and five in Karnataka. In Orissa, filing of nominations in 11 of 21 Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in the second phase in the state commenced on September 3 with the issue of notification. The last date of filing nominations in these constituencies is September 14, scrutiny will be held on September 15 and the last date for withdrawal is September 17. Polling for Narasaraopet Lok Sabha constituency and seven Assembly seats under it in Andhra Pradesh, which were to figure in the first phase of polling yesterday, was postponed to October 3 by the Election Commission following recent incidents of bomb explosions in the area. The commission also cancelled the poll process in five Assembly constituencies in Karnataka on the grounds that the election process had been vitiated due to dereliction of duty by state poll officials. Meanwhile, filing of nominations for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls on September 25 will gather momentum today. Among the prominent candidates who have filed their papers for this phase are Defence Minister George Fernandes (Nalanda), former Railway Minister Nitish Kumar (Barh), Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav (Sambhal), senior Congress leaders Kamalnath (Chhindwara), Narain Dutt Tiwari (Nainital), and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shyama Charan Shukla (Mahasamund) The fourth phase of polling will be held for 19 constituencies in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh four, Madhya Pradesh 12, one each in Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, two in Meghalaya, 10 in Orissa and 24 in Uttar Pradesh. Scrutiny will be held
tomorrow and the last date of withdrawal of candidature
is September 9. |
Bofors issue NEW DELHI, Sep 6 — The BJP continued to raise more dust on the Bofors controversy today saying that Ottavio Quattrocchi was "bluffing" it out by saying that he did not receive kickbacks in the multi-million dollar guns deal. The BJP spokesman, Mr Arun Jaitley, told newspersons that Quattrocchi’s statement made in Kuala Lumpur had raised several questions which the Congress must answer. He said, Mrs Gandhi while releasing the Congress manifesto had asked the media to produce evidence of Quattrocchi’s involvement in the Bofors scandal and this was subsequently followed by the party spokesman, Mr Kapil Sibal’s categorical statement that the Italian businessman was paid by Bofors under a contract. Now, Quattrocchi had joined the fray from Kuala Lumpur. Having exploited his connections in India to the hilt, he now wants a guarantee to return to India, Mr Jaitley alleged. He pointed out that the Supreme Court, in the case relating to the cancellation of his warrant filed by Quattrocchi, offered him the option to come to India and cooperate with the investigation. In return the court had said that the Italian would not be arrested immediately upon arrival. His counsel initially agreed and then under instructions from Quattrocchi rejected the offer. The Supreme Court issued serious strictures against Quattrocchi as a fugitive. Mr Jaitley said that having decided to contradict Mr Sibal, Quattrocchi should answer why he filed an appeal against the freezing of an account into which Bofors money was paid? "Why did he become fugitive from the law by escaping from India within a week of his name being disclosed by the Swiss authorities to the CBI, saying that he was an appellant and a recipient of the Bofors money?" Mr Jaitley alleged that there was nothing new about the Congress-Quattrocchi collusion and he was close to the Gandhi family. He influenced commercial decisions. He secured kickbacks. And worse, when the CBI was officially told of his involvement in the Bofors payoff, he escaped from India. The BJP spokesman said on July 26, 1993, a day after the CBI was told that Quattrocchi was an appellant in the Swiss courts, Mr K. Madhavan, a former CBI Joint Director, who had dealt with the case while in service, wrote to the then CBI Director, Mr S.K.Dutta, requesting that Quattrocchi be prevented from leaving India. On August 3, 1993, Mr Madhavan repeated the request to Mr Vijaya Rama Rao, the new Director under the Congress Government. Nothing was done and Quattrocchi slipped out of India in the first week of August 1993. Mr Jaitley also provided copies of Mr Madhavan’s published letters. Mr Jaitley refused to comment on Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statement on having an inquiry into the alleged sugar scam but maintained that according to the BJP there was no scam. He said the decision to import sugar was part of a liberalisation policy taken in 1994, and the government was in no way involved in the imports. He said according to his information, sugar imports from Pakistan had stopped in 1998, except for one delayed consignment in March, 1999. He said the government had barred import of sugar from Pakistan under the open general licence after the Kargil conflict. He said since the
Congress was talking of a Rs 900 crore sugar scam, it
should explain how it could have occurred when the
government did not spend even a single rupee in the
imports. |
PM denies denigrating
President NEW DELHI, Sept 6 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today denied having cast aspersions on the President’s office in his speech at an election meeting at Moga in Punjab on Friday. Reacting to Congress charge that the Prime Minister had denigrated the office of the President in his speech, Mr Vajpayee clarified that "I have the highest regard for the office of the President". Mr Vajpayee said he had criticised the Congress for having repeatedly misused Article 356 of the Constitution to dismiss inconvenient non-Congress state governments and impose the President’s rule in those states. "I wish to clarify that I was referring to the misuse of the Constitutional provisions by the previous Congress governments at the Centre, and not by the President’s office " he said. "It is the Congress
that is responsible, and not the Rashtrapati Bhavan, for
the imposition of the President’s rule for personal
political reasons", he added. |
EC to take "extra care" in Bihar NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (PTI) — The Election Commission today assured the Supreme Court that "extra care" would be taken in Bihar to ensure free and fair elections in the light of Samata Party’s allegations that large-scale transfers were effected in the state in April with an eye on the elections. A three-judge bench headed by the Justice S.P. Bharucha, while admitting the party’s petition in this regard, recorded the statement of the EC’s counsel that the commission would taken extra care to ensure free and fair elections in those constituencies where the transfers had been effected. Counsel for the party Gopal Subramaniam alleged that the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police 22 District Magistrates and 17 Superintendents of police had been transferred by the Rabri Devi government between April 25 and 28, barely a week after the BJP government was voted out. With President K.R.
Narayanan failing to find an alternative coalition to
lead a government, it had become amply clear by April 25
that mid-term polls would be the only solution and the
transfers were made keeping an eye on the ensuing
elections the party claimed. |
Jaswant to visit Nepal on Sept 8 NEW DELHI. Sept 6 — The External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh is going on a four-day official visit to Nepal on Wednesday for substantive discussions for further strengthening the bilateral ties. During his stay in Nepal, the External Affairs Minister would be present at the inauguration of B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences on September 9 in Dharna which has been constructed with Indian assistance. The Institute would be inaugurated by the Nepalese Prime Minister, Mr K. P. Bhattarai. Mr Jaswant Singh would also be present at the inauguration of Neo-natal and Maternity Hospital in Kathmandu on September 10 which has also been completed with Indian assistance. The Prime Minister would be inaugurating this institute in Kathmandu. A Ministry official said that Mr Jaswant Singh, who would call on the Nepalese King, Birendra Bikram Shah and the Prime Minister, would have extensive meeting with the Foreign Minister, the Home Minister and the Commerce Minister of Nepal. The talks, which would be focussed on expanding and identifying areas on bilateral cooperation for the future, would also take up the issue of misuse of Indo-Nepal porous border by the ISI, the official pointed out. With bilateral treaties of trade and transit in place, the Indo-Nepal relations are poised for a quantum jump, the official said adding that the bilateral trade had already doubled during the past two years. Since the signing of and ratification of treaties of trade and transit in 1997, Nepalese exports to India went up to Rs 2270 crore in 1998-99 from Rs 1414 crore in 1996-97. At the same time, Indian exports to Nepal have declined to Rs 5459 crore in 1998-99 from Rs 5867 crore in 1996-97 with trade balance reducing to Rs 3188 crore from Rs 4432 crore during the same period, the official said. The two sides, during their discussions, would identify new areas of cooperation as the ongoing bilateral projects including the building of 21 bridges on the east-west highway due to be completed in October this year. The focus of bilateral
cooperation was going to be in the area of energy
cooperation with emphasis on mega hydro-electric power
projects with the two sides agreeing on preparation of
Detailed Project Report (DPR) on Pancheshwar power
project last month. The DPR is expected to be completed
in about two years, after which real work on the project
could begin. Another project, which is likely to come
under discussion, is the construction of Saptkosi
irrigation dam. |
70 p.c. polling in Bellary BELLARY, Sept 6 (PTI) — Nearly 70 per cent of the voters cast their franchise yesterday in the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency where Congress President Sonia Gandhi faces senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj. Official sources said as per final figures 69.8 per cent of the electorate cast their ballot. In 1998 elections, 54 per cent polling was registered. The Harpanahalli Assembly segment registered the highest turnout of 72.74 per cent. Bellary city registered
a 61 per cent turnout. |
4 jawans: India in touch with Pak NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (PTI) — The Indian military authorities are in touch with their Pakistani counterparts to expedite the return of two Indian soldiers, who were part of a six-member patrol team missing in Shyok Turtuk sector near Siachen since August 29 night. The Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO), Lt-Gen N.C. Vij, has enquired from the Pakistani DGMO about the whereabouts of the remaining four, who included an officer. Pakistan has claimed that it has no knowledge about these four Indian soldiers. The issue is being handled at the military-to-military level, an official spokesman told newsmen here today. The Pakistani DGMO, Maj-Gen, Tauqir Zia, promised his Indian counterpart to expedite the return of two soldiers of the patrol team belonging to 8 Rajput Regiment who were captured by Pakistan after they "may have inadvertently strayed into Pak territory", he said. New Delhi has reservations over Pakistan's bid to involve the International Committee of the Red Cross in the handing over the two Indian soldiers. The spokesman pointed out that it was the Indian DGMO which informed its Pakistani counterpart about the missing patrol. "All that has to be done is for the Pakistani military authorities to hand them over to the Indian authorities at a pre-determined point". Pakistan had captured
the two soldiers, Lance Naik Ram Singh and Jawan Bajinder
Singh, when they strayed into the enemy territory on that
night in Haneefuddin sub-sector near Siachen. |
No anti-incumbency factor: Advani SALEM, Sept 6 (PTI) — Union Home Minister L.K. Advani today claimed that the Vajpayee government was the first regime that did not suffer from any anti-incumbency factor. Addressing an election rally here in support of Union Petroleum Minister V.K. Ramamurthy, he said every government since the 1952 elections had suffered from some anti-incumbency sentiment, regardless of its performance. “However, there is no such thing as far as the Vajpayee government is concerned,” he claimed and attributed this to the government’s performance in winning the Kargil war, on both the battlefield and the diplomatic front, and in managing the economy in the wake of the post-Pokhran sanctions imposed by the West after India conducted nuclear tests in May last year. Mr Advani asked the electorate to show “maturity and wisdom” to ensure that the next Lok Sabha poll was held only after five years, by giving a massive majority to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Mr Advani also asked the electorate to “punish” the “destabilisers” — the Congress, the AIADMK and the Communists — for inflicting an unwanted election on people and reward those who had discharged their duties well. Noting that this was going to be the fifth general election since 1989, he said an important question before the voters was whether it was good for the country to have five elections in a decade. Training his guns on AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha, he said as Home Minister, he was under “tremendous pressure” from her to dismiss the DMK government in Tamil Nadu. But he had firmly told her that his government would rather give up power than misuse Article 356. “For one whole year, she kept conspiring against us”, he added. Listing his government’s achievements, he said it had managed the economy well, enhanced the country’s security by developing a nuclear deterrent and won the Kargil conflict. “Mr Vajpayee has earned the name of a great leader and the image of a Prime Minister who can bring prosperity in peace and victory in war.” The budget had earned praise from all sections of people, including farmers, and the proxy war in Kashmir had been contained to such a level that lakhs of tourists had visited the valley since 1998, he added. Union Power Minister P.
Rangarajan Kumaramangalam and state Agriculture Minister
Veerpandi S. Arumugam were among those who spoke in
support of Mr Ramamurthy, president of the TRC and the
NDA candidate seeking re-election from Salem. |
Sugar import NEW DELHI, Sept 6 — The Congress today said it welcomed the offer of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to face a probe into the Sugar import but wanted to know the nature and terms of reference for it. The party said the Prime Minister must specify what sort of probe he wants and whether it would be a “whitewash job as the government is doing on Kargil so that his place in history is assured ?”, the AICC spokesman Mr Kapil Sibal said today. The Congress said that it would like to point out that a day before Mr Vajpayee offered to face the probe, he was dismissing Sugargate as a ‘pack of lies’ and that he also said the party failed to raise the issue in Parliament. “The Congress would like to remind the nation of the BJP’s track record for parliamentary procedures. When the Congress wanted a discussion on the sacking of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, the BJP did not want to debate the issue in Parliament. This is the same BJP which had held up House proceedings for nearly two weeks because it wanted discussion on Sukh Ram in Parliament,’’ the party said. Mr Sibal said the party also wanted a debate on Kargil in the Rajya Sabha, but it was not acceded to and charged that the Prime Minister says one thing and does the opposite. Substantiating the charge that the government was importing sugar from Pakistan when the jawans were engaged in a battle in Kargil against Pakistan, the Congress contested the government denial that it had nothing to do with the sugar imports. The Congress said that among the agencies that procured sugar from Pakistan was the Projects and Equipment Corporation of India, a government undertaking, which canalised it for M/s J. S. Overseas. The party said the company procured sugar from Pakistan twice in March and four times in April this year. The party also raked up the issue of wheat import from Australia and charged that the government did so despite having surplus stock. It said 15 million tonnes of wheat was imported despite problems of storage and also doubts about its quality as well as need. The Food and Agricultural Organisation and economic experts too, the Congress said, advised the government against importing wheat. The party also wanted to
know as to why was the government keeping the Central
Vigilance Commission report on wheat import under wraps
or if any action has been taken on it. |
Sonia mocks at BJP’s claim to patriotism MORENA (Madhya Pradesh), Sept 6 (PTI) — Congress President Sonia Gandhi today charged the Vajpayee-led government at the Centre with seeking votes in the Lok Sabha elections in the name of the Kargil martyrs. “The Vajpayee government had put the country’s freedom in danger in pursuit of its selfish ends and this thoroughly exposed the BJP’s claims to patriotism”, Mrs Sonia Gandhi told a largely-attended election meeting at the police parade grounds here. She alleged that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Home Minister L.K. Advani and Defence Minister George Fernandes knew about the intrusions in Kargil since September, 1998, and did nothing to stop it. “The government was busy making preparations for the Prime Minister’s bus-trip to Lahore at that time and thus ignored the intrusions,” she said. The Congress President said the BJP and its allies appeared not to be interested in letting the people know the truth about Kargil. “But the truth will ultimately come out before the people”, she said, adding that the facts about Kargil were now becoming available with irrefutable evidence. “Even the Prime Minister has come under suspicion in the telecom scandal”, she said and charged the government with importing sugar from Pakistan at a time when the godowns in the country were full of it. “The money given to Pakistan for sugar was used by that country to buy arms which were later used to kill our jawans”, she said. The Congress President
said the government had imported wheat when abundant
stocks were available in the country. |
Vallathol Samman for Prof Nair THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Sept 6 (UNI) — Noted Malayalam litterateur Prof S.Guptan Nair has been selected for the prestigious “Vallathol Samman” for the current year in recognition of his life-time contribution to Malayalam literature. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1.11 lakh and a citation. Vallathol Memorial Trust Chairman and Former Chief Secretary of Kerala R. Ramachandran Nair said in a statement here today that professor Nair, an outstanding literary critic in Malayalam, was unanimously named by the jury. The “samman”
would be received by professor Nair, who turned 80 today,
at a function here on October 16, coinciding with the
121st birth anniversary of Mahakavi Vallathol Narayana
Menon. |
Vietnamese group shows interest in
ayurveda NEW DELHI, Sept 6 — A seven-member Vietnamese delegation led by the Vice Health Minister of Vietnam, Mr L.E. Van Truven, called on the Secretary, Indian Systems of Homoeopathy and Medicine, Mrs Shailaja Chaudray, here on Monday. The delegation showed a keen interest in development and research work being carried out in India in various branches of medicine including Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy. Mrs Chandra suggested that possibilities of further cooperation between the two countries in the field of Indian systems of medicine be explored. The leader of the delegation reportedly told the Secretary that Vietnam had an integrated system of traditional and modern medicine. Those studying modern medicine in Vietnam are required to study traditional medicine and the reverse holds true for those studying traditional medicine. The Indian side was told that all hospitals in the 60 provinces in Vietnam have all department of traditional medicine. The visiting delegation
also called on the Officiating Drug Controller of India,
Mr Ashwini Kumar, and expressed its desire to know more
about the Indian drugs regulatory system. |
Lab production of blood cells soon NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (PTI) — Scientists have found a way to isolate blood stem cells which give rise to blood cells — work that could eventually lead to laboratory production of all kinds of blood cells for transfusion, transplants and gene therapy. Scientists at Jafferson Medical College in the USA have identified a chemical beacon — a protein marker — which can help isolate hard-to-find blood stem cells. The work will lead to laboratory production of all types of blood cells for transfusions and innovative approaches for bone marrow transplants and gene therapy, a note from Thomas Jefferson University says. These findings have been published in the latest issue of Science. Blood stem cells, formed by the bone marrow, have two unique features — they can develop into any mind of blood cell and can self renew by generating new daughter stem cells. Yet they are very rare, making up only one in 1,00,000 marrow cells, and are very difficult to distinguish. The Jefferson scientists have for the first time found a protein market, KDR, which is specific for blood stem cells. The use of the stem cell
is very important and broad, according to Jefferson
scientists. The cells can be manipulated in the
laboratory and induced to differentiate into a huge
number of red and white blood cells and platelets. |
EVMs stored in 13 counting
centres NEW DELHI, Sept 6 — The electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in Sunday’s poll at 8,668 polling stations spread over seven parliamentary constituencies in the Capital have been brought to 13 centres where counting will take place on October 6. The dispatch of the EVMs began immediately after the poll last evening and all sealed machines reached their respective counting centres. The machines will be closely guarded till the counting date which is exactly a month away. Out of 13 counting centres all over Delhi, four are earmarked for East Delhi, three for New Delhi, two for outer Delhi and one each for Sadar, Karol Bagh, Chandni Chowk and South Delhi parliamentary constituencies. The area police have been given the responsibility to guard the EVMs. The counting will begin
at 8 am on October 6 and most of the results are expected
by 2 pm same day. |
Elections website launched NEW DELHI, Sept 6 — The country’s first multi-lingual audio-video streaming website www.BroadcastIndia.com, focussed on elections 1999 has been launched by a television personality, Ms Nalini Singh. The website promises to webcast news-as-it-happens, round-the-clock and carries hourly audio-video news bulletins in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and Bangla. The website plans to include Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Kannada bulletins. The site also carries poll audio-diaries of Mr Arun Shourie, Mr Jairam Ramesh, Mr Arun Jaitley and Mr A B Bardhan. Other special sections
of the website include showbiz, travel, style,
spiritualism and business. |
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| Space museums planned CALCUTTA: The National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) will set up a series of hi-tech ‘space museums’ throughout the country in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to popularise the not-so-known facets of space science and technology. The museum chain, whose blueprint is being finalised by the NCSM, is proposed to be set up in phases in the four metro cities and all state Capitals, Council Director General Ingit Mukherjee said. — PTI MC
Chairman expelled from Cong 21 arrested for
paper leakage Three killed in
house collapse Engineer
arrested on bribery charge MCC kills two in
Bihar Trade union
leader dead Six bombs found
near rly station Ten killed in
accident |
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