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SAFMA conference concludes
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AGP sees it a step for third front
Maya to release 4000 prisoners
Left appeals Mamata to work for peace
President with CEOs in India
The once grand Yamuna overflows with filth
Child playing truant at school? Get SMS
At 80, man seeks divorce
4 cops die in militant attack
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SAFMA conference concludes
Shimla, June 3 Mukherjee was addressing the concluding session of the meeting of parliamentarians from SAARC countries organised by the South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) in this picturesque hill station. Listing the initiative under way in this regard, the External Affairs Minister said work had already been started for setting up of a South Asian university. The government intended to set up a project office for the university in New Delhi and appoint an interim CEO assisted by a team of academics and experts from the region. He said it was the earnest hope of the government that the university would promote a sense of fraternity by bringing together students from various SAARC countries at one place in the common pursuit of quality education and prepare them for the challenges of the new millennium. The government also intended to promote students and faculty exchange programmes among the member-countries both a the school and college levels, the Foreign Minister said. Mukherjee said the first SAARC cultural festival being held in India in November would also bring closer the artists and performers from the region and showcase the rich cultural traditions of the SAARC countries. Exhibitions, film and food festivals would feature in the programme of the cultural festival, Mukherjee said. There would also be a SAARC museum of textiles and handicrafts which would be inaugurated with an exhibition at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, towards the end of this year, Mukherjee said. A SAARC fashion festival would also be held as a part of the exhibition. The minister said the proposed SAARC food bank would be developed as a model of regional cooperation. The governing board of the food bank would meet to consider the terms and conditions of exchanging and assisting each other in times of natural calamities and food shortages. Mukherjee said India would host three important meetings of SAARC countries on empowerment of women.
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Build on areas of agreement: Sinha
Shimla, June 3 Addressing the concluding session of the two-day SAARC Parliamentary Forum -II here today he said contiguous countries the world over had submerged their differences and were making good progress as neighbours but even after two decades of existence SAARC remained a non-starter. The trust deficit which existed amongst the countries had halted the progress of SAFMA. He was unable to understand why free trade with India under SAARC should be a problem only for Pakistan and Bangladesh. India had free trade arrangement with Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives for a long time and with Afghanistan and Sri Lanka it was a few years old, but its advantage to both countries were already evident. Citing figures of trade of Bangladesh with China for 2005 he said the trade deficit for Bangladesh came to $1824.02 million. In the same year, Bangladesh’s exports to India amounted to $118.88 million and its imports from India to $1951.25 million, leaving the trade gap of $1832.36 million, almost similar to its deficit with China. Yet, the deficit with China was not an issue in Bangladesh while the deficit with India was a huge emotional issue. Similarly, Pakistan had a nearly $ 2 billion trade deficit with China and a deficit of only $ 240 million with India. China was not considered a threat to Pakistan or Bangladesh, but India was. According to some estimates, intra-regional trade among ASEAN countries was over 40 per cent of the region’s total trade and it was 75 per cent for the EU. But it was disappointing 5 per cent in SAARC. He said let economic benefits triumph over politics. If the countries gave the economics a chance, it would provide greater space resolving the more complex political issues. India’s size and strength could not be held against it. The population of all other South Asian countries put together was less than half that of India and its GNP is more than twice that of the combined GNP of all our South Asian neighbours. Asking for parity in size and strength with India was unrealistic. It was in the collective interest of the people of South Asia that the governments of the region worked together to strengthen each other’s security rather than undermine it. Political leadership in South Asia had an important role to play. The SAARC parliamentarians should leave the crutches of SAFMA and move on its own.
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No Pervez-Benazir deal: Sherry Rehman
Shimla, June 3 Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting of parliamentarians from SAARC countries organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), Rehman said Benazir Bhutto and General Musharaf took part in a dialogue to restore democracy in Pakistan. “ All this talk about a deal between Musharraf and Benazir is absolutely untrue. Other political parties also were having similar dialogues with Musharraf. We, though, were more open about our talks with Musharraf”, she said. Rehman, who is central information secretary of the Pakistan People’s Party led by Benazir Bhutto and represents the Karachi constituency in the Pakistani Parliament, said Bhutto was most likely to end her prolonged sojourn abroad and return to Pakistan in the last quarter of this year. “Elections are likely to take place in Pakistan sometime towards the end of this year. We are expecting Benazir to return to Pakistan before the elections”, Rehman, who was editor of a weekly magazine before she joined politics, said. Musharraf, she said, was fast losing his popularity. The agitations by lawyers against the unceremonious removal of the Chief Justice of the Pakistani Supreme Court by Musharraf showed the extent of popular resentment against the General, the Pakistani parliamentarian said. Benazir Bhutto, Rehman said, had not been convicted in any of the corruption cases filed against her.. So there is no question of her incarceration in case of her return to Pakistan, Rehman said. Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who spent eight years in prison, was seriously ill and undergoing treatment in New York, Rehman said. Bhutto herself lives in Dubai with her children. On whether Kashmir is the primary concern of Pakistani politicians when it comes taking part in an international event involving India, Rehman said her party, PPP, had always advocated a composite dialogue between India and Pakistan. “While we always want Kashmir to be included in any dialogue between India and Pakistan, we are not averse to discussing other issues as well”, she said.
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Prez poll: regional parties’ talks on June 6
Hyderabad, June 3 Though the immediate agenda is to examine the options before the non-UPA and non-NDA constituents on the election of the next President, the meeting is being seen as a prelude to the formation of Third Front. The leaders who are expected to attend the luncheon meeting are Samajwadi President Mulayam Singh Yadav, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, Asom Gana Parishad President Brindaban Goswami and Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala. While these parties are not in any significant position to influence the choice of Presidential candidate, they still want to ensure that neither Congress nor BJP is able to have its candidate installed as President. During the meeting, the first after the Uttar Pradesh poll verdict, the leaders of regional parties will take stock of the political situation and deliberate on the nitty-gritty of the Third Front. The move comes close on the heels of TDP declaring that it would take a lead in building the Third Front on the basis of an alternative economic agenda. During the recent annual convention of the party delegates at the temple town of Tirupati, Naidu, who had played the role of a King Maker at national level both during the United Front and the NDA regimes, had said he would hold consultations with like-minded parties and the Left on formation of alternative front. Naidu, who had campaigned for SP in UP elections, has been a prime mover behind the Third Front initiative in the hope that regional parties would be able to play key in the re-alignment of political forces in near future. For the parties like TDP and SP, maintaining equidistant from Congress and BJP is a political compulsion. "In the event of left parties backing the UPA candidate, we will have no option but to abstain from voting," a senior TDP leader said.
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AGP sees it a step for third front
Guwahati, June 3 “Though the meeting of the regional parties to be held at the Naidu’s residence on June 6 will focus on evolving a joint strategy for the Presidential election, it is going to provide the much needed platform to explore ways to forge a third front,” said chief spokesman for the AGP Apurba Bhattacharrya. AGP president Brindabon Goswami along with party’s Lok Sabha members Sarbananda Sonowal and Dr Arun Sharma is scheduled to attend the conclave at Hyderabad. AGP president Goswami has been campaigning for the formation of a third front by regional parties so that these parties could have a bigger say in the policy formulating process in New Delhi.
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Maya to release 4000 prisoners
Lucknow, June 3 Addressing a press conference, the BSP supremo said as per the provisions of Article 161 of the Constitution as well as CrPC Section 432 and the Uttar Pradesh Jail Manual those prisoners, who had shown exemplary conduct, were disabled, old or suffering from terminal disease, would be released. Out of the total 18,334 convicted prisoners lodged in UP jails at the moment, about 4,000 are to be released. The Chief Minister, however, clarified that foreign prisoners convicted for heinous crimes and natives of other states would not figure in the list. She said foreign prisoners convicted for heinous crimes and natives of other states did not comprise the list of the released prisoners. Describing the step as part of her party’s humanitarian philosophy of “sarvajan hitaya, sarvajan sukhaya”, which was meant to ensure an equality-based society by giving these prisoners another chance to live. Going down the memory lane, Mayawati described June 3 as “a historic and significant day for the social change movement”. She recalled that it was on this day in 1995 when the party “following the principles of social reformers like Jytoibha Phule, Shahuji Maharaj, Periyar, Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram first assumed office”. Showing a lighter side of her personality, she told the reporters, who had assembled for the luncheon press conference at a 5-star hotel, that she would soon invite them home when she moves into her official 5, Kalidas Road, residence. “Don’t think that I have changed my style and started calling you people to hotels. The official residence is in a mess and I am getting it renovated before I shift there. Once I shift, I will call you there”, she promised. Responding to a question, Mayawati informed that complaints against irregularities by the previous government were
pouring in. She also assured of “putting even the highest and the mighty” behind the bars if legally it was established that they had done something against public interest.
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Left appeals Mamata to work for peace
Kolkata, June 3 Accordingly, a decision was taken at the Left Front's meeting yesterday, which empowered the chairman, Biman Bose, also the CPM state secretary, to lead the peace-talk process at the district, block as well as state level. But so long, the senior Forward Bloc leader, Ashoke
Ghose, was negotiating with Mamata Banerjee and the leaders of other political parties for ending the Nandigram crisis as the TMC leader was unwilling to respond to any peace talk initiated by the Chief Minister and the CPM secretary. |
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President with CEOs in India
New Delhi, June 3 President Lula arrived here this morning on a three-day visit that will firm up cooperation between the two countries on global issues like UN reforms, climate change and multilateral trade talks. The importance that Brazil is attaching to President Lula’s visit can be gauged from the fact that he flew in here from London with around 100 businessmen, ministers and senior official. The aim of President Lula's visit will be on promoting more business and investment between the two countries. The key highlight of the President’s visit will be the launch of a CEOs forum on Monday, which will comprise top 15 corporate honchos from each side, with the Indian side led by steel tycoon Ratan Tata and Brazilian side led by Petrobras boss Jose Sergio Gabrielli. Lula will hold talks with Manmohan Singh on bilateral, regional and global issues on Monday. A slew of agreements to boost economic, energy and cultural cooperation, including an extradition treaty, are expected to be signed by the two leaders. Manmohan Singh is likely to seek Brazil’s support, an influential member of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, for global civil nuclear cooperation. During Dr Singh's visit to Brasilia in September last, President Lula had indicated that his country appreciated India's growing need for energy, but indicated that his country would take a stand in the NSG only after New Delhi and Washington finalise the agreement. Brazil's emergence as an agricultural superpower and its status as a world leader in ethanol - a byproduct of sugarcane - are an added attractions for India to deepen its multi-faceted ties with this Latin American country. Preseident Lula is also due to meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee and L.K. Advani. The President will address top business leaders of the country at an interactive function on Monday afternoon.
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The once grand Yamuna overflows with filth
Agra, June 3 It is a sorry tale all the way from Haryana to Delhi to Uttar Pradesh, disappointing the religious minded in places like Vrindavan, Mathura and Agra in particular. Reduced to a pale, sickly drain, the glory and grandeur of the 1,370-km-long Yamuna - a tributary of the holy Ganges - that attracted the Mughals to build some of the finest monuments including the Taj Mahal and Babar's Aram Bagh will perhaps be never restored. At least this is what residents living close to the Yamuna feel. While the younger generation has generally stayed away from the stinking river that holds no charm for them, the elders do occasionally venture out to conduct ritualistic prayers and death rites or join community baths. The dozen odd ghats along the riverfront in Agra that once was the centre of a thriving commercial activity and river culture have disappeared without a trace, reducing the 10-km stretch to a vast wasteland. From Kailash temple near Akbar's tomb Sikandra to Dussehra Ghat adjacent to the Taj, there were more than a score of good ghats, some made of red sand stones and others of marble. Behind the Red Fort there were 'pucca ghats' with highly decorative canopies for the royal women of the Mughals. Some ghats fell prey to man's indifference, others were razed by zealous bureaucrats at the late Sanjay Gandhi's orders during the Emergency rule to make way for a picturesque river front like Mumbai's Chowpatty. But before that dream could materialize, politics took a U-turn and Indira Gandhi was swept out of power in the 1977 elections. Today, the Yamuna, representing India's civilizational decadence, is an eyesore. Those who take the Yamuna Kinara road are often seen covering their noses due to foul odour of the stinking mess. Goswami Hari Mohan Shrotriya of the Mathuradheesh temple goes nostalgic recalling old times. "Those were the days when the whole of Agra used to spend leisurely summer evenings on the river bank, which had a long row of temples, when children used to feed tortoises and cultural and religious activities used to be performed. Now, people have turned away and even forgotten there's a river in the city," said Shrotriya. A wall has been raised along the bank to ensure that the passersby do not even have a glimpse of the river. Hathi Ghat near the Agra Fort still survives but the whole area has been rampaged by transport companies, whose vehicles are parked there. Nathi Lal of Katcheri Ghat warns: "If the ghats disappear, the river culture, the annual melas and tamashas, the tairaki (swimming contests) and the mass bathing programmes on festivals would vanish too." Lately, several NGOs in the city, galvanised into action by the Supreme Court's monitoring committee, have been organising programmes, seminars, plays and cultural activities to remind Agra's citizens of their responsibilities to keep the river healthy and pollution free.
— IANS
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Child playing truant at school? Get SMS
Chennai, June 3 A private school in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, 550 km from here, has evolved a unique SMS alert system to inform parents about their wards who bunk classes or tamper with their academic reports. D. Jebastin Rajan, a computer teacher of St John's Higher Secondary School, developed a computer software through which the parents will automatically receive SMS on their mobile phones about the performance of their wards. The software called "Easy" stores details of all the students and updates the records other than send alert SMS to their parents. Said Rajan, "Some students frequently did not attend classes, while some forged signatures of their parents on progress reports. This inspired me to work on a software that would help the school inform the details about students to their parents." The software also provides facility to parents to seek details of their children's performance by sending SMS to a designated number. To get feedback on the character and performance of their wards, parents should type CHR followed by the student's registration number, ATT for attendance and FM for first term marks and send SMSs, he said. "Easy" will within a fraction of a second send them a reply through SMS. The facility is provided free of cost by the school. Rajan feels that other educational institutions in the country can easily start this software programme as almost all parents in urban areas nowadays have mobile phones. The software will not only help the parents but also the students as they would know that there is a "Big brother Easy" constantly watching them and they should try to improve their performance.
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Kanpur, June 3 However, Budheshwar Shukla, a retired employee of the Central Bank of India here, is fed up with the married life and he filed a divorce case last week in the family court here, alleging his wife Rani Devi, 71, tortured him physically and mentally. The couple had tied the nuptial nut in 1954. Shukla has maintained in his application that their marital life had been marked with frequent conflicts which could be resolved only with the intervention of neighbours. He said in his application that on January 11 also he had sent a notice to Rani Devi but this did not make her change her ways. A father of two daughters and a son, all married, Shukla contends that he has faced four operations and can not stand the alleged atrocities of his wife any further. — PTI
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4 cops die in militant attack
Guwahati, June 3 A police source informed that the vehicle carrying six policemen was on a routine patrol on the insurgents infested route from Dilai to Koilamati, when the ultras attacked them. The policemen, who died in the attacks, were identified as assistant sub-inspector Bimal Sarkar, havildar Debo Basumatary, constable Aftabuddin Laskar and a police driver, Nabin Bardoloi.
— TNS
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