Monday, December 28, 1998
|
N A T I O N |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
 |
|
|
BJP's strategy to refurbish
image
|
Lack of funds “stumbling
block” |
|
Dacoits kill child, loot
cash |
|||||
  |
||||||
BJP's strategy to refurbish image BANGALORE, Dec 27 (PTI) — Top BJP leaders are likely to draw strategies to refurbish party’s image and counter the opposition’s "negative propaganda" against the Vajpayee government at its two-day national executive meet here from January 2. Briefing reporters here today, party general secretary, Venkaiah Naidu, said the meet would also discuss ways to improve performance of the BJP-led coalition and ensure better coordination between the party and the government. The meet, to be attended by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani, would draw an action plan to highlight the Union Government’s achievements and "expose and defeat a negative campaign by our rivals", he said. Mr Naidu said the setback suffered by the BJP in the recently held Assembly polls in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh would be reviewed and an "overall strategy" drawn up for the Assembly elections in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Sikkim, due in November next year. A mechanism based on the report of a core committee headed by Jana Krishnamurthy would be evolved for greater coordination between the party and the government, he said. The BJP, he said, would keep in mind efforts being made to revive the third front while drawing up its future plans. Mr Naidu said the Vajpayee government had done a "commendable" job in a short span of its rule but its achievements had not been taken to the masses effectively. A nationwide campaign would be launched to educate party workers about the government’s performance and its limitations, he said. The meet would be attended by 75 members of the executive committee and 66 special invitees, besides leaders of the party in state Assemblies, he said. BJP Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and Union and State Ministers who were executive committee members would attend the meet, Mr Naidu said. A public meeting would be addressed by Prime Minister Vajpayee and other BJP leaders here on January 4. The Prime Minister would be here from January 1 to January 4 fulfilling party as well as official engagements, he added. Mr Naidu said the Vajpayee government "has come to stay" and claimed that efforts of "third forces" to prop up an alternative government with the Congress help had not received any response. "The arithmetics of the present Lok Sabha is such that it is the Vajpayee government or elections", the party general secretary told reporters here. Mr Naidu said the "third forces" including the CPI, the CPM, the RJD, the SP and the JD, who, he said, were anti-Congress parties, had also realised "the folly" of coming closer to the Congress. "These forces made the BJP their enemy number one and tried to move closer to the Congress to have a share in power", he said. Mr Naidu said there was a greater polarisation towards the Congress and the BJP now. Asked about the BJP and the Congress coming together on issues relating to patents and insurance, Mr Naidu said "the Left and other third forces wanted to give issue-based support to the Congress. But the Congress has given issue-based support to the BJP". "I will be happy to take the support of even CPI(ML) or Mr Deve Gowda (former Prime Minister). Why should we say no when somebody supports us", he said. To a query, he ruled out changing the leadership of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh. "The party’s view is very clear on this", he added. He said there was no reason to review the BJP’s alliance with the Lok Shakti in Karnataka. Denying that their relationship was "uneasy", he said "we take each other seriously". Mr Naidu said to translate the national agenda into action, the government had introduced the Bills on reservation for women, Patent, Insurance, Lok Pal and creation of Uttaranchal, Vananchal and Chhattisgarh, despite "unruly behaviour" by some party MPs. All these Bills would be passed in the Budget Session of Parliament, he said. The government, he said, had approved repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling Act and had already drafted the agricultural policy. Mr Naidu said a four-member core committee comprising Union Ministers Madanlal Khurana and Pramod Mahajan, party vice-president Jana Krishnamurty besides himself has prepared a note on improving coordination between the party and the government. Meanwhile, security in the Capital was beefed up today with the deployment of 11 companies of paramilitary forces. Eight companies of the CRPF and three companies of the Central Industrial Security Force, comprising over 1200 personnel were being deployed in all districts on the directions of Union Home Minister L.K. Advani, Home Ministry sources said. Meanwhile, the police
remained clueless about the culprits or the motive behind
the murder of a retired Lok Sabha official N.P. Jain and
his wife yesterday and that of a retired engineer S.N.
Achari and his wife on Christmas eve. |
Power crisis grips Delhi NEW DELHI, Dec 27 — Barely a month after the Congress came to power on popular vote in Delhi, Sheila Dikshit government is trying to grapple with “power” crisis, one of the major issues during elections. Large areas of the city have been facing blackouts during the past 20 days, a grim reminder of the worse days in store for Delhiites next summer. Sounding alarm bells, Union Power Minister P.R. Kumaramangalam said “last summer was tight. Next summer is also going to be tight. Delhi needs to adjust power supply to industries and distribute its load.” Thick blanket of fog, which engulfed the city for the past 10 days and bad weather have added to the woes of the city government. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has launched a crisis management task taking up the issue with the Union Power Ministry. Top level meetings are being held almost daily to review the situation. Though Ms Dikshit blamed the crisis on fog and bad weather, the Power Minister said there was a shortfall of 1800 MW in Northern Grid, which supplies a major portion of power to the capital. As harried consumers could not stop complaining following repeated power cuts and blackouts, Ms Dikshit warned of “dark” days ahead in view of “quite dim” situation in the Northern Grid and said the users needed to be disciplined. Power stations at Badarpur, Auriya, Anta and Chamera (in the Grid) tripped frequently worsening the power situation. Delhi Power Minister Narendra Nath said the city was at the moment short of 150 MW. “We just can not help the situation unless we get active support from people on power theft, pilferage and conservation of energy,” Ms Dikshit said while appealing to people to switch off geysers, heat convectors and other electrical appliances during peak hours, 6 a.m to 10 a.m and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Delhi, which needs nearly 2400 MW of power daily, gets the maximum from the Northern Grid and has currently a shortfall of 400 MW. But according to Mr Nath, the city at the moment has a shortfall of 150 mw. Power ministry plans to convene a meeting of chief ministers of states drawing power from the Grid in a bid to enhance the availability to the capital. As part of measures to ease out the acute crisis, the city government has directed the commercial establishments and shops to close strictly by 7 p.m and shutting off of the central heating system in multi-storeyed buildings at peak hours and at night. Industries have been asked not to operate from 7 p.m to 10 p.m and shift more operations to night in a bid to ensure electricity supply to the needy. Heating system would not
operate in government offices after office hours while
hotels and other bulk consumers would use emergency
sources of supply, like generators, during peak hours,
according to a government direction. |
Lack of funds “stumbling
block” NEW DELHI, Dec 27 — The Home Ministry’s decision earlier this year to increase the strength of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) by 20 more battalions has not materialised so far for want of funds CRPF Director General M.N. Sabharwal said here today. “The Home Ministry had sanctioned the raising of 20 more battalions comprising six companies of over 100 personnel each in principle but it is yet to materialise for lack of necessary finance,” Mr Sabharwal told reporters here on the eve of the 59th raising day of the force. He said the CRPF was created as a reserve force but today about 97 per cent of the personnel were deployed on regular duties of whom 84 per cent were posted in difficult areas like Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East. He said deployment pressure had indeed affected the rotational training of the force but after consultations with the states, there had been some improvement. The CRPF Chief also expressed concern over the deployment of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a specialised unit of the CRPF, on election and other routine duties as “it was specially created to deal with communal and caste riots.” On the Home Ministry proposal to relieve the Border Security Force of internal security duties by increasing the strength of the CRPF, Mr Sabharwal said it could be done only if the CRPF was provided with the same number of battalions presently deployed by the BSF. Over 222 CRPF companies are presently deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, followed by North-East (350) and 24 each in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar to deal with Naxalites. The Director-General said the Home Ministry had also approved a five year modernisation programme including massive computerisation, which was already in operation. The force had also acquired mobile satellite telephone communication system for use in difficult areas. Inspite of mounting pressure, Mr Sabharwal said the force had increased its operational effectiveness. It killed 131 militants in 1998 as compared to 112 in 1997 and 78 in 1996. It, however, lost 52 officers and men in 1998 as compared to 84 in 1997. It had also seized 843 weapons. Describing as
“multi-dimensional” the problems in Jammu and
Kashmir and North-East, where the CRPF has been fighting
insurgencies, the Director General said cross-border
movement and support from across the border had
complicated the situation. |
Sen to set up trust with prize money CALCUTTA, Dec 27 (PTI) — In keeping with the glorious tradition set by Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen today announced the setting up of a charity trust with his prize money for education and healthcare in India and Bangladesh. Amidst applause from the gathering at his civic reception in the Netaji Indoor stadium here, Sen announced that after paying taxes on the prize money, he planned to share it with a charity trust named after his Santiniketan residence "pratichi." The announcement came at the fag end of his 40-minute speech: "I would like to share with you a personal thought about the prize itself." Stating that education and health care had been among his major concerns over the years, the champion of welfare economics said "in view of the enormity of the problems faced, a trust like this can make only a little difference, but I must try to do what I can. I would count on your good wishes in my tiny effort." Tagore, India’s first
Nobel Prize winner, spent his Nobel prize money on
development of his university Visva-Bharati in 1913. |
Dacoits kill child, loot cash NEW DELHI, Dec 27 (PTI) — Armed dacoits killed a five-year-old child and looted about Rs 70,000 and gold jewellery from a north-east Delhi house tonight, the police said. Five dacoits entered the house of of Vinod Kumar in the Jagatpuri extension area at 8 pm and shot dead his five-year-old son Sarvesh Kumar before taking away the cash and jewellery worn by his wife, the police said. Sarvesh, who had opened the door when the dacoits rang the bell, succumbed to his injuries at the nearby Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital. However, his two elder brothers, aged 8 and 10, escaped unhurt. Vinod Kumar, who runs a heat element manufacturing unit from his house, had kept the cash to buy a plot. The police, who registered a case, said they suspected involvement of someone known to the family who had information about the cash kept in the house. Meanwhile, the police
found two unidentified bodies, including one in the
Shahdara area of northeast Delhi. |
Control population, warns IMA HYDERABAD, Dec 27 — The Indian Medical Association has once again urged the government to tackle the issue of population control as a national emergency. Deliberating on the grim health scenario in the country on the opening day of the 14th national conference of the IMA here today, doctors held the unanimous view that population stabilisation be taken up on a war-footing. Experts participating in the conference expressed the apprehension that if the population projection of 200 crore for 2024 was not taken seriously, it would take its toll on the nation’s infrastructure. They warned that governance would become impossible if the country’s population swells up to 200 crore. Briefing newspersons here today, the re-elected general secretary of the IMA, Dr Prem Aggarwal, said the central council, a body of elected representatives of various IMA branches, mooted the urgent need to revise the population policy. They suggested that committee comprising parliamentarians and bureaucrats be set up to revise the population policy. They recommended compulsory education till class XII for the girl child, penalty provision for parents not adhering to the rule and strict implementation of legislation on child marriages. Expressing concern at the nation’s health programmes and health in the next millennium, the doctors suggested the need for setting up a national disease control committee headed by the Prime Minister. They felt that most disease control programmes in the country had failed to achieve the desired results and suggested that prevention of diseases needs a positive commitment. Dr Prem Aggarwal said that most doctors of the council felt that the malaria, tuberculosis eradication programmes and national AIDS control programmes had not been able to achieve their target. They acknowledged the hard fact that diseases like TB, plague, dengue and malaria, which had been wiped out, had re-emerged. They added that AIDS, hepatitis-C and new strains of cholera had posed fresh threats to the nation’s health. The doctors assessed that most health programmes had failed due to extreme centralisation and ineffective coordination between various programmes. They said that decentralisation of various programmes was necessary to ensure that it reaches those at the grassroot level. It was also felt that disease control cannot be the entire responsibility of the health ministry. They said that state departments entrusted with the task of executing health programmes should be strengthened. Doctors felt that
uncontrolled development in form of population,
urbanisation and industrialisation had led to the
deterioration of the health milieu. |
Panel against pop music on FM
channels NEW DELHI, Dec 27 — Propagating Western and pop music which has nothing to do with Indian ethos and culture by private broadcasters on FM channels of All India Radio has caught the attention of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications. Criticising the blatant propagation of Western and pop music on FM channels, the Committee headed by Mr Somnath Chatterjee in its seventh report on the working of All India Radio has expressed the hope that new FM channels proposed to be set up in the metros would give more emphasis on Indian forms of music, which have more percentage of listeners even in urban areas. The Committee regretted that there were no guidelines for private broadcasters with respect to broadcast of various programmes on FM channels. It was also noted that private broadcasters were giving revenue far below the market revenue: Rs 3,000 as against Rs 30,000 to 35,000. The Committee welcomed the proposal to set up 17 more FM channels in different parts of the country in the next few years, and said staff and financial constraints should not be allowed to hamper this work. The Committee also regretted that no broadcasting policy had been formulated by Prasar Bharati. It rejected as "hardly convincing" the attempt to blame non-implementation of programmes or shortage of staff to delayed staff sanctions or uncertainty about plan allocations. The Committee regretted that nothing had been done to upgrade the radio transmitters in border areas which were not adequately powered, especially when transmitters of neighbouring countries were found to be emitting very strong signals and overshadowing the Indian transmission. Considering the anti-India propaganda done over the electronic media of some neighbouring countries, the Committee recommended that immediate steps should be taken to strengthen the transmitters in border areas and counter such propaganda. The issue had not been given the importance it deserved and the planning commission should be prevailed upon to allocate more funds. It was also noted that All India Radio had still not managed to reach every nook and corner of the country despite claims, primarily because of the hilly terrain in certain areas of North-East India and Himachal Pradesh because the signals were not very strong. Noting that the Ninth Plan proposal of Rs 2014 crore had been pruned to Rs 1477 crore and the physical targets accordingly had been reduced drastically, the Committee noted that the reduced targets were not being met even though this kind of pruning was being done in every plan. During the Eighth Plan, 20 out of 93 broadcasting centres and 37 out of 204 transmitter projects taken up for execution could not be completed. Apprehending cost over-runs in these projects due to delayed completion, the Committee strongly recommended streamlining of monitoring machinery and taking every possible measure to expedite the completion as well as commissioning of the undergoing projects. As 95 per cent of the
programmes by AIR were in-house, the Committee noted that
the funds for commissioned programmes were not utilised
in the Eighth Plan. It wanted due importance to be given
to commissioned programmes in the Ninth Plan. |
EMR plan will hit drug prices, health NEW DELHI, Dec 27 (PTI) — Experts fear that the main impact of the government’s proposal to grant exclusive marketing rights (EMRs) to drugs and agrochemical products will be on the prices of medicines which will shoot up, making it extremely difficult for the poor to afford them. In a country where a majority of the population does not have access to modern medicines even in the present patent regime in which drug prices are among the lowest in the world, medicines will go further out of reach of the poor under an EMR regime, they said. India’s poor and malnourished, who are most vulnerable to tropical diseases such as tuberculosis, leprosy, cholera and gastroenteritis, will be severely affected. Citing examples before a people’s commission on intellectual property rights, experts said there are many “alarming” indicators about diseases in India, which have to be given priority while deciding on the need to preserve public interest provisions in the country’s patent system. The indicators relate to
increase in cases of filaria, malaria, tuberculosis, and
AIDS, as well as population growth and infant mortality
rates. |
Cong’s year of sorrow, year of joy NEW DELHI, Dec 27 (PTI) — The year began on a high for the BJP which came to power at the Centre at the head of a coalition but by the end of it the Congress was smelling a comeback after dramatic victories in the November assembly polls. The slogan of “able leader, stable government”, which helped the BJP not a little in its leap to power, has already taken a few knocks as the government hopped from crisis to crisis and was barely in a position to pilot important legislation through Parliament. The stranglehold of regional parties continued to have its impact at the centre. While regional allies are dissatisfied with the BJP on some issue or the other, parties like the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Left parties are sore with the Congress for not taking the initiative to topple the Vajpayee government despite its resounding success in the recent assembly elections. The year also saw late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s widow Sonia Gandhi take a plunge into active politics and through her campaign come to the rescue of the Congress by preventing a humiliating defeat in the March General Elections. Soon after Sonia took over the reins of the party removing incumbent Sitaram Kesri unceremoniously from the office. By the year end, she had put the Congress back in the reckoning after wresting power from the BJP in Rajasthan and Delhi and denying victory to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh in the November assembly elections. A rejuvenated Congress, however, chose to be cautious with Sonia refusing to be hustled by the call of some secular parties to topple the BJP-led government and take a shot at power at the Centre. The run-up to the 1998 elections saw the emergence of the Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee as a key player in West Bengal relegating the Congress to the third position. In neighbouring Orissa, the Janata Dal split with the rebel faction led by Naveen Patnaik, son of late Biju Patnaik, winning nine seats in alliance with the BJP, which won seven. The Janata Dal, which headed the previous United Front government, was decimated in its strongholds of Orissa, Karnataka and Bihar following splits. It could win only six seats in all. The BJP, which isolated at the time of its 13-day reign in 1996, also got a major boost when the AIADMK, TMC, BJP and Lok Shakti entered into an alliance with it for the March Lok Sabha elections. The AIADMK led alliance swept the elections bagging 30 of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu. The BJP and its alliance, which crossed the 250-mark in the elections, however, fell short of a majority. A last minute shift of the Telugu Desam and National Conference from the United Front camp saved the BJP government in its first trial of strength in the Lok Sabha. However, the party had barely savoured victory when it got the first taste of things to come with AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha delaying her letter of support to President K R Narayanan. Ever since, the BJP has been at the receiving end resisting pressures from allies like the AIADMK, Trinamool Congress and Samata Party, which, to a large extent has prevented the Prime Minister from undertaking a comprehensive expansion of his Cabinet. Within two months of coming to power, the coalition government gave a green signal to the Indian nuclear establishment for undertaking the Pokhran II explosions in May which triggered protests from major world powers and a similar exercise by Pakistan. One of the major achievements of the government on the domestic front was the Cauvery water river accord between Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry that had defied solution for decades. But even here, the BJP was denied credit with major ally AIADMK and other small allies attacking the accord as a “sell-out”. Ms Jayalalitha also had a running battle with the BJP levelling allegations against some people “close” to the Prime Minister for taking hefty bribes for getting Enforcement Director M.K. Bezbaruah transferred out of his post. After troubled relations with the BJP and other allies for over eight months, Ms Jayalalitha finally disbanded her front in Tamil Nadu after she found that all its constituents - MDMK, PMK and TRC - had moved closer to the BJP. Likewise, the Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee too did not miss an occasion to take potshots at the BJP-led coalition on issues be it prices, economic mismanagement or attacks on minorities. Her party also steadfastly refused to join the government. One issue on which the government had egg on its face was the decision to impose President’s rule in Bihar, which was returned by President K.R. Narayanan. The Congress leadership is now under increasing pressure to withdraw support to the RJD government in Bihar as a sign of wanting to distance itself from a “corrupt” regime. The Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal parted ways with the erstwhile United Front and formed the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM). But, the Congress’
“wait and watch” attitude has angered the SP
leader so much that he has described it as “enemy
number one”. |
| H |
|
||
| Development process
uneconomic: book NEW DELHI: Development in India could cost as much as eight times the value of assets, given the oversized Government machinery and gigantic workforce of bureaucrats. A case study of Munger in Bihar points to this uneconomic development process, where creation of assets of just Rs 20 crore for various development activities costs the exchequer Rs 160 crore only towards the salary of about 16,000 Government workforce, leave apart other expenses. “The work force engaged exclusively for development work in Munger district is in addition to and other band of over 16,000 Government officials who are engaged in teaching, administration, police and judicial services,” D.P. Yadav says in his latest book entitled “Dynamics of Development. An Inside Story”. — PTI Christians’ plea to PM J-K
‘low’ on Centre’s priority Freedom fighter
dead More AI flights to
W.Asia Strike over sack
of employees |
 |
 |
| 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 | |
