The Tribune

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I N ..D E T A I L

Sunday, July 5, 1998

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AIADMK support to continue
CHENNAI, July 4 (PTI) — The AIADMK today announced that it will not withdraw support to the Vajpayee government, and hastened to add that the decision was "for the present" even as Defence Minister George Fernandes met Ms Jayalalitha to discuss the situation.
After a two-hour long meeting Ms Jayalalitha had with her party MPs, senior party leader V.R. Nedunchezhian told reporters that the party would not withdraw support to the BJP government "for the present" and the MPs would attend the Parliament session from Monday.
He said the party MPs would take any decision on boycott or walkout in Parliament would be taken depending on issues.
The party would not go back on the demand for dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu. Law Minister M. Thambi Durai said Ms Jayalalitha had given some "guidelines" to the party MPs on how to function inside Parliament and raise state issues including the dismissal demand.
Ms Jayalalitha also announced the names of other office bearers.
Edapadi K. Palanichamy would be the treasurer of the AIADMK Parliamentary Party.
Mr O.S. Manian would be the deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. Mr N. Dalavai Sundaram and Mr M.S. Niraikulathan would be the whip and secretary respectively in the upper House.
Mr V. Satyamoorthy and Mr Dindigul Srinivasan had been chosen as deputy leaders in the Lok Sabha. Mr Kanchi Panneerselvam would be the whip and Mr S. Murugesan and Dr Saroja would be the secretaries in the lower House, a press note said.

Meanwhile, contact was established for the first time after a week from the government side with Ms Jayalalitha when Mr Fernandes met her over lunch and told newsmen later that he was carrying a "good message" from her to the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. However, he declined to reveal the contents.
Mr Fernandes maintained that he had not come as an emissary of "anyone" and he had a "useful" dialogue with her. He said as partners of the BJP-led coalition, Ms Jayalalitha and he wanted a good and stable government at the Centre and this was the main thrust of their discussions.
Earlier in the week, Ms Jayalalitha had telephonic conversations with Mr Fernandes and Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Surjit Singh Barnala.
Today another Union Minister Dilip Ray also called on her while former minister Buta Singh, who is lately estranged with the BJP and is with the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha, met her at her residence. The AIADMK described these as courtesy calls.
Mr Buta Singh denied bringing any message from the Morcha leaders Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav to Ms Jayalalitha.
Ms Jayalalitha has been cut up with BJP leadership for rejecting the demand for the dismissal of Karunanidhi government.
NEW DELHI (TNS): The BJP today said the AIADMK decision to continue support to the Vajpayee government had put at rest speculation about its stability and said coalition partners should iron out their differences at the coordination committee.
Welcoming the AIADMK decision, party general secretary Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here: "We never had any doubt" about AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha’s support to the coalition.
Mr Naidu appealed to BJP’s allies to discuss all issues at the coordination committee or bring these to the notice of the Prime Minister who is leader of the coalition.
"All coalition partners, including the BJP, should understand that airing of views outside the committee will create an impression among opponents that all is not well among the allies," he said.
Mr Naidu said the BJP was committed to passage of the Women's Quota Bill in Parliament, adding the Prime Minister has convened an all-party meeting on July 10 to secure unanimity over the issue.
He said the Bill seeking 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures would be introduced in Parliament at the earliest.
Mr Naidu said the Lok Pal Bill and other important measures would also be introduced during the on-going session.

A breather for Vajpayee govt
From Shubhabrata Battacharya
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 4 — The reluctance of the Congress to get into a no-win situation by toppling the government and the persuasive power of the BJP’s allies — notably the Samata Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Biju Janata Dal — together have bought a new lease of life for the Vajpayee-led coalition.
Several emissaries of Ms Jayalalitha Jayaram were active in New Delhi over the past few days. None of them, however, managed to put through a telephone call connecting her with Mrs Sonia Gandhi.
Not that Mrs Sonia Gandhi was averse to receiving visitors or taking calls (she was actively involved in political activity within the precincts of the Parliament House on the opening day of the session, yesterday). Talking to the AIADMK supremo apparently was low on the priorities of the Congress president.
Thus faced with a fait accompli — of continuing to support the BJP — Ms Jayalalitha was provided a face saving device: persuasion from other members of the coalition. Yesterday Mr Surjit Singh Barnala and Mr

George Fernandes, both senior colleagues of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee who had been in the Union Cabinet along with him in the Morarji Desai government two decades back, (Mr L.K. Advani is the only other Minister of this vintage in the present Cabinet) separately spoke to Ms Jayalalitha.
Though Mr Barnala did not go to Chennai today (Mr Fernandes did), the effect of his telephonic conversation had become apparent to the ruling coalition yesterday itself. Today, besides Mr Fernandes, Mr Dilip Ray of the Biju Janata Dal also met Ms Jayalalitha in her Poes Garden residence in Chennai and thus provided her with a reasonable ground to decelerate and ultimately cry a halt, albeit temporarily, to the AIADMK’s belligerency.
The BJP leadership was prepared for the worst while it expected the crisis to blow over. Throughout the period of saber-rattling from Chennai the ruling party leaders and their close advisers had exuded confidence about the continuity of the government. Today’s announcement from Chennai showed that their optimism was not misplaced.
A mature relationship has been evolved between the office of the Prime Minister and the office of the Congress president. The channel of communication thus established had ensured that at no stage was either side in a position of default in the understanding of the present crisis. This perhaps has been the most positive fallout of the recent crisis.
Mrs Sonia Gandhi is not averse to her party getting back to power. However, she does not want to actively play a role in pulling down the present coalition. If it falls under the weight of its own contradictions, the Congress would prefer to get a fresh mandate from the electorate rather than put together yet another fragile coalition.
As things stand, the period of honeymoon with the BJP seems to be getting over. The wooing of Sonia-led Congress has not yet begun. However, with each passing day, the Congress seems to be gaining ground by default.
As reported in these columns on Friday, the passage of the Union budget is not in doubt, though the Finance Minister may have to make some more compromises before the Finance Bill moved by him is passed.
The Lok Sabha will be in session for around a week after the Budget is passed. The seeds of the next political crisis are likely to be sown during this period. The Congress is likely to step up its activity in August.
As things stand, the BJP is fighting with its back to the wall. However, the propensity of this party, which has grown from two seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984 to its present, pre-eminent, position to swing back cannot be discounted.
A lot will depend on the outcome of the Assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram in the latter part of the year. The fight will be between the Congress and the BJP; none of the other three dozen parties represented in the Lok Sabha have a locus standi in these four elections. Mrs Sonia Gandhi thus is preparing for this battle. And this explains her reluctance to pull down the Vajpayee government at present.

Pak sends envoy to SAARC nations
ISLAMABAD, July 4 (PTI) — In an apparent move to corner India and to initiate some political discussions on the regional security situation at the SAARC summit later this month, Pakistan has launched a diplomatic exercise by sending a special envoy to four member countries.
Senator Akram Zaki, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Upper House of Parliament, left here last night on a tour to Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, spokesman of the foreign office Tariq Altaf said here today.
Mr Zaki had gone as a special envoy of the Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, to discuss "serious security situation" in the South Asian Region because of the recent developments and that he will be meeting a cross-section of people in these capitals, he said.
The spokesman also said Pakistan was not hopeful of any positive outcome from the talks between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan when they meet on the sidelines of the SAARC summit later this month.
"We have always found India non-serious", Mr Altaf said adding that, "let us hope that they come up with positive approach because the situation is serious now as the whole issue of peace and security and nuclear weapons is linked to the root cause in the region" with a reference to the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan today declared it was undertaking a "strategic review" of its stand on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) but offered to sign a similar regional pact with New Delhi.
Offering to review its stand on the CTBT, Pakistan said the issue was no longer linked with India’s signing the treaty.

"We should not be thinking of linkages with India and we will be making a determination of our interest and of an appropriate time and then we will decide," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tariq Altaf told newsmen here.
"But we are ready to sign a regional CTBT with India," he said in an obvious reference to Pakistan’s earlier offer of no-nuclear test treaty.
While stressing that "the question of strategic parity is of paramount importance to us", Mr Altaf said, "we will keep a watch on various elements and we are in the process of a strategic review of our stand."
However, the spokesman did not clarify whether Pakistan will sign the CTBT before India or after it but analysts felt it was obviously a major shift in the country’s stand as till now Islamabad’s declared stand was that it would sign the CTBT only after New Delhi signs it.
"While replying to a query, Mr Altaf conceded that it was a change in Pakistan’s stand saying, "change in the sense that (earlier) we were ready to do anything that India was ready to do in terms of signing the CTBT or the NPT."
The Foreign Ministry spokesman also stressed that the situation has changed after May 28 when Pakistan carried out its nuclear tests, and added that the, "question of strategic parity is of fundamental importance to us and we will not allow strategic imbalance to happen."
The first signs of Pakistan’s shift in stand on the crucial CTBT issue was visible during last week’s visit of foreign secretary, Shamshad Ahmed, to the USA when he had met senior officials of US State Department, including Acting Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott.
Ahmed had told newsmen after the meeting that Pakistan was in a process of evaluating its position on the CTBT and the NPT.
He further said Pakistan would take a decision on the CTBT and NPT issues, "when we will think that now is the time to do so".
While referring to the bilateral dialogue process with India the spokesman said that Pakistan was in favour of an ‘’integrated approach’’ while stressing that the peace and security issue in the South Asian region should be linked to the Kashmir issue.
KATHMANDU (UNI): Special envoy of Pakistan Prime Minister, Akram Zaki arrived here on Saturday to brief the Nepali leadership about Islamabad’s perception of the prevailing situation in the South-Asian region following nuclear tests in May by both India and its western neighbour.
Mr Zaki, a former diplomat and at present member of the Pakistani Senate, is carrying with him a letter from his Premier Nawaz Sharif addressed to Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala which he is expected to handover when the two meet tomorrow.

Bihar murder rocks Lok Sabha
Tribune News Service and agencies
NEW DELHI, July 4 — Rashtriya Janata Dal MPs, led by Mr Laloo Pradesh Yadav, raised a furore in the Lok Sabha today over the murder of Ms Rama Devi's husband, and a former Bihar minister Brij Bihari Prasad, and sought action against a CBI official for allegedly misbehaving with Ms Rama Devi.
Congress members, too, came to the aid of the RJD with Mr P.J. Kurien saying that the death of a fellow MP's husband in judicial custody was a serious matter and that the government should take action against culprits.
The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, assured the RJD MPs that the Centre would look into the matter and if it was found that the CBI official had erred then action would be taken against him.
Mr Vajpayee pointed out that the matter was raised by Ms Rama Devi in the earlier session and it was referred to the Privileges Committee by the Speaker. He said the government could agree to either expand the scope of the committee or order a CBI inquiry. Since the RJD was opposed to the CBI inquiry, Mr Vajpayee suggested the third option of ordering a judicial inquiry.
The RJD informed him that a judicial inquiry was already on and its verdict was awaited.
Raising the issue, Ms Rama Devi said during the Budget session last month, she had brought the threat to her and her husband's lives to the notice of the House but nothing was done to protect him.
The matter was simply referred to the Privileges Committee she said, adding that, she would like to know from the Prime Minister what was done about it. She alleged that a CBI officer, Mr R.K. Singh, was involved in the murder.
Maintaining that the state government had provided security guards to Brij Bihari Prasad when he was in a hospital in judicial custody, RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav alleged that a Samata Party MLA in Bihar had been named in the first information report and that no action had been taken against him.
Meanwhile, Mr Vajpayee assured the Lok Sabha that the government would respect the sentiments of the Christian community and seek the Delhi Government's stand on churches.
He also informed the House that the imposition of any restriction on churches was wrong and that the Centre would ascertain all facts from the Delhi Government.
Mr Vajyapee was responding to a submission made by Mr Suresh Kurup of the CPM and Mr A.C. Jose of the Congress who cited press reports to say that the Delhi Government might not consider churches as religious places as wine was served there.
Senior Congress leader K. Karunakaran wanted the Prime Minister to clarify the matter through a statement by Monday.
Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh, showed the proposed changes in excise law which would have allowed the opening of liquor shops in the vicinity of the churches.
Mr Sahib Singh said. "We respect the church and the sentiments of Christians." He said the laws were the same for all places of worship and the government would not discriminate between the place of worship of different religions.
The Delhi Government had come under severe criticism following Excise Minister, Rajendra Gupta's note stating that churches would be off the religious list because wine was served there.
The Congress also sought to corner the government over reports that an Ernakulam court had served a non-bailable warrant against Environment Minister Suresh Prabhu. It wanted the Prime Minister to clarify whether Mr Prabhu would still continue in the Council of Ministers.
Minister of State for Parlimentary Affairs Ram Naik insisted that the Opposition should have served a notice on the government before raising the issue in the House.
The Prime Minister, however, refused to respond.

Spurious textbooks seized
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 4 — In a major breakthrough the Punjab School Education Board has seized spurious textbooks worth more than Rs 5 lakh. The books were discovered following raids at Preetnagar in Jalandhar yesterday.
The books were the reproduction of the original textbooks of the board for various classes, Mr J.S. Sidhu, secretary of the board, said.
The books were packed in sacks and dumped in a godown.
Following a tip-off, a five-member team of the board conducted the raids with the assistance of the local police.
The secretary said that while the board gave 15 per cent commission to the booksellers, the producers of spurious books gave between 35 and 40 per cent commission. These producers used cheaper paper for books and made huge profits.
In one of the raids on a private school it was found that the entire lot of students were using spurious textbooks.
The Deputy Director, Publications Mr Paramjit Singh, said similar raids had been carried out in Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Gurdaspur where several cases of spurious books were detected. Cases had been registered at the police stations concerned.
A case in connection with the raid in Jalandhar had been registered at Division III police station. The police was interrogating the accused, board officials said.
A spokesperson of the board said that books printed by the board had special water-marked paper. Each page carried the insignia of the board.
Parents and students had been requested to purchase books from the shops authorised by the board.
Mr Gurdev Singh Sidhu, Chairman, meanwhile, has issued strict orders to the district managers to look out for those indulging in malpractices. The board would also honour and give incentives to those providing information in this regard. Secrecy of the source would be maintained, he said.
A special cell had been opened under Mr Paramjit Singh for the purpose.
The standard paper used by the board is about 60 gm in weight, whereas the spurious book sellers use paper weighing about 40 gm. The price of the spurious books is the same as that of board books.
The board had seized books worth nearly Rs 10,000 each in Sangrur, Gurdaspur. The board was, however, yet to locate the place where these books were printed. Mr Paramjit Singh said there were chances of the printing press being out of the state.

Bus driver, 4 others killed in accident
From Our Correspondent
SAMRALA, July 4 — Five persons, including bus driver Harbhajan Singh of the Muktsar Depot of Punjab Roadways, were killed and eight injured, four of them seriously, when the bus collided with a tractor-trailer near the police post at Hedon, 5 km from here, last night.
Apart from the driver, others killed in the accident were Surinder Mohan of Jalandhar, Surjit Singh, an employee of the thermal plant Bathinda, Purshari Bihari and Biaj Mohamad of Ferozepore.
Four of the injured were rushed to a hospital in Ludhiana and the remaining were admitted to a local hospital.
Mr K.B.S. Sidhu, Director, State Transport, Punjab announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 25,000 to injured. He also announced all benefits to the family of Harbhajan Singh as per the rules.

Law and order bad in UP, says Thakre
LUCKNOW, July 4 (UNI) — The BJP president, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, today expressed concern over the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing party workers on his maiden visit here to attend the two day meeting of the state party executive, Mr Thakre said he had come to review the performance of the Kalyan Singh government as he had received some complaints.
The BJP chief called upon the party workers to help the government in discharging its duties. The support of the people was foremost for improving the performance of the government, he pointed out.
He made it clear that law and order and poor economic condition were the two areas where the state government needed to work hard at this point of time. He, however, said the Kalyan Singh government had inherited both these problems from the earlier governments.
Later, he said problems of law and order and solution to the economic crisis would be taken up by the state government on a priority basis.
In reply to a question, Mr Thakre said he was happy with the overall performance of the Uttar Pradesh Government.
In a political-cum-economic resolution adopted at the meeting, the executive said the National Human Rights Commission admitting for the first time that cases were being registered in the right manner in Uttar Pradesh, was a cause for satisfaction.

More Russian missiles for India: Jane's
LONDON, July 4 (PTI) — India is to acquire 50 more Russian-made KH-35 anti-ship missiles for its three new 6,700 tonne INS Delhi class destroyers at a cost of $ 150 million.
The missiles 3M-24E or SS-N-25 variant would add to 48 already such missiles in the inventory of the Indian navy, with tests of helicopter-launched version to arm the Russian made Kamazov-27 and 28 warship-borne already completed by the manufacturer Zvezda-Strela, according to the latest edition of the Jane’s Defence Weekly.
The magazine said India was also acquiring aircraft-launched version of these missiles to carry three times the weight of fuel to be integrated with the IAF’s just acquired 40 Su-30Mk fighters.
The missile deal would form part of the new 10-year defence cooperation agreement between Russia and India, which has been finalised and would be signed during President Boris Yeltsin’s state visit to India later this year, it said. The agreement will supersede the current agreement, set to expire in 2000. The new agreement will now last till 2010.
The main emphasis in the new defence agreement, the magazine said, was shift from outright purchases of equipment to jointly developing and marketing military hardware.
The new agreement, Jane said, includes upgrading around 125 MIG-21 BIS ‘fishbed-L’ fighters, jointly developing the multi-role SU-30MKI fighters of which India bought 40 last year and merging the locally developed Akash low to medium altitude surface-to-air missiles and the indigenous Rajendera radar with the new S-300V anti-ballistic missile system.
The new defence pact would also cover the upgradation of the T-72 tanks currently India’s main battle tank and the purchase of state of art T-90 missile capable tanks and airborne early warning system.
India’s bid to buy the overhauled and rearmed Admiral Gorshkov, the 44,000 tonne aircraft carrier and jointly developing the MIG-AT advanced jet trainer would also form part of the new Indo-Russian defence agreement. The defence weekly said that Russia is also believed to have assured India that it would not sell arms to Pakistan.

3 Pak infiltrators killed
SRINAGAR, July 4 (UNI) — Three Pakistani infiltrators and eight foreign militants were among 17 persons killed, while forces captured three militants in the Kashmir valley during the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing on Indian positions in the Mendhar sector last evening.
Official sources said one more foreign militant was killed at Furmuth Nar today.
Operation was still in progress, the sources said.
Unconfirmed reports said three securitymen were also killed in the clash.
Meanwhile, Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing on Indian positions in the Mendhar sector last evening. Other areas affected due to the Pak firing included Kirni, Shahpur, Nakerkot, Dagwar and Karmara. However, there were no reports of any casualties or damage to property due to the firing.
The firing continued for several hours with Indian troops also retaliating.
Meanwhile, security forces gunned down three militants when they sneaked into this side from across the border at Manjakot in Rajouri district last evening, according to an official spokesman.
Giving details about the two-day long encounter at Gurmuth-Nar Gali in Baramula, the spokesman said troops killed nine militants, including seven foreigners.
The spokesman said troops seized a large cache of arms and ammunition, including three AK-56 rifles, 18 magazines, 448 rounds, seven grenades, a pistol, a universal machine gun, two wireless sets, 20 kg of explosives, four compasses, four improvised explosive device, six wrist watches, three ruck-sack, Rs 5000 Afghan currency, Rs 1,39,500 Indian currency, 300 grams of heroin and six pairs of earrings.
This is for the first time that security forces recovered heroin from the militants during the past nine years of militancy.

Working papers on new states within week
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 4 — The Group of Ministers (GoM) set up by the Union Cabinet to look into various aspects of the creation of the three new states of Uttaranchal, Vananchal and Chattisgarh, today decided to prepare "detailed working papers" within a week.
The GoM which held a meeting at Parliament, deliberated at length on three aspects relating to the formation of states including geographical boundary, asset-sharing and the parent state and water resource-sharing between these states.
The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Jaswant Singh, said detailed working papers would be prepared within a week.
These papers will be prepared by various ministries which will then be discussed again by the GoM.
Though the issue of delinking Udham Singh Nagar district from Uttaranchal and adding the Kumbh Mela region of Hardwar to it was discussed, no decision on it was taken, a member of the GoM said.
The Union Chemical and Fertilisers Minister, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, raised the issue of delinking Udham Singh Nagar district from the proposed new hill state.
He said the district was a plain area and had no cultural link with the new state which was being proposed.
Plea to Sonia on cross-voting
NEW DELHI, July 4 (UNI) — In a significant development former Maharashtra Pradesh Congress president Ranjit Deshmukh today urged party president Sonia Gandhi not to take action against 10 party MLAs served with show-cause notices in the Rajya Sabha cross voting episode resulting in the defeat of official party nominee R.D. Pradhan.
Mr Deshmukh whose resignation had been accepted by the party leadership yesterday called on Mrs Gandhi this afternoon to convey his point of view on how the legislators were not to be blamed for backing Independent candidates. He said it was normal for the party to ask the legislators to sign the nomination papers of candidates in advance as the national leadership was yet to announce its official nominee when they signed the nomination papers on the direction of the state unit of the party it did amount to indiscipline, he contended.
He said since the Maharashtra Pradesh unit had decided to support former state Home Minister Arun Mehta, the nomination papers signed by the legislators were handed over to him.
Mr Deshmukh said his resignation from the party presidentship would not have adverse impact on the Congress prospects here.
The party high command had issued show cause notices to party MP Praful Patel and MLA Satish Chaturvedi. Mr Chaturvedi has been suspended from the primary membership of the party while Mr Patel has been asked to explain his role in the defeat of Mr Pradhan.

Albright rushes to reassure Japan
TOKYO, July 4 (AP) — Seeking to ease Japanese concern over the growing US-China cooperation, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright assured the government today that America’s alliance with Japan remains the “cornerstone” of its ties to Asia.
“The alliance between our two nations is the embodiment of an unshakable friendship,” Ms Albright said after briefing Japanese officials on US President Bill Clinton’s China tour. It is the foundation for stability in the Asia-Pacific. It is the cornerstone of our strategic policy in Asia.
“That alliance is rock-solid for the 21st century,” she added.
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who met Ms Albright for 30 minutes, expressed support for Mr Clinton’s just-concluded trip, saying that it was good for Asia and good for Japan, a US official said.
“It was a very positive meeting,” said James Foley, a spokesman for the State Department. The Prime Minister was appreciative of the President’s gesture in having Secretary Albright come to Tokyo to brief him and his government.
In her meetings with Mr Hashimoto and Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi, Ms Albright also delivered an American message of support for Japanese efforts to pull out of recession and help cure Asia’s economic woes, including a new plan to gradually close failing banks.
Ms Albright, quoting Mr Clinton at his farewell news conference in Hong Kong, told Mr Hashimoto: “We are now looking toward firm action on implementation of the programme,” Mr Foley said.
Mr Hashimoto gave Ms Albright a copy of Japan’s economic revitalisation plan, including bank reform, a possible permanent tax cut and proposals to reduce corporate taxes as well, the Foreign Ministry said.
Mr Obuchi affirmed the US-Japan relationship remained on rock-solid footing and said the Japanese Government was grateful that President Clinton’s visit to China turned out to be a success.
US-Japan relations are the foundation for regional stability, Mr Obuchi said at a joint news conference with Ms Albright at the Foreign Minister’s guest house.

Bill banning single-digit lotteries passed
NEW DELHI, July 4 (UNI) — The Lok Sabha today adopted by a voice vote a Bill seeking the ban on the single digit lotteries in the country.
The Lotteries (Regulation) Bill, 1998, provides that an offence under the proposed Act will be cognizable and non-bailable and punishment will be rigorous imprisonment up to two years and fine.
The Bill also imposed many conditions on the lotteries organised by the state governments, including one that no lottery shall have more than one draw a week.
The Bill, which replaces the ordinance, is the first major attempt by the government to check the unbridled growth of single digit lotteries, which many members described as a form of gambling.

Veteran film-maker dead
MUMBAI, July 4 (PTI) — Veteran film-maker Amarjeet died here today after a prolonged illness. He was 65.
The end came at a private nursing home, family sources said. The renowned producer had suffered a paralytic stroke a couple of years ago and never recovered from it.
Amarjeet, who was associated with "Navketan Films", began his career with advertising when he came from Punjab in the early 50s.
He entered the film industry as a story writer. His debut venture "Fantoosh", directed by Chetan Anand, turned out to be a major hit.
He introduced two star sons — Sanjay Dutt and Sunny Deol — in "Rocky" and "Sunny", respectively.

Sukh Ram to press for probe against Virbhadra Singh
Tribune News Service
SHIMLA, July 4 — The chief of the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC), Mr Sukh Ram, has said that any further delay in referring the charge sheet against former Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh, to the CBI by the state government would not be conducive to the functioning of the ruling BJP--HVC combine in Himachal Pradesh.
Mr.Sukh Ram,who was talking to newsmen here today, said he would shortly be meeting his alliance partner and Chief Minister, P.K. Dhumal, to seek CBI inquiry against Mr Virbhadra Singh on the basis of the charge sheet which his party had given to the Chief Minister on May 21. Allegations of "corruption and misuse of authority"against Mr Virbhadra Singh have been made in the charge sheet.
He said he would like to apprise the party men about the progress on this issue in the convention of the HVC being held at Solan on July 6.
He said senior general secretary of the HVC, Kewal Ram Chauhan also filed a FIR against Mr Virbhadra Singh on May 7 with the enforcement wing of the police and the party would also ascertain the latest position of the case from the Chief Minister.
The HVC leader said it was a fit case to be referred to the CBI because Mr Dhumal had been speaking against corruption and nepotism.
He was hopeful that now with the uncertainty about continuing of the government has been removed after the June 3 elections to four Assembly seats, Mr Dhumal would have time to take steps to refer the case to the CBI.
Clarifying that he did not intend to withdraw his party’s support to the BJP, Mr Sukh Ram made it clear that he would not take any step which would create political uncertainty in the state and hamper development.His support to the BJP would continue.
He said Mr Virbhadra Singh should come out with documents to prove that he was exonerated by various courts in the alleged land grab cases against him. He said the khair wood scandal of the Virbhadra regime should be referred to the CBI.
Mr Sukh Ram said a committee of the BJP and the HVC should be set up to coordinate day-to-day working.
Mr Sukh Ram said the HVC,which would complete one year of its formation on July 6, would hold a convention at Solan.
He said the HVC had received an overwhelming response of people from all parts of the state and the party secured about 10 per cent votes in the recent Assembly elections.
He said he was against setting up of cement industry in the state as this would cause pollution and also hit tourism.On the other hand,during his tenure as Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh allowed various concessions for the cement industry although during the earlier BJP regime he had been opposing setting up of the cement plants.