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Tuesday, July 21, 1998

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India to go on with N-weapon plan
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 20 — India and the USA today decided to have their fourth round of talks in Washington next month. New Delhi asserted that there was no question of rolling back its nuclear weaponisation programme.
The third round of Indo-US talks covering security, disarmament and non-proliferation issues , which was conducted by the Prime Minister’s special envoy, Mr Jaswant Singh and the US Deputy Secretary of State, Mr Strobe Talbott, was described as "constructive".
A statement of the External Affairs Ministry said the two sides also exchanged views on regional and international developments. "The discussions were marked by a spirit of working together to find a common ground and to narrow gaps in their governments’ respective perceptions", the statement said.
Mr Singh and Mr Talbott held two rounds of discussions today. The two leaders would meet again briefly tomorrow morning before the US delegation leaves for Islamabad. While Mr Singh and Mr Talbott also held one-to-one meeting the experts met separately.
Mr Talbott along with the accompanying US delegation also called on the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, the former Prime Minister, Mr I.K. Gujral. The delegation also met the leaders of the Opposition, Mr Sharad Pawar and Dr Manmohan Singh at a lunch hosted by the Minister of State for External Affairs, Ms Vasundhara Raje. Mr Talbott is also slated to call on the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi tomorrow morning.
Responding to newspersons questions, Mr Talbott said the US President, Mr Bill Clinton had "before May 11 very much looked forward to visiting India later this year, but as announced by the White House and the US government, his plans are now under review".
Sources said that Mr Clinton’s visit did figure in the discussions, but neither side would like to say anything definitive at the moment. An announcement about Mr Clinton’s visit would only be made when the New Delhi and Washington have ironed out differences and something major has been achieved, diplomatic sources pointed out.
India has made it very clear that its stand on having a minimum nuclear deterrent was not negotiable. Sources said that the US insistence on New Delhi immediately signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) without putting forth any conditions was being discussed and it was quite likely that the USA might water down its insistence at a later stage.
Asked whether any progress has been made on the CTBT issue, Mr Talbott evaded a direct reply saying that "all aspects of both the bilateral relations and regional and international security matters were discussed. Both in Washington and Frankfurt, we have established a very wide canvass of what we are seeking to attain."
Describing it as a "follow up round" to the Washington and Frankfurt parleys, an US diplomat said it was "constructive and on-going".
Asked whether the talks resulted in anything tangible, he said that "it is very important to restoring Indo-Us relations to a level and full-spirit and substance that both countries deserve. I don’t want to go into any further details."
Issues relating to dual use of high technology also figured during the talks as India consolidated its position on disarmament issues, sources said.
The six member US delegation besides Mr Talbott comprised General Joseph Ralston, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the American Ambassador to India, Mr Richard F. Celeste, the Special Assistant to the US President, Mr Bruce Reidel,the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Mr Karl Inderfurth, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Non-Proliferation, Mr Robert Einhorn and the Special Adviser for South Asian Affairs, Mr Matt Daley.
The Indian side included the Foreign Secretary, Mr K. Raghunath, the Indian Ambassador to the US, Mr Naresh Chandra and the Joint Secretaries in the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr Alok Prasad and Dr Rakesh Sood.
Gen Ralston called on the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes and met the Air Chief Marshal S.K. Sareen and Admiral Vishnu Bhagat besides the Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Chandrashekar.

Talks with USA on disarmament:
Sharif discusses strategy
ISLAMABAD, July 20 (PTI) — Premier Nawaz Sharif today held discussions with top military officials and Cabinet colleagues on Pakistan’s strategy for crucial talks with the USA on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament issues amid media reports that Islamabad may sign the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) but will not ratify it now.
The meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) was hurriedly summoned to give final touches to country's standpoint before US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott arrives here tomorrow after holding similar discussions with the Indian leaders in New Delhi.
The USA has been asking India and Pakistan to sign and ratify the CTBT "immediately and unconditionally."
Pakistan will explore the possibility of signing the CTBT without ratifying it in a bid to keep its option open in view of any future Indian action which might cause concern for the country, English daily The News, quoting an unnamed senior official, reported.
"If India goes on to explode another device, Pakistan will still have the option of matching this if it does not ratify the treaty", the official said.
The DCC, which includes Army Chief General Jehangir Karamat apart from the chiefs of the navy and the air force, met for the second time within a span of four days.
It had met on July 16 for the first time after Pakistan’s nuclear tests on May 28 and 30 to discuss the security situation in the wake of the country’s deepening economic crisis following international sanctions and pressure from major powers led by the USA to sign and ratify the CTBT.
Apart from Gen Karamat, who is also the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, and the naval and air chiefs, senior ministers, including the Foreign Minister, the Interior Minister and the Finance Minister, attended the meeting.

MPs clash on Cauvery issue
Walkouts in Parliament
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 20 — The Cauvery water dispute rocked Parliament today. Members from Tamil Nadu pressurised the Government to notify the interim award of the Cauvery Water Tribunal. This demand was opposed by members from Karnataka. Members from Kerala emphasised that any settlement on the dispute could not be taken without involving their state.
The Government on its part maintained in the Lok Sabha that the issue was scheduled to come up for hearing before the Supreme Court tomorrow and it was not in a position to give any assurance now as the matter was sub-judice.
The All India Anna DMK (AIADMK) supremo, Ms Jayalalitha Jayaram, who has given an ultimatum to the Government to notify the Cauvery Tribunal’s interim award by Tuesday or face "disastrous consequences" was quoted as saying in Chennai that the AIADMK and its allies would chalk out their future course of action after the Centre’s response to their demand was known.
The Bharatiya Janata Party President, Mr Kushabahu Thakre, however, did not see any threat to the Government and hoped the Centre would take an appropriate action to solve the issue amicably in the national interest.
He felt that Ms Jayalalitha’s strong sentiments did not amount to blackmailing and was quoted as saying in Jaipur that "she is speaking about her problems and there is nothing wrong in doing this in a democracy."
Meanwhile, an all party parliamentary delegation from Karnataka met the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, here today and submitted a seven-page memorandum to him in which they said the implementation of any draft scheme on the vexed issue without consultation with all the concerned states was bound to create serious problems on the ground besides law and order situation in the Basin areas.
The 30-member parliamentary delegation, led by senior Janata Dal leader and former union minister, Mr S.R.Bommai, told the Prime Minister not to bow to the pressure of Ms Jayalalitha and consider Karnataka’s demand for an amicable and negotiated settlement to the dispute.
The memorandum said the interim award of the Tribunal, under which Karnataka has to supply Tamil Nadu with 210 tmc feet of water annually, was "vague, uncertain and hence not implementable and no scheme can be drawn up without setting right the uncertainties in the order."
In a veiled warning to the fragile BJP-led coalition, Mr Bommai hoped that the Government would be aware that there were 16 MPs belonging to the Lok Shakti and the BJP from Karnataka.
Mr Bommai told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister that Mr Vajpayee had assured the delegation that he would look into the demands of both states and take an "appropriate decision".
Members from Tamil Nadu took up an aggressive posture in both the Houses of Parliament and made a vociferous demand for implementation of the interim award of the Cauvery Tribunal.
Rajya Sabha members from the state, including those from the AIADMK, DMK and the TMC, staged a walk-out from the House accusing the Government of being callous in not notifying the Cauvery water sharing scheme. They were dissatisfied with the assurance of the leader of the House, Mr Sikander Bakht, that he would convey the concerns of the members to the Prime Minister. The House also witnessed a walk-out by Karnataka member S.M. Krishna of the Congress who protested against his not being allowed to raise a point of order when Tamil Maanila Congress member Jayanthi Natarajan was speaking on the issue.
In the Lok Sabha, where the DMK members walked out twice protesting against the Centre’s inaction and silence on the issue, the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, said the Government was not in a position to give any assurance now as the matter was before the Supreme Court. He, however, promised to convey their feeling to the Prime Minister.
Tempers ran high during zero hour in the Lok Sabha when members from Tamil Nadu sought to raise the controversial and sensitive issue. Karnataka members contested virtually every point raised by the Tamil Nadu side and at one stage they even rushed to the well of the House.
Mr Vaiko of the MDMK, who was the most vociferous in putting forward Tamil Nadu’s demand, while raising the issue in the zero hour said injustice had been done to the state for the past so many years and the Government should not delay taking a decision on the matter. He said Tamil Nadu was not interested in further talks on the issue.
Leader of the AIADMK S.R.Muthiah criticised the United Front government, of which the DMK and TMC were constituents, and charged them with betraying the people of Tamil Nadu. Mr Muthiah wanted justice from the Government today itself and warned that he did not know what would happen tomorrow.
Mr T.R. Balu while contesting the claim of Mr Muthiah urged the Centre not to seek any further adjournment in the Supreme Court tomorrow. He wanted to know the instructions given by the Government to the Attorney General.
Dr Subramanian Swamy said unless the Government had become "impotent" it should not seek adjournment in this case in the Supreme Court tomorrow. The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs took exception to the language used by Dr Swamy and contested that it was unparliamentary. Dr Swamy said by impotent he meant the Government was powerless. The Chair ruled that the word would be expunged if it was found unparliamentary.
Mr R.L. Jalappa of the Congress and the V.Dhananjay Kumar of the BJP said Karnataka had been releasing the required quantity of water to Tamil Nadu every year. Mr Jalappa said the Chief Ministers of the four southern states should hold a meeting on the issue.
Mr Dhananjay Kumar said the National Agenda for Governance had talked of a national river water policy and any decision on the Cauvery waters should be taken after the policy was announced. He reminded Mr Muthiah and Mr Vaiko that they were parties to the National Agenda.
Mr Mullapally Ramachandran of the Congress said the river was flowing through his constituency in Kerala and no amicable settlement would be possible without the state’s participation in the talks.
Mr C.H. Vijay Shanker of the BJP said the issue was being politicised and the Cauvery Water Tribunal should be quashed.
In the Rajya Sabha, members from Tamil Nadu, irrespective of their party affiliations, demanded immediate central notification for the implementation of the interim award. The Karnataka members also united to contest the suggestion and said the notification should not be issued without considering the view points of all the four states—-Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry.
The Karnataka members said Tamil Nadu was trying to exploit the weakness of the coalition government with the AIADMK demanding its pound of flesh. They asked the Prime Minister not to succumb to the pressure and rush through the notification

Tandon's remarks, Badal under pressure
From A. S. Prashar
Tribune News Service
LUDHIANA, July 20 — Pressure is growing on the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to take disciplinary action against the Minister for Local Bodies, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, for his public criticism of the Akali stand on the issue of Udham Singh Nagar district.
A large number of Akali ministers and senior party functionaries have conveyed to the Chief Minister at Chandigarh and Ludhiana during Mr Badal's visit here yesterday that they viewed the remarks of Mr Tandon on this sensitive issue as "direct criticism" of the policy being pursued by the Chief Minister who is also the Akali Dal chief.
According to Dal sources here today, Mr Tandon's remarks that the Akali Dal should not spearhead the agitation for the retention of Udham Singh Nagar district in UP was an "attempt to undermine and sabotage the Akali-BJP alliance". They are of the view that when the matter was being dealt with the Prime Minister himself and the Punjab Chief Minister had been taking up the issue at different fora, there was no occasion for Mr Tandon to strike a discordant note by publicly airing his views.
It is pointed out that even the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, had written to the Prime Minister saying that there was merit in the Akali stand on the issue which should be examined closely.
The Akali sources here say that if Mr Tandon does not share the views of the Akali leadership and his ministerial colleagues, on the issue, he should quit the cabinet or, Mr Badal should ask him to step down.
Mr Badal is also being asked to take up the issue with the BJP high command in Delhi. It is pointed out that it was because of the Akali support that the BJP was able to win as many as 18 seats in the last year's assembly poll.
The Akali-BJP alliance was based on mutual respect and accommodation for each other's point of view. It would, therefore, be in the fitness of things if the BJP high command reined in persons like Mr Tandon and Mrs Luxmi Kanta Chawla, another BJP MLA, who were given to publicly airing their differences with the government policies.
By voicing his differences openly, Mr Tandon had "undermined and weakened" the Akali stand on the Udham Singh Nagar district issue, the sources say.
Mr Tandon, when contacted in Chandigarh, however, said all that he had stated at Amritsar two days ago was that while the Punjab BJP was extending full moral support to the residents of Udham Singh Nagar district, the Akali Dal should not "spearhead" the agitation on the issue because it would not be in the interests of the Punjabi settlers themselves. We denied that by saying so, he had weakened the Akali position in any way.

Strike hits Delhi health services
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 20 — Health services in the Capital were paralysed as over 70,000 employees belonging to central and Delhi Government-run hospitals and dispensaries today began their indefinite strike.
They are demanding enhanced patient care allowance, washing allowance and three time-bound promotions.
Last-ditch efforts by the Union Health Ministry to prevent the strike failed when talks between representatives of the Joint Council, spearheading the stir, and the Union Health Minister, Mr Dalit Ezhilimalai ended unsuccessfully on Sunday.
Employees' joint council co-convener Ramakrishan said the employees were forced to agitate following the government’s failure to give them (the employees) any "concrete assurance."
While appealing to the employees not to join the stir, the Union Health Minister said the Health Ministry had forwarded a proposal on their demands for approval to the group of ministers constituted by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The strike affected intensive care units, outpatient departments and sanitation services in hospital and dispensaries as the employees on strike comprise safai karamcharis, administrative clerks, laboratory assistants, X-ray and eco-technicians, dressers and the catering staff.
"The strike has affected the services in the hospital", Delhi Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, said, adding that the state government "could not do much in this matter."
Mr Ramakrishan said though the joint council was ready for negotiations it would not call off the strike unless there was an "honourable settlement."
Long queues of patients were seen outside the outpatient department of hospitals run by the Centre, Delhi Government, New Delhi Municipal Council, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Employees State Insurance Corporation as doctors, nurses and medical students were drafted for emergency services.
Many patients were seen pleading with the doctors not to discharge them and tempers ran high on many occasions.
Mangat Singh, who had come from Rohtak, for treatment had to return disappointed as he could not convince the doctors that he had to be admitted in the hospital for treatment.
Ms Kalyani, clinging to her two-year-old daughter, said "My child is running high temperature for the past seven days and my neighbourhood doctor advised that I should admit her in a hospital. But here the doctors are refusing to even diagnose her, what to talk of admitting her."
A 50-year-old, Kuldeep Singh, who had to undergo surgery, today was surprised by the discharge slip issued by the hospital authorities early in the morning.
He said "till yesterday, the doctors were saying that I should get myself operated as early as possible, but, in the morning they have issued the discharge slip."
Hospital authorities said they had postponed many planned surgeries and non-critical hospitalised patients were discharged. They said this measure had to be taken to meet with the contingency and give prompt attention to emergency and critical patients.
However, relatives of many patients alleged that the doctors were slow in reacting to the emergency cases.

JMM (Soren) joins RLM
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 20 — The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Soren) today aligned with the recently launched Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM), claiming the front to be the saviour of backwards and down-troddens.
JMM (S) president Shibu Soren announced the decision at a press conference in the presence of the morcha convener and Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav. Mr Shibu Soren was present with party’s 18 MLAs from Bihar who are lending outside support to the Rabri Devi government.
Addressing the media, Mr Soren said that his party had joined the front to make it an effective tool to take up the cause of the backwards and the down-trodden. He was highly critical of the BJP and said that the RLM would emerge as a stronger political alternative to the BJP and that the front’s rally at Patna slated for July 29 would herald a new era of social movement against the communal forces.
Welcoming Mr Soren’s decision, morcha convener Mulayam Singh Yadav said this would strengthen the new front but also help in its endeavour to fight.

Centre rejects HP recommendation
ST status for trans-Giri residents
Tribune News Service
SHIMLA, July 20 — The Centre has rejected the recommendation of the Himachal Pradesh Government to provide the Scheduled Tribe status to residents of the trans-Giri area in Sirmour district.
This was stated by the Food and Supplies Minister in written reply to a question tabled by Mr Harshwardhan Chauhan, Dr Prem Singh and Mr Gangu Ram Musaffir (Congress) in the Vidhan Sabha today.
The minister said the matter was taken up with the Centre at various levels before the recommendation was turned down.
The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, informed the House that he had urged the Chairman of the National Council of Teachers' Education to reconsider the decision of the council to derecognise the B.Ed course being run by Himachal Pradesh University.
He told the House that during his recent visit to Delhi, he had detailed discussions on the matter with the chairman of the council, Dr Rajput, whom he told that the norms should be relaxed for the hill state like Himachal Pradesh.
Mr Dhumal was replying to a question tabled by Mr Vipin Parmar (BJP). The Education Minister, Mr I.D. Dhiman, earlier said the council had rejected the plea of the university to allow it to go ahead with the increased strength of B.Ed. seats. The council had raised objections that the university did not have the required infrastructure to teach the increased strength of students.
The Chief Minister warned that strict action would be taken against such industrial units which did not take adequate steps to prevent pollution. Such industries would not be allowed to play with the health of people.
The Chief Minister was replying to a question of Mr Lajja Ram (Congress) who said certain industries in the Baddi-Barotiwala industrial area were polluting Sarsa river. The member claimed that the bureaucracy was misleading the government on the issue.
In written reply to a question tabled by Mr Dharampal, Mr Kaul Singh, Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, Mr Singhi Ram and Mr Ram Lal Thakur (all Cong), the Chief Minister informed the House that 2944 criminal cases had been registered by the police from April 1 to June 15. He denied that there was any increase in such cases in the state.
The Chief Minister said as many as 34 cases of murder, 28 of rape and 176 of theft had been registered during the period. Kangra district led with seven murders, while Shimla district reported seven rape cases.
In written reply to a question of Mr Harsh Mahajan (Cong), the Chief Minister said 27 candidates were sponsored by the Tourism Department for being trained as pilots. A sum of Rs 13.55 lakh was spent on their training. Twelve of them have been employed by various agencies.
The House expressed concern over the inordinate delay in clearance of cases for transfer of forest land for the construction of roads by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and called for effective remedial steps to ensure the early completion of roads which had been held up on this account.
Cutting across party lines the members urged the government to devise some method to tackle the problem so that development activities were not hampered because of the Forest Conservation Act under which it was mandatory to seek the prior approval of the Centre for diverting forest land to non-forestry use. They demanded that the powers for approving transfer of forest land for development projects should be decentralised to ensure the expeditious disposal of the cases.
However, the Chief Minister, while appreciating the concern of the members, said too much decentralisation could negate the very objective for which the Act was enforced. He said better course would be that the Forest Department prepared a list of pending cases and submitted it to the ministry so that these could be pursued vigorously. He said if need arose the Forest Minister could take up the matter with Mr Suresh Prabu, Union Minister for Environment and Forests, personally.
Mr Mohinder Singh, Public Works Minister, informed that work on as many as 306 roads was held for want of forest clearance and the number of such cases was increasing.
Earlier, moving his resolution on the issue Mr Kaul Singh said that the Forest Conservation Act had become a major hurdle in the way of construction of roads in the hill state where most of the land had been clarified as forest land.
The House also discussed the situation arising due to the increasing population of silver carp fish in the Gobind Sagar reservoir.