Friday, November 27, 1998
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CMs to discuss price rise NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — Facing intense pressure from allies, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will hold a meeting with state Chief Ministers here tomorrow to discuss measures to check the spiralling prices of essential commodities that dominated the just-concluded assembly elections. Veerappan evades police dragnet SALEM, Nov 26 — Notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan and his associates, now on the prowl, will soon be nabbed as the brigand was in poor health and his food supply cut off, a top police official said. |
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S. K.
Jain cleared in FERA case |
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Purity in public life essential: PM NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said stern measures would have to be taken to check the criminal-politician nexus and create an atmosphere wherein people holding high offices were allowed to discharge their duty honestly and without fear or favour. Holistic
approach to women's empowerment must, says Manmohan Scientists
divided on promotion issue PIL
against firing range dismissed Poisoning
victims discharged BIS
Joint Director held for graft
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CMs to discuss price rise NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI) — Facing intense pressure from allies, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will hold a meeting with state Chief Ministers here tomorrow to discuss measures to check the spiralling prices of essential commodities that dominated the just-concluded assembly elections. The meeting takes place a month after BJP ally, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee quit the coordination committee of the BJP and its allies to protest the centre’s failure to convene such a meeting in the wake of sky-rocketing prices, especially of onions. Her stand was later supported by a number of other allies. The Prime Minister was reportedly of the view that a conference of Chief Ministers before the elections might only give them a platform to trades charges. Assuring Ms Mamata Banerjee that a chief ministers meeting would be held after the elections, Mr Vajpayee directed that a meeting of chief secretaries be called to discuss the situation. The state officials met on November 7 following which some short-term measures were announced by the government. Tomorrow’s meeting will review the latest price situation in which a moderate drop has been registered in the prices of onions, potatoes and edible oils. It will consider steps to tighten enforcement of consumer laws. Following a sharp rise in prices, inflation for the week ending November increased to 8.85 per cent compared to the same period last year. In view of the sustained rise in price of primary food articles, inflation was the highest since September 23, 1995. The price rise has been reflected in the consumer price index for industrial workers, which increased to 16.3 per cent in September against 8.2 per cent during the same period a year ago. According to Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, prices of vegetables as reflected in the primary food articles had increased by over 200 per cent during October this year against the corresponding period last year. Besides the meeting of chief secretaries, a meeting of a group of economic ministers was also held on October 31 to review the situation. Following the meeting the government decided to remove restrictions on essential commodities movement and extend the ban on onion exports till January 31 as part of the nine-point strategy to check runaway prices. It also decided to provide one-time additional allocation of rice, wheat, sugar and palmolein for needy states. State governments were
asked to take stringent action against hoarders and black
marketeers and initiate market intervention in a
"transparent" manner to deal with skyrocketing
prices in the short term. |
Ex-civil servant’s anti-graft drive HYDERABAD, Nov 26 (PTI) — He quit a lucrative career in medicine to join the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) but left that too, finding little scope in either to whet his appetite for social work. Dr Jayaprakash Narayan chucked it all to launch a people’s movement. With a zeal to build national consensus on fundamental political and administrative reforms, Dr Narayan has launched a movement to fight corruption in daily life. “I had this strong desire to make a humble contribution towards transforming the society, to channelise public concerns into concrete actions”, says the soft-spoken yet determined Narayan who had served as Additional Secretary to former Chief Minister late N.T. Rama Rao and Secretary to former Governor Krishan Kant. “We need an agenda and movement to take people away from despair, cynicism and fear towards optimism, hope and collective action to build national consensus on fundamental political and administrative reforms”, he says. Ever since he quit the IAS job to take a plunge into voluntary mission for wide-ranging democratic reforms in the country, it has been an arduous task for Narayan: first to stimulate a debate on deepening crises facing the governance apparatus and then mobilising like-minded and public-spirited intellectuals to join the movement. He floated a voluntary organisation “Lok Satta” (power to people) last year aimed at harnessing people’s power for the rejuvenation of the republic. “Corruption in public life, criminalisation of politics, concealment and secrecy in government, excessive centralisation and inaccessible and tardy legal processes have all contributed to near-collapse of our governance structure”, Narayan laments. Two months ago, he formally launched an anti-corruption campaign involving “collective and informed assertion” by citizens’ groups in various localities to improve quality of public services and tackle “deep-rooted” corruption affecting the day-to-day life of the common man. The campaign entails people’s collective assertion on specific issues of deficient public services like less measurement of petrol and diesel at petrol bunks, cheating at ration shops, blackmarketing of essential commodities, municipal, revenue, civic and police matters. Democratisation of political parties, separation of executive and legislature, safeguards against executive abuse, genuine decentralisation of governance, efficient and responsive bureaucracy and speedy justice system are the focus areas for the nation-wide campaign, he said. The groups would also take up issues that confront public in its day-to-day life, including monitoring ration cards, fair-price shops and supply of essential commodities, patta transfers and verification of land particulars. “In the subsequent phases, we will motivate people to assert civic rights, including electoral registration. Issues pertaining to farmers, house tax assessment, water and telephone connection and public distribution system will also be highlighted”, he said. These groups help people closely monitor governance of local institutions like schools, hospitals, ration shops, revenue offices, panchayats, municipalities, police stations, The Lok Satta was engaged in bringing out series of manuals on government services, sought by people on a day-to-day basis, which would be distributed among people widely to promote awareness about their rights, says Narayan. “By organising
stake-holder groups and articulating collective concerns,
we believe there will be vast improvement in functioning
of these local institutions”. |
Veerappan evades police dragnet SALEM, Nov 26 (PTI) — Notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan and his associates, now on the prowl, will soon be nabbed as the brigand was in poor health and his food supply cut off, a top police official said. Denying reports that Veerappan had been injured in the head and leg, Ashok Kumar Doss, Superintendent of Police, Special Task Force, said a thick fog and heavy downpour had helped the brigand to evade the dragnet of STF personnel once again. Combing operations would be carried out round-the-clock notwithstanding the inclement weather, he added. The STF chief said the poacher-turned-sandalwood smuggler was spotted at least four times in the Sathyamangalam forest areas. But even as the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu STF personnel closed in on the brigand in the Kakiyam forests, dense fog and downpour prevented them from moving further into the jungle. Veerappan and his men escaped under the cover of the thick fog, the SP said. Meanwhile, one of the
Karnataka STF men slipped and fell into a deep ravine. He
was later rescued and hospitalised. |
S. K. Jain cleared in FERA case NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI) — Mr S K Jain, an accused in the Rs 65 crore Jain hawala case, was today discharged by a city court in a FERA violation case involving a transaction of Rs 5 crore with Dubai-based hawala dealer Amir Bhai. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said: "I come to the conclusion that there is no evidence which is being capable of being converted into legal evidence later on during subsequent proceedings after framing the charge". "On material placed before the court no strong suspicion can even be raised against the accused that he has committed an offence", she said in her 16-paged order which was passed in respect of one of the seven complaints pending against Mr Jain. The Enforcement Directorate had in its complaint filed in March, 1995, alleged that Mr Jain had received foreign exchange from Dubai-based businessman Mohammed Amiruddin (Amir Bhai) in February, 1993, and later returned it to him without any permission from the Reserve Bank of India. The prosecution was launched against Mr Jain on the basis of an entry made on February 4, 1993 in a planner diary and statements of Mr Jain. The entry read "F
crores Amir Bhai" and the ‘F’ was
interpreted as "five" by the Central Forensic
Laboratory. However, the court did not find the entry
admissible as evidence, observing "even the entry is
not complete". |
Purity in public life essential: PM NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said stern measures would have to be taken to check the criminal-politician nexus and create an atmosphere wherein people holding high offices were allowed to discharge their duty honestly and without fear or favour. Underlining the need for carrying out administrative reforms, Mr Vajpayee said: "There has to be purity in public life. Time has come to take steps to check falling standards of values and bringing about moral reawakening in the country." The Prime Minister, who was conferred the "Honest Man of the Year Award, 1997" by Vice-President Krishan Kant on behalf of the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, said the people had a right to know about happenings within the government and efforts had to be made to bring about transparency in the administration. Mr Vajpayee, who was presented a shield and a citation, returned a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to Sulabh International saying the money be used for people’s betterment. The Prime Minister regretted that despite resources and capabilities available in the country, India had failed to make the requisite progress as people at the top had failed to set the right example for the common man. The government, he said, would spare no efforts to prevent honest officials from being transferred under pressure and to create an atmosphere in which they could function without fear or favour. Returning the cash
component of the award, Mr Vajpayee said: "I return
the cash to Sulabh and leave it to them to use the money
for the benefit of the society. The Prime Minister said
he was confident and sure that Sulabh International would
utilise the money properly. |
Seminar on
women empowerment NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — The issue of women empowerment cannot be viewed as a product but a process, according to the former Union Finance Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh. Addressing a seminar on “women’s empowerment: an Asian experience”, organised by the Centre for Social Research in the Capital, he said one-time resource supports were not the means to achieve the objective. Correcting distortions and discrimination in the social system thereby integrating women in the social, political and economic mainstream was required.” The former minister said: “In spite of the fact that women have the highest credit worthiness, yet there are very few credit options available. This is primarily because women have no collaterals to obtain credit from commercial banking systems. Therefore, initiatives to create a micro credit system whereby women can avail loans without collaterals is very important.” Dr Mohini Giri, former chairperson of the National Commission for Women, said “women empowerment is not all about working with women to create greater awareness about their rights, but equally important is addressing the attitudes of men towards empowerment of women.” Dr Ranjana Kumari, director of the centre, said any initiative to empower women would prove to be successful if there was cooperation and information exchange between non-government organisations. This would enable enhancement of entrepreneurial skills within the NGOs to the ultimate benefit of women. Participants in the
seminar urged donor agencies to change the criteria for
funding so that it was more responsive to the needs of
the communities in which they operated. |
Scientists divided on promotion issue NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI) — The recent government notification that limits promotional avenues to scientists not working in “strategic” departments of space, atomic energy and defence has created a division in India’s scientific community. Those working in these three areas will continue to enjoy a fast track promotional system and can reach the level of scientist-H before retiring. But scientists in eight “non-strategic” departments such as biotechnology, industrial research and oceanography will have to wait for three to five years before being assessed for promotion to the next grade. The highest level one can reach is scientist-G, one grade below scientist-H. The notification was issued by the Department of Personnel after rejecting an earlier suggestion by the Fifth Pay Commission that scientists in all government agencies should enjoy a uniform pay structure and promotional opportunities. The joint action forum (JAF) representing the affected scientific departments says the government, through the notification, has legitimised caste system in Indian science. What it finds more annoying is the suggestion that a member from space, atomic energy or defence department must be in the committee assessing the work of scientists in the other eight agencies. A spokesman for JAF said the forum was considering legal action to end discrimination among staff of different scientific agencies in the government. The forum officials charge the government with trying to hand over the running of scientific departments to bureaucrats by ensuring that no scientist can go beyond ‘grade G’, the equivalent of a Joint Secretary in the Indian Administrative Service. Forum officials point out that the notification coming from the Ministry of Personnel and not from the Ministry of Science and Technology — the nodal ministry for affairs pertaining to scientific departments — is a warning that the control of scientific departments will eventually pass from scientists to bureaucrats. “Three of the eight
scientific departments are already run by
administrators”, one forum official said adding
“it is quite possible that other departments will go
the same way”. |
PIL against firing range dismissed NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court today said there was no need to shift the Nicholson Firing Range of the Army in West Delhi and expressed satisfaction at the safety measures taken by the defence authorities. Disposing of a public interest litigation by Inderpuri Residents Forum (IRF), a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice K.S. Gupta said "we are satisfied with the additional affidavit and the photograph of the firing range submitted by the central government. There is no need to shift it." IRF in a petition moved through their counsel Mahua Roy Chowdhary had sought shifting of the firing range claiming that stray bullets from there posed a threat to the people of adjoining Inderpuri Colony and one woman had died and 18 people sustained injuries during the past few years. The petitioner had also sought adequate compensation for the victims and fixing of the responsibility on Army officials for the alleged death of the woman and injuries to others. However, the court found the additional safety measures "satisfactory" and did not agree with the contention raised in the petition. The affidavit filed by
Delhi area GSO-I Col Rakesh Sharma through Additional
Solicitor General (ASG) Madan Lokur, said "foolproof
additional safety measures have been taken at the firing
range and there is no possibility of the bullets going
astray during firing practice." |
Poisoning victims discharged NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — Over a hundred persons admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences and Safdarjung hospital here on Wednesday forenoon with complaints of nausea and vomiting have been discharged. Nearly 300 slum-dwellers of Gautam Nagar JJ cluster, including women and children complained of vomiting, nausea, headache and tremors soon after consuming sweets distributed to them by ‘unidentified’ party workers on the morning of the assembly polls. Doctors suspect that the sweets might have been laced with an Atropine-like substance. Atropine is the active ingredient in the dhatura plant. The Medical Superintendent
of Safdarjung Hospital, Dr R N Salhan told The Tribune
that 47 patients under observation were discharged on
Thursday morning. Of the 57 patients under observation in
Safdrajung, 10 were discharged on Wednesday evening. |
BIS Joint Director held for
graft NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — The anti-corruption branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Joint Director of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Mumbai, for graft. The complainant is a
Managing Director of a private firm and engaged in the
manufacturing of welding electrodes. He had applied for
an ISI mark certificate required for supply of material
to government organisations, a bureau release said. |
BJP infighting may intensify NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — The impending poll debacle in Delhi and the inability to honour an understanding reached with the Indian National Lok Dal leader, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has sharpened inner contradictions in the Bharatiya Janata Party camp in Delhi. If the trend projected by the exit poll be true, then for Mrs Sushma Swaraj it will be a painful climbdown from being a Union Cabinet Minister (that too dealing with satellite television and telecommunications, inter alia) to leading the Opposition benches in a Vidhan Sabha which does not enjoy control over law and order in the area of its jurisdiction, namely Delhi. Mrs Swaraj is yet to resign her South Delhi Lok Sabha seat and some of her supporters are hoping that she will be inducted back into the Union Cabinet. She has the backing of Home Minister L K Advani. However, for this to happen she has to trample over the desire of her predecessor Sahib Singh Verma who had been promised a Cabinet berth by none less than Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, as also come into clash with the other leader of Delhi, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism. As for Mr Verma, his claim for a Cabinet berth has been weakened because he had declined to be sworn in as minister, saying that he wanted to ensure the victory of the BJP in Delhi first. Supporters of Mrs Sushma Swaraj have started blaming both Mr Verma and Mr Khurana for the poll reverses. As the results start trickling in on Saturday, the bickering within the BJP may sharpen. A section close to Mrs Swaraj may even make a demand for "action" against both Mr Verma and Mr Khurana. Mr Vajpayee, however, will need Mr Khurana’s services for more than one reason — the primary one being to assuage the feelings of the INLD chief Mr Om Prakash Chautala, who had been given to understand by the BJP leadership that after the Delhi elections, the BJP would pull the rug from under the feet of Mr Bansi Lal in Haryana and make way for Mr Chautala. Though Mr Chautala’s party contested the last General Election against the BJP-HVP combine on being influenced by the Akali Dal leader, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and Mr Khurana, the INLD with its four MPs was one of the first to extend its support to the BJP government at the Centre. Sources in the INLD point out that while the BJP has been trying to placate its other allies with ministerial berths at the Centre, the feelings of INLD, which has extended support to Mr Vajpayee without any conditions, are being ignored. Worse, commitments made after the INLD’s Jind rally in mid-October are also being sought to be pushed under the carpet. It may be recalled that in October the INLD had made a demand for the ouster of Mr Bansi Lal. Later, the BJP leadership struck a deal — the INLD was allotted seats along with its "spectacle" symbol in Delhi and in Rajasthan other allies, including the Shiromani Akali Dal, were offered seats but had to contest on the BJP symbol. Some allies like the Samata, Trinamool Congress and Lok Shakti contested against the BJP on their own symbols. After the Jind rally, to placate the INLD, the BJP leadership had sent a signal that the Chief Minister of Haryana would be changed within a period of three months. The INLD, which was peeved at the appointment of Mrs Sushma Swaraj (whom they consider an ally of Mr Bansi Lal because her husband is a Haryana Vikas Party Rajya Sabha member) has been waiting for this understanding to be honoured. Now the Sushma Swaraj-Sahib Singh Verma-Madan Lal Khurana imbroglio may have its repercussions in terms of ruffled feathers in the Chautala camp which, in turn, will send tremors in the Shiromani Akali Dal camp. The SAD which was responsible for the INLD’s ties with BJP is yet to get a favourable response on the Udham Singh Nagar issue. Observers feel following
the infighting which is brewing in the Delhi BJP, moves
will be afoot to oust both Mr Verma and Mr Khurana from
the important positions they hold in the party. |
No snap poll, says BJP
spokesman NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — Dismissing exit poll results and claiming party’s victory in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP vice-president, Mr K.L. Sharma today said the outcome of the assembly elections would have no impact on the Vajpayee government. Addressing mediapersons, Mr Sharma said the BJP was confident that it would get a majority in "Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh". "There is no question of mid-term poll", Mr Sharma said adding that assembly and parliamentary elections were "two different things". No government at the Centre had ever resigned in the wake of adverse results in assembly elections. On the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statement on the possibility of a mid-term in Lucknow yesterday, Mr Sharma said he had since talked to the Prime Minister on the matter. Even if exit poll proved to be true, it would only prove that the "anti-incumbency" factor was at play, Mr Sharma pointed out. In that case too the Congress would be a loser as it would mean it had been voted out in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram, which together had 360 seat against a total of 270 seats in Delhi and Rajasthan, the BJP leader said. The outcome of the elections would be discussed at the party level as well as at the coordination committee of the allies after the official announcement of the results. Mr Sharma said the BJP had
demanded repoll in 70 polling booths-19 in Madhya
Pradesh, 27 in Rajasthan, 23 in Bihar and one in Assam. |
No hurry to form govt Cong NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — The Congress, perhaps, buoyed by the results of exit poll, today stated it may attempt to give a stable government at the Centre in the event of the fall of the BJP-led coalition. However, the party would not destabilise the government. It would wait and watch what impact the poll results would have on the BJP and its allies. A slight shift in the Congress stand is evident as the party had always maintained that in the event of the fall of the Vajpayee government, it would discharge its "constitutional responsibility". The Congress also stated that it would not move a motion of no-confidence against the Vajpayee government. The party’s stand came in response to questions at the daily briefing whether there was a proposal to move the motion in the winter session of Parliament starting on November 30. "The Congress will not be a destabilising factor. We will see what impact the poll outcome has on the BJP and its allies,’’ a party spokesman said. "In the event of the collapse of the BJP-led coalition due to internal contradictions, the Congress may take support of like-minded secular parties in staking claim to form the next government". Party spokesman, Mani Shankar Aiyar said no talks were on with the BJP allies in toppling the present government to form a Congress government at the Centre. The Congress Working Committee would meet after the election results to finalise its future political strategy. Mr Aiyar said the exit poll results indicated that verdict in the assembly elections was "anti-BJP and not anti-incumbency’’. The vote was as much against the state governments run by the BJP as the BJP-led coalition at the Centre. Elaborating, he said the
anti-incumbency factor was evident in the BJP-ruled
states of Rajasthan and Delhi. It was not so in the
Congress-ruled state of Madhya Pradesh where the fight
was neck and neck. |
More than 100 bogus voters held NEW DELHI, Nov 26 — At least 100 bogus voters from Haryana were arrested from different parts of the capital yesterday. The arrested persons reportedly belonged to Meham, Rohtak, Sonepat, Jind and Gurgaon The Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West), Mr Satyendra Garg, said that seven persons were arrested from the border with Haryana. It was difficult to say which party the men supported. Eighty persons were
arrested from South-West Delhi. Of these 35 persons were
arrested from Delhi Cantonment area. |
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| Police kills Dawood aide MUMBAI: An alleged member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang was killed in an encounter with the police here on Thursday. Jaffer Muzzafar Khan, alias Kalia (38), believe to be a hitman of Chhota Shakeel, a close lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim, died on way to hospital after the shoot-out near a bank at Nagpada in South Mumbai. — PTI Militants snatch firearms Student stabbed by
schoolmates Woman with bogus
passports held |
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