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| Wednesday, February 23, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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‘Subversion
Pak’s form of war’ Shanta Kumar defends review of
Constitution Exit poll predicts NDA sweep Lawyers to abstain from work on
Feb 24 Air defence ship to be built at
Cochin Transparency in NGOs must: PM 3 gas agencies for Kangra soon |
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India, Morocco sign four
pacts Maneka releases report on
disasters W. Bengal assures Deepa of help
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‘Subversion Pak’s form of
war’ NEW DELHI, Feb 22 — The Government has begun a concerted global effort to create "powerful opinion" against terrorism and trans-border crime and charged Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with aiding and abetting it against India. Inaugurating the two-day conference of Directors-General of Police, Chiefs of Crime Investigation Department and Forensic Sciences, the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, asked the police to join hands with the Defence forces to combat both organised crime and cross-border terrorism. "The dividing line between organised crime and proxy war in the form of state-sponsored terrorism is getting thinner and thinner. For this reason, too, it has become imperative for all of us to realise that our duty is no less responsible than that of our jawans on India’s frontiers’’, he said. Mr Advani said that terrorism and trans-border crime was not only a menace to India but also to the global order itself. He said the Government has begun a concerted effort to create a powerful opinion against them in international circles. He also expressed happiness that the United Nations was finalising a comprehensive international convention against transnational organised crime at Vienna, Austria. Mr Advani said while petty crime could not be ignored but when crime assumed organised form it has challenged the authority of the state and also posed a threat to the stability of society. He said whenever organised crime challenged the authority of the state, it became, wittingly or unwittingly, an accomplice of anti-national forces. In this context, Mr Advani referred to the 1993 Bombay serial blasts the recent hijack of an Indian Airlines aircraft and extremist activities in the North-east and said that these "show a clear pattern of networking among various anti-India forces’’. "The enemy has changed his war strategy. Terrorism and subversion have become his preferred form of war against India’’ he said, adding that humiliating defeat in Kargil conflict had further increased Pakistan’s frustration and desperation. Turning to the work being done by the CBI, which is organising the conference, Mr Advani said that he would like to see closer cooperation between the state crime branch, its CID and the CBI. The Home Minister also cautioned about the growth of cyber crime and asked the security agencies to build foolproof systems to protect the country’s economic assets and security-related information from the machinations of this new breed of criminals. He also urged the state to limit the number of cases to be entrusted to the CBI and asked them to set up professionally competent crime detection units whose work gets recognition both from the courts and people. Earlier, the CBI Chief, Mr R.K. Raghavan, said that the CBI’s relationship with state forces was based on equality and respect for their professional autonomy and excellence. On combating cyber
crimes, he said the CBI would like to play a leadership
role till state CIDs acquired the infrastructure and
trained personnel for the task. |
Shanta Kumar defends review of
Constitution NEW DELHI, Feb 22 — On the eve of the Budget session of Parliament, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Mr Shanta Kumar, defended the move to review the Constitution. "Why is it that we are even afraid of an honest introspection ? Why are parties in the Opposition shying away from an assessment?" Mr Shanta Kumar, said today. Saying that he personally favours the presidential form of government, Mr Shanta Kumar, emphasised that since the Prime Minister had assured that the basic structure of the Constitution would not be tinkered with, there was no reason to view the move with suspicion. ‘"We are at the crossroads. The system is crumbling and people who are deprived may soon run out of patience’’ Mr Shanta Kumar said. Some of the areas which require immediate redressal, he said, were poverty alleviation, growing unemployment, political instability and corruption. All political outfits, he said, irrespective of their differences should come together and introspect as to how the life of people can be improved. Mr Shanta Kumar said he wondered as to why was the Congress opposing a review of the Constitution when the party itself had appointed a committee under Mr Swaran Singh in 1975 to study it. He said in fact the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had encouraged Union Minister Vasant Sathe to campaign for the presidential form of government. "So how can it be wrong now ?’’ he questioned. On the presidential form of government, Mr Shanta Kumar said, he favoured the system since it allowed the directly elected head of the state to select his own team since the representatives of people were debarred in the USA to hold public office. He said under the
parliamentary form of democracy, the MPs were often
dictated by political compulsions and so were the
ministers. All these, he said, could be done away with. |
Exit poll predicts NDA sweep NEW DELHI, Feb 22 (PTI) — A Doordarshan exit poll tonight forecast that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will sweep to power in Bihar, Orissa and Haryana. The exit poll predicted 195 seats for the NDA in the 324-member Bihar Assembly, 108 for the BJP-BJD combine in the 147-member Orissa Assembly and 52 for the BJP-Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana where the assembly has 90 members. There was no forecast for Manipur. In Bihar, the survey gave Laloo Prasad Yadav’s rjd and its allies 64 seats, The Congress 20 and ‘others’ 45. The exit poll predicted 30 seats for the Congress and nine for the ‘others’ in Orissa, while it forecast that the Congress was poised to bag 28 seats in Haryana where the ‘others’ were given 10 seats. The poll showed that the
NDA secured 40 per cent of the total votes, followed by
26 per cent by the rjd and its allies, 14 per cent by the
Congress and 20 per cent by the ‘others’ in
Bihar. |
Lawyers to abstain from work on
Feb 24 New Delhi, Feb 22 — Lawyers across the country would abstain from work on Thursday in protest against the government’s proposed move to allow entry of foreign lawyers/legal consultants to enter India and some of the amendments of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), 1908. The government had stated that the amendments to the CPC were being carried out to reduce the delays in court proceedings and bring down the number of piling cases. About two million cases were pending across the country, according to one estimate. The secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Ms Priya Hingorani, told TNS that the Bar had passed a resolution to "express solidarity with the members of the Bar throughout the country in their resolve to oppose the move to enact laws which are subversive to the autonomy and integrity of the legal profession and detrimental to the administration of justice." The Supreme Court last year ruled that "no court is obliged to adjourn a cause because of the strike call given by an association of advocates or a decision to boycott the courts either in general or any particular court. It is the solemn duty of every court to proceed with the judicial business during court hours. No court should yield to pressure tactics or boycott calls or any kind of browbeating." The proposed amendments include — the plaintiff take summons from the court and send them to parties within two days of its receipt; its obligatory for a judge to record reasons for the adjournment in writing of a case and the number of adjournments have been limited to three only during the hearing of the case. In the recording of the evidence, the proposed amendment calls for making provisions for filing of delay by making provisions of examination-in-chief of every witness in the form of an affidavit. For the cross examination and re-examination of witnesses, it proposes to be recorded by a Commissioner, who would be appointed by the court and the evidence recorded by a Commissioner shall become part of the record of the suit. The lawyers are protesting against the proposed amendment to the Advocates Act, 1961, to allow foreign lawyers to practice in the country and amendment to the CPC and the renewal of licence after every five years. "The amendments were being carried out by the government without holding prior consultations with the lawyers’ body and taking the legal fraternity into confidence," Ms Hingorani said. The head of the Law Commission of India, Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy, said: "even under the existing law, subject to the reciprocal arrangements with other countries, the foreigners can be admitted as advocates in India." The General Agreement on
Trade and Services, to which India is a signatory, stated
that within a period of five years from January 1, 1995,
it would be under an obligation to enter into successive
rounds of negotiations periodically with a view to
achieving a progressively higher level of liberalisation
which includes free trade and services without regard to
national boundaries. |
Air defence ship to be built
at Cochin NEW DELHI, Feb 22 — The government has already approved a long-term approach for series production of submarines in the country to meet the naval requirements. This will help in acquisition of national competence in building submarines. The Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, gave this information at the Consultative Committee meeting of MPs which discussed the performance of defence shipyards here today. The Minister further informed the committee that the construction work of two submarines at the Mazagon Dock was expected to start soon. Giving details of indigenisation and modernisation of the shipyards for meeting the country’s defence requirements, Mr Fernandes said an Air Defence Ship would be manufactured at Cochin over a period of about seven years. He lauded the performance of defence shipyards, pointing out that indigenously constructed destroyers INS Delhi and INS Mysore had been widely appreciated both at home and abroad. The level of
indigenisation at the three defence shipyards at Mazagon,
Garden Reach and Goa in different type of ships varied
between 60 per cent 70 per cent. About Rs 400 crore would
be spent on modernisation of the shipyards in the next
two to 30 years. Steps were also under way to boost
defence exports. The Minister said while labour welfare
was being attended to, there was need for better work
culture and higher productivity. |
Transparency in NGOs must: PM NEW DELHI, Feb 22 — There should be transparency in the working of non-government organisations (NGOs) and their increasing professionalism should not hinder the service, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, said here today. "While the voluntary organisations expect transparency in governance, the government too expects transparency in their work," he said while inaugurating a national conference on voluntarism and social development organised by Social Welfare Board here. There was nothing objectionable in professionalism creeping in their efforts, but professionalism should not be allowed to "dampen the spirit of service or to slow down the speed of voluntary work," Mr Vajpayee said. He said "if professionalism takes away the spirit of service and what remains is only professionalism, then it is not good." The government, he said, wanted the voluntary organisations to constructively point out the shortcomings in the government’s work and come out with suggestions and cooperate in removing the flaws. The Human Resource Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, said every commercial and industrial house should come forward to take up some work of social welfare and voluntary social development on a larger scale. The Minister of State
for Women and Child Development, Ms Sumitra Mahajan, also
spoke. |
3 gas agencies for Kangra
soon NEW DELHI, Feb 22 — The Union Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Minister Mr Shanta Kumar, today said three new gas agencies would soon be opened in the Lambagaon, Panchrukhi and Indora area of Kangra district. After a meeting with Mr
Ram Naik, Union Petroleum Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar urged
the Petroleum Ministry to reconsider the policy of
allotment of gas agencies in the hill area as parameters
of commercial viability could not be applied in the
states like Himachal Pradesh to different terrains and
far-flunged areas. |
India, Morocco sign four pacts NEW DELHI, Feb 22 (PTI) — India and Morocco today signed four agreements for cooperation in agriculture, communications, transport and establishing a joint business council and decided to give fresh impetus to bolster bilateral ties. The agreements were signed in the presence of visiting Moroccan Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The Moroccan premier held wide-ranging discussions with Mr Vajpayee on regional, global and issues of mutual concern. Mr Youssoufi, who arrived yesterday on a four-day official visit, was earlier accorded a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He told mediapersons that India was one of Morocco’s biggest partners and stressed that his country was keen on expanding ties with New Delhi. Mr Youssoufi is heading a high-power delegation comprising ministers, parliamentary delegates and businessmen. He also held parleys
with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Chemicals
and Fertilisers Minister Suresh Prabhu and Congress
President Sonia Gandhi. He will also have an interaction
with the Confederation of Indian Industries. |
Maneka releases report on
disasters NEW DELHI, Feb 22 — The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Mrs Maneka Gandhi, today released the ‘India Disasters Report: Towards a Policy Initiative’. The objective of the report is to facilitate an informed debate on a rational disaster response and management policy. The report has been compiled by an interdisciplinary team of over 100 contributors from India and abroad. According to the report,
disasters affect over 56 million persons in India every
year. |
W. Bengal assures Deepa of help VARANASI, Feb 22 (PTI) — The West Bengal Government will provide full security to the director of the controversial film, "Water" Deepa Mehta if she intends to shoot the film in the state, deputy leader of CPI(M) in the Lok Sabha Basudeb Acharya said today. The West Bengal
Government will extend all help and security for the
shooting of "Water", he told PTI here. |
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