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Friday,
August 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Sonia flays saffronisation of education Left distorted history, claims BJP 4 killed, 50 hurt as trains collide Minister ditches CM, party chief to join SP
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IB alerts AAI on
suicide bomb squad Govt to think on international criminal court Cong seeks white paper on economy NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT
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Sonia flays saffronisation of education New Delhi, August 16 Taking up the issue of the “saffronisation of education” under rule 193, under which voting takes place, Mrs Gandhi said any attempt to tinker with the secular values in the education system was fraught with danger. Mr Somnath Chatterjee of the CPM said the Hindutva agenda being pursued by the government in the education system would push the country towards obscurantism and irrationality. He took exception to special emphasis on Sanskrit language, the introduction of courses like astrology and Vedic maths in the universities. From the ruling side, Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra of the BJP, made a spirited defence of the proposed changes in the education system, particularly the NCERT curriculum, saying the government was only going by the recommendations of a Standing Committee of Parliament on Education and it was trying to remove certain distortions of the past. He pointed out that there were references in NCERT books on issues like early Hindus eating beef, and some other derogatory references to Sikh Gurus which needed to be removed. Mrs Gandhi said in the debate that the existing education policy was drafted in consultation with the states and various experts on education in 1986. In 1992 the Lok Sabha had reviewed the policy and made it stronger on secular values. She said the present government had tried to sabotage the national policy on education in 1998 but it was thwarted due to the vigilance of some constituents of the government. “That vigilance is missing today”, she said. Stating that the present debate was necessitated due to the covert and overt attempts by the government to divert the education system that does not reflect national consensus, the Congress President added that it should not be allowed to become a tool for fundamentalism. She said the draft curriculum of the NCERT prepared by the government had been made without any consultations from any quarters. Mr Somnath Chatterjee charged the RSS with playing a dominant role in spreading their ideology and felt children of impressionable age were being made victims of poisonous agenda. |
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Left distorted history, claims BJP New Delhi, August 16 BJP Parliamentary party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra defended the Vajpayee government, saying that there was no evidence that any of the books of the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) had been tampered with. The NCERT had merely implemented the unanimous resolution of the 45-member Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by former Home Minister S.B. Chavan which had some Left parties’ MPs also, Professor Malhotra said, adding that the
committee had recommended good things preached by all religions should be included while preparing the textbook meant for the eighth, ninth and tenth standard students. These “red” scholars also gobbled up royalty money by painting Aryans as outsiders and beef eaters, the BJP spokesman said, condemning attempts to devalue the saffron colour which was associated with religion and valour. Moreover, the NCERT recommendations were not mandatory for states, he pointed out. |
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4 killed, 50 hurt as trains collide Jamuai (Bihar), August 16 Official sources said here tonight that two bogies were crushed and four derailed due to the accident involving a passenger and a goods train. The sources said there was a chance that the toll could increase, they said. The District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police and senior railway officers had reached the spot. Train services in the division had been affected and a few main trains were left stranded at different railway stations. Meanwhile, railway sources in Patna confirmed only one casualty. The sources said five loaded
wagons of the goods train started on the main line from Gidhour for
Patna and rammed into the 132 Down Muzaffarpur-Sealdah passenger train
at Jamuai railway station. UNI |
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Minister ditches CM, party chief to join SP
Lucknow, August 16 Mr Maurya, who yesterday resigned from the council of ministers, took the membership of the SP in the presence of party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh here. Former BJP MLC and traders’ leader Banwari Lal Kanchal, alongwith several others, also joined the SP here today. LCP leader Naresh Agarwal had claimed Mr Maurya was with him and had resigned in his support. Mr Maurya’s joining the SP has been seen as a jolt to Mr Agrawal, especially since he was appointed president of the Yuva Loktantrik Congress Party. Later, Mr Maurya said originally, he was a Samajwadi and had started his political career from this party. He said he felt insulted and suffocated in the BJP-led government in the state, which ultimately forced him to join the SP. Chief Minister Rajnath Singh said he had forwarded Mr Maurya’s resignation letter to Governor Vishnu Kant Shashtri yesterday and said there was no threat to his government. He also denied the possibility of more exits from his council of ministers.
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IB alerts AAI on
suicide bomb squad New
Delhi, August 16 In view of this vital information, Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), including the domestic area, has been rendered into a fortress for the past two days. Quick reaction teams with sophisticated gadgets have been stationed at sensitive areas. The entire airport is being supervised by the National Security Guards (NSG). Many plain clothes security personnel are maintaining a strict vigil on passengers, visitors and even staff of airlines and other agencies working at the airport. Women are being subjected to strict frisking and scrutiny, an official of the AAI said here today. There are security personnel even in the hold-in area and aircraft, parked at isolated bays, are heavily guarded. |
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Govt to think on international criminal court New Delhi, August 16 Answering a question raised by Mr Fali S. Nariman (nominated), External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said, “The world is what it is and not what it ought to be.” The minister, however said the Ministry of External Affairs had made a serious attempt to set up the criminal court.” I am ready to discuss and re-examine it”, he said. However, curbing terrorism, especially from the Taliban, may not succeed since such international bodies tend to get mis-employed. “I have to deal with the reality”, the minister said. On a question on sanctions imposed on the Taliban by Mr Pranab Mukherjee, (Congress), Mr Jaswant Singh said the UN Security Council resolutions 1267 and 1333 were adopted in 1999 and 2000, respectively. These have inter alia, imposed sanctions against the Taliban for supporting terrorism, harbouring Osama bin Laden and failing to close down terrorist training camps in
Afghanistan. On July 30, 2001, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1363, establishing a monitoring mechanism for the implementations of the provisions of the UN Security Council resolutions. However, the world over countries are realising that “the Taliban is radiating disturbing elements.” He said even China had been condemning the Taliban including Islamic countries like Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kirghistan. India, Mr Jaswant Singh said, continued to work with the USA, Russia and other like-minded countries to strengthen the international response, including the United Nations, against the Taliban for its policies that supported terrorism and threatened regional
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Cong seeks white paper on economy New Delhi, August 16 Stating that the slowdown of the economy was not a temporary phenomenon as stated by the Prime Minister, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, while participating in a discussion in the Rajya Sabha, said the mid-term plan appraisal pointed out the negative trends and downturn in the economy. “In all the major areas like power, exports and industrial growth, there is a massive shortfall and this would entail that the country would be forced to start with a handicap in the tenth plan,” Mr Mukherjee said. The GDP growth rate has come down to 6.5 per cent against the projected 7 per cent. Expressing concern at the growing fiscal deficit, the former Finance Minister said it had increased by Rs 22,000 crore in 1998-99 and Rs 25,000 crore in 1999-2000. The Congress leader offered to have a structured debate in Parliament on the areas where subsidy was essential and where it was not. He felt that the tax net should be expanded and more sections should be brought under the net. About the downsizing of the government, Mr Mukherjee said the government should reduce its activities to essential areas. He wanted the government to spell out whether it was resorting to disinvestment to bridge the fiscal deficit gap or handing over the PSUs as it had failed to run them. |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, August 16 The anticipated cost of the project was Rs 200 crore and expenditure incurred up to March 31, 2001 was Rs 24.77 crore. No target date had yet been fixed and the completion of this project would depend upon the availability of land and resources, the minister said. During the last three years from 1998-99 to 2000-01, Rs 16 crore were allotted for the schemes under Operation Sadbhavana in Jammu and Kashmir, the Minister of State for Defence, Mr U.V. Krishnam Raju, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today. The schemes under Operation Sadbhavana in Jammu and Kashmir encompassed small-scale developmental and community projects undertaken by the armed forces for the benefit of the civilians in areas where troops were deployed to combat terrorism and insurgency and were generally in the fields of education, health care, adult literacy, vocational training and integrated development of adopted villages, the minister informed the Upper House of Parliament. |
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