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Tuesday,
September 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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India may offer refuelling facilities Blackwill calls on
BJP President ITBP chief inspects
airport security
Cabinet nod for DIA chief soon |
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Delhi Govt survives no-trust motion Panel’s plea on education policy Jessica died of head injury: doctor AICC to recommend party ticket to professionals Central Govt to repeal 2 Acts
Court martial against 3 Army officers begins Samajwadi
Party MLA Shakya dead Discretionary quota case: SC
reserves orders
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India may offer refuelling facilities New Delhi, September 24 Senior government officials here said while India was ready to extend refuelling, landing, medical and overflight facilities to the US-led anti-terrorist operations, any decision to provide further assistance would be taken only after consultations with the Opposition. The government would take not only the Opposition but also the nation into confidence before taking any such decision, they said. Though there had been no formal request from Washington so far, officials said that offering overflight, landing and medical facilities would not be a new phenomena since New Delhi had agreed to such facilities even during the Gulf war in 1991. The officials said New Delhi would even consider providing air mobility command movement facilities (shifting of strategic air command centres) for operations against terrorist bases in Afghanistan, if a formal request was made asserting that New Delhi was totally with Washington as far as moves were concerned to fight the growing menace of international terrorism. “We have well laid-out procedures in the External Affairs and Defence Ministries to work out once such requests are made”, the officials said adding that for higher dimensions of cooperations, details could be worked out after government’s clearance. The officials said if Pakistan stood true to its promise of providing bases to the US-led force, then India might not be required to offer such assistance. On developments in Afghanistan, the officials said Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was trying to pre-empt India. They said “New Delhi has no such compulsions against Islamabad” adding that India’s attitude was benign and aimed at ensuring that no hurdles were put in US-led efforts in their fight against terrorism. The officials said there was nothing extraordinary in India offering to give facilities for such operations maintaining that New Delhi had been suffering the scourge of terrorism for the past two decades. They said it was not visualised that India might be sucked into the conflict in the country’s neighbourhood, even if the action against terrorist groups in Afghanistan went on for months. The officials made it clear that New Delhi saw the possible strikes in Afghanistan against terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden as operations directed against international terrorism and not against any religion as being made out by certain sections. The officials said India was in touch with leaders of the Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance of Burhanuddin Rabbani on developments concerning strikes against terrorist camps. On new moves to bring the exiled Afghan King Zahir Shah back to centrestage in the war-torn country, they said New Delhi supported all moves towards national reconciliation in Afghanistan. |
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Blackwill calls on
BJP President New Delhi, September 24 The US Ambassador, who called on Mr Krishnamurthi today, said it was the intention of the US Government to root out terrorism from the international scene. Asked to elaborate on US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s statement that global terrorism also included terrorism in Kashmir, Mr Blackwill said the US Government would not be satisfied with punishing a few individuals. Appreciating US policy on the issue, Mr Krishnamurthi said India had suffered terrorist attacks for several years and the US Government could expect the full cooperation of the Indian Government and people in its fight against terrorism. Mr Blackwill said he had arrived in India with the stated mission of taking the Indo-US relationship to a qualitatively higher level. The September 11 events had introduced an unexpected element, he said, adding that he was quiet certain that the bilateral ties would see a sustained improvement and vastly increased interaction. Earlier, Mr Krishnamurthi conveyed his condolences on the deaths of the people in terrorist attacks saying that the people of India having gone through similar experiences understood the pain and anger of the US people. |
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ITBP chief inspects
airport security New Delhi, September 24 Mr Chaube, who visited the two airports to inspect the QRTs of the ITBP, briefed the officers on administrative and operational aspects. The Director General also held detailed discussion with Director Generals of Police, Director Airport, Regional Directors of the Bureau of Civil Aviation and DCPs, an ITBP statement said here today. In the wake of the LTTE attack at Colombo airport on July 24, 2001, Ministry of Home Affairs had decided that QRTs comprising trained commandos should be deployed round the clock at all sensitive airports. The QRTs of the ITBP were deployed last month. |
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Cabinet nod for DIA chief soon New Delhi, September 24 While it has already given clearance for the setting up of the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS), the first tri-service command at Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Defence Procurement Board, the proposal for creating the post of the chief of DIA is expected to be put up for clearance in the coming few days. Defence Ministry officials here said the proposal for the installation of the DIA had been finalised and now only the approval of the Cabinet was to be sought. They indicated that the proposal could be put up for consideration at the next Cabinet meeting itself. In a major step towards integrating the three wings of the armed forces and the Defence Ministry, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS) and the first tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Islands command will also be in place by the first week of October. “CIDS and the tri-service command, to be headed by officers of the rank of Lieutenant General or equivalent, will come into existence by October 1 or the first week of that month,” Defence Ministry officials said. The Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, had cleared the CIDS set up and the command establishment earlier this month while implementing the recommendations of the group of ministers on national security headed by Home Minister L.K. Advani. CIDS is expected to play a key role in policy making and also contribute to the extent possible on tri-service training. The islands command will, for the first time, bring the Army, the Navy and the Air Force under one umbrella for joint operations. On which wing of the armed forces is expected to head the crucial
strategic command for operational control of nuclear weapons and missiles, officials said the possibility was that the Air Force leads it. On the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff which was opposed by the Air Force, the official said the establishment of CDS, who as per the GoM recommendations is to head the Chiefs of Staff Committee and report directly to the Defence Minister, would take place only after the government holds “wider political consultations” with the Opposition and the NDA allies. The CDS issue was also being examined by the Defence Standing Committee of Parliament, he said. On new appointments, he said while the chiefs of CIDS and the islands command would come into being in early October, the ministry had written to the three services to identify officers for two establishments, he added. |
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Delhi Govt survives no-trust motion New Delhi, September 24 The motion was first put to voice vote. But, Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Mukhi insisted on a division following which Speaker Prem Singh conducted a count of hands and the motion was defeated with 48 legislators voting against it and only 14 for it. Introducing the motion, Mr Mukhi charged the Dikshit government with all-round failure on all fronts and particularly mentioned corruption, shortcomings in the Public Distribution System and non-implementation of development schemes. Replying to the debate on the motion, Mrs Dikshit described the BJP move as a “political gimmick” and said the timing was ‘’absolutely foolhardy.’’ This is the second time that the Dikshit government has survived a motion of no-confidence. The first time was in the Budget session this year.
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Panel’s plea on education policy New Delhi, September 24 Congress MP in Rajya Sabha, Eduardo Faleiro, who convened a meeting of the forum recently, told The Tribune here on Monday that no such review had taken place since 1991. He said it had become urgent to hold a review in view of the radical changes made in the policy by the present government. In a statement issued here, the seven-member forum comprising MPs of the Congress, CPM, RSP and the National Conference, has stated that the national education policy also points out that education is a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and concurrence signifies partnership. The forum is of the view that state governments ought to be consulted before important policy documents such as the National Curriculum Framework for School Education and the 83rd Constitution Amendment Bill are finalised. The forum has urged the government to commit itself clearly and unequivocally to the passage of the 83rd Constitution Amendment Bill, 1997, for universalisation of primary education in the next session of Parlaiment. It has also asked the government to make a firm commitment on expenditure of a minimum of 6 per cent of the GNP for education from the next financial year. The forum has further asked the government to convene a meeting of the state education ministers to seek their opinion on important measures taken and proosed to be taken by the present government in the field of education. The forum has hailed the recent announcement by the Union HRD Minister, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, that the 83rd Constitution Amendment Bill will be finally considered and passed in the next session of Parliament. The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by the United Front government in 1997 and it provides for the Fundamental Right to Education of all children till the age of 14 years. |
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Jessica died of head injury: doctor New Delhi, September 24 He said the two bullet pieces were removed from her head at the time of the post-mortem and the head injury caused her death. Jessica Lal was allegedly murdered by Sidharth Vashist, alias Manu Sharma, after she refused to serve liquor to him during a party at the Tamarind Cafe of Qutub Colonade restaurant on April 30, 1999. Deposing before Additional Sessions Judge R.L. Chugh, Dr R.K. Sharma from the AIIMS told the court that the post-mortem of Jessica was conducted on April 30 morning. Her body was brought to the AIIMS with seven sheets of papers including an inquest report, copy of an FIR and the request for the post-mortem. Dr Sharma said, “The entry wound in the left frontal region, size 0.5 x 0.5 cm, was situated 5 cm above left eyebrow and 4 cm from mid-line, defused scalp haemotoma in frontal and left parietal region. Two pieces of bullet fragment were removed from the brain substance of the occipital lobe. “The cause of death, to the best of my knowledge and belief, in this case, was the head injury due to firearm which was anti-mortem in nature,” he told the court. Public Prosecutor S.K. Saxena opened the envelope containing bullets recovered by the police as the case property before the court. Meanwhile, the court granted bail to Yograj Singh on furnishing a bond of Rs 1,00,000 and two surety of Rs 50,000 each. Yograj is an accused in the case and was charged with harbouring Manu after the incident. He was remanded to the judicial custody last week for his failure to appear before the court. The court adjourned the case till Wednesday.
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AICC to recommend party ticket to professionals New Delhi, September 24 Chairman of the Vichar Vibhag Ashwani Kumar told TNS that names of intellectuals who share the Congress ideology would be recommended for ticket and positions at an appropriate time. He said the department, which was striving to bring about a qualitative change in politics, had been giving its inputs on the crucial issues facing the country to the Congress high-command. Maintaining that the people had become
accustomed to the policies of sops, Mr Ashwani Kumar, however, warned that irresponsible populism could neither fetch votes or add to political credibility. He said the Congress would make only promises to electorate which it can fulfill in five years. As part of its efforts to serve as an interconnect between serious thought and reflective democracy, the Vibhag has been holding seminars which were attended by eminent citizens and intellectuals. Mr Ashwani Kumar, who is also a senior advocate, said that his department would circulate the suggestions of the seminars held so far in the party fora for their incorporation in the Congress policies. The Congress was of the view that without ongoing dialogue with the intelligentsia, formulation of the policies would not be complete, he said, adding that the party was seeking to reclaim its “moral and intellectual high ground.” Speaking at the seminar on ‘Towards clean and Transparent Governance: The role of political parties,’ senior Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh said economic reforms would not solve ills of the country if the instruments of governance remained in bad shape. He suggested that funds from the MPs constituency fund, to which the government contributes about Rs 1,600 crore annually, should be partially used to create a national fund for financing recognised political parties. Mr Vinod Mehta, Editor-in-Chief of Outlook, said cynicism among the people on the question of transparency in political funding would go only when parties start acting on their promises. |
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Central Govt to repeal 2 Acts New Delhi, September 24 The Union Cabinet which met here approved the introduction of a repeal Bill for the Essential Services (Maintenance) Ordinance, 1941, in Parliament, official sources said. The Bill had come into force during the British period and as it had no time limit, it continued to be in the statute book though it had outlived its utility, the sources added. The sources clarified that this ordinance had nothing to do with the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) which was extended from time to time. The Union Cabinet also approved the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to repeal the Refugee Relief Taxation (Abolition) Act, 1973, enacted to abolish refugee relief taxes imposed under various Central legislations. The 1973 Act also had provisions with regard to refunds and other matters. It was felt that this Act had served its purpose and hence become obsolete. The sources added that a Commission on Review of Administrative Laws was constituted by the Department of Administrative Reforms in May, 1998 under the Chairmanship of Mr P.C. Jain. This Commission submitted its report to the government in September, 1998, and made certain recommendations regarding amendment or repeal of the original Act. Under this, the Commission had identified 166 Acts. |
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Court martial against 3 Army officers begins New Delhi, September 24 Two other senior officials, Maj Gen Manjit Singh Ahluwalia and Col B.B. Sharma, have been served with a show-cause notice for dismissal from the services, sources said. They said while General Manjit Singh and Colonel Sehgal had been served with the formal ‘court martial’ chargesheets, General Chowdhary was yet to receive it as he was still to report back to his attached unit.
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Samajwadi
Party MLA Shakya dead Lucknow, September 24 Shakya, an MLA from Bhogaon Assembly seat in Mainpuri district, was suffering from cancer. An advocate by profession, he was known for his oratory skills. He is survived by two sons and a daughter. Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav, condoling the death of Shakya, said the party has lost an able parliamentarian and a true leader. The last rites of the leader will be performed at Mainpuri tomorrow where Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, along with other Samajwadi Party leaders will be present. Meanwhile, a condolence meeting was held here at the state party office where party leaders expressed grief over the sudden death of Ram Shakya.
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Discretionary quota case: SC
reserves orders New Delhi, September 24 The orders were reserved after arguments in the case, pertaining to the allotment of land under the discretionary quota by Haryana’s former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, concluded today. The judgement, as per counsel of the allottees, is expected to be pronounced in a week’s time. A writ petition, it may be recalled, was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1996. Pronouncing the orders a year later, the high court had quashed the allotment of certain plots. |
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Jaya’s appeal to partymen Chennai, September
24 A total of 13 AIADMK workers have sacrificed their lives so far, while four are in hospital.
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