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Sunday,
January 12, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Kiran Bedi is UN Police Adviser NSCN (I-M) not to fight security forces Brahmos to be test-fired soon Play proactive role, Kalam asks Governors
Pakistani writers denied visa |
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Dalits,
Muslims share meal DD looking for distributors abroad
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Kiran Bedi is UN Police Adviser New Delhi, January 11 Dr Bedi is presently serving as Special Commissioner (Intelligence) in Delhi. She has been appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to work with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. She will take over from acting Adviser Antro Lopes of Portugal. Dr Bedi told TNS here today that she would take charge in New York in the middle of February. "It is a three year deputation. I’m absolutely thrilled and extremely grateful. I look forward to greater learning. I’ve heard Mr Kofi Annan’s speeches with great respect. My work there involves implementation of a mandate given by the Security Council and reporting back to the Secretary-General," she said. Dr Bedi said the UN peacekeeping force had a strength of 5,333 civilian police officers posted in Afghanistan, Congo, Cyprus, East Timor, Kosavo, Sierra Leone and West Sahara. The force drawn from 67 member states of the UN is termed as Collective Civpol Contribution. The strength of Indians in this force is 502. She has earlier served as Joint Commissioner (Police Training) and Inspector-General (Prisons), Delhi. She has also served as Inspector-General, Chandigarh, in 1999 and Special Secretary to the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi. As IG (Prisons), Tihar, Delhi, Dr Bedi was credited with bringing about various reforms in prison management. Her unique experiment of transforming the largest prison in the world is the subject matter of a book "Its Always Possible." She has written others books also and is a regular columnist of various national dailies, including The Tribune. A recipient of several awards including the Ramon Magsaysay (Philippines) Award for government service, the Joseph Beuys Foundation Award (Germany) for holistic and innovative management, the Morrison Tom Gitchoff Award (USA) for actions that have significantly improved the quality of justice in India, Pride of India award (USA), Woman of the Year award (Italy) and the Police Medal for gallantry. Dr Bedi belongs to the 1972 batch of the IPS and did her postgraduation in Political Science from Panjab University, Chandigarh, in 1970. She holds a degree in law and a doctorate in "Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence." She has won the interstate tennis trophy for Panjab University. She has studied at Sacred Heart, Amritsar and later at Government College, Amritsar. |
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NSCN (I-M) not to fight security forces
New Delhi, January 11 As talks between the Centre and Naga leaders entered the third day, NSCN(I-M) Chairman Isak Chisi Swu said, “There will be no more fighting between Indians and Nagas. That is the understanding we have reached at now.” Mr Swu and the outfit’s General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, who have held discussions with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Deputy L.K. Advani in the last two days, held a meeting with Defence Minister George Fernandes for an hour this afternoon. “People of Nagaland have been praying that the leaderships of India and the NSCN(I-M) should successfully conclude their talks”, he said. Meanwhile, an all-party emergency meeting in Imphal, chaired by Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh, adopted a unanimous resolution to “unitedly oppose attempt by any authority to disintegrate the state”. “The territory of Manipur belongs to the Manipuris and cannot be parcelled on the basis of the area occupied by communities residing in it,” the resolution said. The Manipur Chief Minister told reporters in Imphal that a monitoring cell with representatives from all parties would be set up soon to review the situation arising out of the peace talks.
PTI |
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Brahmos to be test-fired soon New Delhi, January 11 Dr V.K. Aatre, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister said here today that India would also be testing its over 3,500 km-range missile Agni-III later in the year. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on defence on the sidelines of the “Pravasi Bharatiya Divas” Dr Aatre said the necessary tests on the over 750 km-range Agni-I missile had been conducted successfully, from the interim test range at Chandipur-on-Sea and it was ready for induction into the new Strategic Forces Command. Agni-I would bridge the "yawning gap" in the strike range between the 2,000 km Agni-II missile and 280 km Prithvi missile, which were already operational in the armed forces. Nuclear-capable Agni-I can carry a payload of one tonne. Dr Aatre said the Brahmos missile, jointly designed and developed by India and Russia, would be test-fired later in the month. "The exact date of the launch is being worked out", he added. This would be the third test of the Brahmos missile, which would also be jointly marketed by the two countries after its induction. Earlier, addressing the seminar, Dr Aatre said India had the technology that could match the best in the world in terms of missiles. " We are capable of developing missiles of any range", he said. He, however, made it clear that India would never sell defence equipment to any country, which, in its view, would use it against this country or against any of the friendly nations. Dr Aatre rejected the criticism in certain quarters that the India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project had been inordinately
delayed, thereby making its technology outdated. "Technology maturity takes more than a decade and a half...there is no inordinate delay in the project", he added. At the interactive session he said India was capable of developing missiles having ranges between 3,500 and 14,000 km. "Missiles with ranges between 3,500 and 14,000 km do not involve much of a change. We have the technology to do it," he said but added that India probably did not need such long-range missiles. On whether missile testing was affecting the environment in the coastal areas of Orissa, Dr Aatre said the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had taken special steps to ensure environment was not affected. "There is no conflict between the two. In fact the population of olive ridley turtles, which bred there, has gone up," he said. |
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Play proactive role, Kalam asks Governors New Delhi, January 11 Interacting with Governors for the first time at a two-day conference of Governors which began in Rashtrapati Bhavan today, President Kalam said networking of rivers was a vital project to manage the recurring flood and drought conditions across the country. Dr Kalam stressed the need for every Governor to build support through seminars and meetings of specialists in co-ordination with the state government. "The Governors can play a vital role in creating a climate of consensus among states to facilitate the linking of the river systems for the overall good of the nation." The President said the need of the hour was to have a water mission which would enable widespread availability of water without compromising on environmental safety or unleashing mindless appropriation of earth’s bounty. On the issues of insurgency and communal harmony, the President exhorted the Governors to play their role in fighting insurgency and eliminating communal differences. He also referred to his visits to 15 states so far and noted that they were maintaining communal harmony while a few of them suffered from insurgency. |
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Pakistani writers denied visa
New Delhi, January 11 Dr Rewail Singh, Secretary of the Delhi Government-run Punjabi Academy, the organiser of the two-day conference, said the Pakistani delegation, led by noted writer Fakhar Zaman, had confirmed its participation, but was refused visa by the Indian authorities. Authors Sugraa Sadaaf, Kanwar Mustaq, Iqbal Farid and Hiyaat Ahmed Khan had confirmed their participation so far. The conference, spread over four sessions, will deliberate on “Contemporary World Scenario and Punjabi Writers”, besides featuring a “kavi durbar” and symposiums on various issues concerning Punjabi literature, such as its standing vis-a-vis literature in other languages and its contribution to literature in other languages. Dr Gurbhagat Singh and Dr Swaraj Singh from the USA will present papers on “Globalisation and Punjabiat” and “Challenges before Pravasi (NRI) Writers”.
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Dalits, Muslims share meal
New Delhi, January 11 All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations Chairman Udit Raj, General Secretary of Jamait Ulama-i-Hind Maulana Mahmood Madani, and All-India United Muslim Morcha President Dr Ejaz Ali were present and shared the meal. The ‘bhoj’ ceremony will go a long way in strengthening social harmony, unity and integrity of the nation, said All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations Chairman Udit Raj. The
so-called upper castes, who believe in the caste system, should learn
from this and feel ashamed of by treating the Dalits like animals,
said Mr Raj, adding that the Gujarat carnage had also brought the
Muslims in India on a par with Dalits. UNI |
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DD looking for distributors abroad New Delhi, January 11 Delivering the keynote address at a session on “Entertainment, Ethnic Media and the Diasporic Identity” at Pragati Maidan here on Friday on the occasion of the first Pravasi Divas, she sought the cooperation of the Indian diaspora in fighting the menace of piracy which “adversely affects the legitimate entertainment sector in India.” She took the opportunity to tell the gathering that Doordarshan was looking for
distributors abroad. Prasar Bharti CEO K.S. Sarma suggested increased linkages between the local media and diasporic media. Film maker Subhash Ghai said our Indian brothers abroad were preserving our culture. “Let us pray for the peace of the world and the Indian global family abroad,” he said. C.B. Patel, Editor and publisher, Asian Business Publication Limited, London, said Pravasi Divas has immense long-term ramifications. “It is for us — Indians here and Indians abroad — to make sure that this investment is not wasted.” Ms Sumita Chakraborty Brooms, Senior Producer, National Broadcasting Network, West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago said, “You can take an Indian out of India but you cannot take India out of him.” Fakir Hassen, freelance journalist from South Africa agreed with Ms Swaraj’s suggestion of joint venture cooperation. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the government is considering to rope in Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) in some massive project of national importance like linking of rivers. Besides, the Ministry of External Affairs is going to start soon Phase Two of the Dual Citizenship offer and would identify more countries whose PIOs can be offered dual citizenship. The next task before the government is to make the investment climate better and evolve a single-window clearance system for the purpose. Well-placed sources in the government said while some of the fresh measures were likely to be announced soon, by the time the second Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is organised on January 9, 2004, the investment climate for the NRIs would have improved considerably. It is understood that the Vajpayee government is contemplating to evolve some special schemes of national magnitude for which PIOs can send financial contribution directly to the government here, thus circumventing all bureaucratic hurdles and red tapism. Meanwhile, aware of the criticism that its dual citizenship offer is being viewed as dollar-and-pound-specific only because SAARC countries have been ignored, sources in the Vajpayee government emphatically said that it would never extend such a dual citizenship scheme to countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. |
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New Delhi, January 11
In video (
