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Thursday,
January 16, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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UTI split
into two parts It was
like a horror film: Gilani Bhajan threatens
jail bharo on SYL ‘Linking
of rivers can harm environment’ Decision on aircraft
purchase put off |
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Parliament
attack convict’s plea admitted
Congress releases Meghalaya list Mumbai, January 15 The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Maharashtra is likely to elect a new leader at its meeting here tomorrow morning, party sources said tonight. Security around
Hazoor Sahib beefed up BJP
brought golden era in HP: Jaitley BJP
panel meets on Kelkar recommendations Minister’s
son kidnapped
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UTI split into two parts New Delhi, January 15 The government will continue to manage UTI-I which will comprise the beleaguered US-64 and other assured return schemes worth Rs 31,000 crore. Apart from US-64, UTI-I will manage the Monthly Income Plan (MIP) and four other long-term assured return schemes. Investors of US-64 schemes who had invested after January 2022 will be operated under a new scheme US, 2002, and will be managed by UTI -II. UTI -II, a company floated by the public sector insurance behemoth, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and the Bank of Baroda, will manage all net asset value (NAV)-based schemes. Each of these shareholders have put in an initial capital of Rs 10 crore in UTI-II. An agreement to this effect was signed by the government with the new asset management company for transfer of assets worth Rs 15,000 crore. UTI-II will be operational from February 1, 2003. Present UTI Chairman M Damodaran will continue to be at the helm at UTI -I , while a CEO for UTI-II will be appointed by the shareholders of the company shortly. The four shareholders have set up UTI Mutual Fund and UTI Asset Management Company to manage the NAV-based schemes in conformity with the rules pertaining to the management of mutual funds as laid down by the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Finance Secretary S Narayan told newspersons here after the agreement was signed. UTI-I would no longer be a mutual fund and would only be a government entity until its “gradual winding down” and the maturity of its existing schemes. The Finance Secretary said the government would respect all promises made on US-64 and other assured return schemes. Mr Damodaran said UTI-I would be “orderly wound up” and US-64 and other assured return schemes would not exist after the maturity period. Mr Narayan said the investors would be able to redeem US-64 units at Rs 12 per unit for the first 5,000 units and at Rs 10 for the remaining units from May. For institutional and large investors, the government is learnt to be in favour of providing an option of investing the redeemed units beyond 5,000 in tax-free bonds. According to the agreement, all employees of UTI would now be part of UTI-II. The value of UTI’s assets as on June 30 stood at Rs 42,000 crore, of which Rs 17,784 crore was the market value of the assets under NAV based schemes and the remaining Rs 24,215 crore was on account of US-64 and assured return schemes. At that time, the shortfall with respect to Assured Return Scheme was estimated to be Rs 8561 crore. Under the terms of the agreement signed between the Government and the sponsors of UTI-II, the sale consideration for the transfer and vesting payable by the sponsors to the government would be determined within four months and payable within three years on the basis of the valuation exercise by two sets of consultants and valuers. The sponsors would be free to sell the rights to manage assets held by them to any third party complying with the statutory requirements. The sponsors would be indemnified for a period of three years in respect of any liability, loss or damage that may be incurred by the sponsors, for actions pertaining to the period prior to the appointed day. |
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It was like a horror film: Gilani New Delhi, January 15 This is despite the fact that he believes that it was the very same Indian system that foisted a false case against him under the Official Secrets Act. Talking to The Tribune yesterday, the soft-spoken journalist, who was accused of being in possession of classified documents pertaining to the Indian troops’ deployment, said there were times when he was completely broken and thought he would never be free again. “It was the flawed Indian system that did me in but it was the same Indian system and the vibrant democracy deeply entrenched here that was instrumental in my liberty. Had it been a dictatorship I would have never been free.” Mr Gilani broke into tears several times during the 45-minute interview while narrating his “hellish experience” in Tihar Jail and said: “It was like a horror film that lasted seven long months.” He was arrested on June 9 by the Delhi police and remained in its custody under remand till he was shifted to the jail on June 18. The nine days he spent with the Delhi police were the “best” of his incarceration period. “During my interrogation, the police did not even touch me and no third degree treatment was given to me, thanks to ACP (Special Cell) Rajbir Singh. This was the time I learnt that there was a vast difference between the image of a man and the man himself. Mr Rajbir Singh of Ansal Plaza fame, or notoriety, whatever you call it, has the image of being “an encounter specialist” but he proved to be my angel,” an emotional Gilani said. He recounted how certain vested interests attempted to plant maps of certain sensitive locations on him to make it an open-and-shut case against him but the ACP put his foot down and said only those documents would be treated as “case property” as had been recovered from the premises of the accused. But the worse was yet to come. His first day in Tihar Jail, he was given a task which every new entrant in the jail is given: cleaning the toilet. But there was a difference. Mr Gilani was told to clean the toilet of his barrack which was meant for 25 inmates but was housing over 70. The harsh reality took some time to register when Mr Gilani was told to clean the toilet with his shirt. There was no option but to obey the command. Later, he had to wear the same shirt for several days as his “Mulaqat” could not be arranged with his family who could give him clothes. It was sometime in August that he was shifted to the IGNOU Study Centre within the jail and thereafter he remained there only till he walked out a free man on Monday. |
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Bhajan threatens
jail bharo on SYL New Delhi, January 15 Addressing a rally here before meeting Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at his residence along with other Haryana Congress leaders, Mr Bhajan Lal said water was an important issue for the people of Haryana as several areas of the state were facing scarcity of the commodity. But the infighting among senior Congress leaders in Haryana cast its shadow at the rally on the issue of SYL as well as with senior leaders, including CLP chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former PCC chief Birender Singh, Rao Inderjit Singh, and Ms Selja not turning up for the rally. There were seats marked on the dais for all these leaders. No senior AICC leader was present at the rally. Only nine of the 20 Congress MLAs in Haryana were present. The memorandum submitted by the Haryana Congress leaders to the Prime Minister said SYL was a lifeline for the farmers of Haryana. The state, it said, had scarce underground water and three-fourths of the area had brackish water. Maintaining that Punjab had refused to complete the canal in its territory and had defied the Supreme Court orders, it said the ball was in the court of the Centre to complete the canal in Punjab territory and make it functional. Demanding a time-frame for the completion of canal, the memorandum said that the canal could be completed in nine months. |
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‘Linking of rivers can harm environment’ New Delhi, January 15 “Linking of rivers is a disastrous idea from the environmental point of view. Interlinking a toxic river with a non-toxic one will have a devastating impact on all our rivers and as a consequence on all human beings and wildlife,” said Mr Ravi Agarwal of Srishti, an environmental organisation. He said “how can one even think of linking for instance, mercury-contaminated Par river of Gujarat or poisonous waters of the Yamuna with any other uncontaminated river.” A former secretary, Union Water Resources Ministry, Mr Ramaswamy R Iyer said, “The grand vision of long- distance river transfers from one basin to another is totally uncalled for.” The government has set up an eight-member Special Task Force to monitor interlinking of major rivers within 15 years to tackle drought, flood, and disputes at an estimated cost of Rs 5,60,000 crore under the chairmanship of Mr Suresh Prabhu. Dr Sudhirendra Sharma, a water and energy expert at the Ecological Foundation, said the idea of linking rivers was discussed by a high-level national commission on integrated water resources development plan, which found it to be not promising. The National Water Development Agency, which carried detailed studies, had identified 30 links for preparation of feasibility reports and prepared feasibility reports of six such links. States have expressed divergent views about the studies and feasibility. |
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Decision
on aircraft purchase put off New Delhi, January 15 According to reports, the matter came before the CCS meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday, but the decision was deferred for a month. The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K.C. Pant. Defence Minister George Fernandes was not present at the meeting as he is on a visit to Russia. The proposal of the Civil Aviation Ministry for the acquisition of 43 aircraft for Indian Airlines and 17 for Air India has been pending with the government for some time now. Air India had initially put forward the proposal for acquiring 17 250-plus-seater and 21 160-seater aircraft. The board later approved the recommendations of the Technical Committee for the acquisition of the 250-plus-seater long-range aircraft with three class configuration. It also directed the management that a technical economic evaluation should be carried out in respect of two aircraft manufacturers — Air Bus and Boeing — which had put on offer the A-340-300 and B-777-200 ER aircraft, respectively. The board had also decided that the management could go ahead with inviting bids after finalising the technical specifications. Detailed proposals were earlier likely to be received by the ministry by mid-February this year. The ministry proposed to acquire the aircraft in phases over the next five to seven years. |
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Parliament
attack convict’s plea admitted New Delhi, January 15 Admitting Afsan’s petition challenging her conviction and five years ‘rigorous imprisonment’ given to her, a Bench comprising Ms Justice Usha Mehra and Mr Justice Pradeep Nandrajog directed the prosecution to submit its reply by February 3. Besides her husband Shaukat Hussain Guru, member of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist outfit, a Special Court here had sentenced city college lecturer S.A.R. Geelani and another JeM member Mohammed Afzal, to death on December 18.
PTI |
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Congress releases Meghalaya list New Delhi, January 15 However, the fate of state PCC President Girija Vyas was still uncertain. AICC chief spokesman S Jaipal Reddy today said “some changes” at the governmental and organisational levels in Rajasthan would be made in the next few days but it did not mean that Mr Gehlot would be replaced. The Chief Minister had a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi today, the second in two days. Mr Reddy said he was not aware whether Ms Vyas was being replaced and whether a post of Deputy Chief Minister was being created. “Congress President Sonia Gandhi may announce some changes in Rajasthan at organisational and governmental levels shortly,’’ he said. Mr Reddy said the changes were being made as part of the party’s preparedness in election-bound states. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Chhattisgarh would have assembly poll later this year. Meanwhile, the Congress today declared its list of 60 candidates for the forthcoming poll to the Meghalaya Assembly. The party will contest all 60 seats in the state. Though the NCP and the Congress have a coalition government in Meghalaya, both the parties are contesting the poll independently. The Congress list declared today contains names of two former Meghalaya Chief Ministers. |
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Election
team leaves for N-E states New Delhi, January 15 |
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New M’rashtra CLP leader likely today
Mumbai, January 15 Party sources said the CLP would meet at 10.30 a.m. Earlier, MPCC chief Govindrao Adik had said the date and time of the CLP meeting would be decided tomorrow. However, after daylong discussions with Congress legislators, the three-member AICC team comprising Vyalar Ravi, party General Secretary in charge of Maharashtra, and Congress Working Committee (CWC) members Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad gave no indication about the likely choice of a successor to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. The AICC observers, who flew in here this morning, will return to New Delhi sometime tomorrow to convey the decision of the CLP to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
UNI |
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Security around
Hazoor Sahib beefed up Nanded (M’rashtra), January 15 “We are trying to ascertain the source of the letter written in Marathi,” Superintendent of Police Amitabh Gupta said. The letter said four persons, including one from the town, hatched a “conspiracy” at a hotel in Parbhani to “blast” the structure, gurdwara superintendent added.
PTI |
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BJP brought golden era in HP: Jaitley New Delhi, January 15 Daring the Congress to have a debate on the issue of development, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley told newspersons during a regular media briefing that while in Himachal Pradesh, the per capita income during the past five years of the party rule had moved to the sixth position from the 16th position at the national level, the Congress-ruled states lacked both in development and direction. The total power generation during the entire period of Congress governance was 299 MW, while Mr Dhumal’s government had
implemented projects worth 8000 MW, Mr Jaitley pointed out. |
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BJP panel meets on Kelkar recommendations New Delhi, January 15 The committee, which was to have given the report to party President M. Venkaiah Naidu on January 11, is likely to do so on January 17 or 18, party sources said. The committee, headed by party General Secretary Rajnath Singh, had rejected Kelkar recommendations on personal income tax and small-saving interest rates and strongly favoured the retention of tax benefits for housing loans and pensioners. |
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