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Thursday,
June 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Dhindsa to
meet Advani on ‘Galiara’ project PM
convenes all-party meeting on PDS Shahi Imam
for court verdict Accept
people’s verdict, Mayawati tells SP Cong seeks
SC probe into project near Taj Mahajan
lauds PM’s China initiative |
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Air chief defends MiG-21s
Row over appointment of
new Rly Board chief
CPI
hails joint declaration Trinamool
to boycott Assembly session Purulia
case accused hopeful of release Minorities
panel flays DSGMC
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Dhindsa to meet Advani on ‘Galiara’ project New Delhi, June 25 The meeting between the two is expected to take place in a few days. Mr Dhindsa is expected to urge the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Home Minister, to put up a note for the government grant in front of the Union Cabinet for its clearance. Confirming that he would meet Mr Advani on the issue, Mr Dhindsa said since the scheme was under the Home Ministry his meeting with Mr Advani would be crucial. A clearance from the Union Cabinet will lead to the Finance Ministry releasing the money, which it has refused to do so far. There is disagreement over the government providing the money, which is approximately Rs 55 crore, for the project as a grant. The Union Finance Ministry is not agreeable to providing the money as a grant but is of the opinion that the amount can be provided as a open market borrowing, with the condition that the money will be earmarked and used for the said project. However, the grant of money from the government will not only help to start the fourth phase of the project but also pave way for the next phase. Earlier, while describing the fourth phase as the most important phase of the “Galiara Yojna”, the Union Tourism and Culture Minister, Mr Jagmohan, had given an assurance that he would meet the Deputy Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, on the issue. The assurance came at a meeting held in Amritsar in April last where all the officials involved in the project were also present. Mr Jagmohan had, however, suggested that out of total of Rs 55 crore, the Union Government and the state government should share the amount equally. He had also given an assurance of releasing a sum of Rs 3 crore for the immediate shifting of the shops outside to widen the roads. As per the fourth phase of the project, an underground parking will be constructed and landscaping done in front of the Darbar Sahib. The first three phases of the project were started at a cost of Rs 83 crore while the project of Rs 55 crore will be undertaken to complete the remaining works after the release of funds from the Government of India. Out of Rs 55 crore, Rs 15.42 crore would be spent on underground parking, Rs 0.90 crore on underground “jorha ghar” (shoe room), and Rs 9.58 crore would be spent on landscaping, including sanitary lighting, construction of roads, foundations and horticulture. |
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Amarinder meets Jagmohan NEW
DELHI: The Punjab
Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, met the Union Tourism and
Culture Minister, Mr Jagmohan, on Wednesday regarding release of funds
for certain projects in the state. Sources said the Chief Minister
sought assistance for the Science City Project in Kapurthala, Khalsa
Heritage Complex in Anandpur Sahib and Galiara Yojna in Amritsar. —
TNS |
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PM convenes all-party meeting on PDS New Delhi, June 25 During 2002-03, the offtake of foodgrains from the central pool has improved considerably with the offtake of 198 lakh tonnes of foodgrains from the central pool against an allocation of 315 lakh tonnes, registering the highest offtake of foodgrains since the introduction of targeted public distribution system in June, 1997. Offtake by below poverty line families tripled in 2002-03 to 170 lakh tonnes from 44 lakh tonnes in 1997-98. Under the ‘Antyodaya Anna Yojana’ the offtake doubled to 35 lakh tonnes in 2002-03 from the previous year. The offtake of foodgrains by BPL and AAY families clearly indicates the pro-poor bias of the PDS. The Public Distribution System is operated under the joint responsibility of the state government and the Central Government. However, the ministry has set up task force teams, which visit states to review the programmes and identify shortcomings, which are conveyed to state governments concerned for necessary remedial action. Mr Sharad Yadav, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, had recently directed the FCI to ensure that foodgrains stocks more than three years old are disposed of within two months. This will further improve the quality of foodgrains being made available through the PDS. |
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Shahi Imam for court verdict New Delhi, June 25 “It is an unwise announcement to consider the Shankaracharya’s formula (by the AIMPLB) without getting idols removed from the Babri Masjid site,” Mr Bukhari said in a statement here. Arguing that negotiations on the vexed Ayodhya issue would provide to the communal forces an excuse to spread hatred against Muslims in the country, Mr Bukhari asserted that only a court decision on the issue was acceptable. Virtually questioning the authority of the AIMPLB to enter into any kind of negotiations on the issue, Mr Bukhari said “the Muslims have never authorised the Muslim Personal Law Board or any other organisation or individual to talk with aggressive organisations without getting idols removed.” Accusing the Sangh Parivar outfits of creating confusion over the Babri masjid issue, he said the recent statements of VHP and RSS leaders made it clear that they have decided to “construct the temple by force after threatening Muslims.” “The communal forces have become more active after the report submitted to the Allahabad High Court by Archaeological Survey of India that no evidence of the presence of any temple is found beneath the mosque,” he said adding that “it was a pity that a handful of people had become instruments in the efforts of these communal organisations.” The statement of the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid has great significance as the AIMPLB has announced its meeting on July 6, to consider the formula given to them by Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati of Kanchi Kamakoti
Peetam. |
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Accept people’s verdict, Mayawati tells SP New Delhi, June 25 “The victory of the BSP candidate despite odds only proves that the people of the state have rejected the tall claims made by Mr Mulayam Singh and others,” she told newspersons here. Ms Mayawati said the BSP candidate, Mr Virendra Singh, won the contest against the jointly fielded candidate of the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Kranti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal. The Congress had fielded a Thakur candidate to cut the votes on caste lines. After the UP Governor declined the Samajwadi Party’s request to call the session and ask the BSP to prove the strength on the floor of the House, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and other allies had claimed that they would go to the ‘people’s court’ for justice and the Chiraigaon byelection was being seen as the trial of strength of the BSP and the Opposition alliance. On the claims that the Opposition alliance had the requisite numbers to form the government, Ms Mayawati said despite the 14 MLAs of the Rashtriya Lok Dal of Mr Ajit Singh withdrawing support to the government, the ruling BSP-BJP alliance had enough members to run the government on its own. “Since the last confidence vote, our party’s strength has increased to 112 from 98 seats. So the withdrawal of RLD members’ support has had little impact,” she stated. Ms Mayawati claimed that over two dozen disgruntled Samajwadi Party MLAs were waiting to join the government. |
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Cong seeks
SC probe into project near Taj New Delhi, June 25 Congress chief spokesman Jaipal Reddy said it was incorrect to think that the problem posed by corridor project near the Taj was over. “Apart from the fact that Rs 27 crore had sunk, a threat has been posed to the safety of the
Taj. Experts were also contending that damage had been caused to environment in and around the
monuement,’’ Mr Reddy said. He said hundreds of metric tonnes of soil was lying there which posed a long-term threat to the safety of the
Taj, Agra city and the Yamuna. |
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Mahajan lauds PM’s China initiative Gwalior, June 25 “Prime Minister’s economic and trade agreements with China are also a welcome step,” he told reporters here today. Mr Mahajan was here to attend a meeting of national office-bearers of the party. He expressed confidence that opening of the silk route will help in granting recognition to Sikkim as a state of India. “The blue print on increasing economic cooperation between the two countries is also commendable,’’ he said. On trade between the two Asian giants, Mr Mahajan said two years ago trade stood at Rs 1,000 crore while at present it stood at Rs 25,000 crore and was expected to reach Rs 50,000 crore by 2005. Meanwhile, the BJP adopted a special resolution at the meeting recognising the success of Mr Vajpayee’s ongoing visit to China as yet another example of the creative foreign policy of the NDA government. The meeting was chaired by BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu and the adoption of the resolution took place in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani.
— UNI |
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Air chief defends MiG-21s New Delhi, June 25 Reeling out statistics reflecting the safety level of the MiG-21 fighter aircraft, which in the past have also been dubbed as “flying coffins”, Air Chief Marshal Krishnaswamy said there was nothing wrong with the country’s frontline combat aircraft and that he was determined to fly out even the last of them till the end of their technical life. He said the aircraft should not be dubbed as flying coffins as their safety record was exceptional and even better than the other fighter aircraft available with the country. In what could also be an indication of further delay in the Indian Air Force getting the much needed Advance jet trainers (AJTs), the Air Chief said there could be no comparison regarding the safety level of the MiG-21s specially keeping in mind the number of sorties which these aircraft carry out. He pointed out that MiG-21s alone had carried out as many as 5,53,000 sorties in the last 10 years which was much more than the total number of sorties carried out by all the other fighter aircraft available with the IAF put together. In the last one year all other IAF fighter aircraft put together carried out just about 22,000 sorties. While the Chief of the Air Staff insisted over and again that he was not making out a case for the MiG-21s or making comparisons about its safety records with other aircraft, he said the probability of a pilot surviving safely after taking off in a MiG-21 was as high as 99.993 per cent. This he said was higher even than the air safety record in the USA. He added that flying a MiG-21 was probably even safer than travelling in a truck on the
Delhi-Chandigarh or the Delhi-Jaipur highway. He added that the other day he visited the Safdarjung Hospital and (due to accident victims) it looked like a war zone. However, in the 5,53,000 sorties which the MiG-21s had undertaken over the last 10 years just about 98 accidents had taken place and there had been 43 fatalities in them, he said. Giving out further statistics he said that from July 1998 till June 2003 there had been 25 MiG-21 crashes due to human errors and 18 due to technical defects. He also said while in the 2001-2002, the IAF had 21 Category-I accidents on MiG-21s and had eight fatalities, the US Air Force had 35 Class-A accidents and 22 fatalities. Admitting that there was a rise in accidents due to human errors he pointed out that while the take off and landing speed of the Kiran trainers, the aircraft on which the IAF pilots get initial training, was just about 200 km per hour while that of the MiG-21s, on which the pilots get stage-III training, was 340 km per hour. The difference level was difficult for the pilots to handle. But that could not be avoided as the pilots have to be trained for the combat and that too in combat environment, he said. However, he was not willing to comment on why there was still a delay in the IAF getting the AJTs. Terming it as unfortunate, he said that despite all combined efforts there was still no positive news about it. He added that the IAF had presented the case as hard as possible and he had done whatever he was expected to do but it could not take place due to reasons beyond `our control’. He added that the IAF had also tested the L-159B Czech-made AJT and given its report to the government. He said that in an effort to improve the level of people joining the
IAF, the force was now being projected as a professional outfit rather than just a government job. In this effort the IAF has had a relook at the entire structure and have now worked out a plan whereby it would be targetting the type of individuals who are needed specifically for the force. |
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Row over appointment of
new Rly Board chief New Delhi, June 25 A Member (Mechanical) in the Railway Board, Mr Sampat Dhasarathy, seniormost member in the board and the natural choice in seniority to succeed the outgoing Chairman I.I.M.S Rana, is upset over the reports that he may be superseded. A former General Manager, Northern Railway, Mr Dashrathy, has made his displeasure amply clear and threatened to quit if somebody else with less experience is appointed in his place. An officer from the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers, Mr Dhasarathy, will not be able to hold the much coveted office for long if he is appointed. His tenure is likely to end after three months. The Chairman of the Railway Board is of the rank of the Principal
Secretary to the government. Others in the race for the post of the Chairman of the Railway Board on merits of seniority are the Member (Staff) and Chairman of the Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON), B.S. Sudhir Chandra who is scheduled to retire in August end and Member (Engineering) Mr Kanwarjit Singh who retires in November end. Both are from the Indian Railway Service of Engineers. Sources in Rail Bhavan said the names recommended by the search committee appointed by the Railway Minister do not tally with his preference. Mr Dhasarathy’s name emerged as the first choice of the search committee followed by those of Mr Sudhir Chandra and Mr Kanwarjit Singh. Sources said the search committee had not mentioned the name of Mr R.K. Singh, General Manager of the Northern Railway and former Secretary of the Railway Board who is the choice for the new Railway Board Chairman. Sources said the General Managers of the Central and Western Railway have also lodged their protest and asserted their seniority. Both are civil engineers. Sources say Mr R. K. Singh’s case for elevation as the Chairman, Railway Board (CRB) is strong. In 1987, when Mr Madhavrao Scindia was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Railways, a rule was made necessitating two years of residual service for being considered for a post in the Railway Board. Since Mr R.K. Singh has two years to go, the rule is being cited in his favour. |
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First refrigerated
railway van New Delhi, June 25 The van can travel for 15 days without refuelling and its maximum fuel consumption will be five litre per hour. The maximum speed permitted is 130 kmph on Rajdhani routes and 110 kmph on other routes. |
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CPI hails joint declaration New Delhi, June 25 In a statement, the CPI maintained that the party had always been of the view that hostility between the two great neighbours was never sustainable. “The joint declaration by the Prime Ministers of both the countries has rightly recognised this fact and Mr Vajpayee’s visit has carried forward the process of normalisation of relations.” The joint declaration, outlining the guiding principles for development of bilateral relations as well as measures for enhancing trade, would open new vistas for development and close economic cooperation between the Asian countries and the entire developing world, the statement said. |
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Trinamool
to boycott Assembly session Kolkata, June 25 The decision was taken at the party’s recent working committee meeting chaired by Ms Mamata Banerjee to protest against the misuse of official machinery and other malpractices in rigging the recently held panchayat poll by the CPM. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pankaj Banerjee, was requested by the Speaker, Mr Hashim Abdul Halim, to withdraw the decision of boycotting the session. But Mr Banerjee turned down the request. Mr Banerjee said their MLAs would continue the boycott. He alleged that the CPM was misusing the government machinery and the police had not only rigged the panchayat poll but also the municipal elections held last Sunday. The Speaker regretted that the Trinamool Congress being the main opposition would boycott the Assembly. He said since the TMC MLAs stuck to their decision, they would not get the privilege of participating in the formation of various Assembly committees. These MLAs will also be denied their salary and other allowances during their absence. |
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Purulia
case accused hopeful of release Kolkata, June 25 Talking to newsmen on behalf of Mr Bleach, the lawyer said his client expressed happiness that there had been a talk at the two highest levels of the British and Indian Governments about his release.
Mr Bleach, the lawyer said, was now suffering from heart ailment and several other diseases and it was necessary that he should get his release forthwith. Incidentally, Mr Bleach and five other Russians were arrested in connection with the arm dropping case in Purulia some time in 1995. Mr Bleach was flying the plane that made arms dropping. Though all five Russians had been released within one year of their arrest, Mr Bleach is still under detention. During his recent visit to the UK, the Deputy Prime Minister had assured Mr Blair he would expedite Mr Bleach’s release, but till today, no instruction from the Home Ministry had reached the state regarding Mr Bleach’s early request. |
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Minorities
panel flays DSGMC New Delhi, June 25 The Akalis on Monday, penetrated the high-security zone by arriving in buses owned by the DSGMC schools and staged a demonstration to protest the alleged witch-hunt by the Punjab Government against supporters of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. “The DSGMC authorities should not have allowed use of their resources for a political protest. It’s absolutely unacceptable that a religious body has provided transport for political demonstrators, “ DCM member Navinpal Singh Bhandari said. |
RAINS
CLAIM SIX LIVES IN JALGAON TWO
NAXALITES SHOT DEAD 4
DACOITS BEATEN TO DEATH IN BENGAL MISCREANTS
ROB TRAIN PASSENGERS LANDSLIPS
KILL 5 IN DARJEELING 
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