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Advani keeps temple issue alive
India, Bahrain sign extradition
treaty
India takes up turban issue with
France
Crucial NCP meeting today Cong concerned over new CEC appointment |
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LS poll can’t be held before May, says
RJD
63 Army men get medals
AAG has no constitutional sanction, rules
SC
Teenage abortions on rise, say experts
UP disbands 4 divisions
Judeo case: HC directs CBI not
to arrest accused
VRS for Rly drivers, gangmen
introduced
Cheema asks Bir Devinder to name Cong leader
Cell operators withdraw case on WLL issue
‘Akash’ test-fired
Defence exhibition
from February 4
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Advani keeps temple issue alive Hyderabad, January 13 Addressing a meeting of all-India general secretaries, state party presidents and general secretaries in-charge of the organisation along with State in-charges here, Mr Advani said, “The BJP has not sidelined the Ayodhya issue. The temple will be built sooner or later and even people want it”. However, the temple would be built after evolving a broad consensus, he hastened to add so that none of the NDA constituents took exception to his statement. Exhorting the party functionaries to have patience and “to strive to fulfil the Bhartiya Jan Sangh’s agenda one after another and not in haste”, Mr Advani asked them to learn a lesson from the recent breakthrough achieved in Indo-Pak relations which was not about victory of one over another. The result of the meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was mutually beneficial to the two countries, Mr Advani pointed out, saying that a similar approach can be adopted in finding an amicable solution to the Ayodhya dispute. Dismissing the argument that BJP’s Ram temple movement had led to communal division in the country, he said, “In fact, the movement had helped in preventing such a division”. The Deputy Prime Minister criticised Congress President Sonia Gandhi for her outbursts against Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as it only reflected her ‘arrogance’ which could never be tolerated by people. Taking umbrage over Ms Gandhi’s reported remark that ‘reciting poetry cannot help in running the country’, Mr Advani said: “I can only express a sense of pity for her. I think we deserve a better political rival.” Exhorting the party cadre to be battle-trim to face the coming elections and take pride in the responsibility “bestowed on them by destiny” to shape the country’s future, he said the BJP had now emerged as an “instrument to transform India into a superpower. “You should be proud of the fact that the BJP is now making history and is a natural choice of people to realise the dream of making India a developed nation. It is not a rhetoric but a certainty,” he said. He listed out all issues which had been raised by the party when it was in the opposition and were now being implemented. |
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Sonia’s outburst sign of arrogance: Advani Hyderabad, January 13 “I am at a loss whether to get angry or feel pity for her (Sonia’s) remarks, questioning the administrative abilities of the Prime Minister. Such arrogance in politicians cannot be tolerated by people,” he said here while addressing a meeting of the BJP’s top brass, including general secretaries and state unit presidents. Taking umbrage over Sonia’s reported remark that “reciting poetry cannot help in running the country”, the Deputy Prime Minister said: “I can only express a sense of pity for her. I think we deserve a better political rival.” Exhorting the party cadre to be battle-trim to face the coming elections and take pride in the responsibility “bestowed on them by destiny” to shape the country’s future, Mr Advani said the BJP had now emerged as an “instrument to transform India into a superpower”. Today’s meeting of the BJP’s top brass finalised a campaign calendar and gave finishing touches to an action plan on “Mission 2004” aimed at achieving 300 Lok Sabha seats on its own and a two-thirds majority for the NDA. —
PTI |
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India, Bahrain sign extradition
treaty
New Delhi, January 13 The agreements, signed in the presence of visiting Bahrain Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, include a Memorandum of Understanding on Foreign Office Consultations. The two leaders had a one-to-one meeting lasting about 45 minutes. Thereafter, the two Prime Ministers were joined by their respective delegations for a half-an-hour meeting. The extradition treaty was signed by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa al Khalifa, Bahrain’s Transportation Minister. Bahrain is the second Gulf country after the UAE with which India has signed an extradition treaty. The treaty commits the two countries to take concrete steps to combat terrorism and make their cooperation more effective in suppression of crime. The other agreements signed today pertain to mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and judicial, commercial and civil matters. The two sides also signed a bilateral investment, promotion and protection agreement. The two countries also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Foreign Office Consultations. The visiting dignitary was accorded a ceremonial welcome in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier in the day. |
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India takes up turban issue with
France
New Delhi, January 13 The Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), Mr Tarlochan Singh, told The Tribune that turbans for the Sikhs were central to their identity. “No one is allowed to enter a gurdwara barehead. Turbans are not merely a cultural headgear but the very signature of Sikh identity,” he said. He said senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs had a meeting with the French Ambassador, Mr Dominique Gerard, here and had also intimated the Indian Embassy in France to intercede in the matter. Mr Tarlochan Singh said in reply to his letter to Foreign Secretary Shashank, the External Affairs Ministry told him that it had taken serious cognisance of Sikh grievances and had taken up the issue at the government level. Mr Gerard has also promised to forward Sikh representations expressing concerns about donning turbans to his government in the light of the proposed ban on religious headdresses, Mr Tarlochan Singh said. The NCM Chairman, however, disapproved of Sikh demonstrations both in India and abroad over the issue saying such moves were likely to harm the historical ties between the French and the Sikh communities. Recently, the French Embassy here organised Sikh cultural events an its premises commemorating historical links with the community. |
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Crucial NCP meeting today New Delhi, January 13 That there are serious differences in the NCP over alliances was admitted to by its leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma today. He said its Maharashtra unit wanted to continue its alliance with the Congress while in the Northeast, the party wanted a pact with the NDA and in Kerala, it was keen on an understanding with the Left Front. While Mr Sangma makes no secret about his opposition to the choice of Congress President Sonia Gandhi as a Prime Ministerial candidate, his colleague NCP leader Sharad Pawar is all set to re-negotiate its alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra. There is compulsion on both sides to go ahead with this pact. The Congress and the NCP realise that they could end up handing the state to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine if they part ways in Maharashtra. Mr Pawar and Ms Gandhi are slated to meet in this connection. Indications were that this meeting could take place after NCP’s meeting tomorrow. Mr Sangma is suggesting that in order to avert a split, the party should not adopt a national policy and instead allow its regional units to choose their allies. He personally appeared amenable to this suggestion which, he said, is “worth considering”. However, Mr Sangma’s compromise formula may not find many takers at tommorow’s meeting given the strong opposition to this suggestion. Efforts will be made to persaude him to go with the Congress by pointing to Ms Sonia Gandhi’s changed stance on the leadership issue. As a national party, the NCP could not go in for such state-specific arrangements as it is being suggested, said a senior NCP leader. Those favouring a state-specific
arrangement said this would help avert a split in the party and also ensure that the NCP’s numbers in the coming elections do not diminish. This strategy, it is pointed out, will also prove advantageous for the NCP in the post-poll scenario. It could play a crucial and decisive role in a situation where the margins between the NDA and the Congress-led alliance are narrow and the NCP gets a sizeable number of MPs (it is banking on 35-40 Lok Sabha seats). |
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Cong concerned over new CEC appointment New Delhi, January 13 Congress spokesperson Abhikshek Singhvi told presspersons here that ever since the Election Commission became a multi-member body, the practice had been to appoint the CEC from within the set-up on the principle of seniority. He said the Congress was perturbed over recent reports that after the retirement of the present CEC in February, his successor was to be from outside the Election Commission. “To appoint an outsider as the CEC and that too after the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll by the Prime Minister is something which constitutes a direct assault on the independence of the constitutional organ,” Mr Singhvi stated, adding that this is most objectionable. According to him, this amounts to questioning the competence of the two Election Commissioners who would be bypassed if the CEC is appointed from outside. Mr Singhvi said this would be nothing short of compromising with the principle of independence and impartiality of the Election Commission. The Congress also pointed to the “cheap street language” being used by the BJP leaders and Defence Minister George Fernandes in their references to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Mr Singhvi said one day, the Prime Minister waxed eloquent about the need to maintain dignity in political discourse but the next day, his own partymen resorted to the use of derogatory words, even calling Ms Gandhi “that woman.” This crude propaganda and use of cheap expletive, according to Mr Singhvi, showed that the BJP is rattled at its prospects in the elections. Referring to Mr Fernandes’ charge that Ms Gandhi had lied about her educational qualifications, he said there had been a typographical error in the Lok Sabha Who’s Who and this had been pointed out by the Congress President’s office 18 months ago. |
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LS poll can’t be held before May, says RJD Patna, January 13 RJD spokesperson and Bihar Excise Minister Shivanand Tiwari said here that the final voter list of Uttar Pradesh would be published on March 20 and the first day of voting could be fixed only on the 45th day after that particular date. Mr Tiwari said the given situation pre-empted any possibility of early poll and the general election could not be advanced before May in such a stage. Stating that Mr Vajpayee’s direction to Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh to present Vote-on-Account in Parliament at an early stage and other similar statements were against the basic tenets of governance. —
UNI |
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63 Army men get medals
New Delhi, January 13 Four senior officers were honoured with Yudh Seva Medal for exceptional bravery during the year-long Operation
Parakram, full mobilisation of the forces on the border with Pakistan, including Major-Gen Sudhir Sharma, who commanded the Army’s key 10th Division in the Chamb sector. Others who were decorated with Yudh Seva Medals were Brig Ashok Kumar Duggal of the Para, Brig K.T. Parnaik of the Infantry and Coh Daljit Singh of the Madras Regiment. Besides, the Western Army Commander Lieut-Gen S.S. Mehta presented 14 Sena Medals (Gallantry) 16 Sena Medals (Distinguished service), 25 Vishisht Seva Medals and three Vishisht Seva Medals. Four of the 14 Sena Medals for acts of gallantry (Major A.K. Ghildiyal, Naib Subedar T. Rajenderan, Naib Subedar Anup Singh and Naik Raj Kumar) were awarded posthumously for exceptional feats of daredevilry in combat with terrorists in Jammy and Kashmir. After the investiture ceremony, an impressive march past was held at which the country’s armed might, including Agni and Prithvi surface-to-surface missiles, indegenous multi-purpose utility vehicle chirstened ‘Windy’, frontline Russian T-90 and T-72 tanks were displayed. |
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AAG has no constitutional sanction, rules
SC
New Delhi, January 13 “Additional Advocate General so appointed is not in the constitutional scheme and does not hold constitutional office,” a Bench of Chief Mr Justice V.N. Khare and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha ruled. The court said under Article 165 of the Constitution there was provision only for the appointment of Advocate General (AG) who would hold office during the pleasure of the Governor, making his appointment to give advice to the state government on legal matters and perform legal duty. Though the court said the duties assigned to the AG as envisaged under the constitutional scheme could not be performed by more than one person because it might result in a “chaos”, for their giving different opinions, it declined to quash Andhra Pradesh Government’s order on the appointment of two AAGs, saying that the state could give any designation to a law officer appointed by it. Mr M.T. Khan, who has challenged the state government’s decision, had moved the apex court in an appeal against the Andhra Pradesh High Court order, rejecting his plea. The apex court said the appointment of AAG by the state government should “indisputably” be made by it in exercise of its executive powers and not the constitutional powers. Under Article 162, the state government was competent to appoint a lawyer of its choice and “designate him in such a manner as it may deem fit and proper” but if he was given the designation of AAG, he did not qualify to perform any constitutional or statutory functions, it said. |
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Teenage abortions on rise, say experts
New Delhi, January 13 A clear indicator of the situation is spiralling pregnancy queries at hospitals and a rise in the number of adolescents visiting various clinics for the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) or abortion. “Contrary to general perception more and more young girls between the age group of 12 to 15 are increasingly visiting abortion clinics”, says Dr Q. A.
Bhatttacharya, a leading gynaecologist here. “Since a large number of abortion clinics in the country are not registered, a large number of abortions done illegally go unreported. And unfortunately, most of the teenagers who get pregnant always go to these clinics because it is easier and cheaper to get the pregnancy aborted at such clinics”, says Poonam Arora, general manager, Parivar Seva
Sanstha, one of the leading abortion clinics. It may be noted that India tops the world in illegal abortions. According to official figures, four million abortions take place in India every year against 15 million in the rest of the world. Estimates suggest that in 1991, against the 25 million recorded births in the country there were 11 million abortions and a large number of them were done by quacks. Mental health professionals feel that the increase in sexual behaviour among the children is due to growing awareness about sexuality through lay literature and media. “These days films and television serials are made in such a way that they arouse sensual feelings, which leaves an adverse effect on the innocent minds”, says Dr Jitendra
Nagpal, consultant psychiatrist at the Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences
(VIMHANS), here. “This whole scenario can be assessed from the fact that during the adolescence years, the young minds have biological ability to experiment with sex but lack the emotional capacity to sustain sexuality and effective relationship. This imbalance leads to unwanted pregnancies and thus increasing rate of teenage abortions in the country”, Dr Nagpal explains. —
PTI |
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UP disbands 4 divisions
Lucknow, January 13 “Keeping the development of the state in mind, the state government has decided to abolish four divisions and nine districts of the state,” UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav told reporters here. The four divisions which have been abolished are Devipatan, Basti, Mirzapur and Saharanpur while the districts which cease to exist are: Jyotibaphule Nagar, Shrawasti, Mahamaya Nagar (Hathras), Sant Kabir Nagar, Kausambi, Auriya, Gautam Budh Nagar, Chandauli and Ambedkar Nagar. With this decision, Uttar Pradesh is now left with 61 districts and 13 divisions. Each abolished district would be paid a compensation of Rs 10 crore each for development besides Rs 1 crore for the beautification of the district headquarters, Mr Yadav said. —
PTI |
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Judeo case: HC directs CBI not
to arrest accused
New Delhi, January 13 Mr Justice R.S. Sodhi directed the CBI not to arrest accused persons, Bhupendera Singh Patel and his two accomplices, Arvind Vijaymohan and Praveen Jain, till further order. The direction was issued by the court while hearing their petition for quashing of the CBI FIR against them. The agency, while registering the FIR against Dilip Singh Judeo, had been seeking their questioning for allegedly masterminding the sting operation against him to trap him into accepting a bribe on camera. The court directed them to appear before the CBI for questioning at the CBI headquarters on January 15, 17 and 19 and hand over all material, including the recorded cassettes. Mr Judeo is alleged to have been shown accepting a bribe of Rs 9 lakh in a recorded video cassettee. He had resigned from the Union Ministry after the episode. |
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VRS for Rly drivers, gangmen
introduced
New Delhi, January 13 The VRS, called ‘Safety Related Retirement Scheme,’ will cover Loco Pilots and Trackmen whose working has a critical bearing on the safety of train operations and track maintenance. The announcement follows deliberations in the National Workshop on Safety some time back and has been framed keeping in mind deteriorating physical fitness and reflexes caused by advancing age in Loco Pilots and Trackmen posing safety hazard. The scheme, which excludes Shunters, provides for employment to a suitable ward of the employee, whose application for retirement under the scheme is accepted. It will apply to those Loco Pilots and Trackmen who have completed 33 years of service. |
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Cheema asks Bir Devinder to name Cong leader
New Delhi, January 13 Mr Cheema said truth should come out. “If Mr Bir Devinder Singh’s remarks about conspiracy by a senior Congress leader are true then strong action should be taken,” he said. He urged the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh and PPCC chief H.S. Hanspal to look into the matter. The PPCC leader, however, said such remarks should have been avoided ahead of Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s visit to the state. |
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Cell operators withdraw case on WLL issue
New Delhi, January 13 While announcing the concessions, the government had sought an assurance from the cellular service providers that they would not pursue the matter any further in the Supreme Court as that would create obstacles in the way of government efforts to rationalise the telecom tarrif structure. The concessions, which would become applicable from April 1, 2004 had reduced the licence fee by two percentage points from the existing 12, 10 and eight per cent for the cellular operators. |
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Balasore (Orissa), January 13 ITR sources said the missile, considered as one of the major milestones in the country's integrated guided missile development programme, was test-fired at 11.52 a.m. Scientists of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and the ITR witnessed the test-flight of the missile. The missile possessed advanced booster and ''ramjet'' propulsion having a multiple target of handling capability with state-of-the-art technology. Pilotless target aircraft was also test-flown from the ITR here today. Defence sources said the PTA, a six ft long microlite aircraft designed for practice of target hitting and with capability of locating enemy position, was test-flown at 11.35 a.m. —
UNI |
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Defence exhibition
from February 4
New Delhi, January 13 Companies from the UK, Israel, USA, Poland, Italy, Ukraine, South Africa, Yugoslavia, France, Brazil, Germany besides India will participate in the four-day event. A concurrent seminar and defence industries summit will be held along side the exhibition. Ministerial and senior level delegations from several countries are expected to take part in the show. Issues pertaining to trade talks, defence research and development and foreign direct investment will also be discussed. |
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