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Congress
demands govt apology on Bofors issue Editorial: Badge
of innocence
Deal of
upgraded Bofors gun on the cards |
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Sonia
asks Cong men to ‘expose’ PM Uproar
over tabling of PAC report
Fees for postgraduate programmes in IIMs cut Indian
poultry not threatened by bird flu, say experts Delhi-Hanoi
rail link in the offing Sop to PSU employees President
greets people on Ravidas Jayanti 7
Dawood men get 5-year jail Power
failure hits Maharashtra, Goa
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Congress demands govt apology on Bofors issue New Delhi, February 5 The issue was raised in both Houses of Parliament today. In the Lok Sabha, senior Congress leader Shivraj Patil asked Speaker Manohar Joshi to put on record of the House the Delhi High Court’s judgement absolving Rajiv Gandhi and his family in the Bofors case since he was indicted on the issue several times in Parliament. “Now it has been proved that there was not an iota of truth in the allegations. So the court judgement should be put on record of the Lok Sabha that the former Prime Minister was innocent,” Mr Patil stressed. He said late Rajiv Gandhi’s family was “tortured” for the crime he never committed. In the Rajya Sabha, senior Congress leader Arjun Singh said the court judgement had “vindicated” the stand of late Rajiv Gandhi, his family and children who were “hounded” for 17 years. The court held there was no evidence to support the allegation that the Hinduja brothers had bribed Rajiv Gandhi and the then Defence Secretary S.K. Bhatnagar for getting the Bofors contract. He said 16 years of investigations by the CBI could not find any evidence against the late Prime Minister and S.K. Bhatnagar (since dead). “Behind this sentence lies the fact of 17 years of long persecution,” he added. Law Minister Arun Jaitley said it would not be proper to arrive at a conclusion as the matter was pending in the court. He said he had seen reports that the CBI intended to move the Supreme Court. He said today was not the proper occasion for Mr Arjun Singh to raise the issue. This caused a furor in the House. Mr Ashwini Kumar of the Congress said the Law Minister’s statement showed his insensitivity towards the issue. Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad said while he agreed that 17 years would not come back. “But one generation, one family and one political party had been destroyed during these years. The government should at least apologise to Parliament,” he said. Mr Kapil Sibal (Congress), who argued the case, said even the BJP had made it a political issue. Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat intervened to say that Mr Arjun Singh had raised the matter “very gracefully” and there was no reason why it should be made controversial. |
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Deal of upgraded Bofors gun on the cards New Delhi, February 5 Mr Hakan Kangert, chairman of the SWS Defence, which has emerged out of the Swedish arms maker AB Bofors, the original suppliers of the 155 mm Howitzers, announced here that the new version of the gun, with larger calibre and better features, was sent for summer trials by the Indian Army in 2002 and 2003. Sweden, which is participating here in the Defence Expo-2004, said if all went well, the contract for the sale of the new gun could be signed by 2005. India has particularly been interested in upgradation the Howitzer guns, ‘specially after their stupendous performance during the Kargil conflict which India fought with Pakistan in 1999. The Bofors guns provided India with the required superiority needed to back up its infantry climbing up the steep heights of the Kargil mountains. Besides the guns also successfully targeted Pakistani bunkers on the hilltops. Although Mr Kangert did not disclose the total number of guns which India was looking to buy from Sweden, he pointed out that the Indian Army was looking to upgrade the present version basically due to its performance in Kargil. Mr Kangert also sought to distance his company from AB Bofors, on which a ban had been imposed by India for the alleged payoff scandal which came to light in 1987. The ban on Swedish companies was, however, lifted during the Kargil conflict to facilitate the supply of ammunition to the Army. Mr Kangert said his company had no connection with the scandal and pointed out that the company actually involved had changed its management three times after the incident. The company has also offered to transfer the technology for the manufacture of the 84 mm Carl Gustaf guns, which are in the inventory of the Army. |
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Centre’s stand on Bofors verdict flayed New Delhi, February 5 He said the judgement of the Delhi High Court judicially exonerating Rajiv Gandhi of all charges in the Bofors case had decisively vindicated the fair name of the former Prime Minister. “It was hoped that in a show of non-partisanship, the BJP-led NDA government would join the Congress in concurring with the spirit and substance of the judgement with regard to the late Rajiv Gandhi. Hope of a just and gracious gesture by the BJP-led NDA government was belied when the Law Minister, speaking for the government, refused to heed Mr Arjun Singh’s plea in the Rajya Sabha that the House concur with the findings of the High Court,” he said. |
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Sonia
asks Cong men to ‘expose’ PM New Delhi, February 5 While
promising that the Congress would conduct a “firm but dignified”
campaign, Ms Gandhi exhorted the Congressmen to expose the Prime
Minister for “his constantly shifting stance on all major issues for
shielding and defending corrupt colleagues.” Addressing the
Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting, Ms Gandhi listed the steps
taken so far to prepare for the elections ahead and also detailed the
“failures of the BJP-led government” which Congressmen will be
expected to highlight in their campaign. Stating that the party
should not be on the defensive, the Congress president pointed out how
the BJP-led NDA had “jeopardised the nation’s defences by not
spending huge amount of money on arms modernisation, weakened national
security by allowing intelligence failures in Kargil, deliberately
incited a communal carnage in Gujarat, subverted the educational
system and destroyed probity in administration by indulging in
corruption and scams in defence, stock markets and UTI.” |
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Uproar over tabling of PAC report New Delhi, February 5 “I am reserving my ruling, and will give it before the House is adjourned today,” Mr Joshi said after members from both sides clashed nearly for an hour. At the time of going to the Press, the Speaker had not given his ruling. He was not allowing tabling of the report as it was not listed in the day’s agenda, the Speaker said while noting that why it was not listed needed to be investigated. He observed that there were conflicting versions with regard to unanimity on the report leading to “confusion”. While PAC Chairman Buta Singh during his meeting with him maintained that the report was unanimously adopted, seven members of the committee had written to him opposing the draft report, Mr Joshi said, adding that BJP member Kirit Somaiya met him and raised objections to its presentation. An agitated Congress chief whip, Mr Priyaranajan Dasmunsi, charged the government with attempting to protect “corrupt persons” and threatened to go public with contents of the report if it was not allowed to be presented. As soon as Mr Buta Singh tried to table the fourth report of the PAC named “Short Levy on Customs Duty”, ruling BJP members, particularly Mr Somaiya, were on their feet protesting against it, saying that the Chair should not allow him to do so as it was not unanimous. Mr Buta Singh said he, as Chairman, had authenticated the report, which should form part of the House records. Quoting rules, CPM member Rup Chand Pal, a member of PAC, supported Mr Buta Singh, claiming that no member had given a dissenting note on the subject involving non-realisation of customs duty to the tune of Rs 22 crore. Reacting sharply to the Opposition contention, Mr Somaiya said seven members had given in writing that they wanted dropping of certain paragraphs and changes in the draft report and described as “wrong” the Opposition stand that it was adopted unanimously. Seven members were against it and two in favour, he pointed out. Earlier, in the Rajya Sabha, Congress members expressed concern over the report not being tabled. Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said the report had not come from Lok Sabha. |
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Fees for postgraduate programmes in IIMs cut
New Delhi, February 5 A decision to this effect has been taken after considering the recent Supreme Court order and the Review Committee which went into the issue, the ministry said in its order. The revised fee structure would take effect from the academic session 2004-05. Observing that the fees charged by the IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode was around Rs 1.5 lakh per year which was “exorbitant”, the ministry said these institutions were funded by the Central Government and their financial requirements were met through the Central Budget. “After careful consideration of all aspects, it has been decided that the fees for the postgraduate programmes in the IIMs should be fixed at Rs 30,000 per annum,” it said. No other charges or fees should be levied from the students in addition to the prescribed fees except for mess charges that would be payable by the students separately, the press note said. The Ministry also sought a compliance report from the IIMs. The IIMs have been set up by the government with the prime objective of providing quality education, training and research in the field of management, it said, adding that the maintenance and development expenditure of these institutes were borne by the Central Government. Observing that the matter of revision of fees in the IIMs had been engaging the attention of the ministry for some time, the order said the apex court had recently observed that an educational institution could charge such a fee as was not required for the purpose of furthering the object. A Review Committee set up by the government under the chairmanship of Prof U.R. Rao had also suggested in its report that “it is unjust and even unwise to make technical education unaffordable to capable but poor students”. The committee also observed that the commercialisation of education had an adverse affect on the attitude of the students and parents. The committee in its report also observed that in order to encourage technical education and to make it affordable, fees should be pegged to 30 per cent of country’s per capital income or Rs 6,000 per year, the order said.
— PTI |
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Indian poultry not threatened by bird flu, say experts New Delhi, February 5 At a meeting called by the Department of Animal Husbandry at Krishi Bhavan here on Tuesday, Punjab claimed that it was in total control of the situation and farmers in 3,000 poultry farms were following the necessary protocol to prevent the spread of the disease. Representatives from six states, including Punjab and Rajasthan, expressed satisfaction over the measures being taken to prevent the spread of bird flu. Sources in the department told TNS here that a discussion on scientific surveillance and monitoring data from the country and border states indicated that “India is maintaining the freedom status of avian flu.” The Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Punjab, Mr D.S. Bains, who attended the meeting, told TNS that they had a very
reassuring report from Punjab. “No case has been reported in Punjab, which has almost 3,000 poultry farms. Our poultry farms are very large and have about 50,000 to one lakh birds compared to other states where farms have 5,000 to 10,000 birds on each farm. We are totally safe. We are checking the Samjhauta Express and the Lahore bus. We have got veterinarians at Hussainiwala and are not allowing any bird, egg or meat to come to India from West Punjab. Our veterinary support to poultry farmers and dairy farmers is absolutely top of the line.” Mr Bains further claimed that 3,000 veterinary doctors in Punjab were working round-the-clock. He said apprehensions about the bird flu spreading to human beings were totally unfounded. “This is not borne out by any scientific study. So, we don’t want people to be scared and give up eating meat and eggs. The virus does not survive cooking. I’m myself eating chicken quite normally. There is no reason for us to be worried. Farmers are following all protocols. We are inoculating every bird against other diseases. The Deputy Directors, Animal Husbandry, in all 17 districts of Punjab are sending inputs about the health status of poultry birds to the control room in Chandigarh, which is being monitored by the Director, Animal Husbandry,” he said. Besides, the state governments have been asked to organise awareness camps about poultry diseases. Veterinary doctors have been asked to pay special attention to identification of diseases. If a farmer in northern India reports any sickness among the poultry birds, preliminary testing will be done at Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Jalandhar. In case it is felt that the facilities are not adequate to isolate the virus, the animal’s blood sample will be sent to a laboratory in Bhopal. Secretaries and Directors from the Animal Husbandry Departments and experts from Punjab Agricultural University, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Delhi, took part in the meeting which lasted four hours. Animal Husbandry Secretaries from Punjab and West Bengal, Dean, Veterinary Sciences, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Special Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, Directors, Animal Husbandry, Andhra Pradesh, Joint Director, Rajasthan, and Additional Resident Commissioner of Karnataka also attended the meeting. Tripura was not represented at the meeting. |
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Delhi-Hanoi rail link in the offing New Delhi, February 5 Rail India Technical Services (RITES) has just started a technical feasibility study on the 315-km-long “missing link” between India and Myanmar, government sources said yesterday. The Delhi-Hanoi train, once operational, would traverse through a number of South-East Asian countries like Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and terminate in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. RITES has been asked to complete the technical feasibility study in 100 days. The implications of this development are that if RITES were to conclude that laying of railway lines and construction of culverts, bridges and tunnels (if required) were feasible, India’s first trans-national train could chug off in near future. That is because, sources said, except for the 315-km-long India-Myanmar “missing link” a majority of the railway infrastructure for the rest of the proposed rail line already exists. The million dollar
question, however, is what would be the finings of the RITES’s feasibility study considering the extremely difficult hilly terrain of the “missing link” between Jiriban (Manipur, India) and Kalay (Myanmar). The Delhi-Hanoi rail link is one of the foreign policy corner stones of the Vajpayee government in boosting relations with South-East Asian countries, powerful regional grouping like the Association of South East Asian Countries (ASEAN) and the emerging regional grouping like BIMSTEC, an acronym for Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation which has recently taken South Asian countries Nepal and Bhutan also in its fold. |
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Sop to PSU employees New Delhi, February 5 Replying to the debate in the Rajya Sabha on the interim Budget for 2004-05, the Finance Minister said the Cabinet had approved the recommendation of the Group of Ministers for payment of arrears to the employees of sick public sector units. However, Opposition members staged a walkout before the Rajya Sabha passed the Finance Bill — 2004. The Left and other Opposition parties wanted the minister to give a time frame for payment of dues to the PSU employees. Mr Jaswant Singh said the recommendations of the GoM had already been approved by the Cabinet and the ministries concerned were now sifting them. Once their recommendations were received, the Finance Ministry would have no hesitation in implementing them immediately, he said. The interim Budget and the vote-on-account were earlier passed by the Lok Sabha. The appropriation bills provide for withdrawal of Rs 3,21,070 crore from the Consolidated Fund of India for government expenditure during the first four months of the next fiscal. Pointing to the “feelgood factor,’’ Mr Jaswant Singh said the government revenue had increased by over 17 per cent without the tax authorities resorting to coercive measures. Mr Jaswant Singh promised Tamil Nadu Centre’s assistance to any drinking water scheme initiated by the state government for Chennai. Earlier, initiating the debate, Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said the Eighth Plan period had begun with a growth of 7.5 per cent and an additional Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 crore could have been added in the past five years. |
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President greets people on Ravidas Jayanti New Delhi, February 5 Mr Kalam said Guru Ravidas was one such saint who had unlimited love for the poor and needy. “On this auspicious, day let us draw strength from his vision of humanism and strengthen our resolve and efforts to achieve an equitable society with universal brotherhood,” he said.
— TNS |
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7 Dawood men get 5-year jail Mumbai, February 5 Judge Ashok Bhangale of the MCOCA court also sentenced them to three-year rigorous imprisonment and imposed fine of Rs 10,000 each. Both sentences would run concurrently, he said. The racket was busted on March 19, 2001, following the arrest of Sohail from Bandra in north Mumbai. |
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Power failure hits Maharashtra, Goa Mumbai, February 5 Officials said work to restore power had been started but the damage was said to be extensive. Mumbai, however, remained unaffected as it is supplied power by the private sector BSES, owned by Reliance, the Tata Electricity Company and the municipal-owned BEST. Power Grid Corporation of India officials said the failure occurred due to a circuit-breaker blast on the 400 KV line, causing disturbance in the grid and leading to power failure. Goa was also affected by the power failure.
— OC, PTI |
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