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Defence budget to be increased:
Pranab
Manmohan ready for talks with
ULFA
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Increase SGPC tenure, says Bibi Jagir Kaur
Deal on Siachen nowhere in
sight
Hardwar sadhus to gherao
Parliament
India, China to set up panel on
technology
SC notice to Centre on Raj TV's plea
Facilitate easy visit to Nankana
Sahib: Gill
Bill on Urdu varsity in UP deferred
again
CPI lambasts UPA for reducing Parliament
sittings
Kalyan Singh appears before Liberhan panel
Arun Singh India’s new
envoy to Israel
Mixed response to Bengal
bandh
Centre to seek AG’s advice on overseas
adoption
Police security for family of Yasminbanu
Parliament session from December 1
Army doctors called in to man hospitals in
Bihar
SC notice to Raja Bhaiya in POTA case
37 children die of viral disease
No limit on export of farm products, says
Pawar
Russian Deputy PM arrives today
Rao is Chautala’s media consultant
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Defence budget to be increased:
Pranab
On Board INS Mysore, November 17 “The 10th Plan will take into consideration all the budgetary needs of the Defence forces,” he told The Tribune on board INS Mysore, the most powerful warship build indigenously and armed with guided missile like Israeli built Barak. This was the first time Mr Mukherjee had witnessed the Navy’s fire power strength in high seas after he assumed office as Defence Minister. He said the budgetary concerns were brought out in the Commanders Conference held in the Capital recently and the government was seriously considering the proposals mooted in the meeting. The conference had called for prioritising the needs of the defence forces and the need for joint planning to meet the needs of the forces in the next couple of years. The country’s Defence budget at present, is 3 per cent of the GDP, which is about Rs 77,000 crore and indications are that in the next three to fours years, it will touch Rs 4 lakh crore. “What is required is an increase in the quantum of defence budget in relation to the GDP and the money should be used for modernisation and acquisition of Defence equipments,” said Western Naval Command’s Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) Vice-Admiral Madanjit Singh. The demand of a hike in budgetary allocation comes at a time when the country’s Naval pride, the Western Fleet is on its way of preparing for a nuclear second strike capability and also enhancing its network-centric warfare capability. Madanjit Singh said “we have conceptually prepared the capability and practically moving towards it (nuclear second strike)”. Later talking to newspersons on board the guided missile destroyer of the Delhi class, the Defence Minister said they were considering suitable remedial steps. “These are certain activities taking place at the ministerial level and we will undertake a joint exercise in shortening the process time,” Mr Mukherjee, who has also held charge of the Finance Ministry in earlier governments, said. Senior Navy officers expressed their concern over the short time that the funds were at their disposal and the long procurement period. Responding to the problems being faced by the Navy in the maintenance and servicing of the fleet, due to a decrease in the strength of dockyard workers, Mr Mukherjee said they were aware of the problem and had taken it up with concerned departments. On the government’s unilateral decision to reduce armed forces strength from Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Mukherjee said forces would be withdrawn from all regions of the militancy-hit state, “barring the Siachen glacier”. “Troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir will not only be from the valley, but across all regions. And the decision has not been taken because of Pakistan,” he said. He said terrorist infrastructure was still intact across the border but the troop de-induction was being undertaken in view of the “ground situation” in the state. On Siachen, the Defence Minister said the issue was not of pullback of the troops, but the demarcation of the actual ground positions held. “We have told them (Pakistan) to delineate first. Some positions we hold (in Siachen) are very advantageous, which if we vacate, there is danger they might take over,” he said. On the quantum of reduction of troops, the Defence Minister said it would be decided at the operational level. The armed forces have succeeded in stemming infiltration in the state, Mr Mukherjee said adding the number of infiltrators killed had increased. Crediting the security forces for the reduction in infiltration, Mr Mukherjee said “we have decided to reduce troops but not vigilance.” On the network-centric warfare systems, which is being enhanced, Madanjit Singh said “it is a three-stage process, which has not been implemented completely anywhere in the world, even in the US Navy. Here in the WNC, we have completed the first stage of the process, that of the sensors. Each sensor grid from Goa to Mumbai has been networked.” “We have also begun the next stage — that of interlinking the weapons grid. The third involves the fusion of data and decision systems,” the FOC-in-C said. Stating that warfare at sea is fought not only at Beyond Visual Range (BVR) positions but in many cases, Beyond Radar Range (BRR) as well, he said that all stages of the engagement cycle have to be networked. The WNC’s FOC-in-C said they were also taking required measures to counter nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) threats. “The emerging threats are more likely to be of the NBC type... if you also notice, the US Department of Homeland Security is now laying more stress on tackling biological and chemical threats,’’ he said, adding that the fleet had put in place systems and measures to handle these threats. Asked about Pakistan, he said they were “concerned but not overly worried” about its capabilities. He said the Western Fleets’s most striking feature was its rapid reaction time and quick ability to operate beyond territorial waters. The warships assembled about 150 km from the Mumbai coast and carried out the drill in the presence of Mr Mukherjee and top Naval commanders. Mr Mukherjee witnessed a wide variety of drills, including anti-submarine warfare, close range anti-aircraft firing, a high speed run by a missile corvette and missile firing. The vessals that took part in the drill included the Delhi class destroyers, the most powerful warships built by India, the Talwar-class frigates, submarines, fast attack craft and Kamov-31 and Sea King helicopters. |
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IAF to acquire 125 frontline
fighters
Bangalore, November 17 “We’ll go global with it, and various aircraft, including Mig-29, F-16, Gripen and Mirage-2000, will be considered,” he said. The deal for the purchase of three AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control System) platforms would also go through shortly, with a tripartite agreement between Israel, the USA and India. With any aircraft, issues like continued “freedom of action,” threats of sanctions and withdrawal of support for spares and maintenance and the like were indeed of concern. “In addition, we will also be looking at transfer-of-Technology agreements for certain key components, and transfer of software source codes in the avionics and flight-control systems.” The IAF was still seeking some information from various manufacturers and the RFPs would be prepared and sent out soon. He hoped that matters would be finalised in a year or two. “With the advanced jet trainer
(AJT) acquisition, we got into a single vendor situation and the political decision took years. Hopefully, that will not happen with many vendors available for this acquisition.” Commenting on the recent successful exercises with various countries, including the USA and South Africa, he said the next upcoming exercise was with France in the middle of next year, and with the USA again later in the year. The IAF would continue to support the LCA, he stressed, but agreed that it was taking a long time. It was important that the Kaveri engine overcome its problems, as an indigenous engine was critical. LCA PV-2 BEFORE FEBRUARY
AIRSHOW: Mr M.B. Verma, Project Director (Combat Aircraft) and Director, Aeronautical Development Agency, said that the prototype vehicle — 2 (PV-2) — of the light combat aircraft
(LCA) would fly before the Aero India show in Bangalore in February. Thus, four light combat aircraft (including the first two technology demonstrators) would fly at the show. As many as 300 flights of the aircraft were completed yesterday, including 80 supersonic flights. The naval variant was scheduled to fly in May-October, 2007. Earlier, Air Marshal Malik inaugurated the 45th Annual Conference of the Indian Society for Aerospace Medicine at the Institute for Aerospace Medicine here in the presence of Lt-Gen J.R. Bhardwaj, Director-General, Armed Forces Medical Services and Surgeon Vice Admiral V.K. Singh, Director-General Medical Services (Navy). Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay, Director-General Medical Services (Air), delivered the presidential address. Mr Verma delivered the Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee Memorial Oration. |
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Increase SGPC tenure, says Bibi Jagir Kaur
New Delhi, November 17 During their 30-minute meeting with the minister, the six-member delegation urged that the Centre should favourably consider allowing eight Sikh jathas per year to visit historical Sikh shrines in Pakistan and not to entertain pilgrim from Punjab, sponsored by any "so called" Sikh organisation, other than the SGPC, Amritsar, the publicly elected organisation. It also urged that the quota of pilgrims from Haryana should be allotted to the Haryana Sikh Mission, Kurukshetra, which was under the management of the SGPC. At present, Sikh pilgrims from all over India visit historical Sikh shrines in Pakistan on four different celebrations in a year. Sixty per cent of the total number of pilgrims are sponsored by the SGPC and the rest of the 40 per cent of the pilgrims is divided in the other states in proportion to the population of Sikhs. The delegation, comprising S. S. Dhindsa, also tried to impress upon the need to raise the term of SGPC president and office-bearers from the existing one year to two-and-a-half years. "President, office-bearers as well as members of the Executive Committee are elected for just one year as per the provision of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, which is too short a period to provide them an opportunity to make any improvements in the preaching of the Sikh religion, history and culture," the delegation told the Home Minister handing him over a copy of the resolution of the General House of the SGPC to this effect. The delegation also urged the Centre to place 17 more Sikh shrines, with the annual income (offerings) exceeding Rs 20 lakh, under Section 85 of the Act. Sikh shrines of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh are covered under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. Emerging out of the meeting, Ms Jagir Kaur told The Tribune that the Home Minister gave a patient hearing and assured her to look into the various demands and requests made by the SGPC delegation soon. Asked whether the delegation also raised the France turban issue with Mr Patil, Ms Kaur said she had already sought separate appointments with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and French High Commissioner to raise the issue. Other members of the delegation were Mr Harinder Pal Singh, Mr Kuldip Singh Bhogal, Mr Bhupinder Singh Anand and Mr Dilmegh Singh. |
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Manmohan ready for talks with
ULFA
Guwahati, November 17 Talking to this correspondent over the phone from Delhi, Ms Indira Goswami said if the Centre could hold talks with the NSCN(IM), which also had raised the issue of sovereignty, then why not with ULFA. She appreciated the Prime Minister’s positive attitude towards her suggestion, adding that he was ready to initiate the process to open dialogue with ULFA by January next year. According to Ms Indira Goswami, the Prime Minister entrusted her with doing some groundwork with ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua before Delhi formally sent the invitation to him for talks. It may be mentioned that Ms Indira Goswami took the initiative 20 days ago following her telephonic conversation with Paresh Barua to bring ULFA and the Centre to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner and noted singer Bhupen Hazarika has also appealed to the Centre to come forward for talks with ULFA. |
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Deal on Siachen nowhere in
sight
New Delhi, November 17 Reports in Pakistani media had said India and Pakistan were nearing a “deal” on Siachen after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s remark that Pakistani troops would not move in if India withdraws its forces from the Saltoro Ridge. Analysts here say it was the second time that Pakistani spin doctors were at work on spreading false stories on Siachen. Just last month, A Pakistan television report had quoted the Pakistan Defence Secretary as saying that both sides had agreed to the demilitarisation of the glacier and that the talks were held on the basis of a 1989 agreement. India and Pakistan concluded two days of talks on Siachen glacier in September with an agreement to hold further discussions on the modalities for disengagement and redeployment of troops. A joint statement issued at the end of the talks said: “The two defence secretaries agreed to continue their discussions to resolve the Siachen issue in a peaceful manner.” Reports of the Siachen deal had proliferated in the wake of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gen Musharraf’s meeting in New York in September and such reports have resurfaced days before Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s November 23-24 India visit even though this visit is in the context of SAARC and not a bilateral visit. Sources said though bilateral issues would come up during Mr Aziz’s visit, “no bilateral outcomes are expected”. |
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Hardwar sadhus to gherao
Parliament
Dehradun, November 17 Thousands of sadhus from various muths, ashrams and akhadas who have come together in Hardwar would go to the national Capital to mount pressure on the government for the unconditional and immediate release of Shankaracharya. At an emergency meeting of the top brass of various muths and ashrams, the sadhus decided that they would gherao Parliament, demanding the release of Shankaracharya, said Swami Ramanand Puri of Niranjani Akhara. Activists from the VHP, apart from other religious organisations, would participate in protests against what the sadhus call the “black spot” on Hindu history. The sadhus would organise rallies in Delhi to gather support of the masses and generate awareness on the issue, the sadhus said. Calling the UPA Government “anti Hindu”, the sadhus said they would hold a public meeting at the Ramlila ground on Monday. Meanwhile, 150 sadhus who courted arrest yesterday were sent to Roshanabad district jail, 15 km from Hardwar, said District Magistrate RK Sudhanshu. Hundreds of angry sadhus courted arrest after agitating at the Shankaracharya crossing in Hardwar, yesterday. Speeches and demonstrations targeting the Tamil Nadu Government and the Centre continued for hours before the sadhus courted arrest. Dubbing the arrest of the Shankaracharya as an attack on Hindu culture, the sadhus said dire consequences would follow if he was not released immediately. It is not the seer but Hindu culture, which has been arrested, said Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Swami Avdheshanand. This was humiliating and would not be tolerated, he added. |
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India, China to set up panel on
technology New Delhi, November 17 “We have decided to constitute the joint steering committee, the first meeting of which will take place sometime next year when I visit China,” Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here after meeting a Chinese delegation led by Chen Zhili, State Councillor. He said it was for the first time that such a committee was being formed. The final composition of the committee were being worked out. The steering committee would be co-chaired by Science and Technology Ministers from the two sides and secretaries of various science departments would also be its members, he said. The committee would identify areas of cooperation between the two
sides. India and China already had some MoUs in the area of science but these were only at the level of exchange of ideas, he said. The two sides showed interest in cooperating in disaster management, information technology, ocean sciences, Sibal said adding that the aim was to synergise the strength of China in hardware with India’s in software. “We can also take joint position in
multilateral agencies for example, in issues related to intellectual property rights,” he said. Commenting on the development, Zhili said there was a lot of scope for collaboration in science and technology and even education between the two countries. Mr Sibal said the composition of the committee would be finalised in the next two or three weeks after consultations with the foreign ministries of both the countries.
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SC notice to Centre on Raj TV's plea
New Delhi, November 17 The notice was issued by a Bench of Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha after Raj TV's counsel, senior advocate Anil Diwan said the order was passed by the Communication Ministry, while the matter fell within the jurisdiction of Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Not only this, the cancellation order was passed without the matter being referred to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), under whose jurisdiction the private broadcasting has been brought by an amendment Act. The issue was brought before the apex court by Raj TV in a special leave petition (SLP) against Madras High Court order dismissing its petition. But the apex court, at the same time took strong exception to Raj TV continuing with its broadcast on two additional channels even when their licence had expired and it failed to renew the same. Mr Diwan said the punishment to the TV channel by the government was "too harsh and disproportionate" to the allegation of it not been able to renew the licence. He alleged that the action against Raj TV, which had invested over Rs 150 crore in establishing the network, was taken at the behest of Mr Dayanidhi Maran. When the Court asked Mr Diwan whether this contention was raised by his client before the High Court, he said "the petitioner in the rejoinder had raised elaborate ground of malafide and even filed application for urging additional ground..." "No doubt the application to implead Mr Dayanidhi Maran was not pressed (in High Court). However, legal malice is clearly made out and allegations are there," Mr Diwan said quoting from the SLP. He said Raj TV certainly was going to press for the issue of Maran's interference during arguments before the apex court. |
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Facilitate easy visit to Nankana
Sahib: Gill
New Delhi, November 17 Talking to the TNS, Mr Gill said it was strange that while India and Pakistan were making concerted efforts to improve people-to-people ties and contacts, the government is talking to Islamabad to step up the present number of four visit of Sikh pilgrims to eight. All over the world, every government encourages and facilitates visit to shrines and holy places, Mr Gill said and expressed surprise that people, who have faith in Guru Nanak Dev, could only visit Nankana Sahib in a delegation once a year. The government should talk to Pakistan for starting regular bus service between Amritsar and Lahore so that anyone having faith in Guru Nanak, possessing a valid passport and Pakistani visa, could go to Nankana Sahib to pay one’s obeisance there, Mr Gill said and pointed out that Nankana Sahib was only 15 km away from Lahore. While it was a positive step that India and Pakistan were talking of starting a bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad and train link between Khokhrapar and Munabao, a regular bus service between Amritsar and Lahore would prove to be a great hit as it would restore historical links between the two cities, Mr Gill said. Referring to the reported meeting between the representatives of some Sikh federations and an Under Secretary in the Home Ministry, Mr Gill said why should one be pleading for increasing the present number of four visit to eight and strength of delegation from 3000 to 5000 instead of making the visits without any restriction. A review by the two governments of the 1974 Protocol would not only facilitate the visits of Sikhs and non-Sikhs but it would also promote trade and cultural ties, he said. |
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Bill on Urdu varsity in UP deferred
again
Lucknow, November 17 The setting up of Urdu university has become a prestige issue for the government for which the Chief Minister has even confronted the Governor on several occasions. Just minutes before discussion on the Bill was to be taken up in the House, Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan, who is in the eye of the storm, announced that the matter would now be taken up on November 24. Interestingly, the present House is supposedly in session till November 23. Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey had to announce the holding of a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee to discuss extending the tenure of the present House and its agenda. The government had introduced the Bill for a Urdu university in Rampur, Mr Khan’s constituency, in the last session of the House in August. However, it could not be passed because of the objections raised by the Governor over the inclusion of the name of Mr Khan as the lifelong pro-Chancellor of the proposed university. Strongly expressing his reservations, the Governor had sent a message to the Speaker. The Governor had also wanted his view to be read out in the House. Only a visit by the Chief Minister to Raj Bhavan later could sort out matters. While the government had to beat a hasty retreat and defer the passing of the Bill on the very last day of the previous session, the Mulayam Singh Government apparently took the matter to heart and did not miss any opportunity to blame the Governor and the Congress of stalling the Bill “aimed at benefiting the Muslim community”. Determined to see the university come through the state government promulgated an ordinance in September. Once again the governor instead of signing it forwarded it to President APJ Abdul Kalam. It has apparently been returned to the Governor with a rider that he should seek legal opinion on the matter. The state government will now make a fresh bid to pass the Bill will a few amendments. The word “UP” has been dropped from its original name ‘UP Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University Bill, 2004”. While the state government may succeed in getting the Bill passed in the House, the matter will once again return to the Governor and may cause a showdown as his views on the Bill have been made clear time and again. |
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CPI lambasts UPA for reducing Parliament
sittings
New Delhi, November 17 "The present government is unresponsive towards its obligations of a meaningful Parliament. This is a sinister tendency of whatever party that has come to power to reduce the sittings. Parliament is sought to be bypassed, ignored and undermined," deputy leader of CPI in the Lok Sabha Gurudas Das Gupta told reporters here. He said one government after another sought to curtail Parliament sessions and pointed out that during the first two decades of Parliament the sittings used to be held for even more than 130 days a year. In 1953, there were 137 sittings. |
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Kalyan Singh appears before Liberhan panel
New Delhi, November 17 The commission, headed by Justice M. S. Liberhan, had directed Mr Kalyan Singh, during whose tenure the disputed structure was demolished, to appear before it on November 17 after the Delhi High Court dismissed his writ petition that he should not be forced to give a statement. The commission adjourned the hearing to December 2 after Mr Kalyan Singh's counsel made a request that he was not well for the past few days and needed some more days to go through the records of the incident.— PTI |
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Arun Singh India’s new
envoy to Israel
New Delhi, November 17 The MEA announced two more ambassadorial appointments today. Mrs Shyamala B. Cowsik, currently Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands, has been appointed the next High Commissioner to Canada. Mrs Leela K. Ponappa, currently Indian Ambassador to Thailand, has been appointed as the next Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands, in succession to Mrs Cowsik. |
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Mixed response to Bengal
bandh
Kolkata, November 17 Though the state government had warned its employees that their salary would be cut and the high court’s order against the bandh would be strictly executed, a large number of employees did not turn up on the plea of non-availability of public transport. The attendance in offices and other establishments was low. Schools and colleges, shops and markets were closed in several parts of South Bengal and Darjeeling district. Buses, mini-buses, taxis and other public transport vehicles were also off the road. In Kolkata, however, buses, trams, mini- buses and taxis were on the road but there were fewer passengers. The metro rail, suburban and mail trains ran normally from Howrah and Sealdah divisions, though the train services were disrupted in Sealdah’s south section in the morning following squatting on the track by SUCI supporters. The police, however, forced the demonstrators out of the track with a lathi charge. SUCI general secretary, Pravash Roy claimed that despite police atrocities, the people responded spontaneously to the bandh call. He alleged over 2,000 of their supporters were arrested in the state and some 200 SUCI workers, including women, were severely beaten up by the police. State CPM secretary, Anil Biswas, however, claimed that the bandh had been a total flop as absolute normalcy prevailed throughout the state. There was normal flow of traffic on the roads and employees were on duty both in government offices and private organisations. |
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Centre to seek AG’s advice on overseas
adoption
New Delhi, November 17 The counsel for the Centre, Mr Sanjay Agarwal, told the Delhi District Judge Rekha Sharma that since the matter was important it also needed a copy of the petition, which sought court's permission to give orphaned children to foreign guardians, to study it carefully and sought three months time to file its reply. The city government counsel Ashish Agarwal echoed the Centre's views saying the matter had to be discussed with the Law Department for filing a reply. The judge then gave time till December 3 to the Centre and Delhi Government to file their replies after directing that a copy of the petition should be given to them. Concerned about the welfare of children given to foreign guardians, the court on November 8 had asked the Centre and City Government whether it should still follow the Guardian and Wards Act, 1890, in the matter of adoptions or the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, containing more specific clauses on inter-country adoption. The court had assued notices to the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Department of Social Welfare of the Delhi Government. "Should the courts still take recourse to the provisions of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890? Does the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, not take in its embrace the inter-country adoptions pertaining to orphaned, abandoned, neglected and abused children," the court asked the Centre and the Delhi Government. — PTI |
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Police security for family of Yasminbanu
Vadodara, November 17 “A team of a head constable and three constables have been provided to the family staying at their Kawant road residence in Chhotaudepur town, after we received a fax message to this effect from Mumbai, around 2200 hours late last night,” District Superintendent of Police Siddharth Khatri said here today. A police point had also been set up near the Best Bakery premises located in Hanuman Tekari area of the city, where Yasmin used to live along with her mother, her daughter and cousins, he said. Yasminbanu, sister-in-law of prime witness Zaheera Sheikh, yesterday told the court that she knew 15 accused who had attacked the Bakery in Vadodara on March 1, 2002. She identified 11 of the accused in the court.”
— PTI |
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Parliament session from December 1
New Delhi, November 17 Subject to exigencies of government business, the session, the third session of 14th Lok Sabha, is likely to conclude on December 23, a press note said here today.
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Army doctors called in to man hospitals in
Bihar
Patna, November 17 The Ministry of Defence had agreed to the request of the Bihar Government to send specialists to man major hospitals in the state, Chief Secretary K.A.H Subramanian said. At least 63 Army doctors drawn from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi and elsewhere are called to run emergency services at the medical colleges and hospitals at Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Darbhanga in the first phase, he said. Similar arrangements would be made for the district hospitals in the second phase when the Army would start sending additional personnel from its medical corps. The government had made the request to the Defence Ministry to spare specialists in Cardiology, Gynaecology, Orthopaedics and Paediatrics to tackle the situation, Mr Subramanian said. Meanwhile, IMA (Bihar chapter) General Secretary Sahajanand Singh ruled out the possibility of withdrawing the strike till the killers were arrested and another kidnapped medical practitioner Dr Nagendra Prasad was released.
Kidnapped doctor released
PATNA: A doctor, who was kidnapped from Samastipur district in Bihar last month, was on Wednesday released by his abductors, Chief Secretary K A H Subramanian said. Dr Nagendra Prasad walked into a makeshift police station at Khagaria district unharmed, he said. The details of the circumstances leading to his release were not immediately available. |
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SC notice to Raja Bhaiya in POTA case
New Delhi, November 17 Notices were also issued to Raja Bhaiya’s father Udai Pratap Singh and cousin Akshya Pratap Singh elected to the Lok Sabha during last elections. They were the co-accused with Raja Bhaiya in POTA cases slapped by the previous Mayawati government against him. The withdrawl of POTA cases against them were challenged in the by S. K. shukla and A. K. Shukla, prime witnesses in the POTA cases against independent MLA, Raja Bhaiya, who was inducted as a minister by Mulayam Singh in his Cabinet soon after he was released from jail. The POTA cases were withdrawn against the trio by the UP State POTA Review Committee through an order passed on April 30, holding that “prima facie” no case under the Act, was made out against them. Shuklas had challenged the POTA Review Committee’s order on the ground that it was done without the consent of the Union Government, whose recommendation was mandatory because POTA was a central legislation. S. K. Shukla had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court last year, challenging the Mulayam Singh Government’s move to withdraw the POTA cases against the trio, alleging that they had a hand in the murder of his son. In his petition, Shukla had alleged that Raja Bhaiya faced at least 32 criminal cases and his father faced over 50, including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, under the Arms Act and the UP Gangster Act. But the POTA Review Commitee, while ordering the release of Raja Bhaiya and his father from jail, in its order had said that “prima facie” there was no ground for proceeding against the three accused under Section 3 and 4 of POTA”. |
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37 children die of viral disease
Ghaziabad, November 17 Seventeen children died in Saharanpur, where the highest number of deaths, were reported due the disease, which has the symptoms of Japanese encephalitis and meningitis, officials said here. At least six more children died in Muzaffarnagar, while four children succumbed in Bagpat. Eight children died in Bulandshahr districts. —
PTI |
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No limit on export of farm products, says
Pawar
New Delhi, November 17 Addressing the Economic Editors’ Conference, he said: “We will exceed last year’s foodgrain production by realising production of 105 million tonne during the rabi season. There will be no problem.” He ruled out any agri-export subsidy during this year despite shortfall in the kharif output due to deficient rainfall. “We will not give any export subsidy as I have to attend to the needs of food-for-work programme and other schemes,” Mr Pawar said adding that there was no restriction on the export of agri-products. According to officials, the country will register a 4 per cent increase during 2004-05 from last year’s foodgrain production due to bright prospects in the current rabi season. Mr Pawar also said the UPA government was committed to setting up huge capacity rural godowns to facilitate adequate availability of foodgrains which would also help poor farmers. The government plans to create storage capacity of 32 lakh tonnes in the rural areas during the remaining three years of the 10th Plan period with a central outlay of Rs 115 crore. He said the government was introducing a new seeds Bill in Parliament which envisaged stringent punishment for poor quality seeds and addresses farmers’ concern regarding saving, using, exchanging and selling of seeds. Mr Pawar said efforts had been made to not only enhance budgetary support in the agriculture sector, but also create an environment wherein private investors would find it “worthwhile” to put money in the sector. |
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Russian Deputy PM arrives today
New Delhi, November 17 Mr Zhukov is primarily aimed at strengthening the economic content of India-Russia relations as the bilateral trade between the two friendly countries is nowhere near to its potential, diplomatic sources said. Mr Zhukov will meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath tomorrow and will also have a meeting with the Indian business community, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. On November 19, the two sides will sign the protocol of the 10th Session of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation. Mr Zhukov will also call on President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. |
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Rao is Chautala’s media consultant
New Delhi, November 17 The appointment assumes importance in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Haryana in the first quarter of next year. A seasoned officer, Mr Rao had earlier served as former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s media advisor and thereafter had been Union Defence Minister George Fernandes’ media consultant till May this year. Mr Rao had one of the longest stints as PIO and had served four Prime Ministers. |
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An SGPC delegation led by its President Bibi Jagir Kaur today met Home Minister Shivraj Patil and made several demands, including doubling the number of Sikh jathas to Pakistan from the present four, raising of the tenure of SGPC office-bearers to two-and-a-half years and inclusion of 17 more Sikh shrines under Section 85 of the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925.
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