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Budget should reflect CMP objectives,
says Bardhan
Panel may include Atal’s name in Babri Masjid case
Iranian Foreign Minister arrives for
talks
Talks with Naga leaders to resume this week
Mayawati counters Kanshi family’s
charge
Realignment of forces in Assam politics
US visa concession will lead to brain gain:
Sibal
Australians to help preserve
North-East tribal languages
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Anupam Kher to help tsunami-hit
kids
Cine stars add colour to Bihar poll
campaign
Test for
P.A. Sangma
Nationwide strike against VAT
today
Get ready for stir, Ghising tells
people
Hearing of rebel MLAs’ case on March
10
Open Sharda temple for public: JKDF
Surjeet, Bardhan to visit Pak
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Budget should reflect CMP objectives,
says Bardhan
Asansol (West Bengal), February 20 “The four Left parties, which had made the suggestions to the government on the coming Budget, had demanded that it provide for an extra Rs 50,000 crore to meet the commitments of the CMP for the full year (2005-2006),” CPI General Secretary A. B. Bardhan told PTI in an interview here. The amount was Rs 10,000 crore in the interim Budget last year, he said. Mr Bardhan, who was here to attend the ongoing CPI state conference, said to augment revenue, Left parties had also suggested that Tax-GDP ratio be restored to 11 per cent. “We had also pointed out that Tax-GDP ratio should be raised to 11 per cent, which existed in 1989-90, and slowed down to 9 per cent in 2000-01,” he said adding if that was done, it would fetch an additional revenue of Rs 30,000-40,000 crore. “Overall, it should be a Budget which fulfills the commitments made in the CMP and it should be pro-poor, pro-kisan, pro-agricultural development and pro-employment,'' he said. “Priority should be given to national employment guarantee, agricultural investment and the present credit amount to farmers be doubled or tripled,” he said. “We have also said it is very necessary that this government should increase allocation for education and health.” Asked if the Left parties wanted the government to tax the rich, he said, “naturally, if we ask the government that these are the investments that must be made and these are the expenditures that must be incurred, then it follows that we have told the government to think about augmenting the revenue considerably. “This can be done by ensuring that the affluent and corporate houses are taxed adequately and some new sources of taxes found out. The base of taxation must be increased.” The question of non-performing assets and tax defaulters should also be very carefully and efficiently scrutinised so that they come into government revenues. He said “excise and customs duties reduction should be in our interest and not in interest of foreign MNCs ”. Certain concessions in excise and customs duties are harmful to small-scale industries and other domestic industries, he said adding that "the Budget should take into account such factors.” —
PTI |
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Panel may include Atal’s name in Babri Masjid case
Lucknow, February 20 In wake of the video CD of Mr Vajpayee exhorting people to demolish the disputed structure at Ayodhya before December 6,1992, the BMAC is considering moving a petition in the court to make the former PM an accused in the case, said BMAC convener Zafaryab Jilani. “A decision to this effect would be taken after discussing the issue with legal experts and members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board(AIMPLB)”, he added. “We have already discussed the issue with eminent lawyer Siddharth Shankar Ray, who will represent the committee during the hearing in the High Court slated here for Februrary 24”, Mr Jilani said. —
UNI |
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Iranian Foreign Minister arrives for
talks
New Delhi, February 20 Dr Kharrazi will hold talks with External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh tomorrow noon which will be followed by the opening session of the Joint Economic
Commission. A wide range of issues will be taken up to boost economic cooperation between the two countries during Mr Kharrazi’s interaction with the Indian political leadership. The vibrant nature of economic ties between India and Iran can be gauged from the fact that the annual bilateral trade between the two countries has already breached the $ 3 billion mark. Specific issues like further cooperation in sectors like railways, shipping, information technology , petroleum and gas, telecom and infrastructure are on the agenda between the two countries, South Block sources said. The Iranian Foreign Minister would also be addressing a meeting of the Indo-Iran Joint Business Council tomorrow in which businessmen and captains of industry from the two sides will be participating. A 30-member delegation of Iranian businessmen has already arrived here for this meeting. During Mr Kharrazi’s bilateral talks with the Indian leadership, the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline will inevitably come up. The nitty-gritty of the proposed pipeline will be taken up when Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer travels to Iran shortly. Dr Kharrazi will give a lecture at the Indian Council for World Affairs on February 22. |
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Talks with Naga leaders to resume this week
New Delhi, February 20 The talks between NSCN (I-M) delegation, headed by the group’s General Secretary Th Muivaah and the Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted by the UPA Government for the purpose, would resume here on February 26. This would be the fifth round of parleys between the Naga leaders and representatives of the government. The GoM comprised Union Ministers Oscar Fernandes, Prithviraj Chauhan and S. Raghupathy. The group is being assisted by Centre’s interlocutor and former Home Secretary K. Padmanabhaiah. According to sources the “talks on substantial issues, being taken up for discussion, are progressing as planned... but no time-frame can be fixed for the conclusion of the discussions.” |
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Mayawati counters Kanshi family’s
charge
New Delhi, February 20 Ms Mayawati in an affidavit, filed in the apex court has said Kanshi Ram, on whose treatment the party had so far spent about Rs 50 lakh, was staying at her residence at his free will and the allegations of any pressure on him were being levelled against her at the behest of a minister in Mulayam Singh government. Kanshi Ram’s mother, Bishan Kaur, and brother, Dalbara Singh, had filed a petition in the Supreme Court alleging that the BSP leader’s family members were not being allowed to meet him. The court had issued a notice to Ms Mayawati seeking her reply on a limited question why the family members of the ailing leader were not being allowed to meet him. A Bench, headed by Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde had made it clear to the counsel of Bishan Kaur that it would not consider the petition beyond this question, even though the mother and son had levelled various allegations against Mayawati. Ms Mayawati claimed that the family members of Kanshi Ram, who had severed relations with him way back in 1984, were being “prompted” to enter into a litigation on this issue at the behest of a minister in Mulayam Singh government in Uttar Pradesh, who earlier was a BSP member but had been expelled from the party. The BSP supremo said at a time when Kanshi Ram needed the best medical care, his family members and relatives who had not even spent a penny on his treatment so far, could not be allowed to take him away. She also described the allegation of “drugging” Kanshi Ram as “baseless”. As per his medical reports, Kanshi Ram has been suffering from various kinds of ailments, which needed constant care under doctors’ supervision, which his family members might not be able to provide considering the high cost of treatment, she said. Ms Mayawati further alleged that there was a clear nexus between Dalbara Singh and her political rivals as he had became active only during the last Lok Sabha poll. |
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Realignment of forces in Assam politics
Guwahati, February 20 There were two total and spontaneous Assam bandhs in the past seven days, on February 9 and 14, by the BJP and the Assam ST Unemployed Organisation, respectively, which clearly reflect the growing anti-Congress mood of people in the state. What has surprised political pundits in the state is the fact that while the BJP is a known political force and has some support base in Assam, even the bandh call by an unknown outfit like the Assam ST Unemployed Organisation was also total on Tuesday. Sources in the Congress told this correspondent that after the Guwahati High Court issued a stay order on the recruitment of constables based on the existing list, the Congress President Sonia Gandhi was now unhappy with Tarun Gogoi. Opposition forces in the state, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the BJP charged the government for the anomalies in the list based on alleged favouritism and quota
system depriving genuine candidates. Even the Left parties, like the CPI and the CPM, supporting the Congress at the Centre, have demanded a CBI probe into the constable recruitment issue thus complicating the situation for Tarun Gogoi. It is learnt from Congress sources that the names of MP from Guwahati Kirip Chalia, state Rural Development Minister Ripun Bora and APCC President Bhubaneswar Kalita are now figuring in the list of Sonia Gandhi to replace Tarun Gogoi before the next Assembly elections slated by 2006. Meanwhile, the successful Assam bandh by the BJP on February 9, tacitly supported by the AGP and the All-Assam Students’ Union (AAASU) have brightened the possibility of a possible alliance between the AGP and
the BJP before the next Assembly poll. As far the AGP is concerned, while former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta is in favour of an alliance with Left parties, the CPM and the CPI,
and the United Minority Front (UMF), the present President Brindaban Goswami is more inclined towards the BJP. AAASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya, the student body supporting the AGP, is also inclined towards the BJP. It may be noted that during his last visit to Assam, BJP President L.K. Advani described the “Assam agitation” by the AAASU between 1979-85 as the most popular agitation in independent India. |
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US visa concession will lead to brain gain:
Sibal
New Delhi, February 20 The US Department of State announced on February 11 an extension of the validity of Visas Mantis clearances for certain categories of visas. To prevent misuse of dangerous technology and creation of potentially destabilising situations, applicants are subject to an inter-agency clearance procedure in Washington, known as Visas Mantis. According to Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, the relaxation of security checks for Visas Mantis clearances will encourage scientists and students to acquire higher education in the US and apply that knowledge back home. “It will accelerate the process of reverse brain- drain or brain-gain, which we are already witnessing,” he observed. Describing the phenomenon of brain drain as passe, Mr Sibal said the extension of the validity of Visas Mantis clearances is an acknowledgment of the growing recognition for Indian scientific talent worldwide. The world knows India has a world class facility and is making strides in science and technology, he added. The US Embassy in New Delhi received 400 applications last year. “The number will go up in 2005,” said Mr Richard Sherman, Deputy Consul-General at the US Embassy. However, the number of Indian students or scientists who are granted Visas Mantis by the US is significantly low as compared to the Chinese or the Russians. In the post 9/11 scenario, Visas Mantis clearances took an inordinately long time to process. It took one to three months for processing the requisite clearances then. “With the cooperation of the agencies concerned, we have reduced the time to about 10 or 15 days. There is a dramatic improvement,” Mr Sherman told The Tribune. The move would benefit students as the validity of Visas Mantis will be up to the length of the approved academic programme to a maximum of four years. Similarly, exchange visitors can receive a Visas Mantis clearance valid for the duration of their approved activity to a maximum of two years. Mr Sherman asserted that institutions like the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Department of Atomic Energy will stand to gain as the scholars will turn the knowledge into economic opportunities in the long term. They will also bring intellectual knowledge to the US and benefit the American economy, he added. |
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Australians to help preserve
North-East tribal languages
Guwahati, February 20 Experts from the Summr Institute of Linguists (SIL)
international, the State resource Centre (SRCA),Assam, and Bosco Reach Out are working jointly to prepare study material on nearly 100 languages spoken by diverse ethnic communities in the
region, to facilitate reading and writing through their mother tongues. Citing the negative effects of the Australian Government`s straightjacket policy decades back to bring the aboriginals to the mainstream by imposing English as a medium of instruction, Jessi Gloves, Southeast Asia
consultant for SIL, told the media here “ We do not want to see this happen in the North -East where different languages are spoken by various ethnic communities”. Jessi invited the media to visit Australia and see how the death of aboriginal culture had led them to “alcoholism and crime”. The group has so far studied languages of ethnic communities like Tangkhul Naga,Tangsanaga, Aka. Rabha, Maram, Sadri, Hajong, Deori and Karbi. Though efforts were made to prepare primers on some of the ethnic languages earlier,this time the three organisations are concentrating more on”multi-strategy methods” for teaching and framing curriculum on these languages. The Australian linguists, however, prefer to call he speech of the ethnic communities as “languages, rather than “dialect”. International literacy consultant for SIL
international, Mary Stringer,who started a similar venture in a remote mmountanious villlage in Papua New Guinea in the 1960s,had
successfully prepared study material for the Waffa community. Education through
one's mother tongue did not hamper a child from learning English or any other languages, feel the linguists from Australia. The Australian team hoped the project would definitely help the North- East to preserve and protect its rich ethnic and cultural heritage. |
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Anupam Kher to help tsunami-hit
kids
Mumbai, February 20 Kher came forward to support SOS India’s tsunami initiative through his autobiographical play ‘Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai’, which was performed here last evening. Expressing his support for the cause, Kher said, “I am very happy to be associated with SOS India’s tsunami initiative in this hour of need. SOS India’s helping hand will strengthen the cause of tsunami victims. The plight of the children in the tsunami-ravaged areas is heart wrenching. I feel that no matter how much we all do, it will never be enough. Children are the worst sufferers in this tragedy.” The money raised from the sale of donor passes will go to the SOS Children’s Villages of India, which has already identified 740 families for rehabilitation in the tsunami-affected areas of Kanyakumari and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in Pondichery, he added. HSBC, which is the present title sponsor of the play, has been associated with SOS children’s villages for the past five years in places like Faridabad, Jaipur and Kochi. The bank is ‘Corporate Partner for Health and Nutrition’ of SOS children’s villages in Jaipur. J.N. Kaul, president, SOS Children’s Villages of India, speaking on the occasion, said “SOS India is working very closely with the state governments in the tsunami-affected areas and is providing every possible help in relief services. SOS India has adopted 10 tsunami-hit villages where it is providing extensive care, nourishment, activities and psychological attention to more than 5,000 displaced and disturbed children of this tragedy.” He said the first SOS Children’s Village of India was established in 1964 at Greenfields, Faridabad. Today, it provides direct and indirect care to more than 2,00,000 children across the country through its 37 SOS children’s villages and 122 allied projects like kindergartens, schools, youth facilities, social/medical/vocational training centres. SOS Children’s Villages of India is a member of the world-wide SOS Kinderdorf, which has been nominated for the Nobel Prize four times. The organisation works in 132 countries and had helped needy children by giving them a family, permanent home, best possible education and a strong foundation for an independent and secure life, he added. Till date, over 2,500 young adults from SOS-India have been settled in various vocations such as teaching, medicine, nursing, journalism, management, social work, industrial vocations, marine engineering and law. More than 800 children have married and are living with their families as respectable members of the society, he pointed out. —
UNI |
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Cine stars add colour to Bihar poll
campaign
Patna, February 20 While Shatrughan Sinha and “Dream Girl” Hema Malini are garnering support for BJP candidates in different constituencies, superstar of yesteryears Rajesh Khanna, “Hero No 1”, MP Govinda and Raza Murad, are batting for the Congress. Saying she was a fan of RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav, Hema Malini had said she had advised Mr Yadav to join films. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, which is trying to gain political ground in Bihar, has taken the help of Jayaprada, Jaya Bacchan and Raj Babbar to reach out to the voters. While, the ruling RJD is banking prominently on its own star Mr Yadav, film actor Sunil Shetty campaigned for his friend and state minister Shyam Razak who is contesting from Phulwarisharif (SC) seat in Patna. Though the galaxy of stars are proving a big hit with the people, who had hitherto seen them only on screen, poll observers opine they have “only entertainment value”. A stampede like situation prevailed at Jay Prakash Narayan airport in Patna as eager people jostled with each other to take a look at Govinda on Thursday. Govinda campaigned for state Congress president Ram Jatan Sinha, who is contesting elections from Patna central constituency. Rajesh Khanna and Raza Murad also sought votes for Mr Sinha who is pitted against the UPA ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Bihar president Aquil Haider and the BJP’s Arun Kumar Sinha in the seat vacated by BJP national vice-president Sushil Kumar Modi after his election to the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur. Mr Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Kankerbagh, said “though people throng their rallies in large numbers to have a close look at the cine stars they are not impressed with their message.” Mr Razi Ahmad, a poll watcher, said people in Bihar are faced by a host of issues like law and order situation and development, and in such a situation the appearance and message of cine stars are short-lived and seldom succeed in changing the mindset of pre-determined voters in favour of the political parties they stand for.
— PTI |
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Test for
P.A. Sangma
Shillong (Meghalaya),
February 20 Mr P.A. Sangma’s son, Conard. R. Sangma, is contesting the Selsella Assembly seat on the NCP ticket for the first time, obviously backed by his father. The challlenge is more for senior Sangma because the seat hitherto was held by the Congress. Sushanta R. Marak is the Congress candidate and main rival against Junior Sangma. This seat was vacated following the death of the sitting Congress MLA and Cabinet Minister in the D.D. Lapang ministry, Mr Cyprian Sangma. The two other seats where byelections are going to be held are Mawprem and Songsok. The byelections to all three seats were necessitated because the sitting
legislators in the respective constituencies lost their lives in a helicopter crash on September 22 last year. Apart from Slsella, the battle in Mawprem within Shillong has also created considerable interest because of the presence of Manas Chaudhuri, a local media baron, as an Independent
candidate. Manas Chaudhuri has already launched a website to convey to the voter as to how he plans to carry forward his mission for social service and nurturing of the constituency after his victory. Interestingly, the Meghalaya state unit of the CPI has extended its support to Mansas Chaudhuri. Mr P.A. Sangma was confident of winning two of the three seats, further consolidating the NCP base in Meghalaya. |
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Nationwide strike against VAT
today
New Delhi, February 20 “The agitation is aimed to raise traders’ voice primarily with the motive to help the crores of unorganised consumer citizens from paying higher value of the essential commodities,” Praveen Khandelwal of the Confederation of All-India Traders said.
— UNI |
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Get ready for stir, Ghising tells
people
Kolkata, February 20 Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has directed the police and the administration to take all necessary steps to hold elections in Darjeeling by April 24 and ensure peace and tranquillity in the hills. Talks on Mr Ghising’s demand “ for more money and autonomy” could continue along with the preparation for holding the Darjeeling council’s elections which had been deferred several times. The elections would be held at all costs this time, the Chief Minister said. Incidentally, Mr Ghising has been heading the council since 1988 which even a large section in the GNLF and other political parties in the hills were now opposing. They alleged that Mr Ghising had been forcibly occupying the chair though he had lost the confidence of a majority of the council members. Meanwhile, the CPM and the forces opposed to Mr Ghising in the hills took out processions in Darjeeling today, seeking the holding elections there immediately. |
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Hearing of rebel MLAs’ case on March
10
Lucknow, February 20 The writ petition had been filed by the leader of the BSP legislative party, Swami Prasad Maurya, in September, 2003, challenging the order of the then Speaker, Mr Kesharinath Tripathi, recognising the 40 BSP MLAs who had crossed over in batches to facilitate the forming of the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government “as one third of the BSP’s 109 strength in the Vidhan Sabha”. |
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Open Sharda temple for public: JKDF
New Delhi, February 20 “It will be a good step as people will get an opportunity to visit this historic temple which is now in ruins,” JKDF chief Pandit Bhushan Bazaz said here. He lauded as the “landmark decision” by India and Pakistan to open the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus link and said it is a dream come true for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Pandit Bazaz said the move will go a long way to ensure lasting peace in the region and normalisation of relations between the two countries and congratulated their leadership for the “courageous” decision. —
UNI |
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Surjeet, Bardhan to visit Pak
New Delhi, February 20 The visit is not only being considered important as a positive step towards improving people-to-people contacts, but also in the context of the crucial Left support to the UPA Government. In fact, Surjit had started his career as a communist underground activist during the freedom struggle at Lahore, where he was lodged in Montgomery Jail for quite some time in the 1930s. They are expected to attend several functions in Lahore, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Karachi and Islamabad and would also participate in various seminars on the future role of the Left movement in the world, particularly in Asia. |
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