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Quality is thrust area of defence production policy, says Pranab
A Russian delegate gestures as she explains the working of a grenade launcher at the Russian pavilion during the fourth defence exhibition in New Delhi on Tuesday. — AFP
photo
Throw Indo-US N-deal into wastepaper basket: Brajesh
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Editors Guild for ombudsmen in media houses
SC upholds salary benefits to PPS officers
BJP, JD(S) to have long-term ties
Rajnath for joint front against CPM
PM for ensuring potable water to every house
Leprosy eliminated
Razdan Addl Secy in Petroleum Ministry
Muslims seek exemption from Uniform Civil Code
Another LeT operative held
Saudi links surface in terror probe
Bomb hoax in court
‘Paheli’ not nominated
for Oscar
Panta is SC Judge
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Quality is thrust area of defence
New Delhi, January 31 He said any statement by him about privatisation of defence PSUs would tantamount to 180 degree turn. Earlier, nationalisation was projected as the panacea for meeting all economic ills and now privatisation was being preferred, he added. He was addressing a press conference after inaugurating the fourth international defence exhibition “Defexpo India 2006” here. He said quality and competition was the thrust area of the new defence production and procurement policy. He said 26 of the 40 recommendations of the first part of the Vijay Kelkar Committee report on defence procurement were implemented and the rest would also follow. The government was examining the second part of the report and decision would be taken shortly, he added. Assuring the participants representing more than 220 international companies and as many Indian companies, he said a seminar during the four-day exhibition would focus on the procurement policy. He was open to new ideas and suggestions, he added. He said all procedures under the procurement policy were posted on the website as a measure to ensure transparency. As regards the high-trajectory ammunition
ordnance factory in Nalanda that was facing problems due to cancellation of contract with the South African partner Denel, he said a committee was looking into the issue and the government would take appropriate decision after the committee submitted its recommendations. He however, clarified the government had to cancel the arrangement with the South African firm due to violation of contractual obligations. Stating that the government would be shortly issuing request for proposal for procuring 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft, he said the IAF was constantly engaged in the exercise of upgrading its inventory of weapon platforms and purchasing new aircraft to maintain the operational force and squadron levels. Replying to another question about the airport employees unions threatening to go on strike against the proposed modernisation of airports and the government action plan, he said, “You would come to know as to how the government would deal with it.” Meanwhile, the Defence Minister invited the world’s largest armament firms to forge collaborations to develop hi-tech weapons that could be marketed around the world. |
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Throw Indo-US N-deal into wastepaper basket: Brajesh
New Delhi, January 31 In an exclusive interview to Asian News International, Mishra said that the so-called historic deal of bilateral reciprocity could end up compromising New Delhi’s strategic interests and its status as a non-proliferating entity in the international community. “The July 18 Indo-US deal should be thrown in the waste paper basket,” said Mishra, adding that had he been consulted or been the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, he would have cautioned Dr Manmohan Singh about the long-term implications of the deal. Elaborating further, Mishra said that it would have been in New Delhi’s interest to have “some amount of understanding with the US and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the issue of sharing civilian nuclear energy.” “But, the way in which the July 18 deal has been expressed and elaborated, it indicates America’s intent of restricting our (India’s) ability to have more nuclear weapons, and it is bound to hit on our strategic capability,” he added. ‘‘It has become clear now that the American are aiming to restrict our ability to produce more nuclear weapons and to produce a good mix of nuclear weapons that is nuclear and thermonuclear weapons so it is bound to hit at our strategic capability,’’ he said. ‘‘Now what is happening is that our strategic capability, our effort to have a credible minimum deterrent, now that is being curbed by this deal…It (credible minimum deterrent) is sought to be curbed, I don’t know whether the government has accepted it, so I can’t say we have compromised but it is sought to be curbed by the Americans and I have no doubt about that in the matter,’’ he added. ‘‘They want a credible programme of submission of our nuclear reactors for IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association) full scope safeguards in perpetuity. Now what do they mean by credible, it seem to me that they mean almost all our reactors. That is what they are talking about,’’ he said. ‘‘If we do that we cannot have a credible minimum deterrent, which is our nuclear doctrine…since January 2004, its an official policy and so far as I am aware this government is following that nuclear doctrine, so in my view this particular deal as it has been elaborated since July 18 by the Americans and as people say goal posts have been shifted, I think it should be thrown in the wastepaper basket,’’ he further said. Recalling past deliberations on India’s nuclear policy, Mishra said that there had always been a national consensus, but under the present administrative dispensation, “our strategic capability and effort to have minimum nuclear deterrence is sought to be curbed by the Americans.”
— ANI |
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Editors Guild for ombudsmen in media houses
New Delhi, January 31 “Newspaper establishments should set up an in-house authorities, like ombudsmen, independent of editorial and business departments, to look into charges of misreporting and bias,” the Ajit Bhattacharjea Committee on Misreporting said in its report. The guild had appointed the committee following criticism by the Prime Minister on September 22 last year for lack of accountability in news organisations in the wake of wrong reports in a section of the media about a meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office on stock market manipulations that led to serious market fluctuations. The Bhattacharjea Committee, which had senior journalists Prem Shankar Jha, Om Thanvi and K.S. Sachidananda Murthy as its members, recommended that the findings of ombudsmen be published regularly. “They (media organisations) should ensure timely publication of corrections and respond to readers’ complaints,” said the report that was approved by the Executive Committee of the guild today. It said, “Stress should be on the need to identify sources and authenticity of news reports and responsibility of reporters and copy editors to check these.” It also suggested that the code should be made known to readers. — PTI
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SC upholds salary benefits to PPS officers
New Delhi, January 31 Rejecting a special leave petition
(SLP) of the Punjab Government at the stage of its admission yesterday, a Bench of Mr Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice P. P. Naolekar upheld the rulings of the high court and the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) directing the state government to provide PPS officer the same salary as applicable to the IPS officers for one-year probation period also after their elevation to the cadre. The court said both CAT and the high court had interpreted the law correctly in their cases and there was no “infirmity” in their orders. The initial order on providing them salary benefit for the probation period on a par with the IPS officer as per the fourth pay commission recommendation was passed by CAT, which was upheld by the high court last year. All affected officers numbering 11 and promoted to the IPS cadre from the rank of DSP (PPS cadre) on May 27, 1995, had remained on probation for one year till May 27, 1996, and in between fourth pay commission was implemented by from January 1, 1996. Advocate Sudhir Walia, appearing for the affected officers, now in the rank of DIG, contended that once they were elevated to the IPS cadre, there was no reason to deny them the benefits applicable to them. Walia said denying them the benefit was “discriminatory” act by the state government as it had given the IPS rank salary two of such officers but opposed the benefit to others. He also contended that even the Union Government rules also supported the claim of the promoted officers. The state government on its part had challenged the grant of the IPS rank salary to the officers for the probation period on the ground that they could not claim the benefit before they were actually confirmed to the cadre. |
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BJP, JD(S) to have long-term ties
New Delhi, January 31 “Since both the BJP and the JD (S) had contested the Assembly polls against the Congress, our alliance is a ‘natural alliance’ and not an opportunistic alliance,” a senior BJP Central leader, who was involved in shaping up the BJP-JD(S) alliance, told The Tribune here today. Refuting news reports that there could be a tussle between the two alliance partners on power sharing, a broad formula had already been arrived at between the two parties, he said, indicating that while the BJP would get the portfolios held by the JD(S) in the Dharam Singh government and the portfolios held by the Congress would go to JD(S). He, however, pointed out that there could be some minor adjustments keeping in view the need to give adequate representation to various regions and castes in Karnataka. The BJP leader pointed out that the Kumaraswamy-led government was likely to get additional strength if the JD(U), having five MLAs, also decides to extend support. On the Speakership, too, both the alliance have worked out the formula. In the first phase when the JD (S) leads the coalition, the Speaker’s post will go to JD(S) and in the second phase it will go to the BJP, when it leads the coalition. |
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Rajnath for joint front against CPM
Kolkata, January 31 Accordingly, he advised the BJP and other NDA partners to get themselves for the poll. The BJP president, who held a dinner table talks with the Trinamool Congress supremo, Ms Mamata Banerjee, in the city last night, alleged that the Congress leadership had totally "sold themselves" to the Marxists only to remain in power at the Centre and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, running the government at the sweet will of the left parties, which a large section in the Congress had been disapproving. The government cannot function like this for a long time and soon a situation will be created when Dr Singh will be forced to step down, the BJP president felt. He left for Ranchi this morning Talking to mediapersons, Mr Singh said he was not bothered if the TMC forged an electoral alliance with the Congress and other so-called secular parties in the coming elections against the CPM but he was confident that the TMC and the BJP would jointly fight for defeating the CPM. The BJP president said the political situation in the state had necessitated that all anti-Left forces should get united irrespective of their political and ideological differences and jointly fight the elections against the CPM for disloging the Marxists from the power. Accordingly, they had no objection to join hands with the Congress against the CPM for the larger interest of the people in the state. The TMC leader, however, was still hopeful that some good sense would prevail in the minds of the WBPCC(l) president, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and other leadership and they would agree to an electoral alliance with all anti-left parties for avoiding the division in the votes against the CPM. The Union Information Minister, Mr Priyaranjan Dasmunshi felt the Congress would have no problem in making a seat adjustment with the Trinamool Congress against the CPM in the election but he would welcome Ms Banerjee to leave the BJP and join hands with them for jointly fighting against the CPM. The veteran Congress leader, Mr Ghani Khan
Chowdhury, however, declared they would fight the elections jointly with the TMC and the BJP in Malda as they did in the last municipal and panchayat poll since the situation was so demanding. |
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PM for ensuring potable water to every house
New Delhi, January 31 Inaugurating a two-day conference of state ministers for rural drinking water supply and rural sanitation, he said the government’s flagship Bharat Nirman programme had made availability of safe drinking water to every single habitation a key component of the agenda. It should be achieved in the next four years, he added. Terming the lack of sanitation facilities for women in much of rural India a “shame”, he stressed the need to urgently address the “national disgrace” by launching a people’s movement. |
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Leprosy eliminated
New Delhi, January 30 "As on December 31, there were 1.07 lakh leprosy cases with a prevalence rate of 0.95 per 10,000 population," Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here on Leprosy Day that coincides with the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi. Less than one case per 10,000 population is considered as the elimination of a public health problem, he said. Stating that elimination and eradication of leprosy was a dream of the Father of the Nation, he said "We have come a long way since the launch of the leprosy control programme in 1955. The next target is eradication of this disease which means no case of the disease." Overall 26 states/union territories had achieved elimination levels, prevalence was still high in eight states, Dr GPS Dhillon, Deputy Director General of the Leprosy Elimination Programme, said. Delhi, Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli had the prevalence rate between two and three per 10,000 population while UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh had prevalence between one and three.
— PTI |
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Razdan Addl Secy in Petroleum Ministry
New Delhi, January 31 Anil Razdan (IAS, Haryana, 1973) will be the new Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, an official release said. Atul Chaturvedi has been named as the new Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor, Department Rural Development. P K Mishra (IAS, Gujarat, 1972) has been appointed Additional Secretary, NDMA, it added. |
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Muslims seek exemption from Uniform Civil Code
Lucknow, January 31 Raising the controversial demand at the conclusion of a meeting of the all-India social reforms subcommittee of the board, general secretary Maulana Syed Nizamuddin said Shariat laws were an integral part of the Muslim community and a uniform civil code was not acceptable to it at any cost. He declared that the Muslim personal law in no way hampered the growth of the community. He called for strict enforcement of the “purdah” system for the women in the community. Hinting at the recent controversy regarding the dress code for Padamshri awardee and tennis player Sania Mirza, he said it was unfortunate that fun was being made of the Islamic dress code. Calling upon the men of the community to work towards the strict implementation of the “purdah” system, he said they should take care of all outside work of the woman so that there should be no need for them (woman) to stir out of the house. He, however, clarified that this should not hamper the chances of the woman acquiring education and accessing gainful employment. Demanding an amendment to the Waqf Act of 1995, he said its provisions needed to be strengthened so as to give it sufficient power to protect the properties under its jurisdiction. Criticising the UP government for its alleged lack of response to a year-old AIMPLB-proposed amendment to the UP Zamindari Act that recommends to give daughters inheritance rights in ancestral agricultural land, he said despite several reminders and meetings with the minister concerned nothing had been done. |
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Another LeT operative held
Bangalore, January 31 The police has arrested a suspected operative of the Lashkar-e-Toiba identified as Chand Pasha. Bangalore Police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh told reporters that Pasha was used to disburse funds by the LeT. He had earlier come into contact with Abdul Rehman, who the police claim is the pointman of the Pak militant outfit in South India, during his stay in Saudia Arabia. The Police Commissioner disclosed that Pasha was running a garment store in the city since the past three years along with his brother Ahmed. The police claims Pasha was responsible for hawala transactions along with his brother whose role in the case is still to be uncovered. A purse containing papers with telephone numbers besides a mobile phone has been recovered from
Pasha. |
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Saudi links surface in terror probe
Mumbai, January 31 The police said here today that Mushriruddin Salauddin Siddique (37) and Mansoor Mehmood Ansari (27) were held yesterday with explosives when they alighted from the Gorakhpur-Mumbai Khushinagar Express. They had confessed to links with Wahabbi organisations in Saudi Arabia. Preliminary information available from the police indicate that both Siddique and Ansari had received training in explosives at the ISI's camps in Karachi. |
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Bomb hoax in court
Mumbai, January 31 According to the police, a bomb disposal squad was rushed to the premises, but nothing was found. The police said the call was received at the police control room. The security was already tight there since gangster Abu Salem was to be produced in the court. |
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‘Paheli’ not nominated
for Oscar
Mumbai, January 31 Besides
“Paheli”, UTV produced “Morning Raga” which was entered independently by director Mahesh
Dattani, also failed to make the cut. Produced by superstar Shah Rukh Khan, “Paheli” is based on renowned Rajasthani author Vijaydan Detha's story of a woman who falls in love with a ghost and the tricky moral issues that the villagers face when her husband returns after many
years. — PTI |
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Panta is SC Judge
New Delhi, January 31 He will be the first Himachali to become a Judge of the apex court. In the past, Justice M.C. Mahajan, who belonged to Kangra region, was appointed a Judge of the apex court, but at that time the area was not part of Himachal Pradesh. Former Chief Justice R.S. Pathak, belonging to Uttar Pradesh, was the other Judge from the HP High Court to become a Judge of the apex court. |
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Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here today that he had no ideological barriers as far as the defence industry was concerned. He said the keyword was quality at competitive prices and it did not matter whether the manufacturer was in the private sector or a PSU.
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