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Uma Bharti launches Bharatiya Jana Shakti
IMA backs anti-quota movement
Naxalites hijack boats carrying 230 tourists
Kshatriya Samaj to honour Phoolan’s killer
British Embassy upgrades visa facilities
Private sector may be allowed wheat import
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Gen Malik releases book on Kargil war
Lanka wants India’s help on LTTE
UPA to bring in legislations for unorganised sector: Rao
Shilpa for animals’ cause
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Uma Bharti launches Bharatiya Jana Shakti
Ujjain, April 30 The announcement was made at the famous Mahakaleshwar temple at 2.10 pm on the auspicious day of Akshay Tritya today. According to Hindus anything begun today turns into a success. The name, the timing and the place of the launch of the Bharatiya Jana Shakti (Indian people’s power) was carefully chosen after detailed consultations with astrologers and seniors. Ms Bharti, clad in her saffron robe, also introduced the flag of the party which is saffron in colour and carries the sun symbol. As per the regulatory requirements, she also announced names of the three office-bearers of her party naming former Union Minister Priya Gautam as the Senior Vice-President, while she herself is the President of the outfit. Mr Raghunandan Sharma, who was one of the founder members of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party and was its Vice-President till he came out of it yesterday, has been appointed the General Secretary of the new party. Ms Anita Singh, who is in charge of the election campaign of Uma Bharti’s candidate against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli, has been appointed Treasurer of the party. Kamni Khare, an NRI, was also introduced by Ms Bharti. She said the US-based Khare would look after the foreign affairs department of the party. Earlier, Ms Bharti introduced other leaders of her party. These included Tapan Sikdar from West Bengal, Surendra Chauhan from Punjab, Prahlad Patel from Madhya Pradesh, Jeevan Sharma from Uttranchal. Former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana, who did not join the newly floated party, however, came and blessed the party and its leaders. Addressing a small gathering at the venue of the launch of the party, Ms Bharti said the party’s flag represented courage and knowledge as saffron colour had always been identified as the colour of courage and bravery and the sun symbolises wisdom and knowledge. Drawing parallels from Indian history, she said her objective in floating a new party was to save the values of the BJP from getting extinct as the BJP, founded by Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and others, had been hijacked by elements which had nothing to do with its original aims and objectives. ‘‘Grassroot workers, who took to the BJP to the pinnacle of power, have been left behind and fruits of power are being enjoyed by rootless wonders,’’ she alleged. Like Panna Dhai (a legendry figure of the medieval Indian history who saved the king’s son from the clutches of the Mughals by sacrificing her own son ), “I am saving the BJP”, Ms Bharti said amidst a cheering crowd at the temple. Later, the party’s flag was carried to the city centre, Freeganj Tower, where a well attended meeting was addressed by Ms Bharti, Mr Khurana, Mr Gautam and Anita Singh. Speaking on the occasion the leaders focused their attack on the BJP by saying that the party has lost its course and is heading towards ruin. The organisers of the public meeting chose the venue of Freeganj Tower as any other place would have run the risk of getting the popularity of the newly created party and its leader Bharti’s credibility among the people exposed, a resident of Ujjain said at the meeting. |
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IMA backs anti-quota movement
New Delhi, April 30 A large number of medical associations from across the country today met here to chalk out their future strategy. “We have reached a conclusion that reservation on caste basis is bad. If at all, the government wants to help people, it should provide assistance and reservation to those who are economically backward,” said Dr Vinay Aggarwal, Honorary General Secretary of the IMA. He said, “we have instructed all our state units to support the students in their agitation against reservation, and extend financial help for the same if the need arises”. State units of the IMA have also been briefed to coordinate their activities, “this will help them create a larger front for their action,” Dr Aggarwal said. |
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Naxalites hijack boats carrying 230 tourists
Hyderabad, April 30 It is learnt that nearly 230 tourists were stranded at Nagarjuna Konda in Nalgonda district, 120 km from here. The Naxalites reportedly told the tourists that the captured boats would be blasted as a protest against the Friday killings of their comrades. Nagarjuna Konda is an island in the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir. The boats ply several trips every day from the dam site to the island museum. The boats, named Shantrisri and Krishna, were apparently towed away by the Naxalites after tourists got down at the island. Police parties have been dispatched from Nalgonda to the dam site. Officials said arrangements were being made to rescue the stranded tourists on the island. |
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Kshatriya Samaj to honour Phoolan’s killer
Lucknow, April 30 “Rana is to be honoured for upholding the dignity of the community as he has avenged the killing of 20 Kshatriyas by Phoolan Devi in the Behmai massacre,” declared Surendra Pratap Singh, convener of the Kshatriya Swabhimaan Andolan Samanvay Committee, UP, (KSASC). Demanding the UP Government to release Rana on parole, the KSASC spokesperson said Rana had displayed “exemplary courage” by making a daring escape from Tihar Jail and evading the Delhi Police for almost two years. Comparing Rana with Udham Singh, who had avenged the death of the martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh by killing General Dyer in London many years later, Surendra Pratap Singh said that Rana had managed to similarly “dry the tears of the widows of Behmai” by killing Phoolan Devi. The then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, another Kshatriya, V.P. Singh, had resigned in the wake of the Behmai killings, he recalled. Declaring him to be “reincarnation of the brave Kshatriyas of the bygone age who did not care for person comfort”, the KSASC spokesperson claimed that even while he was on the run from the police, he had managed to cross over to Afghanistan to collect relics of the legendary Prithviraj Chauhan. “Such is a person who can be a role model for the young generation,” claimed Surendra Pratap Singh. It may be recalled that the KSASC had held a statewide campaign to protest against Phoolan Devi getting a Samajwadi Party ticket. Later it had held bandhs and rallies when Raja Bhaiyya was arrested under POTA during Mayawati's regime. |
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British Embassy upgrades visa facilities
New Delhi, April 30 People can now apply at the new VFS Visa Application Centre in New Delhi. One can also apply at other Visa Facilitation Service (VFS) offices around India located in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Jalandhar, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Pune, and Cochin. Once an application has been lodged it would then be sent by courier to one of our four visa-issuing posts located in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The entire process will take only 48 hours before a passport is returned to the applicant by courier. Mr Jeff Wilson, First Secretary, Press and Communications, British High Commission said, “When applying for a visa one will have to pay a fee, which covers the cost of processing your application. The cost for a single entry visa is Rs 4,000, plus Rs 445 for the VFS service.” The cost includes all advice that one needs on how to fill in a form and on what the visa is being applied for. One can get this detailed advice at any of the offices or by logging onto www.ukinindia.com, it said. Cautioning about the high charges of travel agents, it said, one must be careful when dealing with agents who make claims about influencing the outcome of the application. “Despite what they might say, they cannot guarantee that you will get your visa. No one knows the application process better than us,” it said adding if one is suspicious, take advice from the VFS. The matter should be reported to the police in case of any cheating by them. The process for issuing straightforward applications usually only takes 48 hours, but one should apply two weeks in advance of the planned travel. March-June is the busiest months of the year, so process may take more time. One can apply for visa up to 3 months before one wishes to travel, he added. |
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Private sector may be allowed wheat import
New Delhi, April 30 “The government wheat import will not exceed 3.5 million tonnes this year. It is only to bridge the shortfall of stocks for the public distribution system (PDS) that we have to import and not necessarily due to shortfall in availability,” Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the National Cooperatives Development Council (NCDC). ‘There are suggestions for allowing flour mills, bread and biscuit makers to import wheat under open general licence (OGL) at reduced duty. We are seriously considering allowing actual users to import under OGL,’ said Mr Pawar. He said the decision to allow private sector to go in for import would be in addition to 3.5 million tonne wheat import which has already been given green signal by the government. State Trading Corporation is the canalising agency for this purpose, he said, adding that the agency would be finalised the minute details relating to the global tender for the three million tonne wheat import within a week. Sensing shortfall in buffer stock, government in February allowed 5 lakh tonne (0.5 million tonne) wheat import while low level of procurement led to allowing an additional three million tonne this month. Though there is shortfall in wheat procurement this year, Mr Pawar said “we are happy that the farmers are getting higher market price for their produce, higher than what the Minimum Support Price (MSP) has to offer to them”. He projected the final figure wheat production figure to be around 72-73 million tonne this year, a similar quantum as that of 72 million tonne of last year. Admitting that there was substantial improvement in demand for wheat in the country, the minister said in view of the shortfall in government stocks more rice would be supplied to rice-eating states. Unlike in the case of wheat, the government has managed to procure sufficient stocks of rice with states like Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana helping in this effort. As per the second advance estimates of 2005-06 crop production released by the agriculture ministry this month, India’s total food grain production is 209.32 million tonnes, 4.71 million tonnes more than in 2004-05. |
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Gen Malik releases book on Kargil war
New Delhi, April 30 The book is his account of the war that India fought with Pakistan in Kargil in 1999 during which the General was at the helm of affairs at South Block here. In the book, which was released here recently, the author analyses the reasoning behind the Pakistani army’s moves and tactics and also focuses on the individuals responsible. The author points out that even as the Indian Prime Minister and his Pakistani counterpart hugged each other after signing the Lahore Declaration in February 1999, Pakistan’s army personnel, in the garb of jehadi militants, infiltrated into Indian territory at Kargil and triggered off a limited conventional war between the world’s newest nuclear-weapon states. This incisive volume uncovers several new details and attempts to answer crucial questions such as: What was the extent of intelligence and surveillance failure on the Indian side and why? What was the rationale for India’s grand strategy of restraint despite being a victim of aggression? What was India’s military strategy and how was the war managed? How were the battles in various sectors planned and executed to recapture the strategically important high-altitude mountaintops? What was the international response to the aggression due to the nuclear factor and what was the role played by the USA and China? What was the impact of the war on Pakistan and India? What are the lessons learnt from Kargil on the military, political, and diplomatic fronts? General Malik rounds off the book with a survey of Indo-Pak security relations in the post-Kargil era. A panel discussion on the book followed the release. The panelists included former Foreign Secretary M.K. Rasgotra, former Principal Secretary to Prime Minister N.N. Vohra, CEO of Indian Express Shekhar Gupta and Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, a defence analyst. |
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Lanka wants India’s help on LTTE
New Delhi, April 30 Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera will undertake a two-day visit here from May 8, official sources said here today.
— PTI
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UPA to bring in legislations for
New Delhi, April 30 In his message for May Day, Mr Rao said the government would ensure that the working class too shared the fruits of economic reforms. While extending warmest greetings and best wishes to the working class on May Day, which falls on May 1, he sought cooperation of all stakeholders in providing labour protection and social security to workers and in exploring measures to further improve their lot. Noting that much remained to be done for workers in the unorganised sector, the minister said though some laws had been enacted for them, the requirements of everyone could not be met. “Hence, the government is proposing to bring forward an umbrella legislation for the unorganised sector workers,” he said. |
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Shilpa for animals’ cause
New Delhi, April 30 In a new advertisement for the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Shilpa, in a figure-hugging striped body suit, crouches in a small cage to illustrate the misery of animals in circuses. |
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