Sunday, December 27, 1998

Birds meeting early death in Thar
JAIPUR, Dec 26 — A large number of birds, including eagles, buzzards and kestrels, are falling prey to power transmission lines that have sprung up in the Indian desert, the largest and most preferred domain of these birds, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

Karnataka staff agree to resume work
BANGALORE, Dec 26 — Striking Karnataka Government employees today agreed to resume work in essential services as the government continued efforts to end the stir which has thrown the administrative machinery out of gear.

"Zakhm" released after changes
NEW DELHI, Dec 26 — Although the controversial Hindi feature film "Zakhm" has finally hit the screen after incorporating the changes suggested by the Home Ministry, the other equally talked-about film "Fire", is still stuck with the Central Board of Film Certification.

LS ex-Secy, wife murdered
From Syed Ali Ahmed

NEW DELHI, Dec 26 — Former Lok Sabha Secretary N.P. Jain and his wife, Indrani Jain, were found clubbed to death in their flat in Saket in South Delhi this morning.

According to the Joint Commissioner of Police, Mr Amod Kanth, at 10.30 a.m. a driver of Mr Jain came to his residence and found the main gate is slightly open. He went inside the house and found it ransacked. The driver informed the police when he found the old couple dead in their bedroom.

Cash and other valuables kept in three almirahs and lockers in the house were found to be missing, the police said.

The Joint Commissioner said wooden sticks were recovered from the bedroom of the deceased which indicated the involvement of a criminal tribe.

Mr Jain, who was issueless, had been residing in M-78, Saket, with his wife for the past few years.

The former Lok Sabha Secretary and his wife, the police said seemed to have been killed around midnight.

A watchman of a nearby flat, Nilesh, said he saw seven persons near a nullah behind the colony at 1.30 a.m. He reportedly told the police that he was threatened by them when he asked them what they were doing.

He later informed the watchmen of the M-Block who agreed to go and check. However, by the time they reached there, the suspects had already left the place.

When the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Pradeep Srivastava, went to inspect the nullah this morning he found some branches of a "keeker" tree broken. The sticks recovered from the house of Mr Jain seemed to be of the same tree, Mr Kanth said adding that, the modus operandi of the suspects was similar to those used by a criminal tribe and that the police was keeping a watch on the community.

The murder comes within days of a double murder in the posh South Delhi colony. The spate of murders has made a mockery of the claims made by the police following the murder of a old couple on Thursday.

The bodies of an old couple — S.N.A. Chary and his wife Shanti Chary — were found in a park in the F-Block in Saket. The police has yet to achieve a breakthrough in the case.

Mr Kanth said there was panic among residents of Saket due to two murder cases within a week.

However, he said crime could not be prevented without the cooperation of the residents. He said there were 15 blocks in Saket and each block had at least six watchmen.

At present, 20 constables had been deployed around the Saket area.

PTI adds: Union Home Minister L.K. Advani meanwhile directed the allocation of additional central forces to help the Delhi police check the spiralling crime rate.

Mr Advani issued the directions at a meeting with Lt-Governor Vijai Kapoor and other top officials in the wake of the murders at Saket.

He directed that no efforts be spared to apprehend the perpetrators of the two heinous crimes and warned that the police officers in whose areas such crimes took place would be held responsible and strict action taken against them.

Mr Azad Singh, Additional Station House Officer of Malviya Nagar, has already been placed under suspension following the Home Minister’s directions, while area Assistant Commissioner of Police Hira Lal and SHO Mahipal Singh, who was on leave on the day of the crime, have been transferred.

Mr Lal will be replaced by Mr O.P. Mishra while Inspector R.S. Jakhar will take over as the SHO.

Policy to make India fiscal superpower
No panic situation: Sinha

NEW DELHI, Dec 26 (PTI) — Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today said the government would put in place a long-term policy initiative in the next General Budget to make India an economic superpower by 2010.

This, he said, would form part of the second generation reform which would make a "direct attack’’ in dealing with two major issues, unemployment and poverty through rural development, Mr Sinha said in an interview to Doordarshan.

Expressing confidence that the turnaround in the economy would come about in the next few months, Mr Sinha said there was "no panic situation" as made out in certain quarters.

"We have a few problems" because of economic slowdown, industrial recession, fall in exports and widening fiscal deficit but the "financial health of the country is not that precarious to say that the country is heading for a crisis."

Giving reasons for the difficult situation, Mr Sinha said the economy was slowing down because of general recession and East Asian crisis which had deepened and broadened engulfing countries like Japan, Latin America and Russia.

This, he said, had adversely affected market sentiments. Hence, the government as a short-term measure had initiated several steps to improve market sentiments which had already started yielding results.

"I am happy to say inflation has not been rising for almost four weeks in real terms," Mr Sinha said, adding "if you look at the achievements (of the BJP-led government), the management of the economy is extremely good".

"I dare say we have done more in the past 10 months as compared to any earlier government" considering the fact that "we inherited a fiscal deficit of 6.1 per cent of GDP in 1997-98 coupled with export slowdown and rising inflation."

The country went for Pokhran nuclear test in the best national interest, he said but unfortunately the USA and other countries imposed economic sanctions at a time when East currency meltdown had deepened, creating a major impact on market sentiments.

Hence, it went to the government’s credit for proper management as few countries like India were expected to end the financial year with a positive rate of growth.

He said the top priority of the government was to revive the much-needed demand and for this a number of macro-economic steps were being taken, besides ensuring measures for quick implementation of major power and road projects.

The control of fiscal deficit, a massive Rs 22,000 crore, inherited from the previous government, was no doubt a major challenge. But the government was confident keeping a tight leash on expenditure. Cash outgoing was a mere Rs 1279 crore in the supplementary demand for grants passed by Parliament as the Rs 13,000-odd crore expenditure of various ministers were effected through savings, he said.

No change of guard in UP: Kalyan

LUCKNOW, Dec 26 (PTI) — Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today ruled out any change of guard in the state, saying any change of leadership would result in a mid-term polls.

"According to my personal assessment of the political situation, mid-term poll are imperative once the leadership is changed in Uttar Pradesh," he told mediapersons here.

Amidst speculation of change of guard in the state with a section of the state BJP complaining about the continued neglect of MLAs belonging to a particular caste, he said those who were "spreading these rumours" wanted to force another round of elections in the state.

He said he would take up the matter with the BJP leadership at the Centre.

He appealed to "all those behind such rumours" to desist from such acts which could vitiate the political atmosphere and harm the nationalist image of the BJP.

He advised his partymen to desist from politics of casteism as complaints of neglect by any particular caste would lead to a chain of reaction by other castes.

In reply to a question, he said he was aware of the forces behind the move to create confusion within the government but felt no need to identify them.

He said the central leadership of the party was "wise enough" to understand the prevailing situation in the state.

The Chief Minister said he was personally not in favour of a mid-term poll and the coalition partners, too, were of similar views.

He said there was no truth in media reports that the RSS too wanted a change in leadership. "The RSS is being unnecessarily dragged into the issue", he said.

Regarding reports that the newly created 16 districts and six commissionerates in the state had been scrapped, he said no such decision had been taken and the government had only set up a cabinet sub-committee to study the economic viability and feasibility of these districts which would later be discussed by the Cabinet.

1998 — crises galore for Delhiites
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Dec 26 — Delhiites grappled with one crisis after another throughout the year be it onion, dropsy, power or water crisis.

The crisis eventually led to the ignominious exit of the BJP government which failed to grapple with the never-ending problems of the city ranging from a summer without power and water to the dropsy epidemic and finally the sky-rocketing prices of onions.

In a year in which politics dominated the cityscape, Delhi saw three Chief Ministers in a span of less than two months.

In a damage-control exercise, the BJP replaced Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma with Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, after the elections were announced.

But Ms Swaraj had to make way for Ms Sheila Dikshit following the massive Congress victory in the November 25 Assembly poll.

In other top-level changes, Lt-Governor Tejendra Khanna was replaced by Mr Vijai Kapoor in April and Delhi Police Commissioner T.R. Kakkar made way for Mr V.N. Singh in May.

Full statehood eluded Delhi even after the installation of a BJP-led government at the Centre. Though the BJP remains committed to it, differences have cropped up on the boundaries of the proposed National Capital Territory and jurisdiction over police.

Delhi became the first city in the country to sell only unleaded petrol even as the Supreme Court ordered the phasing out of commercial vehicles older than 15 years and work started on the first section of the mass rapid transit system.

The spurt in crime rate prompted Union Home Minister L.K. Advani to direct the Home Secretary to review the Capital’s law and order situation. With a shortage of manpower and VIP security duties being the bane of the police, the opening of 17 new police stations in December is expected to strengthen the hands of the force.

A major breakthrough for the police was the arrest of four persons of the ISI-backed gang, which was allegedly responsible for nearly 30 bomb blasts which rocked Delhi last year.

The general elections in February 1998 set the tone for a politics-dominated year. The BJP increased its tally from five to six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and was ahead in 51 of the 70 Assembly segments.

However, in a reversal of fortunes, the party finally bagged only 15 seats in the November Assembly poll while Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit, who lost the Lok Sabha poll from East Delhi in February, led her party to a tally of 51 seats in the Assembly.

The breakdown of the power supply system during the scorching summer months perhaps laid the foundation of the BJP debacle.

The ramshackle distribution system of the Delhi Vidyut Board, which is under the Delhi Government, could not cope with the increased demand. As the system repeatedly tripped and “local breakdowns” took days to be repaired, people went without electricity for up to 72 hours and finally ended on the roads in angry protests.

The end of summer brought little respite as by July the Delhi Government decided not to renew the permits of Blueline buses, the mainstay of the public transport system.

Harried commuters were forced to wait for long hours at bus stops for crowded DTC buses or walk. The stand-off continued for nearly 80 days before the Supreme Court in a rebuff to the Delhi Government quashed its “earn and keep” scheme as invalid.

While the Delhiites were struggling with chaotic traffic outdoors, the lethal dropsy epidemic quietly slipped into their homes via adulterated mustard oil around the same time.

Busy organising a “grand finale” to the golden jubilee celebrations of Independence, the authorities ignored the reports of dropsy patients trickling into hospitals. No effort was made to stem the supply of the contaminated oil, find its source or arrest the culprits till it was too late.

In the meantime, 10 persons died and over 400 reported sick. Eventually, the toll crossed 60 and the case was handed over to the CBI. The Delhi government was accused of “shielding” corrupt traders for electoral reasons.

The same charge was levelled at the Delhi Government when the onion prices went through the roof. From Rs 8 per kg in January, the prices shot up to Rs 60 per kg in October. Mr Sahib Singh Verma added to the people’s ire by declaring that onions were not a necessity and “poor people do not eat them anyway.”

With elections being announced on September 26, Ms Swaraj was brought in as the Chief Minister on October 11. She blamed the onion shortage on bad weather and denied the BJP was protecting hoarders.

The Delhi Government’s move to denotify churches as places of worship and enforce only “salwar-kameez” as uniform for school girls also boomeranged. Both measures were abandoned following public outcry. But they left the impression of a government more interested in hare-brained schemes than in serious governance.

Delhi decaying, says book
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 26 — “The Capital might soon slip into a coma as there is strange smell of degradation,” says veteran of Delhi politics, Mr Jag Pravesh Chandra.

Releasing a book “Delhi is Decaying: Take it from me”, written by senior journalist, A R Wig here today, the senior Congress leader said the increasing density of population was the main cause of problems facing Delhi.

The Leader of the Opposition in the last Delhi Assembly, Mr Chandra said “from 2,30,000 people during the first census of the city’s population had gone up to 1.23 crore and the density of the Capital, which was 1639 people per sq km, was increasing day by day to alarming proportions.”

Further, the pollution was ruining the city. Compared to 11,000 vehicles in 1947, the number of vehicles that ran on Delhi roads was now more than 30 lakhs.

“While Old Delhi is losing its history, New Delhi looks tired and losing modernity,” he said.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma stated that the only way the Capital could be saved was if the National Capital Regions were developed.

“I have asked four Prime Ministers so far and lately also met Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani to immediately call for a meeting of neighbouring Chief Ministers to discuss the matter threadbare,” Mr Verma said.

The former Chief Minister said mass rapid transit system (MRTS) may not be a solution to decongestion in the city. There were many government offices which could be easily re-located to the NCR. The answer lay in moving out offices which were not required in the Capital.

The author, who has covered the city for more than three decades, states that “despite so many authorities, trying to create hurdles if not to control and guide the fate of the city, Delhi is drifting slowly towards its own death. The increase in its population on the one hand and the failure of the civic bodies to enforce municipal laws on the other pose a serious threat to the very existence of the city, turning it fast into a death hole.”

Mr Wig opines that “as a result of large-scale land grabbing, the city has expanded enormously, the dangers it has posed to the civic authorities are beyond solution.”

The book is published by Ajanta Books.

Major reforms initiated in Defence
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Dec 26 — Initiation of much-needed reforms in the defence sector with several new measures having far-reaching impact has been the hallmark of the Defence Ministry in 1998.

While Pokhran II marked a new chapter in the country’s history, taking India into the select group of nuclear-weapon states, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, gave soldiers the right to vote by proxy, in the Lok Sabha. This is being seen as a major achievement for the ministry the initiative for which was taken by Defence Minister, George Fernandes.

The declaration of a unilateral moratorium underlined India’s concern for global peace. The constitution of the long-awaited National Security Council indicated the government’s priority to issues of national security.

The government struck a fresh note from the beginning. One of the very first acts of the Defence Minister was to revive the Defence Minister’s Committee after more than 20 years. Chaired by him, the committee, consisting of the three service chiefs and senior officials of the Defence Ministry, meets once a month.

It has paved the way for quicker decision-making and enabled the service chiefs to effectively help make decisions. Mr Fernandes has also regularised weekly meetings with the service chiefs and senior officials of the government which take a broad overview of national security.

Mr Fernandes has suggested reforms in the armed forces. “The nature of modern weapon systems is increasingly transcending single “service boundaries”, he told commanders of the armed forces. He said increasingly, the fighting capabilities of the future would involve the use of the assets of the three services under integrated direction and command, pointing out that the armed forces of leading powers had already made these changes.

Welfare of troops and equipping them with the best of equipment have been a major concern of the ministry. The Defence Minister visited major defence locations in difficult areas from the hills and forests of the North-East, the snow-bound mountains of Jammu and Kashmir including the Siachen, the deserts of Rajasthan, the Rann of Kutch and the choppy waters of the Andamans. These visits enabled him to get a first-hand account of the difficulties faced by troops posted there and initiate major welfare moves.

His personal visits later were followed by the visit of a delegation from the Ministry of Defence to the Siachen. In fact, the visit of the officials from the ministry proved to be extremely beneficial for the troops stationed at the highest battleground in the world, with their report presented to the minister pointing out several deficiencies in facilities being provided to the troops. These included not only clothing, but also problems in travelling and most importantly the quality of food being made available to the troops.

The ministry then cleared a package of welfare measures for troops at the Siachen. These included upgradation of hospital facilities, travel concessions, transportation of fresh food articles and provision of weapons and other requirements.

As a result of the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission, the Siachen allowance was raised to Rs 4,667 per month for JCOs and ORs and Rs 7000 per month for officers compared to Rs 2000 and Rs 3000, respectively.

Similarly, the Defence Minister’s visits to the North-East were followed by a series of measures like liberalised field area allowance and increased leave travel facilities including conversion of the weekly Assam Courier into a biweekly and special railway coaches for troops. The Minister has also articulated the view that a separate force should be raised to deal with the counter-insurgency problem.

His emphasis has been on the development of backward regions and bringing people into the mainstream. As part of that drive, he has announced increased recruitment into the armed forces from the North-East and has directed that local products be purchased by the services to give a boost to local economy.

The government has approved the development of second phase of Agni. This follows successful completion of the Phase-I of Agni as a technology demonstrator, during which three tests were conducted demonstrating the re-entry technology.

The long-pending one rank, one pension issue is expected to be resolved soon. At the Consultative Committee meeting of the ministry, the Defence Minister stated that a Cabinet paper on the subject was ready. While some discussions on the issue are awaited, an early decision is expected.

However there were some hard moments that the ministry faced, specially in the form of agitation from men in the Indian Air Force. The ground staff held demonstrations against the anomalies in the pay scales recommended by Pay Commission and their wives actually came out on the streets in protest.

The ministry finally had to intervene and constitute a committee headed by the Defence Secretary, Mr Ajit Kumar, to go into the matter and give concrete suggestions to resolve the issue.

While for the first time the bitterness prevailing among senior officers of the armed forces came out in the open, with officers filing statutory complaints like never before, another incident which has left a blot on the armed forces as well as the MoD occurred late in the year.

The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, took up a confrontationist stand and refused to implement the decision of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), the highest decision-making committee in the country as far as appointments in the government go. The ACC appointed Vice-Admiral Harinder Singh as the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff to which Admiral Bhagwat had an objection and he refused to implement the decision. There is no precedent for such a happening.

Birds meeting early death in Thar

JAIPUR, Dec 26 (PTI) — A large number of birds, including eagles, buzzards and kestrels, are falling prey to power transmission lines that have sprung up in the Indian desert, the largest and most preferred domain of these birds, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

A few hundred of such birds are meeting their premature end annually in the Thar Desert alone, the Honorary Secretary of the Rajasthan chapter of the WWF-India Harsh Vardhan told reporters here today.

This upsets the life-span of these hunter species, which were already reeling under unprecedented pressure from human activities like use of pesticides, insecticides and chemical fertilisers, Mr Harsh Vardhan said.

Already fallen into the category of endangered species the deaths of these birds due to electrocution was only expediting their extinction, he said.

Many skulls of such birds were collected by a team of experts.

Karnataka staff agree to resume work

BANGALORE, Dec 26 (PTI) — Striking Karnataka Government employees today agreed to resume work in essential services as the government continued efforts to end the stir which has thrown the administrative machinery out of gear.

After talks with a ministerial team, Karnataka State Government Employees Association president Sippegowda told mediapersons that the employees in essential services, like hospitals, had been asked to report for duty immediately.

These employees would, however, continue their protest by wearing black badges and not signing the attendance register, he said.

Another round of parleys would be held later. Rural Development Minister M.P. Prakash, who is involved in the talks, said the government was confident of finding a solution. Mr Sippegowda, however, indicated that no progress had been made.

The employees had launched an indefinite strike on December 21 and called it off two days later after negotiating a settlement but backtracked within a day and renewed the strike on December 24 to bargain for a better deal. Two rounds of talks held between the government and the employees association yesterday failed to make any headway.

"Zakhm" released after changes

NEW DELHI, Dec 26 (UNI) — Although the controversial Hindi feature film "Zakhm" has finally hit the screen after incorporating the changes suggested by the Home Ministry, the other equally talked-about film "Fire", is still stuck with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

In its report, the Home Ministry had said it had no objection to the main storyline of the film, but suggested "some minor changes" in what was being described as well-known film-maker Mahesh Bhatt’s semi-autobiographical film.

However, film industry sources said Mahesh Bhatt was forced to submit a written apology for remarks made by him and associates to CBFC chairperson Asha Parekh before she signed the certificate clearing the film for "adult" release. Bhatt had to do some reshooting in compliance with the views expressed by the Home Ministry, whose report was based on the findings of a three-member committee of officers set up for examining the film, which was based on the 1992-93 Mumbai riots.

Asha Parekh had referred the film to Home Secretary B.P. Singh as she felt the subject was very sensitive. She had initially decided to refer the film to the Maharashtra Home Secretary, but sent it to the Centre on the plea of Bhatt since the film would be released all over the country. However, Bhatt claimed that the examining committee of the CBFC had passed the film and suggested only one dialogue cut. He also claimed that Asha Parekh took the decision to refer the film to the Home Secretary merely on the basis of the synopsis.

1 killed in police encounter
MUMBAI: An alleged member of the Amar Naik gang was killed in an encounter with the police in South Mumbai on Friday night. The police said on Saturday Javed Kureshi (26), injured in the encounter, died on the way to hospital. A police patrol led by inspector Ajit Deshmukh laid a trap for Kureshi near S.K. Patil Udyan in the Charni Road area around midnight. When the gangster arrived near the park he was challenged by the police and asked to surrender. However, he opened fire from a country-made revolver, injuring the inspector. — PTI

7 missing in boat mishap
CALCUTTA: Seven persons were still missing and presumed dead after Saturday’s boat mishap in river Ganga at Diamond Harbour in South 24-Parganas district in which two persons were officially confirmed dead. The bodies of two teenagers who had drowned after the boat capsized in midstream were recovered on Friday evening, District Magistrate Syed Zakir Hussain said on Saturday. — PTI

Trader stabbed to death
NEW DELHI: Three unidentified youths reportedly stabbed to death a trader and snatched away Rs 3,200 in north-east Delhi on Friday night, the police said on Saturday. Anil Manchanda, who was on the way to Seelampur to meet one of his business friends, was waylaid by the youths who snatched the handbag containing the cash and stabbed him fatally, the police said. — PTI

7 die in road accident
MAINPURI (UP): Seven persons, including three women, were killed and seven injured in a head-on collision between a jeep and a truck near Naviganj police station here on Saturday, the police said. The collision took place due to dense fog, the police said. The jeep belonged to a local daily. The injured were admitted to the nearby hospital. — PTI

Prosecution of minister
KOLHAPUR: A Congress MLA from western Maharashtra has sought permission of the state party president to prosecute Social Welfare Minister Babanrao Gholap, who, he claims, was involved in a multi-crore corruption in four state government corporations for backward classes. The MLA, Laxmanrao Dhoble, told reporters here that he had urged Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Prataprao Bhosle, to allow him to file a writ petition in the Nagpur Bench of the Mumbai High Court against the Sena minister, who was allegedly involved in corruption to the tune of Rs 4.5 crore. — PTI