Saturday, October 24, 1998

Education Ministers of non-BJP ruled states staging a walkout over the singing of Saraswati Vandana during the inauguration of State Education Minister's conference in New Delhi on Thursday — PTI

Congress likely to apply
strict criteria
NEW DELHI, Oct 23 — The Congress, which will start finalising the list of candidates for the forthcoming assembly poll next week is expected to apply a strict yardstick denying ticket to those convicted of criminal offences.

• CRPF deployed at Vaishnodevi

Vidya Bharati blames it on bureaucrats
Tribune News Service and agencies

NEW DELHI, Oct 23 — Vidya Bharati, the organisation whose suggestions raised a storm at the State Education Ministers’ meeting here, today blamed bureaucrats for a mix-up, which it said resulted in the controversy.

“We had submitted a memorandum to the Human Resource Development Minister with recommendations of a national education conference convened by us. The minister had asked the officials to persue the paper and take points from it for the Education Ministers’ meeting while they circulated it along with the agenda papers as annexure,” Mr Dina Nath Batra, general secretary, Vidya Bharati said here today.

He said the conference convened from August 28 to August 30 was attended by more than 400 educationist, curriculum experts, management specialists, university personnel and social workers.

Mr Batra said the memorandum also summarised the recommendations of the Kothari Commission and those culled from speeches of eminent leaders and prominent educationists in the past 50 years.

Referring to the issues that attracted flak, he said, Vidya Bharati never wanted that the minority institutions should be deprived or prevented from what they were carrying on, but simply wanted similar concessions for all educational institutions.

“For instance, no government school can teach religion and even in government-aided schools such a subject could be taught only after due permission from parents, whereas such a rule is not applicable to the minority institutions,” he said adding that everyone had the right to preserve one’s identity.

He said objection was raised to the terms “Indianise, nationalise and spiritualise curriculum” and claimed these terms were culled from speeches of leaders and educationists delivered over the years.

Mr Batra said Vidya Bharati was running 14,000 schools, with 18 lakh students and a staff strength of 80,000. He said the organisation also had comparative study of all religions and not just Hinduism.

Meanwhile the VHP on Friday reacted sharply to the walkout staged by Education Ministers of non-BJP-ruled states, including BJP’s allies in protest against “Saraswati vandana”, saying it was an “insult to the nation and symbolised hatred towards the Hindu society”.

The VHP working president, Mr Ashok Singhal, told mediapersons that “the meaning of secularism is equal in respect of all sects and communities” and added “Saraswati, Mahalakshmi, Mahadurga, Ganesh, Mahadev, Ram and Krishna are cultural heritage of Bharat and should be respected as such.”

He singled out the Congress and the Left Front in West Bengal for their stand on the issue, but parried questions on the silence of the Prime Minister on the opposition criticism saying “what the government does is not my concern”.

Congress likely to apply strict criteria
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 23 — The Congress, which will start finalising the list of candidates for the forthcoming assembly poll next week is expected to apply a strict yardstick denying ticket to those convicted of criminal offences.

The Congress leadership has decided that aspirants who have lost two elections or failed to secure a minimum number of votes during the last elections cannot expect nomination easily, party sources said.

The leadership has also decided that the ticket will not be given to aspirants on the basis of their relationship with senior party members. Those readmitted to the party will not automatically get the ticket.

“Winnability will be a major factor and the scrutiny committee will keep in mind all these factors before shortlisting the aspirants,” a senior leader said.

The Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi is keen to give a greater number of ticket to women but much will depend on reports from various quarters sought by the party high command.

With the process of shortlisting candidates expected to be complete by tomorrow, the scene will shift to Delhi as the scrutiny committee starts its job on October 27. The process is likely to be over by October 30.

The scrutiny committee will consist of two Congress Working Committee members, observers and the leader of the Congress legislature party. The recommendations will then be sent to the central election committee.

Meanwhile, the party said talks with the Bahujan Samaj Party were on for possible tie-up in Madhya Pradesh, a final decision would be taken by the high command.

There were reports that the Congress could have a tacit understanding with the BSP and “friendly contests” but party spokesperson Girja Vyas said a final decision was yet to be taken.

China ‘amassing’ forces on border
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 23 — China has increased its presence along the Indian border stretching from Ladakh to Lipulekh pass since April this year, the Director General of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Mr Gautam Kaul, said here today.

“The Chinese forces are flexing their muscles in their territory in such a manner that we can feel it,” Mr Kaul said while addressing newspersons on the eve of the 37th Raising Day of the force.

He pointed out that this development was a recent phenomenon and in certain places, the Chinese force strength had been doubled and even trebled. “However, there has been no violation of the border by the Chinese forces in recent times. The periodical interaction between us continues,” he said.

On the issue of raising the retirement age by two years by the Fifth Pay Commission, Mr Kaul said, constables and head constables were not happy with it.

He said that the ITBP personnel are more keen to have “some kind of cash package”. “On the basis of the survey, we are suggesting to the government that whoever completes either 30 years of service or 54 years of age should be entitled to full pension,” he said.

He pointed out that the force was also keen to hand over charge of the Chandigarh Secretariat to the respective state governments. “The Punjab police can handle the Punjab side of the secretariat and the Haryana police can handle the Haryana side,” he said.

After the massacre in Chamba, Mr Kaul said the Himachal Pradesh Government had requested cooperation from the ITBP for the state police personnel. “We have now sought permission to raise another battalion which will be stationed in the higher reaches of Chamba for counter-insurgency operations. It will also help plug a gap in the Pangi valley region,” he said.

He pointed out that the ITBP will soon begin using Swiss model of rescue and relief operations and their disaster management techniques. “We have also requested the Meteorological Department to allow us access to their satellite imagery system”, he added.

Bansi Lal asks PM for Rs 350 cr aid
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 23 — Haryana today demanded Rs 350 crore assistance immediately from the Centre to enable the state overcome devastation caused by rain and strong winds during September-October.

Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal conveyed the state’s requirement at a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee here today and also requested the Centre to depute a team to tour the state and take stock of the damage caused by the calamity.

The Chief Minister urged the Centre to provide the assistance so that Haryana could mitigate the sufferings of the farmers.

Mr Bansi Lal also informed the Prime Minister that the state government had ordered special girdawari in the affected areas to assess the losses. Recovery of crop loan in the affected areas had also been deferred and dewatering operation had begun, a state government release said.

In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, the state said the agriculture sector had been hit due to excessive rain, strong winds and inclement weather.

A total of 9.08 lakh hectares of cultivated area had been affected and the damage to crops and horticulture products had been assessed at Rs 2099 crore, the release said.

It was estimated that nearly 50 per cent of Basmati paddy had been lost which amounted to Rs 1604 crore loss. The loss of sugarcane and bajra crops had been estimated to be Rs 316 crore and Rs 110 crore, respectively.

Heavy rain had also affected procurement of paddy operations and nearly 75 to 80 per cent of paddy, was yet to arrive at grain markets, the release said.

It suggested relaxation on paddy to include 22 per cent for moisture, 5 per cent for damage, and 5 per cent for discolouring. Similar relaxation had been sought in broken, damaged and discoloured categories of raw and parboiled rice.

BJP to focus on Centre’s achievements

NEW DELHI, Oct 23 (PTI) — The BJP today reviewed its electoral prospects in the coming assembly elections in four states with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee asking the party to project its achievements at the Centre during the past six months to counter Opposition “propaganda”.

Addressing a meeting of the party central office-bearers, he said it was necessary to highlight various “measures” taken by the Centre to counter Opposition propaganda during the election campaign, party sources said.

Mr Vajpayee, who will be launching the party’s election campaign in the Capital tomorrow attended the meeting briefly, as also Home Minister LK Advani.

The two-hour meeting chaired by party president Kushabhau Thakre discussed reports of the four general secretaries on the party’s poll prospects and the preparation of the state units.

The party failed to project anyone as its prospective chief ministerial candidate for Madhya Pradesh on the plea that the state was going to be split into two.

Fresh supplies in fortnight
By U.K. Bhanot
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — At Rs 50 per kg in the main vegetable market of the city in Sector 26, very few consumers can afford to buy onions. These are a precious cash crop now. No wonder, farmers are moving onions under insurance cover. A truck-load of onions now costs more than Rs 4 lakh.

In the wholesale market, onions were today sold at Rs 1,800 per 40 kg, including commission, and Rs 225 per 5 kg in the city. In other markets, the prices were much higher.

The reason of the high prices is obviously the complete lack of control on the prices by the government which appears to realise none of its responsibilities to make available essential items at reasonable rates to consumers.

Although the Nasik crop is out, the suppliers are taking time to allow the onions to dry up to make these transportation worthy and at the same time make the best of the markets. Earlier, the suppliers from Maharashtra used to despatch onions stored in the open to relieve the pressure of demand. This year these open stored stocks were damaged by untimely rains in the Nasik area and the cyclone in the Bhavnagar area.

Although onions prices have been on the rise for the past several months and may still go up a little more to force the consumers to abandon its use for some time, there is every reason to hope for the prices to fall in the near future.

The prices are likely to soften with the likely arrival of onions from Nasik, Bhavnagar, Mohuwa and Veraval, Jodhpur in a fortnight or so. Supplies from these areas will be followed by the kharif crop of onions from Haryana and a few villages in Patiala district.

With the Delhi market being flooded by imported onions as part of the election strategy of the BJP Government in view of the forthcoming Assembly elections in Delhi, the pressure on the domestic suppliers to meet the massive demand of the Delhi consumers will also ease the pressure for the commodity elsewhere. Even some of the imported supplies are likely to come to Punjab and Haryana to meet the current demand.

The Haryana supplies, mainly from Ferozepur Jhirka (Gurgaon) and from Ambala in November-December, are likely to make a dent in the prevailing prices of onions in the region.

In normal course,Haryana produces more than 60,000 tonnes of onions in its year's first crop which comes out in May-June mainly from Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Sonepat, Yamunanagar and Ambala districts. The second crop which is a much smaller one comes out in November-December and may stretch up to the middle of January. The winter crop of onion generally yields between 5,000 and 6,000 tonnes of produce.

Officials of the Haryana Horticulture Department are trying to raise the present 6,000 hectares of land which is under onions to at least 7,500 hectares in view of the heavy demand for the commodity for the past some years.

The officials told TNS today that even public sector agencies had fully exploited the shortage of onion seeds and had sold these at more than twice the normal prices. Even local nurseries have not lagged behind and have raised prices of seeds to nearly Rs 6,000 per kg.

PM asks Sonia not to create instability

NEW DELHI, Oct 23 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to desist from any attempt to create instability in the country and rejected suggestions that the coming Assembly elections will be a referendum on his government’s performance.

"If the Congress party and its leader Sonia Gandhi are truly sincere in their promise of constructive opposition, then they should desist from any attempt to create instability in the country," he said in an interview to "India Today’’ for its forthcoming edition.

Asked if he thought the Congress, which had promised to function as a constructive opposition party, was a responsible Opposition, Mr Vajpayee said the Congress did not claim to form the government in March and it did not lend support to other parties interested in forming the government because of its own compulsions.

"The mandate of the February-March parliamentary elections was clearly against the Congress and the United Front and in favour of the BJP and its allies," he said.

The interview covered a range of subjects including his government’s performance, economy and foreign policy.

Asked if he considered the coming Assembly elections a referendum on the performance of his government, he said India was a vibrant democracy and since the mid-1950s no political party had been able to establish complete dominance all over the country. "I don’t think the Assembly elections will be a referendum on my government’s performance."

He appeared unhappy with the behaviour of some of his coalition partners. "In a coalition, there is always the need to take into account the views of all the partners, but the dharma of coalition politics is that partners raise only legitimate issues and not unreasonable ones that weakens good governance and creates political instability."

CTBT

The Prime Minister sought to put at rest speculation that India is ready to sign the comprehensive test ban treaty saying "we still have serious reservations in signing the CTBT in its present form."

"New Delhi has been communicating its views forcefully in talks with the USA and other countries," Mr Vajpayee said.

Police team sent to arrest Satish Shah
From Our Correspondent

JAIPUR, Oct 23 — A team of police officials has been despatched to Bombay from Jodhpur to arrest comedian artiste Satish Shah and Salman Khan's personal assistant Dinesh.

Both are wanted in connection with the chinkara poaching case in which filmstar Salman Khan is the main accused. It is alleged that Satish Shah was also with Salman when he went to Mathania for shooting chinkaras on September 26 and 28.

Though the other filmstar who accompanied Salman on the shooting spree was arrested on October 9 and 12, Satish Shah fled Jodhpur to avoid arrest. Saif Ali, Tabbu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam were subsequently freed on bail but Salman had to spend six days in forest, police and judicial custody.

The police party sent to arrest Satish Shah is headed by the SHO of the Mathania police station.

It may be recalled that two cases were registered at the Mathania police station against Salman, Satish Shah and three more for killing chinkaras, the state animal of Rajasthan.

CRPF deployed at Vaishnodevi
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 23 — Three companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deployed for providing security cover to pilgrims at Mata Vaishnodevi shrine.

The three companies of the 34 batallion of the CRPF strengthen the security cover of the shrine located in Trikuta Hills in Jammu, a press note said.

2 IAS papers rescheduled
NEW DELHI: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has rescheduled the papers of agriculture and animal husbandry and veterinary science of civil services (main) examination, 1998 from November 25 to November 28. This has been done in view of the elections to four state assemblies on November 25, an official release said on Friday. There was no other change in the examination, including the venues, commencing from October 30 and admission certificates and time table have been despatched to all eligible candidates, it added. — PTI

Gen Shahi is President’s doc
NEW DELHI: Maj-Gen B.N. Shahi has been appointed as honorary physician to the President of India. He is the first Major-General to get this recognition. An eminent cardiologist, he had a doctoral fellowship from Pune University. He has also been awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal by the President. — UNI

Lankan refugees shifted
MADURAI: As many as 539 Sri Lankan refugees were shifted from the Mandapam camp in Ramanathapuram district to Gummudipundi camp, near Chennai on Thursday, official sources here said. The Tamil Nadu Government had ordered the shifting of 1200 refugees from the Mandapam camp to other camps for administrative convenience, the sources said.
— PTI

UK education fair in Nov
CALCUTTA: For students wishing to study in Britain, the British education fair ’98 will provide an opportunity to shop for the best educational courses. The fair to be held here on November 12 and 13, will have over 40 colleges, universities and institutes as participants, a British council press release said here. The fair will help self-funded students to decide on the course of their choice through direct interaction with British academics. — PTI

Plan to set up heritage panel
CALCUTTA: The West Bengal Government is planning to set up a state heritage commission for maintenance of all heritage buildings, monuments, precincts and sites. The commission, would also be responsible for notification and enlistment of such buildings, monuments, precincts and sites, Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya said. He said the government was planning to provide quasi judicial power to the commission. — PTI

Research centre to check brain drain
BANGALORE: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will lay the foundation stone of the Poornaprajna Institute of Scientific Research of the Udupi Admar Mutt Education Foundation at Bidalur, about 42 km from here, on November 1. Mutt education foundation and institute chairman Swami Vibudhesha Teertha said the institute, set up at an initial cost of Rs 5 crore over 30 acres of land, was expected to provide a congenial atmosphere to students for conducting research in pure sciences, thereby arresting brain drain from the country. — UNI

Chopper rescues mother, newborn
MUMBAI: A woman and her prematurely delivered newly-born baby, on board a merchant vessel off the Mumbai coast, were rescued by a naval helicopter on Wednesday. The naval authorities received the information when the ship was about 240 nautical miles away from the harbour in the Arabian Sea. Nirmala Murali, wife of the second officer of the ship was five-months pregnant and required urgent medical attention and immediate evacuation. The woman along with her new-born baby has been shifted to a civil maternity home. — UNI