Sunday, April 11, 1999
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Arafat seeks support NEW DELHI, April 10 — The Palestinian president, Mr Yasser Arafat, today sought India's support for creation of an independent Palestinian state by next month during his meetings with Indian leaders. Uma
spews venom against Sonia |
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 NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee with PLO leader Yasser Arafat at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday. — PTI
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Jaswant, Bhutan King hold
discussions NEW DELHI, April 10 — External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh has held discussions with Bhutan King Jigme Singye Wangchuk in Thimpu on a wide range of regional, international and bilateral issues. INSAT 2E
placed in geostationary orbit
Delhi loses 11 schools to
negligence SC rejects HP ex-ruler’s
claim on forest CM’s appeal to rich Punjabis Three PCC chiefs appointed 10 pc more DA announced
AI air hostess assaulted |
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Arafat seeks support NEW DELHI, April 10 — The Palestinian president, Mr Yasser Arafat, today sought India's support for creation of an independent Palestinian state by next month during his meetings with Indian leaders. Mr Arafat, who arrived last night on a day's visit, met the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. An External Affairs Ministry official said the Palestinian President exchanged views with Indian leaders on matters of mutual interest, including the Middle-East peace process (MEPP) and the situation in the region. A Palestinian Embassy official said Mr Arafat consulted the leaders here and sought support on his plans to declare Palestine an independent state. Sources said the Indian leaders told Mr Arafat that he should be very cautious in moving towards a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). New Delhi has over the years extended full support to the Palestine cause. Mr Arafat has declared that Palestine will declare independence by May 4. That is why he has decided to visit different world capitals for seeking support for his plan. He arrived here last night from Dhaka where he held talks with Bangladesh leaders. He is on the Asian leg of his world tour after his visits to Turkey, Jordan and Russia. He is slated to visit Pakistan and have a stopover in Yemen before proceeding to China. The USA, Russia and Japan, among others, have already advised restraint mainly because far from solving any problem, a UDI will seriously threaten the already shaky MEPP. Mr Arafat is holding talks with the international community primarily to assess world opinion for the UDI. The NATO action against
Yugoslavia also figured in the talks that Mr Arafat held
with both Mr Naryanan and Mr Vajpayee. The Palestine
President, who briefed the Indian leaders on the
situation in the Middle-East and the stand taken by
Israel, also met Arab diplomats stationed here. |
Uma spews venom against Sonia GUWAHATI, April 10 (PTI) — The BJP leaders, Ms Uma Bharati and Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, today launched a scathing attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi describing her as a "great danger to the people and government" and vowed that the BJP "would not allow her to rule the country." Addressing the "vishal yuba samaroh" of the Bharatiya Yuba Morcha (conference of the BJP Youth Front) here, Minister of States for Human Resource Development Uma Bharati said: "To make Sonia the Prime Minister would not only be an insult and shame to the country, but would also weaken the nation." Accusing the Congress leader of an alleged "design to weaken the nation," She said, "We women will never allow a foreign woman to be the Prime Minister of India." While the Congress of Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad and Motilal Nehru had vowed never to allow foreign rule in India, the same party was "today eager to bow down to a foreign lady," She said. Mr Naidu, who also addressed the conference, alleged that the Congress today "has no real Gandhi but a duplicate Gandhi as its leader. As it has no swadeshi leader, the party has to import a foreign leader." He also expressed the confidence that the Atal Behari Vajpayee government at the Centre would prove its majority on the floor of the House on April 15 and would complete its term. Mr Naidu said "corrupt forces" were frustrated to see the Vajpayee government function well for a year and were, therefore, attempting to destabilise the situation and topple the government. Continuing her tirade
against Mrs Gandhi, Ms Bharati said people should ask the
Congress to make anybody its leader except Mrs Sonia
Gandhi. |
Jaswant, Bhutan King hold discussions NEW DELHI, April 10 (PTI) — External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh has held discussions with Bhutan King Jigme Singye Wangchuk in Thimpu on a wide range of regional, international and bilateral issues. Mr Jaswant Singh, who is on a four-day official visit to Bhutan, and the Bhutanese leader during discussions yesterday reviewed the historically close and friendly relationship between the two countries with all its diverse dimensions. Earlier, the minister, who is accompanied by his wife Ms Sheetal Kumari, offered ceremonial scarves at Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Memorial Chorten, a traditional Buddhist temple built in memory of the late king (father of Jigme Singye Wangchuk). The royal couple hosted a lunch in honour of the visiting indian minister where the entire Cabinet of Bhutan Government was present. Mr Jaswant Singh will
inaugurate the new terminal building at Par international
airport which serves capital Thimphu. The building,
costing approximately Rs 23 crore constructed by Dantak,
a wing of Border Roads Organisation, and other facilities
have been built with Indian assistance. |
Khalsa march in Capital NEW DELHI, April 10 — An impressive march displaying weapons of Banda Bahadur was held from Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib to Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in the Capital today to mark the beginning of the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa. The general secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Mr Bhajan Singh Walia, said a group of Sikhs from here would depart for Anandpur Sahib tomorrow. Groups from Calcutta and Damdama Sahib would meet the group from Delhi at Morinda, 100 km from the “white” city of Anandpur Sahib. The marchers, under the leadership of ‘suspended’ Jathedar Ranjit Singh, would then proceed to Anandpur Sahib to take part in the celebrations on April 13, Mr Walia said. In the Capital, the DSGMC is organising kirtan darbars till April 14 to mark the tercentenary celebrations. Sharafat Ali Khan and Shafqat Ali Khan of the Sham Chaurasi Gharana, Pakistan, will render hymns from the “Dasam Granth” at Bangla Sahib tomorrow. All gurdwaras in Delhi will be illuminated till April 15 and special functions organised during the period. On April 13, a special function will be held at Majnu ka Tila Gurdwara on the banks of the Yamuna and on Baisakhi special kirtan would be held at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. The DSGMC has allocated Rs 1 crore for the celebration. The committee is expecting 10 per cent share from the Rs 100 crore announced by the Centre for the Khalsa celebrations. Mr Walia said the DSGMC had planned a year-long programme and had submitted projects worth Rs 20 crore for the setting up of Guru Gobind Singh International Sikh Centre in Delhi, Guru Teg Bahadur College of Engineering and Guru Teg Bahadur Sikh Study Centre at Khalsa College. While the engineering college with 120 students affiliated with Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University would be functional from August, the study centre had been completed and would be operational from the coming academic year. The International Study Centre would facilitate research in Sikhism and comparative religious studies, Mr Walia said, adding that the DSGMC hoped that the government would clear the project and it would be functional by the end of this year. Another proposal for Bala Sahib Medical College and a 200-bed hospital had been submitted to the government, he said. Meanwhile, the Pakistan High Commission has granted visas to only 1620 pilgrims intending to visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib and other gurdwaras in Pakistan, president of the All-India Sikh Prachrak Sabha, Mr Harbhajan Singh Dheru, said here today. A list of 3000 pilgrims sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs was submitted to the Pakistan High Commission to take part in the tercentenary celebrations. The sabha urged the
Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to take up the
matter with his counterpart. |
IAF completes Trishul-99 NEW DELHI, April 10 — The three-week long air exercise, Trishul-99, conducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) along the northern borders of the country was successfully completed yesterday with as many as 300 aircraft, including 260 fighter jets, taking part in it. Giving details of the exercise, Air Marshal Vinod Patney, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command, said the highlight of the exercise, which saw the area of operations spreading from Siachen, Leh and Thoise to Dehradun, Delhi and Bikaner, was the breakthrough in the indigenous secure data link which functioned online on a 24-hour basis. For the first time, the thrust of the exercise was on media management with the IAF recognising the importance of the media as a ‘weapon’ during war-like situations. According to Air Marshal Patney, the exercise also saw for the first time a new air defence information display system, which had been developed by the Western Air Command (WAC) itself. The system was put to use successfully during the three-week long exercise. The aim of “Trishul” was to rehearse combat and supporting forces of WAC in their operational role. For this annual exercise of WAC, the entire strength of 35,000 officers and men, under the command, were mobilised. The exercise had communications, air defence, air strikes, maintenance, administration and medical services as the focus. During the exercise, live strikes were carried out on targets at high altitudes. Utilisation of forces from other commands was also done to introduce the element of surprise and unforeseen contingencies and raids by specially trained IAF commandos. All-time serviceability of 98 per cent was achieved in the operations, as special repair teams from base repair depots and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited were positioned at key locations to render assistance to the units. Repair of damage to runways caused by enemy strike forces were extensively practised and mobile observation posts and advanced high-tech radars besides surface-to-air guided weapons were of high order. Air Marshal Patney said
daily media briefings were carried out by the IAF
officers during the entire “war-time” exercise
with some of the officers acting as journalists. |
INSAT 2E placed in geostationary orbit BANGALORE, April 10 (UNI) — The last of the second generation Insat multipurpose satellites, Insat 2E was today successfully placed in the geostationary orbit by the spacecraft controllers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Placed at 74 degrees east longitude after the liquid apogee motor (1 AM) was fired for a duration of 219 seconds from 9.37 am the satellite was now slowly drifting to its final location of 83 degrees east longitude where it would be collocated with Insat ID. It would take a week for the satellite to reach its final space home. ISRO sources said. The spacecraft controllers at the master control facility (MCF) of the ISRO at Hassan had commanded the satellite to its present location after the fourth firing of the 440 newton thrust 1 AM which had successfully completed its function. Even as the drift process was on the scientists at the MCF would start deploying its two antennas, solar array and solar sail. The deployment of solar array and solar sail, which would provide power to the payloads and subsystems on board the satellite, was planned for tomorrow. The ISRO said all subsystems were functioning normally and the satellite which was now within the radio frequency of the MCF was being monitored continuously. Once the satellite, the most advanced and powerful to be built by the ISRO, reached its destination in space, the spacecraft controllers would start checking the communication and weather payloads before it was certified ready for use. The satellite was expected to become operational by the end of this month or early May. The satellite injected by an Ariane launcher from Kourou in French Guyana on April 3 into a transfer orbit of 250 km perigee (nearest to earth) and 36,155 km apogee (farthest to earth) was moved to the geostationary orbit in four stages against the planned three stages of firing of the LAM. On April 4 the intended
70-minute firing of LAM on the first phase could not be
realised as the satellite was put into elliptical orbit
of 2000 km by 36,100 km. The LAM developed indigenously
by the liquid propulsion centre at Thiruvananthapuram was
fired on three more occasions, including the final one to
achieve the desired geostationary orbit. The 1 AM had
been fired for nearly two hours to achieve the present
orbit. |
Delhi loses 11 schools to negligence NEW DELHI, April 10 (PTI) — The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pointed that negligence on the part of the Deputy Director of Capital Works Branch (CWB) in the Directorate of Education has deprived 9000 students in the capital of 'pucca' buildings besides rendering investments of Rs 1.52 crore futile. "The inability of the Directorate of Education in ensuring encroachment and litigation free land earmarked for schools by DDA before depositing their cost and delay in taking possession of the plots have only rendered the investment of Rs 1.52 crore futile," the CAG said in its report for the year 1997-98. The report, which was tabled in the Delhi assembly yesterday, also pointed that the "inefficiency of the department has also frustrated the basic objective of providing ‘pucca’ buildings for at least 11 schools having more than 9000 students." Examination of the files, which contained correspondence relating to sanctions for release of the amounts to Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and subsequent correspondence between the DDA and the Deputy Director disclosed 11 cases in which he failed to obtain possession of land for which Rs 1.52 crore was deposited with DDA between September 1983 and March 1997, the report said. While possession of seven plots could not be taken over due to encroachment on the land or litigation, in the remaining four cases reasons were not ascertained from the files, it said. In three other cases, the plots allotted were of areas less than those for which the amounts were deposited between March 1985 and September 1990, the CAG report said. These three plots were in Vasant Kunj in South Delhi, Vishwas Nagar in the north-east and Majnu Ka Tilla in Central Delhi, it said. At Vasant Kunj, DDA allotted a site for middle school in place of senior secondary school due to encroachment though the Directorate of Education made payment for a senior secondary school, the report said. At Vishwas Nagar as against payment for 7.82 acres of land, DDA made available only 3.10 acre and at Majnu Ka Tilla 1.87 acres were allotted against payment made for four acres, the CAG report said. "The Deputy Director, CWB neither took any action to get possession of the balance area nor demanded refund of the residual amount of Rs 24 lakh from DDA," it said. Since the information
was extracted by audit from the files made available
during audit and the Deputy Director CWB did not maintain
any comprehensive list of all transactions made between
his office and DDA to monitor the allotment, possession
of land, payments released, amounts recoverable, etc,
existence of more cases of similar nature cannot be ruled
out, the CAG added. |
SC rejects HP ex-ruler’s claim on forest NEW DELHI, April 10 (PTI) — The Supreme Court has rejected the claim of an ex-ruler of Himachal Pradesh that his right over a forest within the domain of his erstwhile princely state was equal to that of the government. A Division Bench Comprising Mr Justice V N Khare and Mr Justice R P Sethi in its recent ruling set aside a high court order upholding Raja Mahendra Pal’s claim that as his ancestors had protected and maintained Kutlehar forests in Kangra district his right over it was similar to that of the state government. In 1958, the government appointed Mahendra Pal as a forest superintendent and the employees working under him in the Kutlehar forests were declared as forest officer. As per the terms of his appointment, the ex-ruler was entitled to retain three-fourths of the income derivable from the forests and the rest accruable to the government. However, in 1990 the state government took over the management of forest from the ex-ruler, who appealed in the high court challenging the validity of the government notification in this regard on the ground that his fundamental right to livelihood was guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The high court had upheld his contention. The apex court Bench held, “the right to livelihood as contemplated under Article 21 of the Constitution cannot be so widely constructed which may result in defeating the purpose sought to be achieved by the aforesaid Article. “It is true that the Right to Livelihood would include all attributes of life but the same cannot be extended to the extent that it may embrace or take within its ambit all sorts of claims relating to the legal or contractual rights of the parties completely ignoring the person approaching the court and the alleged violation of the said right,” it added. While dismissing the claim of the ex-ruler and allowing the appeal of the state government, the court directed Raja Mahendra Pal to refund within three months all money received by him following the high court judgement. The Bench said despite independence of the country about half a century back and the establishment of a democratic set up with the declaration in the Constitution to have a secular, socialist republic in the country, “there are people and organisations who have not mentally reconciled with the realities of life and the writings in the chapters of history for various reasons including their vested interests.” Describing Raja Mahendra Pal as one such person, the Bench said “ignoring the establishment of the rule of law and the development of the Constitutional set up, they have made and are making fanatic efforts to sabotage the path of the goal intended to be achieved for the welfare of society.” It said ignoring
verdicts of the apex court and various other
pronouncements, efforts have been made to reverse back
the wheel of history merely for personal gains to quench
lust for money and power”. |
CM’s appeal to rich Punjabis NEW DELHI, April 10 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has appealed to the wealthy Punjabi families to raise funds to adopt a minimum of 3000 Punjabi students from poor and backward villages of Punjab with a view to imparting them vocational studies during this year of tercentenary celebrations of the birth of Khalsa. Addressing a group of Sikh intellectuals of India International Centre here yesterday, Mr Badal said the society was “facing a tussle between have and have-nots and as a result the have-nots were suffering.” Sikh intellectuals had gathered to discuss a proposal to set up an institute of excellence in the form of private university to mark the tercentenary celebrations. Other present on the
occasion included a former Solicitor General of Punjab,
Mr K.D. Tulsi, a former Vice-Chancellor, Prof Dalbir
Singh and Lt Gen (retd) J.S. Arora. |
Three PCC chiefs appointed NEW DELHI, April 10 — The Congress today effected changes in presidentship of three Pradesh Congress Committees which went to polls recently appointing Mr Radha Krishan Malviya (Madhya Pradesh), Dr Girija Vyas (Rajasthan) and Mr Subhash Chopra (Delhi), as the new chiefs. Mr Malviya, MP and former Union Minister, will replace Mr Urmilla Singh, who, at present, is a member in the Digvijay Singh Council of Ministers in Madhya Pradesh. Dr Vyas, a spokesperson of the AICC, will head the Rajasthan PCC which was earlier headed by Mr Ashok Gehlot, now the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Mr Subhash Chopra, MLA, takes up the post vacated by the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, who was holding dual charge since November last year. Announcing the changes the AICC Spokesperson, Mr Ajit Jogi, said the PCC was reconstituted in consonance with the party’s policy of “one-man one-post”. It may be recalled that
Mrs Dikshit had offered to step down as the PCC chief
soon after her election as the Chief Minister but was
asked to continue till her successor was chosen. |
10 pc more DA announced NEW DELHI, April 10 (UNI) — The Government today announced the payment of 10 per cent additional dearness allowance DA to its employees with effect from January 1, 1999. The dearness allowance payable to the government employees from January 1,1999 will be 32 per cent of the basic pay instead of 22 per cent earlier. A proposal to this regard was approved by the Union Cabinet presided by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The fresh instalment of DA was maximum since the implementation of Fifth Pay Commission report i.e. January,1996. Pensioners and family
pensioner beneficiaries will also be eligible for the
higher DA at the rate of 32 per cent. |
College principal arrested NEW DELHI, April 10 — The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has arrested Principal of Shivaji College, Ved Prakash, on charges of giving admission to students allegedly on the basis of forged marksheets, the police said. Besides, he had reportedly accepted gratification from the students for admission. Hundred such cases in the college have been detected, the police added. The police said that seven ex-students of the college had already been arrested who allegedly facilitate admission in the in connivance with the college principal. They allegedly used to
accept "donations" to provide the students
forged marksheets. Involvement of staff members of the
college is being investigated, the statement said. |
AI air hostess assaulted MUMBAI, April 10 (PTI) — An Air hostess of Air India was brutally assaulted allegedly by a former airline employee at her residence at Lokhandwala Complex in North-West Mumbai late last night, the police said today. The police said the air hostess, Anju Gandhi (37), residing on the fifth floor of 'Nestle Building' sustained head injuries after Mohan Kodange (53), with whom she was having a conversation, suddenly drew out a rod and hit her with it. Kodange was caught by the residents of the building after Anju rushed out of the house shouting for help. The assailant was later handed over to the police. Anju, who was bleeding profusely, was rushed to the nearby Nanavati Hospital, the police said. The air hostess has not suffered any injuries to the brain and is recovering, the hospital sources said. The police suspect
robbery to be the motive behind the crime. |
Central plan for quake
management NEW DELHI, April 10 — The centre will set up a task force to prepare an earthquake disaster management Plan (EDMP), which will include building community shelters and earthquake-resistant houses, for highly seismic zones of the country. A meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar to review the situation in quake-hit areas of Uttar Pradesh today, also decided to build 150 community shelters, each accommodating four families, by the third week of June in the two hill districts, an official release said here. Mr Kumar said the shelters should be ready before the monsoons arrive. The Housing and Urban
Development Corporation (HUDCO) will provide a corpus of
Rs 100 crore in the form of soft loans to various
agencies identified by the Uttar Pradesh Government for
construction and repair of houses in the region. |
17 Naxalites acquitted HYDERABAD, April 10 (PTI) — Seventeen Naxalites including top banned People’s War Group (PWG) activists S. Appa Rao and M. Balakrishna, accused in the "Bangalore conspiracy case" of procuring arms to overthrow the Andhra Pradesh Government, have been acquitted by the Sessions Court here. They had been charged under the repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA), the Indian Arms Act and Indian Explosives Act, besides various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The accused were
acquitted by Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions
Judge D Sudarshanam Naidu yesterday for want of
sufficient evidence. |
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| Allahabad HC pulls up
Kanpur DM ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Friday pulled up a Kanpur Nagar District Magistrate and a Colonel Ganj circle police officer for their unauthorised occupation of a premises in Chunni Ganj Kanpur against the directions of the Supreme Court. They gave an undertaking before the court that the premises would be vacated by April 19, the date fixed by the court for next hearing. — PTI Pak artistes to sing in
Delhi gurdwara Two idols
recovered Thousands attend
‘Tsewang’ ceremony Four naxalites
killed in AP PM's no to
Maneka’s suggestion |
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