Saturday, August 14, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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Sonia steals the thunder |
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Jorhat SP escapes ULFA attack GUWAHATI, Aug 13 — Jorhat district Superintendent of Police G.P. Singh escaped unhurt when suspected ULFA militants fired at a police party in upper Assam yesterday, official reports received here today said.
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INLD pays price for BJP support Left, BSP, JD form front in
Himachal
Experts: TRAI should be
strengthened Devise ways to check terrorism,
states told |
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Sonia steals the thunder NEW DELHI, Aug 13 - Ability to govern will be the common theme of the ruling BJP-led alliance and opposition Congress in the 1999 elections. This became evident from the emphasis laid on this subject in the Congress manifesto as well as the remarks of BJP’s campaign committee chief, Mr L.K. Advani. The respective choices of the two camps regarding formation of government also was reflected in their approach to the campaign today. While the Congress went solo and released its manifesto, the BJP outlined the contours of its campaign but opted out of releasing a solo manifesto. The NDA will issue a document of common intent on Monday. There will be no separate BJP manifesto in the 1999 elections. The departure made by the BJP is a watershed. For the first time in India’s electoral history, the concept of a pre-election alliance is going to engulf a common manifesto. In the past, post-election pronouncements were made by the United Front (Common Minimum Programme, 1996) and by the BJP-led coalition in 1998 in the form of "National Agenda of Governance". The focus of the campaign today, however, was stolen by Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Initial gaffes by her media managers notwithstanding, she stole the thunder by her candid replies to difficult questions, including on Bofors. "My husband was crucified on the issue", she thundered and asked where were the papers relating to the scam. She, however, smartly skirted replying to a supplementary from a foreign journalist who had stated that the probe was being delayed due to moves by people like the Italian business representative, Mr Ottavio Quattrochi, in Swiss courts. If her party is voted to power, the Bofors probe will be taken to its logical conclusion, Mrs Sonia Gandhi promised. She also laid at rest the question of a Congress Prime Minister. Coming out strongly against coalitions at the Centre, she refused to commit her party to power sharing with allies. "The Prime Minister will be decided and chosen by the victorious MPs after the elections", she asserted. Parrying a question on whether Dr Manmohan Singh, who was by her side in the dias, was an alternative Congress Prime Ministerial candidate. Mrs Sonia Gandhi confidently replied to an array of questions, including on her "foreign origin". When asked about her party’s alliance with corruption-tainted AIADMK of Ms Jayalalitha, she replied, "when Ms Jayalalitha was with the BJP, she was clean. When she is with us, she is corrupt. I don’t understand this strange logic". Today’s interaction, incidentally, was the first ever mass media interaction of Mrs Sonia Gandhi from the Congress platform. If there is a lesson for her from today’s exercise, it is: She is her best media manager. As a leader of an opposition party, she would do better to rely on her own abilities, including off the cuff repartee, than let her bevy of spokespersons spoil the broth. The Congress and BJP media events were spaced within an hour of each other this forenoon. The BJP show, slated for 12 noon, was delayed because of a powercut in the central office of the ruling party. A large, more than life-size portrait of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee formed the backdrop of the podium from where Mr L.K. Advani kicked off his party’s first ever campaign for defending power. And being in power, the BJP fell back upon its performance in the government as its election plank. The usual sting was missing from Mr Advani’s campaign. Home Minister Advani was
apparently overriding campaign chairman Advani. Thus, as
the BJP and Congress flagged off their respective
campaigns, the Congress had the advantage of being rash,
as it is in the Opposition — conversely, the Cross
of governance weighed heavily on the BJP. |
PM calls on President NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee called on President K.R. Narayanan at Rashtrapati Bhavan here today. During the hour long meeting, Mr Vajpayee is understood to have briefed the President on the recent developments in Kutch following the shooting down of an intruding Pakistani military aircraft. He apprised Mr Narayanan about the missile attack on IAF helicopters carrying media personnel to see the wreckage of the Pakistani aircraft. A Rashtrapati Bhavan
spokesman said there was "a general exchange of
views". |
Congress nod for Pawan Bansal NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The Congress central election committee is understood to have cleared the candidature of Mr Balbir Singh (Jalandhar) and former Punjab Minister Hans Raj Josan (Ferozepore). The CEC is also understood to have given the nod to former CTCC president, Mr Pawan Bansal, to contest from Chandigarh. Former Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Mr Kaul Singh, is to be its candidate from the Mandi Parliamentary constituency, party sources said. An official announcement
is yet to be made. |
INLD pays price for BJP
support NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The BJP may have extracted the price for extending support to Mr Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana by making it concede the Sonepat Lok Sabha seat. The INLD has an electoral pact with the BJP in Haryana and this time it has agreed to contest five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats including Rohtak, Hisar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra and Bhiwani. There is a feeling in the party that the leadership had to pay the price by conceding the Sonepat Lok Sabha seat in lieu of Rohtak, that the BJP was keen to have for itself. Party sources said in the INLD’s assessment, the BJP did not have a jat leader whom it could pit against the Congress nominee and chief of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda. So the next best option was to give the BJP a ‘safe seat’ and the INLD leadership decided to offer Sonepat, despite the fact that it had already announced the candidature of Mr Kishen Singh Sangwan, who was also the leader of the INLD Parliamentary Party in the dissolved Lok Sabha. The INLD has now decided to field Captain Inder Singh from Rohtak. It had earlier announced the candidature of Dr Sushil Indora from Sirsa, Mr Surender Barwala from Hisar, Mrs Kailasho Saini from Kurukshetra and Mr Ajay Chautala, son of the Chief Minister from Bhiwani. Although the party leadership has already agreed on the change, there is a feeling in the party rank and file that the BJP should have gone in the elections as a junior partner to the INLD. They argue that even in the state assembly, the INLD has 22 MLAs as against 11 of the BJP and pointed to neighbouring Punjab where the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) had taken nine of the 13 Lok Sabha seats and conceded just three to the BJP. However, the Mr Chautala was not willing to comment on the reasons behind conceding the Sonepat seat. “The Prime Minister desired we give them more seats and we gave them our safest seat.’’ The BJP will now contest
from Ambala, Karnal, Faridabad, Mahendargarh and Sonepat.
In the dissolved Lok Sabha, the BJP had just one MP from
Faridabad, Mr Ramchandra Bainda. |
Left, BSP, JD form front in
Himachal NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Janata Dal (Secular) have joined hands to form a united front in Himachal Pradesh to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The President of the Himachal unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Dr G.D. Bheruual, told TNS a formal announcement of the formation of the front would be made at a meeting of the leaders of the parties in Shimla on Monday. Dr Bheruual said the BSP had nominated Mr Gian Chand Choudhary for the Hamirpur seat. The party had decided to support Captain Pratap Chaudhary of the Janata Dal (Secular) in Kangra. For the Shimla reserved parliamentary constituency, the party would support the CPI candidate, Mr Chet Ram. In Mandi, the party has decided to support the CPM candidate. The CPM is yet to nominate a candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. In the last Lok Sabha poll, the party fielded Mr Bhagwan Das Jassal for the Hamirpur seat. Sitting BJP MP Suresh Chandel has been nominated again for the seat. Dr Bheruual said the parties would support each other in the coming elections and evolve a strategy to defeat the Congress and the BJP. The national president
of the BSP, Mr Kanshi Ram, visited Una district on
Tuesday to attend the birth centenary function organised
in memory of Rurka Singh who championed the cause of the
backward classes. Mr Kanshi Ram also campaigned for Mr
Gian Chand Choudhary who hails from Raisari village in
Una district. |
Air Force had little choice NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The Indian Air Force (IAF) had little choice but to shoot down the Pakistan navy’s Atlantique aircraft which very clearly had violated the Indian air space on a hostile mission and refused to de-escalate its activity despite warnings from Indian MiG-21 interceptors. Detailing the sequence of events, the Air Headquarters today stated that on August 10 at 10.51 a.m. IST, an IAF ground radar picked up an aircraft track inside the Sind region of Pakistan near Badin, approaching the Indo-Pakistan international border (IB) on a south-easterly course. The track was moving at a speed of 370 kmph maintaining a height of 3000-3500 feet. It first touched the international border at point (68 degree 48 min - E, 24 degrees 18 min north) at 10.54 a.m. For the next 17 minutes to 18 minutes it carried out a series of manoeuvres over this area. (In this process, the track stayed within or close to 10 km of the boundary. The 1991 air agreement between India and Pakistan requires all aircraft, other than helicopters, of the two countries to maintain a minimum distance of 10 km from the border and on two occasions the aircraft actually violated the Indian air space at these two points.) Two MiG-21 fighter interceptors which were on operational readiness at the IAF base, Naliya in Kutch, were brought to high state of readiness as the track approached the international border. When the track crossed the international border the first time at approximately 10.57 a.m. both interceptors scrambled, getting airborne at 10.59 a.m. The ground fighter controller vectored the fighters on a northerly direction, arriving in the general area as shown at approximately 11.10 a.m. By 11.12 a.m., the bogey (unidentified Pakistani track) proceeded initially West, subsequently turning and heading south till the border at this point (68 degrees 32 min East, 23 degrees 58 min North), then turning onto a westerly heading initially. At this time, the IAF interceptors were also directed Southwards by the radar controller and generally kept abreast of the bogey, keeping on the Indian side of the border. The bogey turned South once again and entered air space for the third time at approximately 11.14 a.m. and penetrated 10 km into the Indian territory and turned on easterly heading. At this stage, the fighter controller manoeuvred the IAF MiG-21s so as to place the leader between the border and the intruder and the No. 2 accelerated and brought behind the intruder from the other side of the intruders. The leader made radar contact between 10-15 km range with the intruder and turned thereafter. Both interceptors visually sighted the interceptor and identified it as an Atlantique aircraft. The leader turned to the Atlantique with intent to formate on him and then signal him visually and if possible communicate with him on radio to direct him to land at the nearest IAF base. By now both interceptors had not only identified the intruder as an Atlantique but visually seen its identification markings. As the leader of the interceptors was jockeying into position, the Atlantique turned into him. This was a hostile act. As per international norms, he ought to have maintained his course and height and in fact lowered his undercarriage as a sign of submission. The Atlantique was declared hostile after it had been identified. When the Atlantique turned into the leader on clearance from the fighter controller the lead interceptor manoeuvred for a missile fire. After reporting himself, the leader fired an R-60 air-to-air infra-red heat-seeking missile at the Atlantique. The missile hit the Atlantique on the left engine which immediately caught fire and started emitting smoke. The missile hit was approximately at 11.17 a.m. when Atlantique was approximately 5 km south of the border on the Indian side. The interceptors were immediately ordered to break away to right to ensure that they stayed within the Indian territory. The Atlantique after being shot continued to be seen on the IAF ground radars. It stayed on a northerly heading till 5 km inside Pakistan territory. Thereafter, it turned left and re-approached the border on a south-westerly heading before it appeared from the IAF ground radar screen. The behaviour of the intruder while it was deliberately operating for approximately 18 minutes in the earlier part of the sortie had confirmed that it was neither lost nor violating the border inadvertently. The possibility of it being on a training mission is ruled out beyond all doubt by the profile it followed. The relevant fact is that the Atlantique was a military combat aircraft intruding illegally on an operation mission in the Indian air space. In such a situation, the rules of engagement dictate the shooting down of the aircraft after clearance from the controlling radar. In fact, the lead IAF
interceptor approached it from the front quarters,
showing himself plainly and was intending to formate on
the Atlantique to be able to communicate with him and get
him to land at an Indian airfield. Atlantique did not
allow this communication to take place but instead acted
in a hostile manner by turning into the IAF interceptor.
There was no alternative thereafter but to shoot down the
Atlantique to prevent it from running away after being
caught doing an illegal operational mission in the Indian
territory. |
Jorhat SP escapes ULFA attack GUWAHATI, Aug 13 (UNI, PTI) — Jorhat district Superintendent of Police G.P. Singh escaped unhurt when suspected ULFA militants fired at a police party in upper Assam yesterday, official reports received here today said. The driver of the militants’ vehicle was killed in the encounter, it said. A police party, led by Mr Singh, was on a routine check at Mudoijan, about 20 km from Jorhat, when it signalled a Tata Sumo to stop. Instead of stopping the militants started firing at the party. The police returned the fire killing the driver. The ultras escaped, the report added. At least two persons were killed when a bomb exploded last night at Dalmaipara village in Darrang district. According to official sources the bomb exploded inside the residence of a doctor S. Swargiary, killing his wife and child on the spot. Senior police officials have rushed to the spot. SHILLONG: Three CRPF jawans were injured seriously when a group of unidentified gunmen opened fire and lobbed hand grenades at their camp here last night, the police said. The gunmen, who came in two taxis, attacked the camp of the 65 battalion stationed at the Polo Ground with AK 47 rifles and lobbed two China-made hand grenades, the police said. The condition of one of the three injured, who were admitted to a local hospital, was stated to be critical. In a separate incident, a group of assailants fired at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex, about 1 km away from the CRPF camp, where the Independence Day celebrations would be held. No one was injured in
the attack, the police said. |
Experts: TRAI should be
strengthened NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — Experts today called for strengthening the country’s watchdog in the telecom sector, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for resolving contentious issues. “Unless institutions are in place uncertainties will continue in the sector”, the Managing Director, International Public Affairs, of AT and T Ltd, Mr Virat Bhatia, said. Addressing delegates at a round table conference organised by Telematics India here today, Mr Bhatia said India was perhaps the only country in the world where a regulator had been taken to the court. The national telecom policy 99 (NTP 99), which provided for migration from a fixed licence fee regime to a revenue sharing arrangement, was challenged in the Delhi High Court by the Delhi Science Forum (DSF). Experts said the DSF instead of having taken judicial recourse should have approached TRAI first as the matter of switch was primarily of a regulatory nature. Mr Prabir Purkavastha of the DSF, however, called for an extensive debate on the process of switching over from the licence fee regime to a revenue sharing structure. While care should be taken for matching the policy with global technological developments, the government’s priority must be to provide basic telecom services across the country at a low cost, Mr Purkavastha said. He felt the basis for auctioning licence fee for basic telecom services was not feasible. The Director, Telecommuni-cations and Computer Information Systems, Mr Mahesh Uppal, said for more investments and innovations to take place in the sector there should be greater trust and confidence among policy makers, operators, users and regulator. Senior journalist Rajendra Prabhu called for replacement of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, by a new legislation which takes into consideration the changes in technology. Appropriate measures
must be taken to ensure that India did not miss the
information technology (IT) revolution. Experts observed
that the country, which has a large base of highly
skilled workers, must leverage strength to gain
competitive advantage. |
HC order to wage boards for scribes MUMBAI, Aug 13 (PTI) — The Mumbai High Court today ordered the Manisana Wage Boards for Journalists and Non-Journalists to hear within six weeks all those newspaper establishments whose gross revenue exceeded Rs 250 crore before announcing the tentative proposals. The directions were issued by Mr Justice M.B. Ghodeswar and Mr Justice B.N. Srikrishna on a petition filed by Bennett Coleman and Company (owners of The Times of India) and its Managing Director Vineet Jain urging for a oral hearing. The Bench ordered the wage boards to issue a notice in leading newspapers inviting establishments in the newspaper industry all over the country to file written representations within four weeks thereof and make oral submissions within two weeks thereafter. The judges quashed with consent of all the parties the July 14 circular of the wage boards which closed all hearings. The court allowed Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd to go into the issues raised by them in the petition. Besides, the wage boards were permitted to conduct further proceedings. However, the judges
warned that their verdict should not be used by any
newspaper to delay the tentative proposals of the wage
boards. |
Devise ways to check terrorism,
states told NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The Union Home Secretary, Mr Kamal Pande, has asked the state governments and union territory administrations to devise regional strategies to combat and neutralise separatist, fissiparous and fundamentalist forces trying to unleash violence and discontent in different parts of the country. In a letter addressed to the state Chief Secretaries/Administrators of UTs, Mr Pande has pointed out that after evicting Pakistani regulars and infiltrators from the Kargil sector, Pak ISI-supported militants might intensify their activities by attacking soft targets within the country . The recent incidents of militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir provided enough indications in this direction. ISI’s links with fundamentalist and insurgent terrorist groups were well known. Mr Pande therefore, advised the state government/UT administrations to be extra careful in ensuring that no communal flare up or any other untoward incident took place in any part of the country. Mr Pande emphasised the
need for modernising the state police forces. |
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| Ramoowalia’s warning NEW DELHI: The president of the Lok Bhalai Party, Mr B.S. Ramoowalia, on Friday alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party had been offering senior positions and admitting in the party fold those persons who had masterminded Operation Bluestar, incited and monitored the anti-Sikh riots. Without mentioning the names of the persons, Mr Ramoowalia said “one has been appointed adviser to the Government of India and the other one has been rewarded with a party ticket for the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll.” — TNS Delhi girl wins
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