Monday, August 30, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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Rs 8 lakh reward on Dara
Singh Cong told to spell out agenda |
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Former POW recounts life
in jail
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Notification for LS poll
today 6 fake ballot boxes found in Bihar Cong to focus on land reforms:
Manmohan Psyche of Kargil kids shattered Karunanidhi accuses Sonia of
double-speak Reddy to challenge HC directive Delhi Cong flays Sushma, Sharma Bihar Govt asked to pay 2 lakh to
widow Coalition even with full majority:
BJP NCP, SP name candidates BJP campaign in Jharkhand begins Nehru lambasts ‘family
rule’ Flood situation in Bihar grim Electric cycle rickshaws! Dengue control plan awaits
approval |
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Rs 8 lakh reward on Dara Singh BHUBANESWAR, Aug 29 (PTI) — The total reward money on Dara Singh, the prime accused in the murder of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and a Muslim trader in the state, now stood at Rs 8 lakh with the Orissa Government announcing a Rs 2 lakh hike in the reward today, official sources said. The Orissa Government increased the reward money for any information leading to the arrest of Rabindra Kumar Pal, alias Dara Singh, from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, the sources said. The central government had already announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh on Dara Singh, who burnt to death Staines and his two sons at Manoharpur in January as also a Muslim trader at Padiabeda in Mayurbhanj district on Thursday last. Meanwhile, the state government had also decided on a compensation package for police personnel killed or injured in possible encounters with Dara Singh and his associates. A massive manhunt had been launched in Thakumunda and Anandpur police station areas of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts to nab him. Opposition parties in Orissa, meanwhile, have put the blame squarely on the police for failing to arrest Dara Singh despite the fact that he was roaming "free" in the area. "This incident has proved that Dara Singh who had terrorised the minorites of the Anandapur and Thakurmunda areas, located on either side of the Keonjhar-Mayurbhanj border, was still roaming free", they said. Official sources confirmed an intelligence report that Dara Singh had been moving in a jeep in several villages under Thakurmunda police station. BJP Vice-President Shyamananda Mohapatra wanted to know whether Congress President Sonia Gandhi would replace Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang after the Padiabeda incident as she had done in case of Mr J.B. Patnaik following the Manoharpur incident. Minister of State for Home Prasad Harichandan, however, chose not to blame the police for its failure to arrest Dara Singh, saying the fugitive was getting support from the local people. The ruling Congress in Orissa today called for a separate statewide bandh on September 1, to protest the killing of a Muslim trader in Mayurbhanj district on Thursday. Five different opposition groups — the Janata Dal (S), the CPI, the CPI (M), the AIFB and the Gana Abhijan Orissa — yesterday called for a bandh to "highlight the dangers posed by communal forces". The decision to call for strike was taken at an emergency meeting of the Congress Executive Committee here this afternoon. Briefing mediapersons
after the meeting, PCC President Hemananda Biswal said
the bandh was being called both to condemn the incident
and express the party’s solidarity with the minority
communities. |
Coalition govt BELLARY, Aug 29 (PTI) — The BJP today asked the Congress to spell out its agenda for running a coalition government at the Centre, saying its President Sonia Gandhi’s statement that her party could consider such a proposal amounted to accepting defeat in the Lok Sabha elections before the votes were cast. "What type of government will the Congress present to the nation? What is the agenda by which it will be guided on running a coalition government," BJP General Secretary Venkaiah Naidu asked, at a press conference here. Referring to Mrs Gandhi’s statement that her party could consider forming a coalition in the event of a hung Parliament, he said there was "confusion and contradiction" in the Congress itself over the issue. "Mrs Sonia says coalition is necessary. Dr Manmohan Singh says the party is willing for a coalition but Mr Pranab Mukherjee says no. What is this confusion and contradiction in the Congress on the issue?" he asked. Wondering what sort of coalition the Congress would form with its partners, Mr Naidu sought to know if the AIADMK and the Rashtriya Janata Dal would be part of such an arrangement. The Congress President should make public the nature of the coalition government it proposed to form. "The Left parties have termed the Congress economic policy as ruinous. How will they reconcile to that?" he asked. The Congress should, at the earliest, spell out its economic policy under its proposed coalition as such a policy was key to rural and infrastructure development and to support cottage and small industries and welfare schemes, Mr Naidu said. KOCHI: Defence Minister George Fernandes on Sunday alleged that there still existed enough confusion within the Congress regarding the party’s stand on forming a coalition government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha poll. This was evident from the contradictory statements on the issue by Congress leaders, he told reporters at the Nedumbasserry airport, near here. By expressing readiness all of a sudden to form a coalition government at the Centre, the Congress "is only taking the people for a ride", the Samata Party leader said. Mr Fernandes, who arrived here to canvass support for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Kerala, charged that the Congress, which was boasting of having ruled the country for 45 years, was forgetting the fact that it was under its rule that "corruption had become rampant and unemployment had touched 4 crore". Criticising Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was contesting from Bellary in Karnataka, he said: "Her love is now for Bellary and not for the nation". Mr Fernandes said by
declaring that it was just because of her love towards a
particular constituency that she was contesting the poll,
"both Mrs Gandhi and the Congress are belittling the
whole election exercise". |
Former POW recounts life in
jail NEW DELHI, Aug 29 — "We have unfortunately in our armed forces not made enough efforts to highlight deeds of our local heroes. Our heroes still continue to be foreigners... we have not taken enough pains to create our own heroes". These are the words of Wing Commander Dhirendra Singh Jafa (retd), who spent almost a year in Pakistani jails as a prisoner of war (POW) after being captured during the 1971 war. Wing Commander Jafa’s tale of his days in Pakistani jails — "Three Countries, One People: Tales From Two Wars" — was released yesterday. Coming in the backdrop of the recent Kargil conflict where Flt-Lt Nachiketa was taken a prisioner of war, the book, which is more of an autobiography, gives graphic details of the pschye of the Pakistani officers while dealing with the Indian POWs. Based on the experiences of a band of Indian fighter pilots taken prisioner in Pakistan, the book is not about strategies, territories captured or rounds of ammunition fired, but focuses on human dillemmas and relationships. Talking about the book, Wing Commander Jafa, winner of Vir Chakra and Vayu Sena Medal, said he had many memories of the year he spent in Pakistani jails. Some of them were extremely humiliating and some very terrifying. From among the 12 IAF officers captured during the 1971 war, Wing Commander Jafa was finally released with 10 of his comrades on December 1, 1972, in exchange of a large number of Pakistani POWs. Two of the officers had been repatriated earlier. It was Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who personally addressed these 10 men before they were released. He told them, "I, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, on behalf of this country, and on behalf of the compassionate people of Pakistan set you free...". However, according to Wing Commander Jafa, they felt humiliated in such a freedom, for India had compromised on almost all the gains it had made, which they as soldiers did not want. He added that they were taken prisoners from the western front, but for almost one year nobody in India bothered. The Indian Government made little efforts to locate them. In fact while initially they were declared missing in action only four months later did the ICRC inform their families that all of them were actually POWs. Talking about his days, Wing Commander Jafa said among his fondest memories was an incident when a Pakistani family came to visit them. Indian prisoners were a kind of novelty for Pakistanis and were presented to them by the authorities as specimens. So seening the family with small children all the officers broke down as they also remembered their families and children. The worst memory he has is of the time when some of their mates made a jailbreak. To set an example, the Pakistani officers wanted to kill another of the officers in captivity as if to show that while three escaped another was shot dead. They made plans, which instilled fear in all the POWs as to who would be taken for the merciless slaughter. The book covers various
aspects of the time the POWs spent in Pakistani jails and
their encounters with the authorities. It talks of myths
and misconceptions' of secrets and sleuths and compassion
and crulety. It also talks of the leadership provided
during the 1971 war which gave India the victory. Talking
about the leadership, Wing Commander Jafa added, it is
always leadership which matters and Kargil has shown this
to us again. |
Notification for LS poll today NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (UNI) — Nominations for elections to 74 Lok Sabha seats in nine states would open with the Election Commission notifying the elections tomorrow. Polling on September 25 will be held in Bihar (19 seats), Himachal Pradesh (4), Madhya Pradesh (12), Manipur (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Meghalya (2), Orissa (10) and Uttar Pradesh (24). The EC is issuing separate notifications for each of the five phases of the elections — on September 5, 11, 18, 25 and October 3 — to cut down the period of electioneering in the case of scattered poll. Lok Sabha constituencies in central and north Bihar, Uttarakhad, Ruhelkhand, Avadh and upper Doab regions of western Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mahakaushal region of Madhya Pradesh and central and western parts of Orissa are among those where polling will be held in the fourth phase of the elections. Among the candidates
expected to contest the September 25 poll are: Union
Ministers George Fernandes (Nalanda), Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
(Rampur), Santosh Gangwar (Bareilly), Menaka Gandhi
(Pilibhit) and Debendra Pradhan (Deogarha), former Unions
Ministers Ram Vilas Paswan (Hajipur), Nitish Kumar
(Barh), Satpal Maharaj (Garhwal), Salim Shervani
(Badaun), K.P. Singh Deo (Dhenkanal) and Bhakta Charan
Dass (Kalahandi), Congress leader Narain Dutt Tiwari
(Nainital) and National Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh
(Baghpat). |
Vajpayee to visit Bellary on Sept 1 BELLARY, Aug 29 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will address a public meeting here on September 1 to canvass support for senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj who is contesting against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency. BJP General Secretary Venkaiah Naidu told a Press meet here that Mr Vajpayee would address the meeting at 1 p.m. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu would also address the meeting, he said. Bellary, which borders
Andhra Pradesh, has a large number of Telugu-speaking
population. The BJP has already roped in Telugu film
actress Vijayashanti to campaign for Ms Swaraj today and
tomorrow. |
6 fake ballot boxes found in Bihar SITAMARHI, Aug 29 (PTI) — Six more duplicate ballot boxes have been detected in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district after verifications of the boxes lying in strongrooms here, District Magistrate R.N. Prasad said today. Mr Prasad said the administration undertook physical verifications of around 5289 ballot boxes of which six were discovered as "fake ones". He said a complaint was lodged with the Sitamarhi police station. The detection followed a directive of the Election Commission, he said. More than 1,350 fake ballot boxes have so far been detected from various constituencies in Bihar. Chief Electoral Officer
A.K. Basu has already ordered a thorough probe into the
detection of such boxes and asked the respective SPs to
personally supervise the cases instituted in this
connection and submit weekly report of the
investigations. |
Cong to focus on land reforms: Manmohan NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (UNI) — The Congress if voted to power will carry out comprehensive and systematic land reforms to achieve equity and growth in agriculture, Congress leader Manmohan Singh has said. Dr Manmohan Singh said where ever land ceilings had not been carried out, his party would ensure that the loopholes were plugged in and the law relating to land ceilings got implemented. The rights of the sharecroppers would be protected on the lines of "operation Bagha" in West Bengal. Lack of security of sharecroppers implied that there was lack of investment in land. If their rights were recognised then this would mean that they had a stake in land. This would lead to higher productivity. The former Finance Minister, who answered questions on economic issues, said land reforms had been evaded by several states. It was a well-known fact that the progress of land reforms had been extremely tardy in most states. This was true on all fronts, be it land ceiling, rights of sharecroppers or even tenancy rights. The lack of political will and the influence of "kulaks" in state legislatures as well as the entire political structure had prevented this from happening. Recently, another economist, Prof Amartya Sen, had underlined the urgent need of undertaking land reforms, to help improve productivity and to ensure fair play and equity. As many countries had implemented land reforms there was little reason why India should not be able to do so, he said. Dr Manmohan Singh said the government, if necessary, would augment land holdings by loans from financial institutions. It would also provide necessary technical support and a viable credit system for small and marginal farmers. He said a new insurance Bill would be drafted if the Congress came to power. The Bill drafted by the BJP government lost signifcance in such an event. He said majority shareholding in the case of insurance companies would be that of Indians, that was they would continue to be Indian companies. Life insurance, however, would not be opened up to foreign companies. The former Finance Minister, however, said the extent of foreign equity to be permitted in the insurance sector would have to be worked out once the Congress government assumed power. The Insurance Regulatory
Authority Bill which was drafted by the BJP government
provided for total foreign equity of 26 per cent. |
Psyche of Kargil kids shattered NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (UNI) — A loud bang raises fresh fears that shelling has resumed and they scramble in panic for shelter. Some even fall unconscious. The psyche of children in the war-affected areas around Kargil has been forever shattered. For days together they do not leave their mothers’ laps for the fear of the sound of explosives. Tajalmara (six) and Fatima (five) of Pandrass village in Dras sector faint at the sound of bomb shells and regain consciousness only hours later. The two girls are among 35 families eking out a miserable existence at a makeshift camp set up for displaced persons at Gaganer. Sajda and the 13 members of her family have been living at the camp for two months. She claims that since their arrival they have received only 4 litres of kerosene and 4 kg of rice. One of her children has been constantly complaining of stomach ache while the other three have diarrhoea and fever. They have not received any economic or medical aid announced by the government, she claims. The inmates of the Gaganer camp are among approximately 1,25,000 residents displaced from their villages near the 250 km line of control (LoC) of Chhamb, Dras and Kargil sectors and now residing in camps in Jammu, Mijeen and Gaganer. A survey team of the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS) which visited affected border areas during the height of the Kargil operations last month documented the conditions of children. The team, in a just released report of its findings titled "The children of Kargil - effect of war on the development of children’’, reveals that conditions of inmates at the temporary camps were pitiable due to insufficient basic amenities including, safe drinking water. There was a strong possibility of epidemics breaking out in the camps as diarrhoea and skin diseases had spread rapidly among children while the number of malaria cases had also shot up. The team’s leader Vinod Saini, citing an instance of administrative apathy, says in Akhnoor high school building, over 8000 persons from the villages of Samvan, Chapriyal, Panjtooth and Palavalan have been camping, most of them in the open. Two tankers without lids were available for all their needs, two toilets of the school were locked for reasons unknown and women and girls had no closed place to take bath, he observes. In the Mutthi camp near Jammu, Shani, (seven), huddles along with his parents and four siblings in a corner of the local school building. He is not happy in the refugee camp as most of his friends are in different camps. But what hits him hardest is the fact that he is not able to study by himself and no teacher is coming there to teach. Recalling happier days when he would take his goats to graze on returning from school, Shani’s main worry today is that he will forget all that he has learnt. Shani’s elder sister Seema is afraid she will die every time she ventures into the fields. Her fear is echoed by many. According to the team’s report, the "jau" and wheat are ripe in the villages of Kargil but the people are afraid to go and work in the fields for fear of being hit by bombs. The report documents several case studies of children on whom the war has had a deep and adverse effect. A majority of them have no self-confidence, are irritable and lack the spontaneity and innocence of childhood. It urges that psychologists and doctors form a work team to carry out a time-bound medical investigation of affected children and submit a report with recommendations, keeping in mind the long-term adverse effects of war on the development of children. The report demands that
the government issue a White Paper on the health, mental
state and education of the war-affected children. In
addition, a portion of the money collected in various
Kargil-related government and private funds should be
spent on a child-centred rehabilitation programme,
focussing especially on psychological rehabilitation of
the child. |
Karunanidhi accuses Sonia of double-speak TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, Aug 29 (PTI) — Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi today criticised Congress President Sonia Gandhi for ‘double-speak’ in view of her recent statement of considering the formation of a coalition government at the Centre in case of a hung Parliament. "She says one thing at one place and contradicts it at another place," he told reporters here, apparently referring to her willingness for forming a coalition government. The Congress, he said, was in a "mess" and its top leaders differed on several issues. "The party’s failure to decide upon its prime ministerial candidate substantiated this," he said. On a question about Mrs Gandhi’s foreign origin, Mr Karunanidhi said he would not comment on it, but reminded that it was the former’s ally Ms Jayalalitha who had raised the issue first. On the CPM remarks about the DMK joining hands with the BJP, he asked why the former, which in the editorials of its party paper "Thee Kadir" flayed Ms Jayalalitha, had joined the AIADMK front. The Communist leaders like Mr Sankaraiah and Mr Nallakannu had vowed to oppose Mr Vajpayee and Ms Jayalalitha. "What happened to the vows," he asked. When asked, what would
happen if his front failed to get the required majority
to form a government at the Centre, he said: "it
will not happen at all". On reports of infiltration
of ISI-trained elements into the state, he said all
possible steps had been taken and the security agencies
were in top gear to meet any eventuality. Tamil Nadu had
also asked for Rs 12 crore from the Centre for
modernising its security agencies, he added. |
Reddy to challenge HC directive BANGALORE, Aug 29 (UNI) — Karnataka Home Minister Aswathanarayana Reddy will challenge in the Supreme Court the High Court directive asking him to resign from the J.H. Patel ministry for not filing returns on his assets before the Lok Ayukta. Disclosing this to UNI here, Mr Reddy said he would seek a stay in the Supreme Court on Monday. Admitting that there was a delay in filing the returns, he claimed that he had declared his assets before the Lok Ayukta. However, the lok ayukta had not informed it to the High Court. A Division Bench of the
High Court had yesterday directed Mr Reddy and another
minister to resign from the Cabinet. It also asked the
Chief Minister or the Governor to remove them from the
office, if they failed to resign. |
Electric cycle rickshaws! NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (PTI) — For those sick of the din and choking exhaust fumes of two and three-wheelers, a potential alternative has emerged in the form of an electric cycle rickshaw. Prototype electric cycle rickshaws developed and patented by Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) at Phaltan in Maharashtra were successfully tested on Lucknow roads recently. The Uttar Pradesh Government is considering a proposal to introduce them in the city on a small scale, NARI Director Anil K. Rajvanshi said. The country’s present level of battery technology is ideal for use in small systems like rickshaws, he said. An electric cycle rickshaw or "elecshaw" could provide a non-polluting and noiseless transport system for urban and rural areas of India, serving as an attractive alternative to petrol and diesel-powered two and three-wheelers, he said. Beneficiaries would be
considerable as about 1 million cycle rickshaws ply on
the Indian roads, carrying about 3-4 billion passengers
per km per year. |
Delhi Cong flays Sushma,
Sharma NEW DELHI, Aug 29 — The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) today criticised the BJP candidate for Chandigarh, Mr K.L. Sharma, and for Bellary, Ms Sushma Swaraj, for contesting the Lok Sahba poll from outside Delhi. The two BJP candidates had represented the Outer Delhi and South Delhi seats, restpectively, in the 1996 and 1998 Lok Sabha poll. "The two leaders had stated that they would not contest the general elections, as they had failed to fulfill their promises to the electorate", the DPCC President, Mr Subhash Chopra, claimed. "Mr Sharma and Ms
Swaraj had feared that they might be asked to defend
their seats and they were afraid to face the electorate.
And when the party asked them to contest from other parts
of the country they jumped into the electoral fray",
he said. |
Bihar Govt asked to pay 2 lakh
to widow NEW DELHI, Aug 29 — The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Bihar Government to pay an interim relief of Rs 2 lakh to the widow of a person who was electrocuted. It has also asked the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) to probe into the incident and take action against those found guilty. The commission has further asked it to frame regulations and guidelines to ensure that such incidents do not recur. In a petition to the commission, the victim’s widow stated that Satyabrat Narain Singh died after he came in contact with a live wire lying on the ground in Patna. The petitioner alleged that the BSEB turned down her request for relief, ignoring a precedent where the Supreme Court had awarded compensation. According to the petition, the BSEB attributed the electrocution and death of Narain Singh to a "natural calamity" and an "act of God". It claimed that the wire was broken in a storm. Narain Singh’s widow appealed to the commission that she and her minor children were on the verge of starvation. The commission sought reports from the Secretary, BSEB, and the Home (Police) Department of the Bihar Government. The reports confirmed the facts and stated that the BSEB could not be held liable for Narain Singh’s death. The commission, however,
found that the BSEB defence was based on flimsy grounds
and was untenable. |
Coalition even with full majority: BJP VADODARA, Aug 29 (UNI) — The Bharatiya Janata Party will form a coalition government even if the BJP gets absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, Union Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani said here today. “We have committed in the National Democratic Alliance manifesto to form an alliance government and we will stand by it,’’ he told reporters here. The senior BJP leader said he would appeal to the masses during his election campaign to help the BJP gain a massive victory and the Congress a crushing defeat, “so that they (Congress) remain in the Opposition for the next full term”. A stable government is important for providing better services to the people and carrying out development activities in the country, he said. Claiming that Mr Vajpayee would win his Lucknow seat with a huge margin, he said this would be the first election since 1971 when an incumbent Prime Minister will get re-elected as the Prime Minister, except the 1984 election when Rajiv Gandhi was re-elected as the Prime Minister after a short term. Mr Advani accused the Congress of destabilising the polity and forcing mid-term poll which had put a burden on the country’s exchequer. Talking about fixed tenures for the legislature, Mr Advani said other political parties in the NDA were in agreement on the issue. He said legislatures in most European countries had fixed tenures except in the United Kingdom (UK). On being asked about Ram Janmabhoomi and Article 370, Mr Advani said these issues were withdrawn from the manifesto on the behest of alliance partners. NEW DELHI (PTI): Home Minister L K Advani has rejected the Opposition charge that the government is evading the issue of actual timing of Pakistani intrusion in Kargil but said it is against any witch-hunt in the Army immediately after the forces have emerged victorious in evicting the infiltrators. “We are still to find out precisely (when the incursions took place) but our preliminary assessments revealed that they (infiltrators) may have come there in April. We discovered them in May and we immediately went into action,” Mr Advani said in an interview to Karan Thapar for BBC’s “Hardtalk India” programme to be telecast on Wednesday. Asked if there was reluctance on the government’s part to share what actually happened in Kargil, Mr Advani said, “There is no deliberate obfuscation”. “...While the government was simultaneously probing into what might have happened at the same time we are conscious that in 1999 the Army, the jawans, have made the country so proud that immediately after this kind of victory if the government were to go in for some kind of a witch-hunting it would not be the right thing to do,” he added. Asked whether an inquiry could show jawans in a poor light, he said “I do not know where, if at all, there was any lapse.” Stressing that no one wanted to protect anyone, Mr Advani said even if there was “some lapse”, the terms of reference of the inquiry committee headed by defence analyst K Subrahmanyam were such as to bring out the full facts. “But to set up a kind of inquiry which shows at the very outset that there is a major lapse, I do not think it would be the right thing for the government to do. And therefore it has avoided it,” Mr Advani said, adding that the Army had scored a remarkable victory and any inquiry into its conduct would not have been right. On former Army Chief Gen V N Sharma and former Vice-Chief Lt-Gen Moti Dar’s charge that Kargil represented a major intelligence failure, he said “May be they are wrong, may be they are right. But this can only be proved after we come to know the full facts.” Mr Advani maintained that questions like how Kargil happened, how much was known or when it was known needed to be answered, but felt “there is no hurry about it”. He said “at the present point of time what little I know I do not think the intrusions took place before April”. Asked whether he would be giving evidence before the Subrahmanyam Committee, he said, “The committee has conveyed to me that they would like to meet me and I said welcome”. To a question whether he
would share a report filed by the BSF intelligence on
Pakistan’s plans for large-scale intrusions across
the Kargil border after interrogating Azhar Shafi Mir, he
said, “Whatever I know, I will share with them (the
committee)”. |
NCP, SP name candidates NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (PTI) — Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today fielded 11 candidates in Bihar for the coming Lok Sabha poll. Among others party general secretary Tariq Anwar will seek re-election from the Katihar parliamentary constituency, the seat he won on the Congress ticket in 1998. The list of candidates released by party leader P.A. Sangma said that other candidates are Suraj Yadav (Madhepura), Gopi Chand Sahu (Arrah), Ghulam Hussain (Purnea), Anand Tuddu (Dumka), A.P.S. Prakash (Bhagalpur), Chhedi Paswan (Sasaram), Kamlesh Singh (Chhapra), Mumtaz Ansari (Kodarma), Birbal Mehta (Hazaribagh), Krishan Murari Gupta (Jamshedpur). For the four seats of Murshidabad, Krishnanagar, Berhampur and Jaynagar, the NCP would support the candidates put up by the Republican Party of India (RPI) with whom it had entered into an alliance in West Bengal. The Samajwadi Party decided to field three more candidates for the Lok Sabha poll from UP and said the party would support former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar’s candidature from Ballia. The three constituencies
from where the party has put up its nominees are
Muzzafarnagar, Kairana and Garhwal. While A.K. Tyagi is
the party candidate from Muzzafarnagar constituency, M.
Hassan and Manmohan Singh Rawat have been fielded from
Kairana and Garhwal constituencies, respectively, he
said. |
BJP campaign in Jharkhand begins RANCHI, Aug 29 (UNI) — In the absence of a combined opposition and the main rival Congress remaining a divided house, the BJP has taken the lead by launching its campaign in all 13 constituencies of South Bihar that go to the polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on September 18. The Congress remains sharply divided on the issue of alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on the 14 seats of Jharkhand and alleged interference of RJD President Laloo Prasad Yadav in deciding Congress nominees. With the election barely 18 days away, the party is yet to gear up its electoral machinery. Even the name of its candidate for the Koderma seat remains undecided. The BJP, taking advantage of the confusion in the Congress and the division in Jharkhand parties, has already hit the campaign trail. Its star campaigner, Shatrughan Sinha, recently held an election rally in Hazaribagh from where Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha is contesting against the CPI candidate and the Jharkhand Front nominee. The BJP Vananchal Committee, which has been assigned the task to independently supervise the electioneering in the 18 districts of South Bihar, formally launched its campaign from August 25. According to political observers, it is probably for the first time that the Congress appears so confused in the electoral game. The Jharkhand Regional Congress Committee is yet to release the regional poll manifesto for which a committee was constituted about two months ago. There is a lot of confusion among the party cadre following delay in the selection of party nominees and the announcement of seats the party was to contest in Bihar, party sources said. The BJP has constituted constitutency-level campaign committees that have been directed to hit the trail. The party is confident of not only repeating its past electoral performances, but also adding to its tally. The BJP won 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats from the region in 1996 and the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress could win only one in 1996 and two in 1998. The Jharkhand parties, which had to its credit the Dumka (ST) seat in 1996 failed to retain it in the 1998 elections. The BJP campaign has
moved down to the block level highlighting the
achievements of the 13-month rule of the Vajpayee
government and taking credit for the introduction of the
Bihar State Re-organisation Bill, 1998, in Parliament
last year for the creation of “Vananchal”. |
Flood situation in Bihar grim PATNA, Aug 29 (UNI) — The flood situation in Bihar worsened today following the snapping of road communication in several villages in Katihar district following incessant torrents, while the natural calamity had claimed 241 lives in the state so far. A Katihar report said the flood water damaged the Raghunathpur — Balrampur road, and this has disrupted road communication in many villages. The report, however, said the flood situation in the Barsoi block area in the district slightly improved as the Mahananda river passing through the region marginally receded. The flood situation in other parts of the district remained the same as the Ganga continued being in spate. A Samastipur report said a population of about two lakh persons had been marooned in flood water in the district, while standing crops spread over an area of over 4710 hectare with an estimated value of Rs 3 crore had been washed away in the flood waters. The local district administration had pressed 127 boats into service to carry out rescue and relief operations. A Darbhanga report said 1.3 million persons in 201 panchayats of the district had been affected in flood waters. More than 40 villages
had been submerged, following the breach in the left and
right embankments of the Sirohi river. |
Nehru lambasts ‘family rule’ RAE BARELI, Aug 29 (UNI) — The BJP nominee for the Rae Bareli parliamentary seat and former Union Minister, Mr Arun Nehru, has lambasted the concept of “family rule” and said it was not in keeping with the spirit of democracy. Addressing a workers’ meeting and later answering question at a press conference on the first day of his three-day pre-election tour of the constitutency yesterday, he asserted, “Ours was not a feudal system and the talk of family rule was absolutely out of place”. “There are more than 50 members in the Nehru family and all of them are not supposed to have similar views on various issues,” he said. “The Nehru family fought the war for Independence and gave three Prime Ministers to the nation. But it does not mean that whatever Mrs Sonia Gandhi says or whatever I say is the thinking of the whole Nehru family,” he added. Most of the members of the Nehru family would vote for the BJP in the current Lok Sabha elections, he disclosed. When asked how he felt
in the BJP, which was dependent on the RSS, the scion of
the Nehru family said: “I am very comfortable in the
BJP,” adding that with the passage of time, both the
BJP and the Congress have undergone a change.” |
Dengue control plan awaits
approval NEW DELHI, August 29 — A proposal for starting a dengue control programme under the Directorate of National Anti-Malaria Programme is awaiting the approval of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Speaking at an advocacy session on “Vector-borne diseases”, Dr S. M. Kaul, Joint Director of the programme, told newspersons here on Saturday that the directorate was managing dengue control with limited resources. “An approval would mean more funds for infrastructure and manpower.” The session was organised by the IMA Health Media Centre and the National Anti-Malaria Programme Directorate. Dr Kaul said: “Punjab and Haryana are prone to epidemics. Presently, the situation is satisfactory but these are cyclical diseases and nothing can be said with certainty. In the last two-three years, the community participation in Uttar Pradesh has resulted in the reduction in the density of the dengue causing aedes aegypti mosquito.” While agreeing that IEC programme is an important component of the malaria and dengue control programmes, the Municipal Health Officer, Dr K. N. Tewari said: “You have to hammer the message repeatedly. The gap between awareness and action still exists. Disease surveillance, environment scanning and the IEC programme can prevent the outbreak of the disease.” Dr Tewari said dengue had been declared a notifiable disease in Delhi and all government, autonomous and private hospitals were required to notify cases of dengue to the Delhi Government. Professor Suneela of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College said that mothers have a significant role to play in recognising the early symptoms of dengue haemorrhagic fever and taking prompt action. She said indoor and
outdoor breeding sites such as earthen pots, soft drink
bottles, uncovered water storage tanks, water trays under
refrigerators and tree holes, coconut shells, leaf axils
of various plant species as palm and banana and metal
drums for water storage should be cleaned regularly. |
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| Award for
‘honest’ Khushwant NEW DELHI: Khushwant Singh, eminent journalist and author, has been selected for the Sulabh International “honest man of the year award 1998” for his honesty and moral courage to speak out the truth through his brilliant and readable writings. The award, which carrries Rs 10 lakh in cash, a golden plaque, a gold pendent and a citation, has been instituted by the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation. It is awarde annually to an outstanding personality who has shown the highest level of public honesty and commitment in his (or her) work. Khushwant Singh has accepted the award, which will be presented sometime at the end of this year. — UNI Jail escapees return Major killed in
encounter 20 hurt in
police firing Arun
Gawli’s man killed Demonstration by
Sena men ‘Palace on
Wheels’ redesigned Anti-cancer drug
from herb |
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