Thursday, February 11, 1999
|
N A T I O N |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
 |
|
|
35 MPs leave for Pakistan today NEW DELHI, Feb 10 — A high-level parliamentary delegation will leave here for Islamabad tomorrow on a goodwill visit to Pakistan to discuss economic cooperation and measures to stabilise nuclear regime in the South Asian region, particularly means to improve relations between the two countries. Punjab leaders meet Sonia NEW DELHI, Feb 10 — The Congress will emphasise on building up the party on its own strength in Punjab and is gearing its efforts in this direction. |
 |
Germany seeks clarification in HDW
case NEW DELHI, Feb 10 — The CBI today told the Delhi High Court that the German authorities had sought clarifications on the letters rogatory sent by a special court here seeking probe into the alleged kickbacks in the Rs 420-crore HDW submarines deal.
|
|
Trinamool Cong’s demands met CALCUTTA, Feb 10 — The Trinamool Congress-BJP relations appeared poised to be on the upswing with the Centre accepting most of Mamata Banerjee’s demands contained in the “Bengal package” and the BJP wooing her to join the central coalition. UPSEB staff
call off strike MCD
gesture to gallantry awardees HC
pulls up Centre on law and order Samata
not ruffled over resignations Cong
workers protest against price hike Bhagwat
case adjourned HC
no to PIL on special courts |
|||||
 |
||||||
35 MPs leave for Pakistan today NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (PTI) — A high-level parliamentary delegation will leave here for Islamabad tomorrow on a goodwill visit to Pakistan to discuss economic cooperation and measures to stabilise nuclear regime in the South Asian region, particularly means to improve relations between the two countries. Former Union Minister and Congress MP, Balram Jakhar, who is leading the 35-member team, told reporters today that the members would attend the first two-day Indo-Pakistan parliamentary conference being inaugurated by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday. The conference on ‘towards détente in the sub-continent’ is sponsored by Pakistan’s prominent English daily ‘The News.’ The delegation comprises MPs from the BJP, the Congress, the Left parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, he said, adding that some prominent members in the team were Madhav Sinh Solanki, Mukul Wasnik, Kapil Sibbal, P.J. Kurien, Meira Kumar, K.R. Malkani, Vijay Goel and Arif Mohammed Khan. Mr Jakhar said the delegation would call on Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaz Aziz and some other senior ministers besides opposition leaders. The delegation would also visit Lahore before returning to India on February 15, he added. The visit comes ahead of
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s bus travel to
Lahore later this month which is expected to boost
efforts at normalising ties between the two neighbours. |
Germany seeks clarification in HDW case NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (PTI) — The CBI today told the Delhi High Court that the German authorities had sought clarifications on the letters rogatory sent by a special court here seeking probe into the alleged kickbacks in the Rs 420-crore HDW submarines deal signed by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1988. Submitting a “status report” on progress of the probe in Germany before a Division Bench, comprising Mr Justice Devinder Gupta and Mr Justice K.S. Gupta, CBI counsel Rakesh Tiku said German Authorities had pointed out certain ambiguities in the letters rogatory and sought clarification about the same. The court after perusing the report directed the CBI to file further progress report by April 29 regarding the follow-up action. The agency during its last hearing on December 9 had said the Swiss authorities in a communication stated a local court there was examining the Indian request for probe about the bank transactions there. The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to speed up the investigation into the alleged payment of seven per cent commission to middlemen in the deal. The court, meanwhile, ordered the high court Registry to put the report in a sealed cover again. The CBI in its Fir registered in March 1990 had named former Defence Secretary and Sikkim Governor S.K. Bhatnagar, former Additional Secretary (Defence) S.S. Sidhu, former Additional Financial Adviser (Defence Ministry) B.S. Ramaswamy, former Indian Navy Captain M. Kondath and the former Vice-Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Schunker as accused. Other persons named in the
Fir are industrialist Gopi Chand Hinduja, a New Delhi
based firm, Roger enterprises and some German companies. |
Punjab leaders meet Sonia NEW DELHI, Feb 10 — The Congress will emphasise on building up the party on its own strength in Punjab and is gearing its efforts in this direction. Reacting to the ongoing development in Punjab, senior Congress leader and General Secretary, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said the Congress “will build upon its own strength”. He termed the current feud in the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal as an internal party matter and ruled out the Congress making any attempt to fish in troubled waters. Mr Mukherjee, who was recently appointed as the AICC General Secretary, holds charges of affairs of the party in the Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh. Mr Mukherjee, today held discussions with the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President, Mr Amarinder Singh, and also the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee Chief, Mr Venod Sharma. The AICC General Secretary said today that he would visit Gurdaspur, his first visit to Punjab after taking over the new assignment. He is also to attend a meeting of the state PCC executive. Mr Mukhejree said he was also likely to attend a rally at Jind, Haryana later this week. Meanwhile, a delegation of Congress leaders from Punjab met the party President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and apprised her of the activities of the state unit. The delegation led by Mr Amarinder Singh included Mr Iqbal Singh, Mr Surinder Singla, Mr Raghunandan Lal Bhatia, Mr Jagjit Singh and Mr Santokh Singh Randhawa. Mr Iqbal Singh said the SAD in the past had criticised the Congress and charged the party with having created problems for Punjab. He said the current infighting would only benefit the Congress which can now tell the people of the State that the SAD were themselves responsible for the problems. Mr Singla was of the view that the Congress should bring forth the dual stand of the BJP which at one time rallied against the SAD for boycott of polls in 1992, later on joined hand with them and was now silent on many issues including security-related issues. He said the state Director-General of Police had mentioned of threat of disruptive forces rearing its head again in Punjab, but there was little that the state or the Centre did to show what it is doing in this regard. Some members of the delegation were of the view that the Congress should stay away from attempts by a section to include some Akali Dal leaders in the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations being organised by the party. The Indian National Congress is committed to strengthening the rich Islamic heritage of the country and will work whole-heartedly for the uplift of minorities by providing them education and job opportunities, party President Sonia Gandhi said here today. “Islamic
‘virasat’ (heritage) is part of Indian virasat.
We are proud of it and prepared to do anything to
strengthen it”, she said after releasing a book on
noted philanthropist Hakim Abdul Hameed brought out by
Urdu weekly ‘Nida-e-Millat’. |
Scientists prefer comfort NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (PTI) — Indian scientists mostly cite “comfort” as the main reason for preferring government jobs, according to a new study which says they give low priority to “challenge”. The study, carried out on 84 “highly experienced” scientists in a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratory, says scientists are satisfied with their work which is “meaningful” and “important” to them. The findings of the study, published in the latest issue of the “Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research”, point out that socio-economic conditions and unemployment problems do not allow scientists to change jobs even if they are doubtful about their future. Indian scientists prefer comfort over challenge, pay and working environment, the other major factors of job satisfaction. However, red tape restricts scientists from achieving the desired performance level. In spite of their work, they feel they are deprived of the due appreciation and credit. The study was conducted by Sunil K. Dhawan of the National Institute of Science Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), here. A questionnaire containing 40 questions that represent the major factors of job satisfaction, was used to collect information from the scientists. The questionnaire was used to collect information from the scientists having an average age of 46.32 years. Job satisfaction factors like work enjoyment, potential skills, work variety, importance of the work, mutual support, learning opportunities, goal setting, appreciation and future prospects were analysed in the study. The study indicates that with increase in age, the opportunities to work on different jobs, appreciation of work and future prospects go down. According to the study, though scientists perceive that continuing in the same organisation is a potential hurdle to their career but the limited scope of employment compels them to stick to the organisation. The study also points out
that scientists should be provided with the kind of work
in which their skills and abilities must be utilised to
an optimum level. |
Trinamool Cong’s demands met CALCUTTA, Feb 10 (PTI) — The Trinamool Congress-BJP relations appeared poised to be on the upswing with the Centre accepting most of Mamata Banerjee’s demands contained in the “Bengal package” and the BJP wooing her to join the central coalition. Representing Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at a Trinamool Congress rally at the Brigade Parade ground here, Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan listed the acceptance by the Centre of three railway projects, extension of both metro and circular Railway, modernisation of Calcutta port and airport among the demands made by Ms Banerjee. Petroleum Minister K. Ramamurthy also announced plans for expansion of Haldia refinery and immediate exploratory activities by the ONGC in eight oilfields in the state. Heaping praise on Ms Banerjee, Mr Mahajan made a fresh bid to persuade the Trinamool Congress to join the Vajpayee government in the wake of acceptance of “Bengal package”. “Why seek assistance
from outside. Join us in the government,” he pleaded
with Ms Banerjee saying Mr Vajpayee was interested that
the Trinamool Congress joined the Union Cabinet. |
UPSEB staff call off strike LUCKNOW, Jan 10 (UNI) — The indefinite strike by engineers and employees of the Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board (UPSEB) was called off this morning. A decision to this effect was taken by the strikers following talks with Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and other officials. According to a senior Chief Minister’s Secretariat official, the talks took place at Mr Kalyan Singh’s Kalidas Marg residence. The official said the state government had assured the employees that the striking powermen would not be subjected to any victimisation and those who had been dismissed during the strike period would be reinstated. The state government would also release the employees who had been arrested during the strike, he added. The state government had also assured that the views of employees of the UPSEB would also be taken into consideration while undertaking reforms in the power sector.employees of the UPSEB had gone on an indefinite strike from Monday in protest against the proposed power sector reforms which included restructuring the board. The Kalyan Singh
Government had played tough with the strikers and more
than 150 employees were arrested and several engineers
had been dismissed from service for their active role in
the strike. |
MCD gesture to gallantry
awardees NEW DELHI, Feb 10 — The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to exempt gallantry award winners from paying property tax from the next financial year. While the MCD has decided to exempt the Chakra series awardees, including Ashok Chakra and Param Veer Chakra, extending the benefit to other category national award winners, including Arjuna award winners was being considered. MCD standing committee chairman Shanti Desai said “the winners of awards like the Arjuna awardees and others are also being considered for the exemption.” Section 177 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act empowers the corporation to exempt any person or any class of property or goods either wholly or in parts from the payment of any tax levied by the MCD. Certain changes in the proposed exemption have been suggested by Corporation’s Leader of Opposition Ram Babu Sharma, which include not to exempt the rented out properties of the gallantry award winners. The proposal to include
categories other than the Chakra series is, however,
being strongly opposed with Municipal Commissioner V.K.
Duggal |
HC pulls up Centre on law and order NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (UNI) — The Delhi High Court today pulled up the central government for projecting a wrong picture on the law and order scenario of the capital and described the situation in the capital as "worse than what was being projected." A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Anil Dev Singh and Mr Justice A.K. Srivastava directed the Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry (in charge of Delhi) to be present on the next date of hearing on February 17, when the matter would be heard in the judge’s chamber. The Bench said a very wrong picture was being projected about the Delhi’s law and order scenario and things were worse than what it was. The court was hearing a public interest petition filed by advocate Rajeev Awasthi seeking court’s monitoring on the deteriorating law and order situation in the capital. The court was during an earlier hearing told that the crime scenario in the capital had improved and the crime graph was coming down. However, the government was of the view that more strength was required to man the security better. For this purpose, the
government had sanctioned setting up of 17 new police
stations and appointment of police personnel for them.
The court was also informed that land from the Urban
Affairs Ministry was acquired and work on the
construction of the new police station had been
initiated. |
Samata not ruffled over
resignations NEW DELHI, Feb 10 — The Samata Party today tried to underplay the resignations of two of its senior leaders from the primary membership of the party saying that "it was not particularly concerned over the developments". The Samata Party General Secretary, Ms Jaya Jaitley, said the resignations were a local issue and "we are not particularly concerned about it". The Samata Party state Vice-President, Mr Sanjiv Prasad Toni and the General Secretary, Mr Prem Chandra Mishra, announced their resignations today in Patna. They accused the party President, Mr George Fernandes, of having "badly cheated and hoodwinked" the people of the State by backtracking from the party’s promise to ensure dismissal of the "corrupt and ineffective" RJD government. They said that "he
(Fernandes) has become a stooge of the BJP and has
saffronised the Samata Party". |
Cong workers protest against price hike NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (PTI) — A large number of Congress workers, including senior party leaders and MLAs today staged a noisy demonstration and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee protesting pre-Budget escalation in prices of essential commodities. Slogan shouting protesters under the aegis of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) carried a large replica of cooking gas cylinder symbolising the steep hike in the LPG prices. Led by senior party
leaders R.K. Dhawan, Jagdish Tytler Sajjan Kumar,
Jagpravesh Chandra, party workers drawn from various
parts of the city carried placards reading ‘Bhajpa
ke Bhrast Sashan, Mehengi Gas Mehengi Ration’ (under
BJP’s corrupt rule prices of cooking gas and ration
have gone high). |
Bhagwat case adjourned NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court today adjourned hearing on a public interest litigation challenging the dismissal of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat as Navy Chief for February 18 and clubbed two intervention petitions in the matter. The intervention petitions were filed by Lt Col (retd) Prakash Goswami and advocate Rakesh Kumar Singh contending that they supported the main petition filed by Wing Commander (retd) H.M. Seth seeking direction to the government to divulge the reasons for Admiral Bhagwat’s dismissal. A Division Bench,
comprising Justice Devinder Gupta and Justice K.S. Gupta,
adjourned the matter after Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee
said he was ready with the record. |
HC no to PIL on special courts CHENNAI, Feb 10 (PTI) — The Madras High Court today declined to entertain a public interest writ petition challenging the central notification transferring corruption cases against AIADMK chief Jayalalitha and others from special courts to regular courts. When the writ petition came up for admission, a Division Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice N.K. Jain and Mr Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam, said the high court could not decide on the notification’s validity as the matter was pending before the Supreme Court. The Bench said special
leave petitions by Jayalalitha and others, challenging an
earlier Madras High Court verdict that upheld the
appointment of three special judges to try the cases,
were still pending in the apex court. |
| H |
|
||
| 7 Tibetans arrested BANGALORE: The city police has arrested seven Tibetans on suspicion of having bought nine boys from Bodhgaya district of Bihar to work at their settlement in Kollegal. The boys who were allegedly bought for anything between Rs 1000 and Rs 1500 were rescued on Tuesday by the police after a tip-off by volunteers of an organisation. The police suspects a racket and is trying to unearth it with the help of the Bihar police. — UNI Christians
‘luring’ poor TMC group to join
Cong Scribe nabbed for
links with ULFA Anjana Mishra rape
probe |
 |
 |
| Punjab
| Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
