Tuesday, March 2, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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BJP: Basu venting
frustration |
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Parliament
getting ‘irrelevant’ |
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Court restrains CBI in
MPs’ bribery case “Impose
President’s rule” in Haryana Shorter
route to remain open for Amarnath yatra IAF
exercise to use 17,000 tonnes of TNT Yamuna
channelling opposed |
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BJP: Basu venting frustration NEW DELHI, March 1 — In a sharp counter-attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu for calling the Vajpayee government "barbaric" and "uncivilised", the BJP today said that "he (Mr Basu) would not mind stooping to uncivilised depths in giving vent to his personal and political frustrations". Addressing newspersons, the BJP Vice-President, Mr J.P. Mathur, said Mr Basu was speaking out of frustrations is evident from his open confession that the CPM would support the Congress in its bid to topple the BJP-led government". "The joint Congress-Communist conspiracy to topple the Vajpayee government, has, however, already come a cropper, as was evident from their defeat in the Lok Sabha on the Bihar issue", he said. "Incidentally, it is revealing that both the Congress and the Communists have joined hands to shield Laloo-Rabri government in Bihar, in spite of the latter’s failure to check the series of killings of Dalits and others in that state", Mr Mathur said adding that nothing illustrated the "unprincipled and opportunistic nature of" these parties "more strikingly". Asked about the BJP’s stand on bringing in the Rajya Sabha the resolution on the imposition of the President’s rule in Bihar, the BJP leader said, "we know that we do not have the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, yet knowing it we brought in the Lok Sabha so that it would expose the Congress. As far as the Rajya Sabha is concerned it is upto the government to take a decision on the matter. Earlier, the Human Resource Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, also flayed Mr Basu saying that it merely demonstrated the "political myopia and ideological paranoia of the Marxists". "I can well
understand the Communists’ frustrations over the
success of the BJP-led government in providing political
stability and social harmony. But I am rather surprised
at the temerity of the veteran Marxist leader to term the
Vajpayee government as barbaric and uncivilised", Dr
Joshi said. |
J&K’s right to self-determination NEW DELHI, March 1 (PTI) — The Congress today sought clarification from the government on the reported statement of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that his Indian counterpart agreed to the right of self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. "The Prime Minister owes an explanation to the entire nation. The Indian nation has every right to be appalled by the view of Mr Vajpayee on the issue of self-determination", AICC general secretary Madhavrao Scindia told PTI. Expressing serious concern Scindia said he was amazed at the reported statement of Sharif claiming that during his talks with Mr Vajpayee on the matter of "self-determination" the latter had replied in affirmative saying "it is right". He said "it is high time that these murky, behind the scene, clandestine deals at the international level cease and the Vajpayee government adheres to his much declared principle of transparency which has been stated when he assumed office". The entire episode throws grave suspicion on the veracity of Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh's assertion in Parliament recently that there was no secret deal with the United States of America on the question of signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). On the outcome of Mr Vajpayee's "Lahore bus yatra", the Congress Working Committee member said it was ending up as a "fruitless exercise" meant to divert the attention domestically from the total failure f the Vajpayee government to tackle burning issues of prices, economy, casteism and communalism. "If anyone has gained from the yatra it is Pakistan", he said adding the Indian Prime Minister acknowledged that Jammu and Kashmir issue should be a part of the official agenda of the bilateral Indo-Pakistan dialogue. Mr Scindia said Mr Vajpayee did so without clarifying that this meant that only the issue that concerned us namely cross-border terrorism, would be discussed and added that this has left the Jammu and Kashmir matter wide-open on the agenda. He said alleged that the interests of the country on the social, economic and international fronts were being bartered away by the Vajpayee government in pursuit of its own self-preservation. "This is causing
irreparable damage to the national fabric", he said. |
Doctor sentenced to life for killing wife NEW DELHI, March 1 (PTI) — After about 20 years’ of trial, a city court today sentenced a doctor to life imprisonment for killing his wife in 1979 during their honeymoon trip to Brussels. Finding Sonepat-based Dr Mahendra Singh Dahiya guilty of killing his British wife Namita Lochab in a hotel at Brussels, Additional Sessions Judge L.D. Malik also sentenced him to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for destroying evidence. Both sentences would run concurrently, the court said. The case had hit headlines for several days after Dahiya escaped from the custody of London police and fled to India following the murder between May 27 and May 29, 1979. According to prosecution, Dahiya had killed Lochab after a fight in hotel Arenberg and severed her body into pieces which were found wrapped in a cloth in a container 100 metres from the hotel. According to the post mortem report received by the CBI from Belgium police through Interpol, the doctors were of the opinion that the body was cut into several parts apparently by a person experienced in "disjoining and knew anatomy well". Dahiya, who married Lochab according to Hindu rituals on September 5, 1978 at Sonepat in Haryana, was arrested on May 9, 1983. Dahiya had joined his wife
in London only in February 1979 and the couple had gone
on honeymoon to several European countries. |
Parliament getting ‘irrelevant’ NEW DELHI, March 1 (PTI) — Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar has regretted Parliament was becoming irrelevant in the present political situation as laws were being enforced through ordinances bypassing discussions in the House. Presiding over the Samajwadi Janata Party’s two-day national executive meeting which concluded here on Saturday, he said constitutional provisions were being misused by the ruling parties. While the Rabri Devi government in Bihar was dismissed on the grounds of law and order, states like Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were spared though the situation was worse in those states, he said. Mr Chandra Shekhar accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of giving a fillip to divisive forces and agents of disintegration. "Sangh parivar organisations are indulging in terrorising minorities and creating a sense of fear, thereby giving a severe blow to national unity and integrity," he said, adding that the continuance of the Vajpayee government was a great danger to national security. He said the Congress,
despite many shortcomings, would not allow such forces of
division and disintegration to hold the country to
ransom. He, however, denied reports that he was joining
the Congress. |
Court restrains CBI in MPs’ bribery case NEW DELHI, March 1 (PTI) — A city court hearing the JMM MPs’ bribery case has, in a significant order, restricted the CBI from examining witnesses whose statements relate to the alleged bribe takers granted immunity from prosecution by the Supreme Court last year. “Do not bring any witness pertaining to alleged bribe takers without prior permission of the court,” Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke observed when a defence counsel raised objection during recent recording of evidence of a Congress MP from Maharashtra, Ashok Deshmukh. According to the prosecution, Deshmukh’s statements, given to the CBI earlier, had a reference to the accused — former JMM MPs Shibu Soren, Shailendra Mahato, Simon Marandi and Suraj Mandal and Rajya Sabha MP V. Rajeshwara Rao. However, Mahato had been granted pardon by the court after turning approver in the case. The defence counsel
opposed the CBI’s questioning of Deshmukh relating
to his statements having a reference to Mahato, who was
also in the category of the alleged bribe takers. |
When plane went missing NEW DELHI, March 1 (PTI) — It was a close shave for 300 people on board an Air India flight as the aircraft safely touched base after it went “missing” for nearly 40 minutes following communications disruption at Indira Gandhi International Airport here on February 21. The disruption led to the incoming flight (AIC 5110) lose radio link with the airport control tower and the plane went off the radar control creating panic among the air traffic control (ATC) authorities, sources said. It was a “potentially hazardous situation” and the loss of contact “could have led to a dangerous situation”, a senior official of IGI airport said. At the time of the breakdown there were three incoming arrivals, including the AI flight. All status indicators on the tower failed at the same time. Had the loss of contact continued a little longer, there were chances of the aircraft heading towards the mountains in the north, they said. Admitting the lapse, the official said they were taking precautions to avoid recurrence of such incidents. “We are getting slowly accustomed to the new, fully computerised environment.” Mr Robey Lall, Member (Operations) of the Airports Authority of India, when contacted said there was a power failure in the airport at that time. “An inquiry has been ordered and we are still awaiting the report on its consequences,” he said. He confessed inability to comment more on the issue, till the investigations were over and the report made ready. At the time of the link failure, only one standby SSR code was available in the control tower, sources said. Surprisingly, all other standby back up frequencies were not working properly. The available standby frequency was put into operation and after a lapse of more than 30 minutes, the aircraft was “recovered” around 40 miles east/north of Delhi. Sources said the Air India flight was straying towards the Hindon Air Force base. However the people at the base were informed well in advance about the “missing” flight. Incidentally, the Hindon
air base is exclusive and the entry of civilian aircraft
into its airspace is prohibited. Had they not been
informed about the AI plane, “there could have been
a major disaster,” said the sources. |
“Impose President’s
rule” in Haryana NEW DELHI, March 1 — The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the principal Opposition party in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha today stepped up its offensive against the Bansi Lal regime on law and order situation in the state, especially in Gurgaon. Former Chief Minister of Haryana and INLD leader, Om Prakash Chautala, who was here to mobilise support for his party’s proposed rally at Ram Lila Ground in Delhi on March 6, equated the law and order situation in Haryana and Bihar to argue that imposition of the President’s rule against the Rabri Devi government was politically motivated. Mr Chautala reiterated that Haryana was a fit case for the invocation of Article 356 of the Constitution and added that the government in the state was given the long rope on political ground. The INLD’s intensified offensive against the HVP-BJP government comes following the Chief Minister Mr Bansi Lal’s acceptance that law and order situation had deteriorated in the state. Mr Bansi Lal, who was here last week, conceded that crime had increased and warned the miscreants. However, the INLD gave a twist to Mr Bansi Lal’s stand against the government. Mr Chautala singled out reported statement of Mr Bansi Lal dissuading people from using cars to avoid being targets of criminals. “Bansi Lal could also ask the people to leave Haryana as it had become unsafe”, Mr Chautala said. The INLD leader justified his party’s withdrawal of support to the Atal Behari Vajpayee government saying that it had become a photocopy of the Congress governments to the detriment of the farmers and the poor. According to him, the March 6 rally, will focus on the “anti-farmer” and “anti-poor” policies of the Centre. Responding to a specific question, Mr Chautala said that INLD was keeping its options open. However, he also said that INLD would make efforts to strengthen its base so that it would not have to seek support from others. Sources in the INLD said
that the leadership had directed the party leaders to fan
out in areas of their influence to convince people of the
justification of withdrawal of support to the Vajpayee
government. |
Shorter route to remain open for NEW DELHI, March 1 (PTI) — The pilgrims to holy cave shrine at Amarnath during June and August this year could have the option of travelling either through the traditional Pahalgam route or take the shorter Baltal route. In an affidavit before the Supreme Court, the Jammu and Kashmir Government undertook that “it shall endeavour to keep Baltal route open during the 40 days period of the yatra as far as practicable and weather and other physical conditions permitting.” The Delhi High Court had directed the state government “to keep open the Baltal route on a permanent basis similar to the Vaishno Devi route.” On the basis of the
affidavit, a three-judge Bench of the apex court headed
by Chief Justice A.S. Anand last week said the High Court
order stood modified as per the undertaking given by the
state government. |
IAF exercise to use 17,000 tonnes of TNT NEW DELHI, March 1 (PTI) — As many as 80 frontline combat aircraft will display the awesome fire power of Indian Air Force on March 7 in Rajasthan’s Pokhran desert with air-to-air and surface-to-air missile firing being demonstrated for the first time, a senior IAF officer said today. Over 17,000 tonnes of trinitrotoluene (TNT), a high explosive, in the form of heavy bombs, rockets and other munitions, would be used during the exercise named “Vayushakti-99” which is expected to be witnessed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Defence Minister George Fernandes and top service officials. Russian-made MI-35 attack helicopters will, also for the first time, demonstrate their versatility along with MI-8 choppers against “enemy surface forces” with guided missiles, rockets and guns. Air Vice-Marshal S.K. Malik, Additional Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations), told reporters here that heat seeking flares would be dropped to allow jets to target their air-to-air missiles. Supersonic flying by two MIG-29 jets will be an added attraction of the show besides attacks by laser-guided beyond visual range weapons, cluster bombs, which is an area weapon, ‘Shtrum’ missiles, 500 kg napalm bombs and rockets. There will be mock aerial combat involving air superiority fighters like SU-30 and Mirage-2000 and joint operations of IAF with surface forces by recreating the range into a tactical battle area, armoured personnel carriers, vehicles and troops will be air dropped for the operation. The role of IAF in mercy
missions in severely adverse weather conditions for
relief and rescue, like the operations during Gujarat
cyclone and Malpa landslide, will form part of the
demonstration. |
Signal success of Indian satellite BHOPAL, March 1 (UNI) — In a signal but unpublicised achievement, India’s reconnaissance satellite flew over Baghdad in the aftermath of operation Desert Fox and took pictures of Iraq’s badly damaged military intelligence headquarters. These photographs were released by Space Imaging, a commercial satellite imaging firm based in Thornton, Colorado, which has marketing rights for the Indian satellite photographs, according to information on the Internet. Washington Post’s
Internet edition reported that the Indian satellite
imagery had five metre resolution by which objects of the
size of a van could be distinguished. Although the USA
also released detailed photographs of the incident, the
report said, the existence of Indian imagery of Baghdad
showed how competition was mounting in space. |
Yamuna channelling opposed NEW DELHI, March 1 — The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has come out in support of the Haryana Government in opposing the proposed channelling of the Yamuna river in the Capital. The project, conceptualised by the Delhi Development Authority, plans to utilise the Yamuna river front to ease congestion of land in Delhi. The project involves confining the 3 to 5 km river into a 700-metre channel. As per the plan, the reclaimed land would be used for various recreational and urban purposes, including setting up of the Delhi Assembly complex, government secretariat and offices, the stock exchange and other public facilities. The NCRPB has stated that the Yamuna bed development plan was violative of the NCR regional Plan 2001 which had earmarked the river bed as rural use land and a green belt, which could not be used for urban purposes. The Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr Ram S Verma, in a letter to the Delhi Government had expressed apprehensions that large-scale flooding would take place in Haryana if the project is implemented. The NCRPB letter to the Urban Development Ministry objecting to the project, sources said, stated that the utilisation of a large area of reclaimed land for various urban purposes would involve massive financial investment and generation of about 12 lakh jobs in the organised sector and 20 lakh jobs in the unorganised sector. This could mean an addition of about 1.20 crore more people to the existing 1.10 crore population of Delhi which would have far reaching ecological and environmental consequences completely negating the objectives of the NCR plan to disperse the population and activities away from Delhi, the letter said. At this juncture, the
letter said no major investment should be made in Delhi
other than meeting the inadequate infrastructure and
community facilities. Or else, it would lead to increase
in economic activities and migration from surrounding
areas. |
Panel visits Staines’ widow BARIPADA, March 1 (PTI) — The Wadhwa Commission inquiring into the killing of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two sons has met Staines’ widow and visited Mayurbhanj Leprosy Home to collect facts of the case. The Secretary of the
commission, Mr D.G.R. Patnaik and three Supreme Court
lawyers visited the Baptist Church here and held
discussions with Ms Glades Staines yesterday. |
Clarification on IT surcharge NEW DELHI, March 1 (PTI) — The government today clarified that the 10 per cent surcharge on income tax announced in the Budget is not payable by individuals and others whose total income does not exceed Rs 60,000 a year. The government also made it clear that only US-64 scheme of the Unit Trust of India and open-ended equity funds were exempted from the levy of 10 per cent tax for a three-year period starting April 1, this year, and it did not apply to other close-ended UTI schemes and mutual funds. Reports that the 10 per
cent surcharge will also be applicable to all those whose
income falls below Rs 60,000 are "totally wrong and
misconceived", a Finance Ministry release said
adding that some doubts had been raised about the
exemption in respect of dividend income of UTI and mutual
funds. |
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| New therapy to combat
leukaemia NEW DELHI: A combination of chemotherapy and a modulator (compounds to influence cancerous cell’s activity) might be more effective in treating a particular form of blood cancer which shows resistance against conventional treatment, a French scientist has said. In case of Acute Myeloboastic Leukaemia (AML), the commonest form of blood cancer, drugs are pumped out of the diseased cells because of some wrong genetic signals, making the therapy ineffective. The modulator molecule “PSC833” inhibits the functioning of the genetic pump to prevent the efflux, Jean Pierre Marie from the Hopitaux De Paris who has come to participate in an Indo-French symposium on drug resistant diseases said. — PTI Naxalites kill 2 CPI workers Four kids burnt
alive Thane bifurcation
from May 1 Eye surgery to be
telecast 72.56 m made
literate Jawan shot dead HC extends stay in
Romesh case |
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