Friday, May 7, 1999
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Bofors probe ‘led to
govt fall’ RSP high command meeting by
month-end |
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SP favours stronger third
front Mithi Ministry expanded JD chief predicts fractured
mandate Centre has to provide health
facilities: HC Four held for murder 3 robbers held |
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Bofors probe ‘led to govt fall’ CHENNAI, May 6 (PTI and UNI) — The current phase of CBI probe into the Bofors gun deal made the Congress "nervous" and it joined hands with the AIADMK to pull down the Vajpayee government, BJP General Secretary M. Venkiah Naidu claimed today. After getting wind of CBI’s move to launch prosecution during the latest round of probe into the case which commenced in March, the Congress started the chain of events with the AIADMK being motivated to withdraw support to the BJP-led coalition government, he told reporters here. The Congress and the Left parties were the "real directors" behind the drama of pulling down the Vajpayee government and AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha the main "actor", he said. Countering Ms Jayalalitha’s charge that the BJP had approached DMK even while she was in the BJP front, Mr Naidu said "till we came to the conclusion that a point of no return had been reached we never spoke to the DMK". Besides, it was she who first started talking about aligning with the Congress, he claimed. Rebutting another AIADMK charge that the BJP had adopted a "big brotherly" attitude, Mr Naidu said people were well aware that the Vajpayee government had refused to concede any demand made by Ms Jayalalitha that was not in public interest. The BJP had accorded utmost honour to all its allies, including the AIADMK, but on certain issues raised by Ms Jayalalitha it had not compromised, Mr Naidu said. Mr Naidu said there was a pattern in the toppling games of the Congress and it was related directly to the Bofors investigation. Quoting former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, Mr Naidu said the then United Front government was toppled as it was processing the Bofors documents received from the Swedish authorities. Gandhi family friend and Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochhi was among those being prosecuted by the CBI in the Bofors case. Mr Naidu said the BJP-led alliance would seek the popular mandate for the Vajpayee government on the merits of its achievements during its 13-month rule . A clear "pro-Vajpayee wave" was discernible in the country following the unprincipled toppling of the government, he claimed. The Opposition parties were unwilling to face the wrath of the people for bringing down the government and that was the reason for their plea for a delayed poll. Answering a question, Mr Naidu said Ms Jayalalitha was cut up with the BJP-led government for not dismissing the Karunanidhi government in Tamil Nadu and for not withdrawing the corruption cases filed against her. Mr Naidu maintained that the Vajpayee government was constitutionally entitled to take policy decisions and cited precedents when the president had written to outgoing Prime Ministers to exercise full powers of the government. In this context, he said
former President R. Venkataraman had written to the then
Prime Minister Chandra Sekhar in 1991 that he could
exercise full powers of his government. |
RSP high command meeting by
month-end NEW DELHI, May 6 — The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) plans to hold a meeting of its Central Committee in Calcutta towards the end of this month. RSP MP Abani Roy told TNS here on Thursday that he was leaving for Calcutta to assess the political situation. Mr Roy said he would hold talks with the party’s state and district committee members during his ten-day visit. He said that a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister and CPM leader, Jyoti Basu did not figure in his itinerary. He said poll alliances and the party’s poll strategy would be discussed at the meeting likely to be chaired by the party General Secretary, Mr K. Pankajaksjhan. Asked if the party would release a joint manifesto with the Left parties, Mr Roy said, "All these decisions will be taken at the meeting." He said in the last elections, the RSP and the Left Parties released a joint manifesto. In the 1996 Lok Sabha polls, however, the party had its manifesto. Commenting on the
transfer of the Union Home Secretary to the Health
Ministry and re-shuffle in the bureaucracy, Mr Roy said.
"The government’s decision is politically
motivated. We cannot do anything about such decisions
even if we have some objections. They are politically
empowered, in the sense, they are running the government.
We call it care-taker government but no such term is
mentioned in the Constitution. It is a convention that in
such a period, no government should take such major
decisions." |
Mid-term poll LUCKNOW, May 6 (PTI) — The Samajwadi Party (SP) yesterday said it was ready for entering into an electoral alliance with all those parties, which would fight the Lok Sabha polls on an anti-Congress and anti-BJP plank to help make third front stronger. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav told reporters here that there was enough time now to discuss and prepare for mid-term elections. His party would like to sit together with all those parties which were going to contest the elections on an anti-Congress and anti-BJP plank, he said. "We would contest elections in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Assam and Bihar and a few other states and would discuss the seat adjustment issue with other parties, including the Left", he said. Describing the Congress and the BJP as two sides of the same coin, he said, people in the country need to be made aware of "anti-farmer and pro-multinational" policies of these two parties. He evaded a question whether the foreign origin of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi should be a topic of debate in the country, but maintained his party had saved the country from going into the hands of foreign powers by preventing the Congress forming a government. He, however, referred to his party’s MP Mohan Singh’s private member Bill in the Lok Sabha in December last year which sought that a person of foreign origin should not be allowed to become President, Vice-President and Speaker. "Our main fight is against communalism and we do not consider Congress anywhere in the race at the hustings as far as mid-term elections in Uttar Pradesh are concerned", Mr Yadav said. The former Defence Minister was non-committal on the Congress’ demand that a probe should be ordered into the purchase of Russian Sukhoi fighter planes and said "all I can say is that most of the parties in the Lok Sabha, including the leader of Opposition Atal Behari Vajpayee, had congratulated the then United Front government for the deal". Mr Yadav criticised the Vajpayee government for large scale transfer of officials and said the people would give a befitting reply in the coming elections. He said there would be
no effort from his side which could cause a split in the
Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM). |
Beware of invisible information
soldiers: Kalam NEW DELHI, May 6 —Defence Minister George Fernandes today called for effective partnership between the defence management and the industry in information technology (IT). Inaugurating a two-day seminar on information technology jointly organised by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the CII, the Defence Minister said the six task forces set up to identify areas of cooperation between the Defence Management and the industry had finalised their reports and it was time that a time bound programme was drawn up to meet the requirements of the Defence Forces. He said that the initiative for an effective partnership had received a positive response from the Defence Ministry and the CII. He called for utilising the capability of the Indian industry to produce goods for the country’s defence. Referring to the recent test flight of Agni-II, he said it was a textbook demonstration of our capability in missile technology which no country could surpass. On matters of secrecy in Defence matters and whether it would be affected by the “partnership” with the industry, Mr Fernandes said, “ secrecy always does not hold good. There are some areas no doubt where secrecy is inevitable. The Indian industry is capable of partnering Defence where secrecy is not called for”. Delivering the keynote address, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, described information technology as all pervasive which had impact on all sectors of national economy. He pointed to India’s core competence in information technology despite technology denials. “It is our own asset,” he said. Dr Kalam called for formulating national and global information security policy. He emphasised the need to develop our own microprocessors, chips and operating systems, keeping in view our security concerns. Armed Forces and the industry should join hands in this task. He said that the commercially available operating systems that the Indian military often had to resort to, in the absence of indigenously developed specialist operating systems, were often vulnerable to bugs, hacking and invisible information soldiers in chips with embedded software, modems and encryption algorithms. Dr Kalam cited Agni-II as an instance of integrated information technology. The successful test firing of Agni-II was constantly monitored through a network of radars, telemetry stations and range computers. Similarly, the preparations for the test of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) had already achieved major technological breakthroughs. The LCA was scheduled to the test flown in August this year. The Chief of Air Staff,
Air Chief Marshal, A.Y. Tipnis in his address told the
gathering that the IAF was aware of the decisive role of
information technology which was cost effective as well
as was a force multiplier. He, however cautioned against
underestimating the importance of human factor. |
Mithi Ministry expanded ITANAGAR, May 6 (PTI) — The four-month old Mukut Mithi ministry in Arunachal Pradesh was today expanded with the induction of three new ministers, two of them of Cabinet rank and one minister of state. After today’s expansion, the strength of the Congress ministry has gone up to 33 — 22 cabinet rank ministers and 11 ministers of state. The oath of office and secrecy to the new entrants Mr Talo Mugli, Mr T.C. Teli (Cabinet rank) and Mr Honchun Ngundam (Minister of State) was administered by Governor Mata Prasad at Raj Bhavan here. Besides Mr Mithi, his ministers, Speaker Chowna Mein, MLAs and senior police and civil officials were present on the occasion. Mr Mithi, who formed the ministry after splitting Gegong Apang’s Arunachal Congress-led ministry on January 19, dissolved his Arunachal Congress (M) and formally merged with the Congress on April 12. The Congress now has 44
members in the 60-member Assembly. |
JD chief predicts fractured mandate BANGALORE, May 6 (PTI) — Janata Dal President Sharad Yadav today said the mid-term Lok Sabha poll would again produce a fractured mandate and indicated that his party would contest only in constituencies where it had solid support. “Nobody can prevent a fractured mandate this time too. The whole country, including the SCs and STs and backward classes, are all awakened”, Mr Yadav told reporters here. The party, he said, was of the opinion that whoever formed the next government should govern the country for at least two years. Mr Yadav, who is here to
discuss with state ruling Janata Dal leaders on the
party’s strategy for the poll, said the Dal national
executive would decide on the issue of alliance at its
two-day meeting from May 24 in Delhi. |
Centre has to provide health facilities: HC NEW DELHI, May 6 (UNI) — In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has held that the provision of health facilities to its working and retired employees was the constitutional obligation of the Central Government. Mr Justice C.M. Nayar, in his order recently, said it was also the duty of the government to bear or reimburse the expenses incurred by such employees for a specialised treatment in an approved hospital. “The government has constitutional obligations to provide health facilities to its employees/retired employees and in case an employee and requires specialised treatment in an approved hospital it is the duty of the government to bear or reimburse the expenses,’’ ruled Mr Justice Nayar. He also directed the government to reimburse Rs 93,870 to Mr Narendra Pal Singh, an engineer, who retired in 1988 and suffered heart ailment in 1996. After Mr Singh was denied reimbursement of his expenses for the heart treatment by the Joint Director of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), he moved the high court challenging the decision of the CGHS. The Joint Director on his part stated that Mr Singh was refused reimbursement as he had undergone treatment in a non-CGHS area. Mr Singh argued that by denying the right to treatment, the CGHS was violating the constitutional provision of right to life. Not convinced with the affidavit filed by the joint director and the stance taken by him, Mr Justice Nayar instead imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the Central Government reminding it that right to health was an integral part of a citizen’s right to life. Article 47 of the
Constitution stipulates that the state would take all
necessary steps to provide a citizen an environment where
his life is ensured. |
Four held for murder NEW DELHI, May 6 — The Delhi Police arrested a travel agent along with three others today on a charge of murder of a Japanese national. The suspects, Vijay Kumar, travel agent, Jai Karan, taxi driver, Ibrahim and Mohammad Ali, Kashmiris, were arrested from the office of India Travel Service in Karol Bagh in central Delhi. The Kashmiris worked with the travel agent, the police said. They reportedly murdered
the Japanese national, Suzuki Takuma, in Bhogal in South
Delhi on December 28, 1998. The body was found in two
bags in a nullah near Sector 8 in R.K. Puram in
South-West Delhi on December 29, 1998. |
3 robbers held NEW DELHI, May 6 — Three persons were arrested for allegedly robbing TSR passengers at knife-point. The accused have been identified as Mohammad Hamid, 22, Mehboob, 20 and Mansoor Alam, 20. Yesterday during a routine check near the GPO in North district, the police intercepted a TSR. However, on seeing the police the three jumped out of it and attempted to flee. Mansoor Alam was apprehended who later named his other accomplices who were subsequently arrested. The police said the trio would hire TSRs, ‘share’ the ride with other passengers and later robbed them at knife-point. The investigating
officers recovered a silver ring, watch and bag that the
three had robbed from a passenger some time back. |
Navy to auction Vikrant MUMBAI, May 6 (UNI)
— The ambitious project of converting decommissioned
aircraft-carrier Vikrant into a maritime
museum-cum-helipad has finally run aground with the
Indian Navy deciding to auction the ship which has
historical and emotional importance for Indians. |
Resolution passed to field Priyanka KANPUR, May 6 (UNI)
— The Kanpur Dehat district unit of the Mahila
Congress has urged the Uttar Pradesh party leadership to
invite Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s daughter,
Ms Priyanka Vadra Gandhi to contest the mid-term Lok
Sabha elections from the Bilhaur constituency of the
district. |
2 killed in clash SOLAPUR, May 6 (PTI)
— Two persons were killed and seven injured in a
group clash at Akolekati village in North Solapur taluka
of Maharashtra last night, the police said. |
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| 10 die of heat in Bengal CALCUTTA: Ten persons died due to heat-related causes in West Bengal so far, even as the state government on Wednesday declared 4,168 mouzas (village areas) spread over 10 districts as ‘drought-affected’. The government, however, confirmed only six deaths. Four of the deaths were reported from Bankura and two from Malda, Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta told newsmen, adding that each of the victim’s family would be paid an ex-gratia of Rs 20,000. Official sources, however, said that 10 persons had died due to heat-related causes. — PTI Vedic
education centre The largest in
Khajuraho No paan for
Benareswallahs 3 sentenced in
Chandralekha case Music losing its
soul |
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