Thursday, November 18, 1999
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41 more join UP ministry LUCKNOW, Nov 17 — Fortyone more ministers were today induced into the five-day old UP Council of Ministers taking the total strength of the Ram Prakash Gupta ministry to 91. Minister’s
resignation forwarded to Governor |
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Sponsors
for DSGMC’s Orissa relief scheme |
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No serious damage to Paradip industries PARADIP, Nov 17 — Howling winds which raced through the industrial township of Paradip on the night of October 29 have thankfully spared the core infrastructure of almost all the industrial units here. Another cyclone predicted Diesel
prices may go up again Train
driver suspended India,
France to sign SOI Hostile
witness’ evidence can be relied upon: SC INSAT-3B
to be launched in Feb Trade
unions plan nation-wide stir Controversy
over Bal Shree awards Railways
launches “Rites Journal” |
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41 more join UP ministry LUCKNOW, Nov 17 (UNI) — Fortyone more ministers were today induced into the five-day old UP Council of Ministers taking the total strength of the Ram Prakash Gupta ministry to 91. The new ministers including 14 Cabinet Ministers and 27 Ministers of State were administered the oath of the office and secrecy in a ceremony at Raj Bhavan this morning. After the induction of the new ministers today the number of Cabinet ministers in the state has risen to 36 and ministers of state to 54. All ministers inducted today belongs to the BJP. Of these Mr Dhanraj Yadav, who was minister of state in the Kalyan Singh Ministry, has been elevated to Cabinet rank while Ms Sheema Rizvi and Ram Babu Harit, who were sworn in as ministers of state are the only new faces in the Council of Ministers. The Ram Prakash Gupta Ministry has two members more than that of his predecessor Kalyan Singh, which had 89 members. The 14 Cabinet ministers who were administered the oath by Uttar Pradesh Governor Suraj Bhan today are — Dr Nepal Singh, Surya Pratap Shahi, Ram Kumar Verma, Babu Ram, Prem Lata Katiyar, Prabha Dwivedi, Radhey Shyam Gupta, Hukum Singh, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Virender Singh Sirohi, Ramesh Chandra Pokhariyal, Shivkant Ojha, Phagu Chauhan and Dhanraj Yadav. The 27 ministers of state inducted today are Mahendra Nath Pandey, Dharampal Singh, Jaipal Singh, Baleshwar Tyagi, Ram Prasad Kamal, Lalloo Singh Chauhan, Suresh Kumar Khanna, Ram Babu Harit, Satish Mahana, Mangal Singh Saini, Dal Bahadur Kori, Rangnath Misra, Rakesh Dhar Tripathi, Dr Arvind Kumar Jain, Chandra Kishore, Ram Chandra Valmiki, Gulab Devi, Bahoran Lal Maurya, Hari Narayan Rajbhar, Shiv Shankar Singh, Sriram Sonkar, Matwar Singh Kandari, Banshidhar Bhagat, Narayan Ram Das, Ram Lakhan Pasi, Ashok Yadav and Sheema Rizvi. With the expansion of the BJP-led UP Government number of the total BJP ministers has gone up to 49 including Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta while a total of 42 ministers are in the ministry from among the allies. The allies represented in the ministry include the Uttar Pradesh Loktantrik Congress, the Jantantrik Bahujan Samaj Party, the Janata Dal Rajaram, the Samata Party besides Independents. Chief Minister Ram
Prakash Gupta, former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, State
BJP chief Rajnath Singh and senior ministers and office
bearers of the BJP and ally parties were present at the
swearing-in-ceremony. |
Minister’s resignation forwarded to Governor PATNA, Nov 17 (PTI, UNI) — In an obvious move to avoid a confrontation with Raj Bhavan, Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi today forwarded the resignation of "under age" minister Rakesh Kumar, alias Samrat Choudhury, to Governor Suraj Bhan, who had sacked him yesterday. The Chief Minister said she had secured the resignation from Mr Rakesh Kumar and sent it to the Governor for acceptance "in compliance with the latter’s findings on the dispute over the (minister’s) age". She said she had also requested the Governor to make available the "contradictory and disputed" documents about the minister being "underage" so that the state government could take "appropriate action in the light of the latter’s directive". The Governor had sacked Mr Rakesh Kumar from the Rabri Devi ministry yesterday for allegedly being under age and ordered the institution of a case of forgery, misrepresentation, false declaration and fraud against him. The Governor, in his communiqué, said while the horoscope of the minister showed his age as 26, his school leaving certificate made it 31 and Mr Kumar, in his own affidavit in a murder case, had claimed in 1995 that he was a minor. Besides, the age of his elder brother, who was an engineering student, was only 22 years. Meanwhile, Union Surface Transport Minister Nitish Kumar said the dismissal of the minister was an example of the prevailing "jungle raj" in the state. Talking to reporters at Patna Airport, Mr Kumar blamed Chief Minister Rabri Devi for the "false representation" which amounted to fraud. Commenting on his party’s merger with the Janata Dal (United), the Samata Party leader said the decision would be taken at the state party level meeting here on November 20. Defence Minister George Fernandes, meanwhile expressed the hope that there would be no confrontation between the Rabri Devi government and Governor Suraj Bhan over the issue of the sacking of an under age minister to hold a constitutional post. "It was a clear case of criminal offence on the part of the sacked minister Rakesh Kumar for giving false documents of birth proofs and cheating the government and the legislature as well," Mr Fernandes told news-persons at Patna Airport. He said many people were
involved in the case, including the institutions who had
issued the fake certificates, and warned that "no
one should be spared". |
Sponsors for DSGMC’s Orissa
relief scheme NEW DELHI, Nov 17 — About 100 persons have come forward to be part of the Orissa relief scheme mooted by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). The DSGMC scheme envisages a year-long financial assistance of Rs 1,000 per month to about 5,000 families affected by the supercyclone. Among those who have come forward to sponsor the family include a Delhi-based builder, Mr Sandagar Shah Gupta, who has expressed his willingness to sponsor 25 families and the Election Commissioner, Mr J.M. Lyngdoh, who will sponsor two families. "The donors will directly deposit sponsorship amount (full or monthly) in the account of the victims. The amount will be disbursed on a monthly basis by a bank," scheme coordinator, H.S. Phoolka, said. He said a four-member team of the DSGMC was leaving the Capital on Friday to identify the victims in Kakatpur and Astaranga tehsils in Puri district, one of the worst affected by the cyclone. "Puri district has a special significance for the Sikhs as Guru Nanak had visited the place," he said. Elaborating on the scheme, he said: "The sponsor will be assigned a family and the address of the family will be intimated to members. The money will be sent to the victim’s account in a bank or post office. After sending the amount, the sponsor will be requested to deposit the receipt in the office of the DSGMC for record to ensure that the money has been sent." He said those persons who wish to seek income tax exemption could donate the money to the DSGMC and the amount would be forwarded to the victims. Mr Phoolka said:
"This method of helping the victims of natural
calamity had not been undertaken by the DSGMC under its
guidance earlier. This will not only add human touch to
the relief effort, but also ensure that the needy get the
amount without middlemen." |
No serious damage to
Paradip industries PARADIP, Nov 17 — Howling winds which raced through the industrial township of Paradip on the night of October 29 have thankfully spared the core infrastructure of almost all the industrial units here. The town presents a scene of calm and near normalcy and one could see that almost all major units, including Paradip Phosphates Limited and the Paradip Port Trust have resumed almost normal operations. There have been reported cases of heavy losses suffered by several units but there are other reasons for it. An official of an insurance company disclosed that several ‘‘unscrupulous’’ industrial houses were trying to cash in on the supercyclone and were reporting huge losses with an eye on insurance claims. Officials at the Paradip Port Trust were more forthcoming with their views, perhaps because of the fact that they belong to a government organisation. ‘‘It is true that the entire township was under five feet of water but it was not deep enough to hit the industries’’, they said. Initial media reports based on aerial surveys had reported that entire Paradip had been swept away and several hundreds of thousands of people were feared killed. For instance an initial report in a widely circulated daily here said: ‘‘Major infrastructural and industrial installations have been reduced to cinders. The impact of the severe cyclone is of such magnitude that the scars of destruction would be borne for at least a decade, or more’’. ‘‘Thankfully it is not so’’ says a top executive of the Paradip Port Trust. With all communication links snapped and roads to the town inundated, most of the initial reports were based on aerial surveys and hearsay, he claims. According to the Chairman of the Paradip Port Trust, Mr S.K. Mohapatra, the port had taken adequate preventive measures prior to the cyclone to save the core infrastructure like the channel, harbour, turning circle, berth and equipment from obstruction and damage. All 12 ships, except one, had been sent away to safer places in high seas and port had been cleared of all objects which could sink, obstruct or collide with the berths. All steps as per the Cyclone Contingency Plan such as covering and securing of cranes and equipment were taken prior to the cyclone. He, however, maintained that at the last moment, before the cyclone hit the town, more than 100 fishing trawlers had entered the port in distress. About 50 of these trawlers sunk in the harbour during the cyclone. These, however, were near the Deep Sea Trawler Berth and away from the main operational area of the port. Salvage operation has started to remove the trawlers mostly belonging to Andhra. While the core infrastructure of the port had escaped damage, there has been extensive damage to power transmission system, conveyor system, buildings, roads and godowns. A post- cyclone survey has estimated the total loss to the port at around Rs 80 crore, besides loss of around Rs 20 crore to contractors of Mechanised Coal Handling Project. These losses notwithstanding, the port resumed operations within a week of the occurrence of the cyclone. The survey and salvage vessel of Indian Navy — INS Nirupak after a thorough survey declared the port fit for operation on November 4. Port operations were resumed from the next day with the berthing of M.V. Xin Xing and M.V. Anda. Mr Mohapatro said the port had traced and removed 42 bodies from the port town proper and most of them were from outside areas. None of the workers, employees or their relation were reported dead. He said the port authorities had warned and provided buses for shifting of people in slum areas most of whom had shifted to identified shelters such as schools, mandaps and public buildings where they were still living. On the loss of revenue suffered by the Port Trust, officials said it was too early to guess. The port earns Rs 60 lakh in revenue every day and it was possible that some of the cargo which had returned would turn up a few days later. The main business of the Paradip Port Trust comes from the import of coking coal and petroleum products for companies located in the eastern part of the country. Exports include thermal coal and iron ore. The total traffic per year is around 13 million tonne. A visit to Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited Company also revealed that there was not much destruction to the plant facilities. A few asbestos sheets had blown away and some partially constructed structures had fallen down. Mr B.N. Gupta, a General Manager in the plant, said the factory was to be commissioned by this month end but now it could take some more months. Though the basic
structure was intact, the plant had suffered due to
dissipation port handling facilities. The plant on
completion would produce 1.92 million tonnes of
fertiliser, including DAP and NPK. |
Another cyclone predicted CALCUTTA, Nov 17 (PTI) — The possibility of another cyclone hitting the east coast by mid-December cannot be ruled out, according to a senior meteorologist. A maximum of five cyclones can hit Indian coastline in a year with the eastern coastline generally bearing the brunt of such storms because of its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, Deputy Director of the Alipore Meteorological Office Mihir Guha told PTI here today. With two cyclones already lashing the eastern coast in October, possibility of more cannot be ruled out in November, the two months (October-November) when such cyclonic storms occur. However, the met office here did not have any immediate information of a severe cyclonic storm approaching coastal areas of eastern states of West Bengal and Orissa, Mr Guha said. In some years, like 1997, there would be no cyclone at all in the country. On an average the country would be hit by three cyclones in a single year (two from the Bay of Bengal and one from the Arabian Sea), he said quoting from met report of last 108 years. So the mere fact that Orissa was tormented by two cyclones in quick succession did not denote a change in the weather pattern at all, he said. “It is part of the normal behaviour of the cyclones at this time of the year.” However, the October 29 supercyclone itself was something unprecedented in the weather record of the century, he said. The storm had assumed super cyclone form with gale wind speed going beyond 120 knots at around 11 a.m. after hitting Paradip, Mr Guha said, adding that this very fact had nothing to do with any change in weather pattern which cannot happen overnight. Of the various forms of cyclones, the cyclonic storm and severe cyclonic storm are known factors during this period with the very severe cyclonic storm also hitting at times. But super cyclone — a very severe cyclonic storm with a core of hurricane width - is a new feature in met history, he said. The storm measured 6.5 on Beaufort scale — three notches higher than the cyclonic storm that devastated Ganjam district of Orissa just a few days back. However, any prediction
of another super cyclone or very severe cyclonic storm
lashing the coastline is preposterous and lacks basis, he
said. In the very long-term analysis of the weather in
the ‘north of latitude of India’ (the northern
part of the country), there have been no changes in
weather pattern, the Deputy Director said. |
Diesel prices may go up again NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (PTI) — The government will review diesel prices by the month-end in view of the increase in global prices, which would more than double India’s oil import bill to Rs 54,000 crore, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said today. "International prices are continuing to rise. We will review the situation to decide on diesel prices by the end of the month," Mr Naik said at the Economic Editors Conference here. Replying to a wide range of questions, Mr Naik said any decision on hiking the diesel prices as per import parity would be taken only after the review, but pointed out that diesel prices internationally were continuing to rise even this month. Mr Naik said that he would also take a decision on rolling back subsidies on kerosene and LPG (cooking gas) in the remaining four months of the current fiscal but assured that he would try to complete the phased programme of reforms by the year 2002. He, however, parried
questions on increasing prices of kerosene and LPG as
prescribed by the phased dismantling of administered
pricing mechanism (APM), which suggested bringing down
the subsidy on the two products to the level of 20 per
cent and 15 per cent of the import parity price by the
year 2000-01, saying he would take a decision on theme. |
Train driver suspended NEW DELHI, Nov 17 — Northern Railway today announced the suspension of the driver of the diesel multiple unit (DMU) whose rake moved on without a driver in Ludhiana on November 15. After a preliminary enquiry, Northern Railway said due to a technical defect in the rear coach of the empty DMU rake before its placement on the platform, the driver left his cabin in order to examine it. On releasing the break binding manually, the DMU started moving in the forward direction on its own. "The attempt to release the brake binding of the DMU by the driver without taking all necessary precautions which resulted in the DMU moving by itself for about 150 metres has been viewed very seriously by the administration," the release said. The Railways also denied reports of the possibility of the DMU crossing the path of the Jhelum Express or that the empty rake travelled for over 2 km. They said due to the system operation in vogue, it was not possible for any train in the yard to enter the main line obstructing the path of running trains. It was also clarified that this case too was no exception. "Striking the
deadend was an inbuilt check by design and not due to any
last ditch efforts of any railway staff/cabinman as
reported in some papers. In any case, there was no
possibility of any collision of the DMU with the Jhelum
Express," the release said. |
India, France to sign SOI NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (UNI) — Relations between India and France will scale a new high when they sign a Statement of Intent(SOI) this week to launch the first ever dedicated joint space mission to study the tropical weather and climate with far reaching significance. The space mission, christened Megha-Tropiques facilitates the study of convective systems that influence the tropical weather and climate. It is significant in that the tropical region covering several continents including India and Africa is the domain of monsoons, squall lines and tropical cyclones. French Science Minister Prof Allegre and his Indian counterpart would sign the SOI on Sunday in Bangalore in presence of Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Dr K. Kasturirangan, heralding yet another milestone in scientific cooperation between the two countries. Disclosing this to UNI, Dr Serge Plattard, leader of the 12-member high-level French delegation participating in the ongoing six-day UN-Escap’s second ministerial conference on space applications here, said this joint space mission was the first of its kind between the two countries as the mini-satellite with 500 kg payload was totally dedicated to the weather monitoring benefiting both the countries. Dr Plattard, who is also Director of International Relations, Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), counterpart of the ISRO in France, said the proposed satellite would be launched in mid-2005 from Sriharikota Rocket Launching Centre (SHAR) in Andhra Pradesh for which joint preparations would begin next week in five phases. The study of convective systems is of vital importance as the waste cycle is particularly intense in the inter-tropical regions which receive over 60 per cent of global precipitation. Solar heating of the earth also occurs mostly in the tropics much of which is covered by oceans. The French space chief said if the mission becomes a success, it could lead to development of a family of advanced version of such satellites on a large scale on tropical and other studies. India has till now no such dedicated tropical weather monitoring satellite of its own except the ocean monitoring satellite Oceansat launched recently. France would assist India in upgrading the launch pad at SHAR centre to facilitate the launch of the satellite using cryogenic engine fitted to the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV), he said. Hitherto, the relations between India and France were confined to commercial use of Aerianespace facility for launching of Indian satellites from French Guyana.ISRO had contracted for six such launchers for its INSAT series of satellites and one is slated for launch in April 2000. He regretted France could not assist India in launch vehicle technology transfer as India was not a signatory to the Missile Technology Control Regime(MTCR). The countries which did not sign the MTCR pact include India, China, Pakistan and others in the continent. The megha-tropiques mission, Dr Plattard said, will provide simultaneous measurements of several elements of the atmospheric water cycle such as water vapour,clouds, condensed water in clouds, precipitation and evaporation. Besides, it facilitates
the scaling of corresponding radiative budget at the top
of the atmosphere and ensure high temporal sampling in
order to characterise the life cycle of the convective
systems and to obtain significant statistics, Dr Plattard
said. |
Hostile witness’ evidence can be relied upon: SC NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (PTI) — In a significant ruling having bearing on cases involving the rich and influential, the Supreme Court has held that evidence of hostile witness can be relied upon to the extent to which it supports the prosecution case. Upholding the conviction of a person in a murder case, a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice G.B. Pattanaik and Mr Justice M.B. Shah said “evidence of hostile witness cannot be treated as washed off the record.” “It remains admissible in the trial and there is no legal bar to base his conviction upon his (the hostile witness’) testimony if corroborated by other reliable evidence,” the court observed. Prosecution case was Koli Lakhmanbhai Chanabhai of Mumbai had killed Naran Puna at Una in Junagarh district of Gujarat by inflicting knife blows to teach him a lesson for having illicit relations with one of his many wives. The trial court
recording the evidence of prosecution witnesses and on
apprisal and assessment thereof came to the conclusion
that prosecution case was not established beyond doubt
and acquitted the accused. However, the Gujarat High
Court convicted Chanabhai of murder charges. |
INSAT-3B to be launched in Feb NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (PTI) — The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will use advanced Ariane-5 vehicle to launch INSAT-3B, the first satellite of the INSAT-3 series, next February, according to an official of the French company, Arianespace, the maker of the launch vehicle. The launching of INSAT-3B would be only the second commercial experience for Ariane-5, Mr Didier Aubin, Director of sales and marketing at Arianespace told reporters here today. INSAT-3B will be used for telecommunication. Another small satellite
called Asiastar, developed by a Washington-based company
for digital radio broadcasting, will accompany INSAT-3B
in the flight. |
Trade unions plan nationwide stir JAIPUR, Nov 17 (PTI) — The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) along with four leading unions has opposed the Vajpayee government’s second generation reforms, specially opening up of banking and insurance sectors, and plans a nationwide protest, a senior trade union leader has said. There has been systematic efforts to rob the labour force of their justified rights and promote big industrial houses and multinationals which should be fought tooth and nail, a resolution adopted at the two-day meeting of the CITU’s national executives which concluded here yesterday stated. The resolution has maintained serious reservation on issue of the insurance regulation Bill, the move to privatise public sector banks and other undertakings. CITU General Secretary M.K. Pandhe told reporters that his organisation would join hands with four other labour unions — the Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, the Indian National Trade Union Congress, the Hind Mazdoor Panchayat and the All India Trade Union Congress to strengthen bargaining power of labour force in the country and fight for their cause. The CITU would observe nationwide protest day on November 29 against anti-people policies of the government, Mr Pandhe added.
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Controversy over Bal Shree awards NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (UNI) — The selection process of Bal Shree awards for children has become a matter of controversy with the vice-chairperson of National Bal Bhavan alleging large-scale bungling. In a letter to President
K.R. Narayanan, Bal Bhavan vice-chairperson Swaraj Lamba
alleged that the awardees were “pre-determined”
much before the selection process and she was
“consciously” kept out of the process. The
authorities, she said, even refused to show her the
booklet giving the brief summary of the awardees,
confirming her apprehension of bungling in the selection
process. “It is shameful that the First Lady’s
name is being used to accord sanctity to the entire
process of doubtful selection”, she said. The Bal
Shree awards are given to children for encouraging
creative talents of children. |
Railways launches “Rites
Journal” NEW DELHI, Nov 17 — Rites, a Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, has launched a non-priced biannual publication, “Rites Journal”, devoted to research, review and retrospective on consultancy. As the theme of the journal is the art and craft of consultancy, it is intended to become a reservoir of concepts and experience for the benefit of practitioners of technical consultancy. The journal will bring
together thinkers, experts, academics, consultants and
executives to shed light on different manifestations of
consultancy. |
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| Slight intensity quake in
Koyna NEW DELHI: An earthquake of slight intensity was recorded in the Koyna region of Maharashtra on Wednesday. Met Department sources said here. The quake, measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre at latitude 17.3 degrees north and longitude 73.7 degrees east, occurred at 4.23 a.m., the sources said. — PTI CPM to support SDF in
Sikkim Walkout in AP
Assembly Dutch PM to
inaugurate film festival Probe into
massacre ordered Teachers call
off stir Naxal lynched to
death 11 sentenced to
death |
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