Wednesday, September 8, 1999
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N A T I O N |
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Vote against
'opportunism' Post-poll clashes rife in
Cuddalore dist |
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Sonia to file papers from Amethi NEW DELHI, Sept 7 — Congress President Sonia Gandhi will file her nomination papers on Friday from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, the second seat she will be contesting in her maiden bid to enter the Lower House.
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Telecom bail-out package
cost nation 70,000 cr Sonia assails BJP for personal
attacks 9 hurt in clash with police Jaya’s candidate creates
flutter Slogans failed to enthuse voters BJP denies role in wheat imports Doctors to observe ‘black
day’ 2 Nigerian nationals with heroin
held |
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Atal's address on DD NEW DELHI, Sept 7 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today appealed to the electorate to vote against "irresponsibility and opportunism" and make the "destabilisers" pay the price for imposing costly elections on the country. "Teach our opponents how to sit in the Opposition for five years" the Prime Minister said in his election broadcast on Doordarshan tonight. Appealing to the electorate to cast their vote, which was both their right and duty, Mr Vajpayee said the parliamentary elections ought to take place every five years and a developing country like India could not afford to have a general election every year. He charged the opponents of the BJP-led Government with coming together to break the government and pointed out that they did not remain together to make an alternative government. "Their irresponsible action has once again imposed an untimely and costly election on you", he added. Mr Vajpayee also made a solemn promise for the next five year term — "a promise that flows from my vision of India’s future and also your vision of India’s future". Saying that national unity without a firm commitment to secularism was unthinkable, the Prime Minister added that contrary to the propaganda of his government’s adversaries, the past 17 months had been remarkably free from communal tension. "My message to our sisters and brothers belonging to minority communities is: your welfare and the protection of all your legitimate interests is our responsibility". He said "Ekta, rashtra prem and swabhiman (unity, national pride, and self-respect)" were the people’s greatest source of strength and armed with this strength, the country could overcome any challenge. This had been proved by the country’s victory in Kargil and earlier also, at Pokhran, he added. Mr Vajpayee said when some countries imposed economic sanctions against India after Pokhran, the country stood firm, as befits a "swabhimani Bharat". He said the country’s firmness had paid and sanctions had failed. He attributed the credit for India’s resounding victory in Kargil and India’s success against sanctions to the brave jawans and martyrs and the talented and hard-working farmers, workers, scientists and engineers, respectively. The Prime Minister said a new India was born after Kargil and the "new energy I see in our young men and women makes me supremely confident that India will achieve vijay on every front, and against all social and economic ills that still confront our great nation". He said with the immense resources at its command, India would be able to free the historical legacy of hunger and want, of unemployment and illiteracy. "We can. We must. And, we will", he added. He said the need of the hour was a clean, responsible responsive and result oriented government and sought a mandate to complete all incomplete tasks and take up more ambitious programmes. The Prime Minister said his government would initiate resolute action to end the long neglect of the poor, the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward classes. "Protection of the dignity of our sisters and mothers, and the educational, economic, and political empowerment of all women, will be one of our highest priorities", he added. He appealed to the
electorate to vote for the BJP and allies in the National
Democratic Alliance and sought a clear and decisive
majority. "If our opponents could topple our
Government with one vote, your one vote will bring it
back", he added. |
Post-poll clashes rife in Cuddalore dist CHENNAI, Sept 7 (PTI) — Post-election clashes continued in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore district forcing the police to fire in the air for the second day today despite the state government warning that the National Security Act and the Goondas Act would be invoked to arrest those indulging to violence. The police fired several shots in the air at two places to disperse stone throwing Dalit crowd demanding protection from Hindus whom they alleged to have indulged in bogus voting on September 5 during the Lok Sabha elections, the police said. There was no injury either in the police firing or during the clashes, they added. Hundreds of Dalits, who squatted on the road near Kumarakudi seeking protection from attacks by the Hindus, started throwing stones at the police when they were asked to disperse following which police resorted to lathi charge and later fired six rounds in the air. In another incident near Tirthampalayam, where Dalits tried to disrupt traffic, the police fired in the air to disperse the agitators which threw stones on them. Heavy police pickets have been posted in the area to prevent further incidents, the police said. Yesterday, the police fired five rounds in the air at Ammapuram village in the district to disperse two groups which indulged in the clashes during which over 150 huts were set ablaze and two Transport Corporation buses torched. Over 250 persons had
been taken into custody in connection with the
yesterday's clashes. |
DGP issue BHUBANESWAR, Sept 7 (PTI) — The Orissa Government has decided to approach the Election Commission again to approve its proposal to shift the state's Director-General of Police (DGP), Mr Dilip Kumar Mahapatra, after its first plea was turned down by the commission on Sunday. According to official sources, Chief Secretary Sahadev Sahoo has been directed to proceed to Delhi to make a second request to the commission justifying the state government's decision to transfer and revert Mr Mahapatra in the wake of his reported controversial remarks on the killing of a Christian priest. Mr Mahapatra has said that he has been quoted "out of context". The official reason cited to revert Mr Mahapatra as the Additional Director-General of Police was the Centre's refusal to accept the government's proposal to create a third post of DGP. While rejecting its plea, the commission had advised the state government to move the Centre again for the creation of a third post of DGP on a temporary basis. The sources said a notification had already been issued on Saturday reverting Mr Mahapatra though the same was yet to be communicated to him. Meanwhile, Home Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy who is under attack by priests and pastors for his reported statement on Catholic priests, also said that he had been inadvertently misquoted in a Calcutta-based daily. The newspaper had quoted the Home Secretary as having said that Catholic priests were trying to separate families after converting tribals and others which was leading to social tension. Moreover, despite several warnings by the police, these priests were not making reports about their movements. "It won't be possible to protect them from attacks in remote villages," Mr Tripathy was reported to have said. However, the Home Secretary, in a clarification issued today, asserted he had only said that when conversion was accompanied by isolation and separation from community life and tribal culture, it was a cause of rift and dissension. "I did not say that this was the case with the Roman Catholic Mission of Balasore or with (slain) Father Aruldoss," Mr Tripathy said. The Home Secretary also asserted that he had never stated that the government was not capable of giving protection to the missionaries and churches in the rural areas. He said his contention
was that the government would not be able to provide
protection to those missionaries who would not pay heed
to requests and instructions given by the district
magistrates and the SPs to intimate to the police
stations regarding their visits to interior and
inaccessible areas. |
Sonia to file papers from Amethi NEW DELHI, Sept 7 (PTI) — Congress President Sonia Gandhi will file her nomination papers on Friday from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, the second seat she will be contesting in her maiden bid to enter the Lower House. This was announced by the party spokesman, Mr Kapil Sibal, at the daily briefing today. The announcement about Mrs Gandhi contesting from Amethi was made a day after she filed her nomination from the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, which was shrouded in secrecy. Amethi is considered a pocket borough of the Gandhi family which had earlier returned Sanjay Gandhi and later Rajiv Gandhi but had slipped out of the Congress’ hand in the 1998 elections. Mrs Gandhi’s main
opponent in Amethi will be Mr Sanjay Singh, a member of
the dissolved Lok Sabha, belonging to the BJP. |
Telecom bail-out package cost
nation NEW DELHI, Sept 7 (UNI) — The Congress said today the controversial bail-out package of the Atal Behari Vajpayee government to telecom operators would cost the exchequer a whopping Rs 70,000 crore and the party would order a high-level inquiry into the scam if voted to power. Talking to reporters Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal said the metro cellular operators were to gain Rs 40,000 crore, basic service operators Rs 20,000 crore and circle cellular operators Rs 10,000 crore under the package announced in a hurry by the BJP government just before the election schedule was announced. Mr Sibal said the biggest beneficiaries of the bail-out package were the metro cellular operators who had entered into a contract for paying licence fee. With the conversion of licence fee into revenue sharing, these operators would gain Rs 40,000 crore. Their licence which would have ended in August 2004 had been extended to August 2014. The tenure of the basic service operators had been extended to August 2017 from August 2012, Mr Sibal said adding if the bail-out package is implemented, the government would lose Rs 20,000 crore. In the case of circle cellular operators, the revenue sharing would result in a shortfall of Rs 10,000 crore, he said. The Congress
spokesperson asked Prime Minister Vajpayee to clarify as
to who has profited from this mega deal. |
Sonia assails BJP for personal attacks KOZHIKODE, Sept 7 (PTI) — In an emotional outburst, the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, today criticised the BJP for personal attacks on her and told her detractors that she could not be "frightened into silence" even if it threatened her life. The BJP was attacking her personally because their government failed on all fronts and had "nothing to offer to the people", she said addressing a large gathering of United Democratic Front workers as part of her whirlwind election campaign in Kerala. "I want to tell them from here, I am not scared of them. I have charted for myself a path of service for the people. They are not going to frighten me into silence regardless of anything they may do even if it means giving up my life for it," she declared amidst loud cheers from the massive gathering. The BJP and its
coalition partners have caused irrevocable damage to the
nation. Never before had the prices of essential
commodities gone up to this extent and never before had
minorities come so frequently under attack, she charged. |
9 hurt in clash with police BARIPADA, Sept 7 (UNI) — Nine villagers, including six women, were injured as they clashed with the police during a house-to-house search for the Catholic priest murder accused at Purunapani village in Mayurbhanj district early today. According to reports received here, seven policemen, including one constable, were also injured in the encounter as the villagers "resisted" the move of the police party to raid the houses. The incident occurred when the police tried to search the house of one Raj Kishore Mahant, supposed to be a close associate of Dara Singh, the prime accused in the killing of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two sons. Dara Singh, who has been absconding ever since the killing of Mr Staines and his two minor sons at Manoharpur in Keonjhar district on January 22, had also been named in the FIR for killing a Muslim trader at Padiabeda village in Mayurbhanj district on August 26. Official sources said so
far eight villagers had been arrested in connection with
the murder of Roman Catholic church father Arul Doss
while three people had been arrested in connection with
the murder of a Muslim trader. All the accused had been
remanded to judicial custody by the court at Karanjia
after their bail applications were rejected, the sources
said. |
Jaya’s candidate creates flutter PERIYAKULAM, Sept 7 (PTI) — With AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha fielding Mr T.T.V. Dinakaran as the AIADMK candidate for the September 11 polling here, unmindful of the FERA prosecutions he is facing, the largely rural Lok Sabha constituency of Periyakulam in South Tamil Nadu has attracted media attention, VIP status and controversy in good measure. Mr Dinakaran, who served a jail term under COFEPOSA in 1996-97, has emerged from the shadows of Ms Jayalalitha’s household, to engage himself overtly in her power politics once again. He attracted attention by his proximity to Ms Jayalalitha in New Delhi in April, when he accompanied her on her mission to topple the Vajpayee government. And when his candidature was announced by her it came as no surprise to those familiar with his growing importance in her scheme of things. However, he is not the hot favourite here, as he is pitted against DMK’s P. Selvendran, a popular candidate who has also had a long stint in the AIADMK as its propaganda secretary, but joined the DMK last year. He had also won the seat on the AIADMK ticket once. Giving further fodder for controversy is the fact that Mr Dinakaran, elder brother of V.N. Sudhakaran, disowned foster son of Ms Jayalalitha, is the first to enter the electoral fray from the family of Sasikala Natarajan, confidante of the AIADMK supremo for years. Though an “outsider” to Periyakulam and a debutant, Mr Dinakaran has the advantage of party loyalists swarming him. He belongs to the Thevar community, who constitute 22 per cent of the electorate in this constituency. Mr Selvendran too belongs to a dominant sub-sect of the same community. However, Mr Dinakaran makes light of suggestions that the FERA cases may affect his prospects. “All cases are filed for political revenge,” he says, adopting the official AIADMK stand on all pending cases against members of the party. Mr Selvendran, who unsuccessfully raised an objection to Mr Dinakaran’s candidature before the returning officer highlights the AIADMK nominee’s “dubious” past. Mr Dinakaran shot into notoriety in 1995 by being the first from the Sasikala family to receive summons under FERA but he made a delayed appearance before the authorities after evading the summons for months. He was arrested by the
enforcement directorate in November, 1995, after he was
found to have invested in “dipper investments”,
a British company, in violation of FERA. He was charged
with FERA violations involving Rs 65 crore. The money was
traced to Barclays Banks, London. |
Slogans failed to enthuse voters NEW DELHI, Sept 7 (UNI) — People’s growing disillusionment with the system of governance, the indifference of the middle class and the prospect of another hung Parliament were crucial factors for the lowest ever voter turnout in the Capital in the Lok Sabha elections held on Sunday. Even the media hype over Kargil and the slogan of stability failed to enthuse Delhiites, say to leading sociologists, journalists, grassroot activists and housewives. Interviewed separately, they said the failure of the political parties to deliver the goods for the common man resulted in fewer people coming out to vote, signalling a bleak future for the country’s democracy which actually should have established a transparent, responsive and accountable administration. Veteran journalist and former Statesman Editor S. Sahay, social scientist and JNU professor Anand Kumar, Dr N. Bhaskar Rao of the Centre for Media Studies, Asian Age chief of bureau Seema Mustafa, Nirmala Sharma of the Mahila Jagriti Samiti, Vimal Bhai of the National Alliance of People’s Movements, Dr A.K. Merchant and J. Raj Sehgal of the Forum for Right to Information, Ms Pushpa Pandeya of the All-India Federation of Small and Medium Newspapers and Vijay Pratap of the Lokayan were among those who subscribed to the view that the absence of people’s issues during the election campaign led to this low turnout. However, Mainstream Editor and Editors Guild of India’s General Secretary Sumit Chakravarty was of the view it was not prudent to generalise the reasons for the slim turnout of Delhi voters as there had been reasonably high percentage of voting in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Mr Sahay observed that the low turnout smacked of people’s fatigue and posed a serious question to the political class whether it was really concerned about the issues of development or just clamoured for personal gains. The veteran columnist remarked that people no more went to polling booths as they were now fed up with the false promises of politicians and instead were looking for honest men and women of proven record of social service and who had the public interest at heart. He also came down heavily on the media which he said had lost sense of proportion and a sense of fair play. Mr Anand Kumar said the media hype over non-issues and over emphasis on personalities were other factors which were alienating the people from the electoral process. He said the slogans of stability floated by the Congress and the BJP had failed to attract the middle classes. This was a pointer to the fact that people could no more be fooled by rhetoric alone. People were now asking for basic education, health care, roads, electricity, houses and jobs, he added. Ms Seema Mustafa also blamed the BJP and a section of the media for creating a hype over the Kargil issue. That the issue had failed to motivate the voters was a clear message that the elections should be fought on real issues that affected people at large. Mr Bhaskar Rao said the low percentage of voters indicated a decline in the credibility of political parties and showed that even the charisma of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and the Kargil issue had no effect on the voters. “The whole edifice of the system of governance is at stake”, he said, adding that only a viable alternative could steer the nation out of the present chaos. Mr Vimal Bhai and Ms Nirmala Sharma also shared this view. Mr Merchant, Ms Pushpa
Pandeya and Mr Sehgal said all right thinking, concerned
citizens and the representatives of the peoples groups
should sit together to suggest ways and means how people
could be motivated to come back to the polling booths to
make democracy more vibrant and participatory. |
BJP denies role in wheat
imports NEW DELHI, Sept 7 — The BJP today said the Vajpayee government had no role in importing wheat and it was the Congress-backed Gujral government that decided to import 1.5 million tonnes of wheat from Australia. The clarification by the BJP came in the wake of allegations made by the Congress that the Vajpayee government imported wheat despite warnings from the FAO, despite the advice given by economists, and despite the lack of storage space in godowns. It also claimed that the import was made at a time when there was abundance of wheat grown by Indian farmers. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also joined issue with the BJP and demanded a CBI inquiry into the sugar and wheat imports. An NCP spokesman, Mr Devendra Dwivedi, said it was not proper for political parties to stand on judgement and preferred that all scandals be thoroughly probed by an independent agency, preferably the CBI. He also said that if necessary, the newly constituted Lok Sabha may consider instituting a joint parliamentary committee probe to go into it. Reacting to the Congress charge that the Vajpayee government had gone ahead with the import despite sufficient stocks of wheat in the country, a BJP spokesman, Mr Narendra Modi, said the decision to import was finalised on February 26, 1998, three weeks before the BJP-led Government took charge. He said having contracted the import, the government was in no position to cancel it as it would have entailed huge losses to the exchequer. He said under the contract signed by the Gujral government, there was a penalty clause in the event of either party failing to honour the agreement. He pointed out that following questions on the Gujral government’s decision to import wheat, the Vajpayee government had ordered a CBI inquiry into the whole affair in August last year. The inquiry was announced in Parliament, he added. Mr Modi also reiterated that the Vajpayee government had no role in importing sugar from Pakistan and the decision to place the sweetening agent in Open General Licence (OGL) list was taken by the Narasimha Rao-led Congress government in 1994. He said since the government was not involved in importing sugar, it could not say on who can or cannot import sugar. The last order placed by a private party from India to Pakistan was in February this year. After the Kargil conflict, Pakistan has been taken off the OGL list for importing sugar. On the Congress charge that the government by implementing the new telecom policy had benefited both metro and circle cellular operators and there was a revenue loss of over Rs 60,000 crore to the exchequer, Mr Modi said “this was yet another lie fabricated by the Congress”. The BJP spokesman accused the Congress of fabricating a “lie a day” ever since elections were announced and said the Congress under Mrs Sonia Gandhi had become a “graveyard of truth”. Mr Modi also referred to
an election speech of the Congress President in Ujjain
yesterday where she had described the Prime Minister, Mr
Atal Behari Vajpayee, as a “gaddar” (traitor). |
Doctors to observe ‘black
day’ NEW DELHI, Sept 7 — Over a 100 doctors working in hospitals, dispensaries and maternity and child health centres run by the New Delhi Municipal Council will observe Wednesday as a ‘‘black day’’ to demand long overdue time-bound promotions. The President of the NDMC Doctors Association, Dr Anil Bansal said the decision to wear black badges on duty was taken at the general body meeting of the association, held recently. He pointed out that about 45 medical officers and five specialists have been awaiting time-bound promotions since 1994. Dr Bansal said as per the Tikku Committee recommendations, General Duty Medical Officers are promoted as Senior Medical Officers after four years and Chief Medical Officers after six years. Those in the specialist cadre are promoted as Specialist Grade II cadre after two years and Super Specialists after four years. He said when the New Delhi Municipal Council was constituted, it was decided to recruit and promote Group A service officers in consultation with the Union Public Service Commission as per the NDMC Act, 1994. In 1997, the
Departmental Promotion Committee of the NDMC had
recommended cases of 25 medical officers and three
specialists but no action was taken. Dr Bansal said
repeated representations to the NDMC administration had
fallen on deaf ears. |
2 Nigerian nationals with
heroin held NEW DELHI, Sept 7 — Heroin worth Rs 1.90 crore in the international market was seized from two Nigerian nationals by Customs officials at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. The Commissioner of Customs (General), Ms Vijay Zutshi, talking to newspersons said the officers of Air Customs Intelligence and Preventive Units at the IGI Airport busted the international drug racket run from Lagos when they intercepted two Nigerian drug couriers “who had swallowed capsules of heroin”. On the basis of observation of passengers on August 31, a Nigerian woman, Omalara Omaniyi Aduke (32), travelling to Lagos via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines was intercepted. During sustained interrogation, Omalara admitted that she had concealed capsules packed with heroin in her “body” and had swallowed many more. The Customs officials also nabbed her companion, Omaniyi Olatunde Joshu. While Omalara had concealed nine capsules and swallowed 63, Omaniyi had concealed nine capsules and swallowed 64. In total, 1.90 kg of
heroin valued at Rs 1.90 crore in the international
market was recovered and seized under the Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. |
IGNOU to reform exam system NEW DELHI, Sept 7 — The Controller of Examinations of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Mr D.C. Panth today announced that the examination system was being reformed and a new Centre for Development of Evaluation Technology had been established. A spokesperson for IGNOU
told TNS today that efforts were being made to ensure
development of an evaluation methodology and orientation
and training of evaluation personnel. He said that IGNOU
was also trying to develop new models to simplify the
process of monitoring evaluation of students assignments. |
Kamson to stand from Outer
Manipur NEW DELHI, Sept 7 — The Central Election Committee of the BJP today nominated Prof Meijinlung Kamson for the Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency. Professor Kamson had
recently left the Congress to join the BJP. He was a
Minister of State for Home in the Narasimha Rao
government. |
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| India decries shoe cancer
reports NEW DELHI: India has expressed surprise over reports that shoes and slippers exported to France from Asian countries, including India, contained substances that can cause skin cancer and allergy. Strongly condemning the report, the Council for Leather Exports (CLE) has said India followed European Union (EU) regulations on leather products and had banned use of all harmful substances in them. — PTI Master plan for land
utilisation Rise in demand
for organic tea Police disperses
clashing groups RJD former MP
dead Bank officers
donate blood Girl set ablaze
by youths Lawyer’s
bail plea rejected HC issues notice
over Wakf land |
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