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| Thursday, June 1, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Advani slated to visit Europe in June Girls outshine boys in plus 2
CBSE exams Comments invited
on use of sucralose Heavy rain likely in Assam Internet thief caught |
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Mamata should return to Cong:
Ray ACP suspended in corruption case Romesh Sharma’s aide chargesheeted
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Fiji to figure in Jaswant’s
visit NEW DELHI, May 31- Fiji will be the focus during the three-day visit of External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to Singapore beginning from tomorrow. Singapore is a member of the Commonwealth and New Delhi has been consulting Commonwealth countries on the evolving situation in Fiji. A senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr S.T.Devare, left for consultations with the Australia and New Zealand last night. The External Affairs Minister will call on the Singapore Prime Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong, and have discussions with his counterpart, Prof S. Jaykumar on bilateral, regional and international issues. Mr Jaswant Singh would also call on the Senior Minister, Mr Lee Kwan Yew. Mr Jaswant Singh’s visit is part of the periodic meetings that the two countries have been having at this level for the last couple of years. The Singapore Prime Minister has been to India three times since 1994. The bilateral economic relations have been growing steadily with the bilateral trade touching a figure of $ 2 billion. The balance of trade at present is in Singapore’s favour. During his stay in Singapore, the External Affairs Minister is scheduled to deliver a lecture on ‘India-ASEAN:Security Paradigm AD 2000’ at the Institute of Defence Studies. The bilateral relations
have been growing since 1994 when the then Narasimha Rao
government decided to look eastward meaning India would
strengthen its ties with ASEAN. Through Singapore’s
active assistance, India became a full dialouge ASEAN
partner in 1995. Singapore is India’s country
coordinator and Mr Jaswant Singh would discuss with his
counterpart the forthcoming meeting of the ASEAN Regional
Forum (ARF). |
Advani slated to visit Europe in
June NEW DELHI, May 31 — The Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, is slated to make his first overseas trip next month, two years after assuming charge in the North Block. Mr Advani is expected to visit Israel, France and the UK from June 14 to 24, sources in the North Block said today. The trip to Tel Aviv is considered important in the context of the country’s response to terrorism and handling of such activities. The Israeli agency Mossad is considered to be one of the finest counter-terrorist outfits in the world. The ties between the two countries have warmed up recently. The National Security Adviser, Mr Brajesh Mishra, had visited Israel soon after the Pokharan-II tests which was reciprocated by his Israeli counterpart earlier this year. It also assumes importance in the wake of statements by the Home Minister about the growth of ISI activities in India and the threat of fundamentalism being spread by the Pak agency. After a three-day stopover, the Home Minister is scheduled to visit France and hold meetings with his counterpart there. The possibility of Mr Advani making a brief visit to Lyons, which houses the General Secretariat of Interpol, is also not ruled out. It may be recalled that Mr Indrajit Gupta visited the General Secretariat at Lyons during 1997 when he was the Union Home Minister. During his visit to the
UK, Mr Advani is expected to call on his counterpart, Mr
Jack Straw. |
Girls outshine boys in plus 2 CBSE exams NEW DELHI, May 31 (PTI) — For the tenth year in succession girls fared better than boys in the Class XII examinations, results for which were declared by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) today. While the overall pass percentage of boys was 72.11 per cent, 1.1 per cent more than last year, the girls fared remarkably well with an overall pass percentage of 81.94 per cent, 2.3 per cent more than last year. Unlike last year, Ajmer
topped the regionwise list of pass percentage this year
with 87.1 per cent, closely followed by Chennai (86 per
cent) and Chandigarh (81.1 per cent). |
Comments invited on use of sucralose NEW DELHI, May 31 — The government has issued a draft notification inviting comments of the public on its proposal to allow the use of sucralose, an artificial sweetener, as a table-top sweetner and in carbonated drinks by amending the provisions in the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955. According to sources in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the PFA rules allow the use of three artificial sweeteners in carbonated drinks and as table-top sweeteners. These are saccharine, aspertame and acesulfame K. The use of aspertame and acesulfame K in fixed proportion in carbonated drinks is permitted. The proposal seeks to add sucralose to the list of permitted artificial sweeteners and allow its use in carbonated drinks and as table-top sweetener with suitable label declaration. Comments or objections
on the proposed amendment may be sent to Secretary,
Department of Health, Nirman Bhavan by June end. |
Heavy rain likely in Assam PUNE, May 31 (PTI) — Forecast valid until June 2: Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at most places in Andaman and Nicobar Islands; at many places in Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu; at a few places in Arunachal Pradesh, south coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Kerala and Lakshadweep and at isolated places over the rest of the country outside west Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh and north Madhya Maharashtra where weather will be mainly dry. Heavy rainfall warning: Heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura during the next 48 hours. Temperatures recorded in the four metropolitan cities in degrees Celsius: Calcutta Max 36 (-1) Min 26 (-1) N. Delhi Max 43 (+2) Min 25 (-3) Mumbai Max 33 (0) Min 27 (0) Chennai Max 39 (1) Min 28 (0) The trough on sea level chart from Punjab to north-east Bay now runs from north-west Rajasthan to north-west Bay across south Uttar Pradesh and Bihar plateau and thence south-eastwards to Andaman Sea. The trough on sea level chart extending up to lower levels from the south Gujarat coast to the Kerala coast now runs from the south Gujarat coast to the Maharashtra coast. The trough on sea level chart over south-east Bay and adjoining Andaman Sea now lies over south-east Bay and neighbourhood. The western disturbance as an upper air system over north Pakistan and neighbourhood now lie over north Pakistan and adjoining Jammu and Kashmir. System is likely to move east-north-eastwards. Rain or thundershowers have occurred at many places in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Konkan and Goa; at a few places in Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, east Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and coastal Karnataka and at isolated places in Orissa, Bihar, plains of west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, east Rajasthan, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and interior Karnataka. Very light rain has also occurred at isolated places in Gangetic West Bengal and Saurashtra and Kutch. Mainly dry weather prevailed over the rest of the country. The chief amounts of
rainfall in cm: Adirampattinam 9.1, Tiruchirapalli 6.7,
Tezpur 5.7, Karur Paramathy 5.6, Machilipatnam 5.0,
Agartala 3.3, Guwahati 2.5, Bahraich 2.4, Bengaum
(Sambra) 2.3, Ludhiana 1.9, Bhubaneswar, Patiala and
Srinagar 1.4 each, Nahan and Mahabaleshwar 1.1 each,
Anantpur 0.9, Hamai and Bangalore 0.8 each, Panambut,
Patna and Ambala 0.7 each, Aurangabad 0.6 and Bareilly,
Shimla and Nagpur 0.5 each. |
Internet thief caught NEW DELHI, May 31 — The Delhi Police today claimed to have solved its first ever cyber crime with the arrest of the engineer who had stolen over 100 Internet hours of a senior army officer. The accused, Mukesh Gupta, worked as an engineer with the Micom System (P) Ltd with which the victim, Col J.C. Bajwa (retd) had contract of annual maintenance. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch, Mr Dinesh Bhatt, said that the police received a complaint from Colonel Bajwa, a resident of Siddhartha Enclave in South Delhi, that his Internet time to the extent of 107.42 hours purchased by him through Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited at the cost of Rs 2300 for the first 100 hours had been stolen. The theft took place during the period of November 4, 1999 to December 22, 1999. The DCP said that Colonel Bajwa purchased a 100 hours VSNL Internet Account Connection on November 4, 1999 and made annual maintenance contract (AMC) with Micom System (P) Ltd on that very day. The company sent its engineer, Mukesh Gupta, who connected Bajwa’s modem and tested his Internet system. Mukesh Gupta reportedly changed password for the Internet connection, the DCP said. During investigation of the case log details collected from VSNL disclosed that at the time of installing modem service, the engineer had not used Colonel’s Internet account. The Internet time was consumed from 10 different locations. The DCP said that one location was of one company having AMC with Micom System (P) Ltd and their engineer Mukesh Gupta who frequently attended the calls at company’s office as well as director’s residence. The occupants of two
other places had also reported that Mukesh Gupta while
visiting their places to attend the computer repair call
had used Internet connection with Colonel Bajwa’s
login and password, the DCP said. |
Mamata should return to Cong: Ray CALCUTTA, May 31 — At least one person can claim the credit: that he cold rightly predict about Bengal congress and he is S.S. Ray: a high profile Congress stalwart of yesteryear, a former Punjab Governor and the country’s Ambassador to the USA. Mr Ray was in the city last evening when the results of the elections of 79 municipalities held on Sunday, started pouring in. It was the CPM-dominated Left Front, in power for the past 23 years in the state, which made its presence felt everywhere. The Congress, now in a shambles, still unexpectedly could keep to a second place. while, Ms Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress and BJP alliance could do hardly better. The results vindicated once again that the people did not accept, the Congress or the BJP and that is why, Trinamul Congress having alliance with the BJP, could fare no better than Congress (I) according to Ray. He suggested again that Ms Mamata Banerjee should eschew her ties with the BJP and join hands with Congress (I) and only then, it would be possible for them to remove the Maxists from power. Of the 79 municipalities where elections were held, some 65 belonged to CPM and its partners. But as the results were coming out, it was certain that the Congress would be able to make a major dent in at least 30 municipalities — with 20 bodies, particularly, in Malda-WBPCC president Ghani Khan Chowdhury’s home district, Murshidabad, Nadia and Hooghly. The CPM, however, so far, could retain control in almost all municipalities and Trinamul Congress-BJP alliance only in 10. And it is certain that the ruling Left Front would once again run the rural-urban Bengal with their administrative control on the local bodies for the next five years. CPM General Secretary Anil Biswas, once again discarded Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress as a political force. He said the poll results vindicated what Trinamul Congress was and what the party would stand for. But what had been worrying him was the resurgence of the Congress, which Biswas did not hide while talking to newsmen. “We cannot ignore the matter and have to give thought on it seriously”, he remarked. WBPCC President Ghani Khan Chowdhury said, “We still remain a vital force. It would have been better if a Mahajot with the Trinamul Congress was formed on the eve of elections. But still it is not late. We and the Trinamul Congress can jointly drive the Marxists from Writers Buildings. Ms Mamata Banerjee was however, not ready to concede to defeat. She said “It’s just a beginning — a beginning to the end of the Marxist misrule. They have utilised police and administration and won the elections. In fact, the elections were hardly free and fair. But where it is free and fair, non-Left parties have won as we expected”. The results, however, made it clear that the squabbles over adjustment of seats between Trinamul Congress and BJP helped the Congress and the Left parties to do better in several places, where Ms Mamata Banerjee had a solid base for her. Moreover, the Congress which backed out at the last minute from joining the Mahajot, created confusion among the electorate and the anti-Left votes were divided. As a mater of fact, the CPM did fairly well in certain areas, particularly, in Howrah and North 24 Parganas, where the Congress had been the dominating factor. In Midnapore district too, where the Congress had a solid base, the Left Front did better. In the municipalities like Ghatal, Sabang and Midnapore, the Left Front could maintain their dominance, though, Ms Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress would be a major force against the Left Front in the forthcoming byelection at Panskura. Ms Banerjee’s
followers, however, felt that a real test of her
prominence would be adjudged in the forthcoming
byelection and the Calcutta Municipal corporation’s
polls to be held on June 5 and June 25, respectively and
we are preparing ourselves for that, says Pankaj
Banerjee, President, Trinamul Congress. |
ACP suspended in corruption case NEW DELHI, May 31 (UNI) — Additional Commissioner of Police (PCR and Communications) J.K Sharma against whom the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a disproportionate assets case has been suspended. Sources said the order of suspension was communicated to Mr Sharma last week. The CBI had filed the case against him after conducting simultaneous raids at his office in police headquarters and residential premises on February 2. A large number of documents and files were seized from his office. An Indian Police Service
(IPS) officer of the 1981 batch, Mr Sharma has had a
controversial career from the beginning. The sources said
charges of corruption had been levelled against him while
he had been posted as the Deputy Commissioner of Police
(DCP) in the north-east police district. |
Romesh Sharma’s aide chargesheeted NEW DELHI, May 31 (PTI) — Almost two years after a case was registered against Romesh Sharma and two others on charges of fraudulently procuring a passport for Dubai-based underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s mother to help her flee the country in the wake of the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, the CBI has filed a charge sheet in a Delhi court. But strangely enough, the investigating agency has not sent the names of Dawood’s alleged frontman Romesh Sharma and his aide Vinod Kumar Luthra for trial saying that there was “paucity of evidence” against the two accused. However, the CBI said, the investigation against them was still continuing. In the charge sheet
filed before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) R.K.
Gauba on Monday, the only name sent for trial was that of
Arvind Kumar Bali, the third accused in the case. The
case against Dawood’s mother Amina Bi has been
abated after her death last year. |
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