 |
| Saturday, June 10, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Army promotions a compromise First round goes to TMC Paswan meets PM on phone issue Channel Punjabi begins telecast 21 Indian troops
taken hostages Sterilisation popular
in Punjab, Haryana |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Task force meets Home Secy NEW DELHI, June 9 — A task force constituted by the Centre to give a detailed report on internal security today met the Union Home Secretary, Mr Kamal Pande, and discussed the subject with him. ‘Dimpa’ is YC
gen secy NEW DELHI, June 9 — A senior IPS officer of the UT cadre and a former Principal of the Central Detective Training School in Chandigarh, Mr R.S. Sahay, died of cardiac arrest today. He received President’s Police Medal for meritorious services in 1984. Ayodhya demolition:
CM was ‘against’ CRPF deployment
|
|
Army promotions a compromise NEW DELHI, June 9 — The recent promotions of 14 Major- Generals in the Army to the rank of Lt-Generals is being viewed in the Services as a compromise between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Army Headquarters (AHQ). Not wanting to let the controversy, which had been brewing over the delay in promoting the Major-Generals, specially as some of the keys posts were lying vacant, the MoD and AHQ are said to have agreed to the promotions, despite the fact that there are not as many vacancies in the offing as yet. Official sources said that the declassification of the promotion list on Wednesday last, came almost seven months after it had been prepared by the AHQ during the Army Commanders Conference in November last. But apparently there were few more names in the list which was declassified than in the one that had actually been recommended by the AHQ. While both the AHQ and the MoD claim that there has been no compromise of any sort and that there was unanimity between the two on the promotions, sources said that at least five more names were added to the list of nine which had been submitted to the Ministry for its clearance in November, 1999. Besides, reports also said that of the five, at least one officer was promoted at the behest of a political party which forms part of the ruling NDA coalition at the Centre. While a senior Army officer, not wanting to be identified, pointed out that delay in promotions was a result of the members of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) not being able to get together to give a formal approval, an MoD official said that some names do get added and some deleted from the list sent by the AHQ. The MoD official further clarified that the Ministry had the right to seek details on the officers being recommended for promotion and to add or to delete the names if they were not found up to the mark or if certain other deserving officers were being overlooked. He pointed out that afterall it was the MoD which was the controlling authority and the ACC worked on the recommendations of the Ministry. However, there were no comments available either from the MoD or the AHQ over how so many of the Lt-Generals would be
accommodated when there were not as many posts lying vacant or expected to be vacated soon. It is now expected that the government could actually end up increasing the number of posts at that level to
accommodate the promoted officers. According to reports, as many as 10 posts at the level of Lt-General were expected to fall vacant and accordingly the AHQ had shortlisted the names of Major-Generals who were to be promoted. But now with as many as 14 of them having been promoted, some of them would either have to wait before getting
accommodated or the other alternative would be to increase the posts. The genesis of this controversy lies in events that took place in May, 1998. That was the time when the promotion board for the 1964 commissioned officers first met to decide on who was going to make it to the Lt. General rank. The board was headed by Gen V.P. Malik, the Vice-Chief of the Army, and six Army Commanders. But this list was never declassified as the government increased the retirement age to 60. As a result, the list was declared null and void by the Army in consultation with the Defence Ministry. The next promotion board sat during the Army Commanders’ Conference on November 23, 1999. It is understood that despite the promotion board remaining the same, some new names were added to the list. This list was subsequently sent to the Defence Ministry for obtaining approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. The controversy arose when a Defence Ministry Joint Secretary questioned the military secretariat branch over the variation between the 1998 and 1999 list. While the Army explained this variation on the basis of “fresh inputs”, the Ministry reviewed the list of officers and added another five names. The matters got complicated in May this year as there were retirements due in the Army Headquarters, 14 Corps at Leh and 33 Corps at Siliguri were headless. What added fuel to fire were reports appearing in the media over the so-called differences between the Army and the Defence Ministry. Keen to avoid any further controversy, the Defence Ministry and Army reached a compromise and cleared the appointments to finally put the matter to rest. |
|
First round goes to TMC CALCUTTA, June 9 — The Panskura byelection result is out and the Trinamool Congress leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee, won the first round of battle against the Marxist supremo, Mr Jyoti Basu, over political supremacy in Bengal. The second round will be the forthcoming civic bodies’ poll in Calcutta and Salt Lake City on June 25. In the Panskura byelection Trinamool Congress candidate Bikram Sarker had wrested the seat from the Left Front by defeating CPI heavy weight Gurudas Gupta. The Panskura seat was being held by CPI leader late Gita Mukherjee since 1980. While Mr Jyoti Basu said, “The people of Panskura have elected a wrong party and a wrong person”, Ms Mamata Banerjee said, “The Panskura people have voted for peace and progress against
misrule, chaos and disorder. She hoped that all anti Left forces would be united to bring down the Marxist rule. Ms Banerjee said she would start the Railway Ministry’s office in the city within the next few days and spend more time in electioneering for the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Salt Lake (Bidhannagar municipality) elections. WBPCC President, Mr Ghani Khan Choudhury, who had advocated for a mahajot” with Ms Mamata Banerjee had decided not to put up any candidate against the Trinamool Congress at Panskura, failed to execute the decision following objection from the high command. He would once again make an attempt to join the “mahajot” to bring down the CPM from power. He said he wanted that the Congressmen voted for the Trinamool Congress candidate on those seats in the CMC and Bidhannagar elections where their chances of winning were little. He expected the Trinamool Congress to reciprocate it. Mr Somem Mitra former WBPCC chairman said “We would not listen to the wrong dictation of the high command and do whatever was needed in the interest of the state unit of the Congress”. He also endorsed Mr Ghani’s stand on the forthcoming civic bodies elections. Mr Ghani’s detractor, Priya Dasmunshi said, “We will not sacrifice our ideologies for a small interest. The BJP is our enemy and so long Ms Mamata Banerjee has a tie-up with the BJP, the Congressmen will not support her. All anti-Left forces are quite jubilant about the results of Panskura but Mr Anil Biswas of the CPM feels the results will have no impact on the forthcoming civic bodies’ elections. He said the Panskura people had made a mistake and soon they would understand their mistake. “We would come in a bigger way in the civic bodies’ poll and the state Assembly’s elections, he added. CPI central leadership, however, is not taking the matter lightly. Mr A.B.Bardhan said, “We take the defeat as a big blow not only to the CPI but to the entire Left forces and there is the need for introspection”. |
|
Paswan meets PM on phone issue NEW DELHI, June 9 (PTI) — The controversy over free telephones to 3.2 lakh telecom employees took a new turn today with Communication Minister Ram Vilas Paswan meeting Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to press for Cabinet’s approval bypassing Finance Ministry’s opposition. A day after Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha reportedly sent a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) opposing the
largesse, Mr Paswan met Mr Vajpayee suggesting that this matter be decided by the Cabinet. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry was tight-lipped over the issue saying such a proposal was yet to come from the Communications Ministry for its consideration. Finance Ministry officials pointed out that the issue of taking the matter to the Cabinet would arise only after the proposal was sent by the Telecom Commission for wetting by the Expenditure Department. When contacted, Mr Paswan disputed the claim of the Finance Minister that the measure would put an additional burden of Rs1200 crore annually on the state exchequer and said this would cost a meagre amount of Rs 66 crore. Defending the move, Mr Paswan said this would act as an incentive to motivate the employees who have to compete with the private sector in the telecom field. Giving another point in his favour, he said when the Telecom Department is corporatised in six months, employees will be given this facilities. “It is only a matter of six months”. Recalling that this move was proposed as early as 1998 when retired telecom employees of different categories were given free calls ranging from 250 to 1000, Mr Paswan said nobody opposed the step at that time. Giving free telephones to the employees was a part of the package deal made with them, he said. While this facility was being extended to the employees, their bonus was being reduced from 73 to 70 days, he said, adding this would result in saving money on this count. When the Railways could give free rail passes to its over 16 lakh employees, there was no harm in providing free phones to telecom employees, he said, adding the Air India and Indian Airlines too were providing free air tickets to their employees. He rejected the suggestion that employees of other departments and ministries would start demanding free phones and said other employees were not demanding free rail and air tickets. |
|
Channel Punjabi begins telecast NEW DELHI, June 9 — Etc channel Punjabi, which was launched on the Baisakhi day this year at Chandigarh by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal started beaming programmes as scheduled, from the first week of June. As promised “etc” channel Punjabi brings a mix consisting of religious and entertainment programmes. The religious segment includes Gurbani, Bhajans and songs in praise of Mata Vaishno Devi. It also consists of a daily series on the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib by the well-known Gyani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen. The entertainment
segment consists of popular serials, songs, game shows and music-based shows. The channel will initially telecast eight hours of software that
includes Gurbani relay from Harmandar Sahib (Amritsar) and other programmes of interest. “Etc” channel Punjabi also plans to include a regular Punjabi News segment shortly. The etc channel Punjabi news content will focus on current affairs and human-interest stories from in and around Punjab. To get immediate and instant
converge of the events, the channel is setting up four news bureaus in the state. Etc is a family entertainment channel with music comprising more than 70 per cent of the programming content. Etc is free to air analog channel, beamed globally on Thaicom-3. |
|
21 Indian troops
taken hostages NEW DELHI, June 9 — The UN is faced with a serious challenge with 21 of the Indian armed force personnels, part of the UN peace keeping operations, being taken hostages by the rebel Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone. The crisis in Sierra Leone has taken an ugly turn with 21 of the Indian troops being taken hostage by the RUF last evening and a set of demands made for their release. Making a suo moto statement, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said that two officers, one JCO and 18 other ranks of the Indian
battalion earlier confined to a RUF brigade headquarters in Pendembu pending their re-joining their unit have been made hostage and also disarmed. “Simultaneously, the RUF leadership has now made a set of demands to the UNAMSIL”, the spokesman said adding that “this is entirely unacceptable”. Soon after this development, the government conveyed its very concern to the UN secretary general who has assured that the immediate release of these Indian troops was the highest priority for the UN as this is a challenge to the UN itself, the spokesman said. When asked about the RUF demands, the spokesman said the RUF has stressed that the conflict in Sierra Leone can only be resolved through positive negotiations and the full implementation of the ECOWAS mandate. The other demand is about the immediate and unconditional release of Foday Sankoh and his handing over to a ECOWAS state. While we are concerned about the well being of the Indian troops and we are doing our best, it is the primary responsibility of the UN as they (Indian troops) are operating under the UN mandate, the spokesman pointed out. |
|
Sterilisation
popular in Punjab, Haryana NEW DELHI, June 9 — Haryana and Punjab are among the 10 States which have been found to be receptive to sterilisation. According to sources in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, sterilisation has been found to be highly acceptable in Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu where over 40 per cent couples in most districts have been sterilised. Reports from Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa are also encouraging. Over 30 per cent couples in these States have been sterilised. In contrast, less than 30 per cent couples have been sterilised in Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Sources in the ministry said that in India, over 50 per cent sterilistion had been reported from 16 per cent of the districts and less than 30 per cent sterilisation had been reported from 43 per cent of the districts. Sources said that States where more than 50 per cent of the districts have high rate of birth (more than three births per family) are Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. |
|
Task force meets Home Secy NEW DELHI, June 9 — A task force constituted by the Centre to give a detailed report on internal security today met the Union Home Secretary, Mr Kamal Pande, and discussed the subject with him. The task force headed by the former Union Home Secretary, Mr N.N. Vora, is one of the four such Forces experts constituted by the Centre on the recommendation of the Group of Ministers on National Security, which was set up to study the Kargil report submitted by Mr K. Subrahmanyam. At a two-hour long meeting, the task force discussed in detail the internal security, obtained the view point of the Home Ministry and the procedures, a Home Ministry spokesman said. The four-point terms of reference for the task force includes threat to internal security from terrorists, militants, Left-wing extremists and drug traffickers, improve effectiveness of central police organisations and state police and issues related to cyber crimes and its impact on internal security. |
|
‘Dimpa’ is YC
gen secy NEW DELHI, June 9 — Mr Jasbir Singh Gill ‘Dimpa’, of Punjab has been appointed the general secretary of the Indian Youth Congress here today. ‘Dimpa’ who was earlier the Chief of Punjab Youth Congress, is among the seven general secretaries appointed by the IYC Chief, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala. Mr Jagat Singh, son of Congress leader, Mr K Natwar Singh, and Mr Ranjib Biswal, son of former Orissa Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Basanta Biswal, Mr Anil Bharadwaj (Delhi), Mr C Rajashekharan (Tamil Nadu), Ms L Tilotamma (Manipur) and Mr Rajesh Garg (Delhi) have also been appointed to the post. Mr Shailendra Singh Chauhan has been appointed as Treasurer and Mr Zubair Khan as the Political Adviser to the IYC President. |
|
IPS officer
Sahay dead NEW DELHI, June 9 — A senior IPS officer of the UT cadre and a former Principal of the Central Detective Training School in Chandigarh, Mr R.S. Sahay, died of cardiac arrest today. He received President’s Police Medal for meritorious services in 1984. Mr R.S. Sahay, former Director-General of Goa Police had been ailing from some time and was admitted to the AIIMS yesterday. He recently was transferred from Goa and waiting for next posting. |
|
Ayodhya demolition:
CM was ‘against’ CRPF deployment
NEW DELHI, June 9 (PTI) — Union Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar, who was Principal Secretary (Home) in Uttar Pradesh when the disputed structure in Ayodhya was demolished, today told the Ayodhya Commission there was no indication of any threat to the structure and the then Chief Minister Kalyan Singh was against the deployment of central forces there. “From the correspondence between the Chief Minister and the Union Home Minister (S.B. Chavan) it is obvious that he (Singh) was against the deployment.” “He (Singh) had categorically stated in his correspondence to the Union Home Minister that the central forces were sent to Faizabad without the request or concurrence of the state government and he wanted them to be withdrawn,” Mr Kumar said. Mr Kumar, however, said he had put up a note to Mr Singh on December 5, 1992, a day before the structure was demolished, suggesting the use of central para-military forces available in Ayodhya. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | In Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
