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| Thursday, July 27, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Govt for consensus on CTBT NEW DELHI, July 26 — The All-India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 have been amended by the central government prohibiting employment of children below the age of 14 years by all government servants. Attari check post under Centre |
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| Magsaysay awardee to set up trust JAIPUR, July 26 — This year’s Magsaysay Award winner for community leadership, Ms Aruna Roy, says she plans to create a public welfare trust with the award money amounting to $ 50,000. She said trust would have Rajasthan as its area of activity and would take up work of public awakening in the rural areas since “my roots are in Rajasthan.” SAD(A), AGP for more autonomy NGOs pulled up for political ads Bidding for highway
project made easy Congress, CPM say no
to pre-1953 status LPG distributorship for martyr’s kin Syria for rail
cooperation BJP team to study atrocities ‘Implement report’ on
workers’ death Major power failure in Orissa, Bengal 
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Govt for consensus on CTBT NEW DELHI, July 26 — The Atal Behari Vajpayee government is taking the initiative for a comprehensive discussion in Parliament about the country’s foreign policy and see if a consensus emerges among the major political parties and groups on signing the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT). The External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, is expected to set the tone for the deliberations and focus on the key factors that have brought about a paradigm shift in the relations of the USA and other countries of the industrialised North with this country. With sustained pressure being mounted on India to sign the CTBT after Pokhran II in May 1998, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government has maintained that signing the CTBT will depend on a national consensus emerging on the issue. Disarmament and non-proliferation assume importance in the wake of the Prime Minister’s upcoming visit to the USA in September. The thinking in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is that a no-holds-barred discussion on the contours of the existing foreign policy will facilitate the Congress, Left and other opposition parties outline their views on a host of issues encompassing national security, the nuclear doctrine and enlarging economic linkages in the sphere of diplomacy. And the government feels it can affect course corrections to suit the emerging needs, if necessary. Though India has not sought recognition as a member of the nuclear club having achieved the necessary capability after the underground tests in 1998, it prides itself on being a major power in the region. It has taken some delicate diplomatic manoeuvres after the nuclear tests two years back to remove the imbalances in New Delhi’s ties with the USA, Britain and other western powers. Relations between India and China which had hit a low in the run up to the nuclear tests have since been corrected and put on an even keel with some high-level visits by leaders of both the countries. Similarly, the much postponed five-day official visit of the USA President, Mr Bill Clinton, to India in March this year and the vision statement issued jointly by the visiting dignitary and Mr Vajpayee provides the road map for wide ranging cooperation. This despite the fact that the outgoing Clinton Administration has not diluted its stand on non-proliferation. Despite the reservations of the opposition parties in signing the CTBT, the NDA government firmly believes that New Delhi will not be a loser in case India initialled the treaty. “We will not be compromising our national interests by signing the CTBT,” affirmed a highly placed official who did not want to be identified. Elaborating, he said, “We enjoy nuclear capability and have put in place a command and control system. The Prime Minister has declared a moratorium on further nuclear tests and emphasised that these armaments of mass destruction will not be used nor are they directed against any country.” New Delhi has also said categorically that it is for India to decide the deterrence levels it should have to ward off any threat to its sovereignty. Further, the country’s draft nuclear doctrine said it would not be the first to resort to nuclear weapons. However, if any country launches an attack with nuclear weapons India will retaliate with telling effect. |
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Service rules
now bar child labour NEW DELHI, July 26 — The All-India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 have been amended by the central government prohibiting employment of children below the age of 14 years by all government servants. As per the amendment, government servants employed in the Indian Administrative Service, and the Indian Forest Service are prohibited from employing children in the aforesaid age group. Sources in the commission said the amendment had been made on the recommendation of the National Human Rights Commission. The commission felt that employing children below the age of 14 years for work by anyone is reprehensible, more so by a government servant. It directed inclusion of an appropriate rule in the Conduct Rules of government servants, both Central and state, to prohibit such employment and make it a misconduct inviting major penalty. The commission had been pursuing the matter with the Centre and states since February ’97. Sources in the commission said the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension amended both the Central Services (Conduct) Rule, 1964 on October 4, 1999. The All-India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 were amended on February 1, 2000. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have also amended the Civil Services (Conduct) Rules concerning their employees. The states of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Meghalaya, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh have intimated to the commission that they are considering the recommendations on amendments of the rules. The states of Manipur, Nagaland and Rajasthan are yet to respond to the Commission’s letters in this regard. |
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Attari
check post under Centre NEW DELHI, July 26 — Minister of State for Home Affairs Vidyasagar Rao today told the Rajya Sabha that the Centre had taken over immigration functions at Attari, Wagah and Rajasansi. Replying to a question, the minister said the immigration and registration functions at the three immigration checkposts — Attari (rail), Wagah (land) and Rajasansi airport — and registration functions in Amritsar district had been taken over from the state police by the Bureau of Immigration, an organisation which dealt with immigration matters under the Central government. Registration functions for Pakistani nationals, however, would remain with the state police. Report of state autonomy committee: Mr Vidyasagar Rao told the Rajya Sabha that the report of the Jammu & Kashmir State Autonomy Committee was received from the state government by the Centre in the last week of November last year. He said the
government was of the firm conviction that national integration and devolution of powers to states must go together. He explained that in this context, the union government had not accepted the resolution passed by the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly as its acceptance would set the clock back. An acceptance would have reversed the natural process of harmonising the aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir with the rest of the nation and reversed the application of constitutional provisions to Jammu & Kashmir. Rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants: Mr Vidyasagar Rao said the issue regarding the return of Kashmiri migrants was on top of the agenda of the ministry and that an action plan for the early and safe return of the migrants was being finalised. He said a social interaction programme had been initiated under which some migrants had visited the valley to pave the way for return. He said the state government was consulting various migrant organisations and camps for finalising the plan. Release of persons detained under TADA in Punjab: Mr Rao told the Rajya Sabha that the State Review Committee, constituted by the Punjab Government as per the directions of the Supreme Court, had reviewed 572 cases under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987. Till June 20, the committee had dropped charges against 263 persons booked under the Act. He added that the government had reminded the Punjab Government to review the remaining TADA cases in a time-bound manner. |
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Magsaysay awardee to set up trust JAIPUR, July 26 — This year’s Magsaysay Award winner for community leadership, Ms Aruna Roy, says she plans to create a public welfare trust with the award money amounting to $ 50,000. She said trust would have Rajasthan as its area of activity and would take up work of public awakening in the rural areas since “my roots are in Rajasthan.” Appalled with the plight of rural population, Ms Roy decided to plunge into social work and resigned the most coveted job of IAS as early as in 1975. She belonged to 1968 batch. Since then she mainly devoted herself to the upliftment of rural areas and began a non-stop crusade to let the men and women in rural areas discover their strength. The award to Ms Roy has been given in recognition of her work providing community leadership in Rajasthan since 1974. In 1988-89 people of Sohangarh in Rajsamand district had successfully fought under her leadership against the local jagirdar who had forcibly evicted the kisans from the government land and usurped it. Again in Bhim she had organised a two-month long dharna in Bhim tehsil to press for mazdoors’ right to minimum wage. Besides creating awareness among villagers about their rights and strength, Ms Roy also successfully spearheaded a campaign against the Rajasthan Government forcing it to give people the right to information. Ms Roy told mediapersons here this morning that getting the Ramon Magsaysay award was certainly a matter of great honour but the honour really belonged to so-called ordinary persons like Norti who had been with her along with her crusade all through. Norti belongs to schedule caste and was with Ms Roy on the dais when she addressed the media. She said, “The burden of making things work can never be the work of an individual. This must be recognised as basic in our democratic polity. The biggest crisis we face today is a democratic framework with the dwindling participation of people, and a system of governance cloaked in secrecy and devoid of accountability to the people. Struggles like the people’s right to information have shown how this can be breached. It is not only the specific examples, but the entire set of alternatives being thrown up by such struggles that need to be understood. Today the greatest challenge in our democracy is to involve all people and particularly the poor in process of participation in democratic institutions, through which they can decide for themselves and therefore control their lives. The ideas of the poor are not fragmented, they in fact relate to the process of governance itself.” “I see this award as a recognition of those ideas and an opportunity to take the struggles forward towards the realisation of long dreamed of changes. The money provided by this award will be put into a trust to be managed by a collective people to support processes of democratic struggle.” |
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SAD(A), AGP for more autonomy NEW DELHI, July 26 — Subsequent to the autonomy resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, the Shiromani Akali Dal (A) in the Punjab and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in Assam have expressed themselves in favour of more autonomy for states, the Minister of State for Home Affairs’ Mr I D Swami, informed the Rajya Sabha today. In a written reply to a question from Mr K M Khan, the minister said these regional parties wanted that the Centre should confine itself to Defence, Communication, Currency and Foreign Affairs only and that all other subjects should be transferred to the states. So far the Centre has not received any formal request for autonomy from these states, he said adding that the Centre had set up the Sarkaria Commission to go into the entire gamut of Centre-state relations. The commission’s recommendations are in the process of examination and implementation. The
commission had made 247 recommendations out of which the Inter-State Council has taken a decision on 171 recommendations, he informed. To another question, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr Vidyasagar Rao, informed the Upper House that as per 1981 census the population of Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir stood at 1,33,675 of which 33,177 belonged to the six districts of the Kashmir valley. Only a few Sikh families living in the valley may have temporarily migrated to Jammu. No Sikh family has disposed of land or other property as per information available with us, he said adding that deployment of the security forces in areas inhabited by the Sikhs and assurances by the state government and Muslim leaders have instilled confidence in the community, he said. In a written reply to a question from Mr Sukhdev Singh Libra, Mr Rao said in the light of directions of the Supreme Court to periodically review the pending cases under TADA, the state governments including the Punjab Government, were asked to constitute state review committees. The State Review Committee constituted by the Punjab Government has
reviewed 572 cases and charges under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 have been dropped against 263 persons till June 20, 2000, he said. The Central Government has reminded the state governments, including the Punjab Government to review the remaining TADA cases in a time-bound manner, he said. |
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NGOs pulled
up for political ads NEW DELHI, July 26 — Taking a lenient view of their violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation (FCR) Act, 1976, by inserting advertisements of “political nature” during the run up to the general elections last year without prior permission, the Central Government directed seven non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to strictly adhere to the provisions of the Act in future. The seven NGOs, given this direction are: Indian Social Institute, Centre for Education and Communication, Ankur Society for Alternatives in Education, Kali for Women, Asmita Resource Centre for Women, Women’s Centre and National Alliance of Women, the Additional Secretary (Home) Dr P.D.Shenoy told reporters here today. Taking cognisance of the violation of the provisions of the FCR Act, the FCR Department had issued show cause notices to 13 NGOs asking why action should not be initiated against them. While six NGOs had denied any association with the advertisements and the documents in question, seven NGOs furnished justifications for their action, he said. |
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Bidding for
highway project made easy NEW DELHI, July 26 — The Ministry of Surface Transport today announced the simplification of evaluation of bids and award of contracts for the national highways development project connecting the four metros and corridors linking Srinagar with Kanyakumari and Silcher with Saurashtra. According to the Surface Transport Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, the existing procedure took 100 to 120 days for evaluation of bids and award of contracts while under the new procedure it has been reduced to 40 days. He said the procedure would not only provide for the expeditious award of contract but also be fair to the prospective bidders. The recommendation for the simplification of the procedure was made by a committee set up under the chairmanship of Director-General (Road Development) and Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Surface Transport. The new procedure would come into force with immediate effect and would be followed by all national highway works implemented by NHAI. Bid for projects would now be called in two parts — technical bid and financial bid — both to be submitted simultaneously in separate sealed covers. The financial bid would be opened only if the technical bid is sound. |
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Congress, CPM say no to pre-1953 status NEW DELHI, July 26 (PTI) — The Congress, the CPM and the Samajwadi Party in the Lok Sabha today supported the Union Government’s rejection of the pre-1953 status to Jammu and Kashmir and said a dialogue should be initiated to find a peaceful solution with the involvement of representatives of the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. Opposition members said any effort to find a solution to the Kashmir problem must be found within the Indian Union, its territorial integrity and the Constitution. They said the people of Jammu and Kashmir should be given a sense of participation in the state’s socio-economic development and a sense of belonging. Good governance in the interests of the people should be ensured. Mr L.K. Advani, Home Minister, is expected to reply tomorrow to the special discussion on the autonomy resolution adopted by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. Initiating the special discussion, Mr Madhavrao Scindia, Deputy Leader of the Congress, made it clear that any talks to find a solution to the Kashmir problem should be on the basis of the accord signed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah in 1975 and within the framework of the Constitution. The Congress would never support any move to resolve the Kashmir problem by according the pre-1953 status to the border state. The Congress was committed to Article 370 of the Constitution. It must be
strengthened and more administrative and financial powers should be given to Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
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LPG distributorship for martyr’s kin NEW DELHI, July 26 — The family of Kargil martyr Manjit Singh, who was a jawan in 8 Sikh Regiment, was today handed over the first of LPG distributorship at Barara in Ambala district of
Haryana. Manjit Singh’s mother, Mrs Surjit Kaur, received the distributorship. Manjit Singh laid down his life on June 7, 1999, while fighting the enemy in the Kargil area. Manjit Singh, who was just 20 years’ old, hailed from Barara district. The gas service station has been named Shaheed Manjit Singh Gas Service and has been commissioned by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. Petroleum Minister, Ram
Naik, who handed over the distributorship, said this was part of the scheme announced by the government under which 500 dependents of Kargil heroes were to be awarded the business. He said so far a total of 126 LPG distributorships and 155 retail outlets have been approved by his ministry under the scheme. |
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Syria for rail
cooperation NEW DELHI, July 26 — The Planning Minister of Syria, Dr Issam al-Zaim, told the Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee today that his country was keen on greater cooperation with India on various railway projects.
Dr Zaim said his country planned to give strategic importance to the development of its railway system and for strengthening rail links with neighbouring countries and would like to have the benefit of Indian expertise in this area. Ms Banerjee assured the Syrian minister of all support. She said the Indian Railways’ relations with Syria dated back to 1974 and India was proud of this association. She said Messrs IRCON International Limited and the Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES), public sector undertakings of the Indian Railways were already providing expertise to Syria in different railway projects including electrification. Dr Zaim was also told that the Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) could also lend its expertise in promoting a multi-nodal transport system for Syrian railways. The Minister of State for Railways, Mr Digvijay Singh, Chairman, Railway Board, Mr V.K. Aggarwal and member (Traffic), Mr Shanti Narain also attended the
meeting. |
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BJP team to study
atrocities NEW DELHI, July 26 — The Bharatiya Janata Party’s four-member Parliamentary committee will go to Rajasthan this week to undertake an on-the-spot study of atrocities on weaker sections, particularly women.
Announcing the programme of the committee, consisting of Lok Sabha MPs, Mrs Sangita Singh Deo, Mrs Abha Mahto, Mrs Anita Arya and Mrs Jaskaur Meena, the BJP spokesman, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu said the members would submit their report to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the party President. The committee would talk to people in villages where incidents of atrocities had taken place, the spokesman said. |
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‘Implement report’ on
workers’ death NEW DELHI, July 26 — The All-India Trade Union Congress has demanded launch of a criminal case against the officers found guilty by the Koul Commission which was formed to look into the causes of police firing on workers of Pashupati Spinning Mills, Dharuhera, on Feburary 19, 1998.
Four workers were killed and several hundred injured in the firing. In a letter to the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Praksah Chautala, AITUC demanded making the commission report public and implementing its other recommendations. Other unions of the Dharuhera area have also made similar demands.
Major power failure in Orissa, Bengal CALCUTTA,
July 26 (PTI) —Many parts of West Bengal and Orissa last night plunged into darkness and train services in both Eastern and South-Eastern Railway’s Howrah and Sealdah divisions came to a standstill after state power generating stations tripped because of grid failure. West Bengal Power Secretary
R.S. Bandyopadhyay said here that a 500 mw NTPC unit tripped around 9.20 p.m., leading to a dip in grid frequency and barring a few areas the entire state went without power. |
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