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| Wednesday,
October 4, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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India, Russia
sign 10 pacts
Oil price hike: Cong
plans stir WB parties demand Rs 962 cr aid |
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Kalyan Singh moves SC Cong call for mass movement Sonia asks PM to review Bill on cooperatives Creation of more PGI posts okayed Kidnap drama: CM meets Oppn Include all rebels in talks : Naga CM Centre forwards request on
Chhota Rajan IMA to have more cadets next Jan Number of Padma awards raised Kempty Falls cry for attention
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India, Russia
sign 10 pacts NEW DELHI, Oct 3 — India and Russia today signed 10 agreements to enhance their bilateral ties in various fields. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Mr IIya Klebanov and the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, initialled the agreement on integrated long-term programme of cooperation in science and technology. Mr Klebanov signed another inter-governmental agreement in the field of agriculture with the Agriculture Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar. Eight other agreements signed are: cooperation in postal communications, treaty on mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters, cooperation between ministries of law, justice and company affairs, programme of cultural, scientific and educational exchanges for 2000-02, mutual protection of confidential materials, protocol on cooperation between Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC) and Gkharan of Russia in the field of processing and trade of rough natural diamonds and precious metals, production sharing contract between the Russian joint stock company Gazprom and the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) on joint oil and gas exploration in one block of eastern coast in India and an agreement between the two countries on the principles of cooperation between the governments of the states and union territories and the Bodies of Executive Authority of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Oil price hike: Cong
plans stir NEW DELHI, Oct 3 — The Congress today said it will launch a country-wide agitation against the hike in oil prices from October 5. Expressing satisfaction over the result of recent civic poll and assembly by-elections, it said that Mr Suryakant Dhasmana, a prominent Samajwadi Party leader of Uttar Pradesh, had joined the party. Party General Secretary Ms Ambika Soni, who briefed mediapersons about the agitational programme demanded immediate rollback in the prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG. Ms Soni said the first phase of agitational programme would begin on October 5 when the party MLAs and PCC members would march to respective Raj Bhavans to present memoranda to the Governors. The protest would be carried out in the districts on October 10 where memoranda would be given to the DCs. A similar protest would be held in all the blocks of the country on October 15.
WB parties demand Rs 962 cr aid CALCUTTA, Oct 3 (PTI) — An all-party meeting, held at the instance of Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, today unanimously endorsed the West Bengal Government’s demand for Rs 962 crore from the National Calamity Relief Fund to tackle the devastating floods in the state which has claimed 914 lives so far. Mr Basu told newsmen if the central fund was not immediately provided, the state government would have to curtail budgetary allocations for other departments. The state government, he said, had already borrowed Rs 250 crore at high interest rates from HUDCO. He hoped that the Centre would respond to the state’s demand within a few days to meet the grave situation and said that the state Finance Minister, Asim Dasgupta, would leave for Delhi shortly to discuss the matter with the Centre. Reiterating that the state government would stick to its demand for declaring the floods as “national disaster’’ by the Centre, Mr Basu said he had told the meeting of the steps taken to cope with the situation. The meeting was attended by all political parties represented in the state Assembly including the Congress, BJP, the Trinamool Congress, all nine Left Front constituents and SUCI. While the meeting decided to monitor the relief and rescue operations in all nine affected districts by setting up all-party committees, several Opposition parties, including the Congress, the TC and the BJP, demanded setting up of all-party committees at the state level, Mr Basu said. However, such a demand was rejected by the state government, he said. Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister advised his ministers at a Cabinet meeting to coordinate with the local administrations in all affected districts in the rescue and relief operations. |
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Kalyan Singh moves SC NEW DELHI, Oct 3 (PTI) — Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh has moved the Supreme Court for the transfer of his case, challenging the notice by the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission for filing affidavit regarding December 1992 demolition, from the Allahabad High Court to the Delhi High Court. The petition filed through his counsel Ajay Aggarwal sought direction from the apex court to transfer his case as both the High Courts are “seized of the same matter, identical issues and in regard to the same very Commission”. Pursuant to his undertaking before the Delhi High Court to move the apex court within a week, the former Chief Minister filed the petition for the transfer of his case pending before the Allahabad High Court since 1993. The Allahabad High Court had, however, passed an order that Kalyan Singh could not be compelled to file an affidavit regarding demolition of the structure unless he so desired. Meanwhile, Kalyan Singh had also moved the Delhi High Court challenging the summons issued by the commission directing him to appear before it as a witness on the ground that he being an accused in a criminal case pertaining to the demolition in Uttar Pradesh could not be compelled to give evidence. |
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Cong call for mass movement NEW DELHI, Oct 3 — The Indian Youth Congress president, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, today called on the young Congress workers to start a mass movement in every district and zone of the country to oppose the anti-poor policies of the BJP-led NDA government. Mr Surjewala was addressing a rally organised by the IYC to oppose the rise in prices, especially of petroleum products. Apart from senior Congress leaders as Mr Moti Lal Vora, Ms Ambika Soni, Mr Madhav Rao Scindia, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mr Sajjan Kumar, the rally drew party workers in large numbers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Shouting slogans such as “Bhajpa ka deho khel, mehangi gas, mehanga tel”, “Atal Behari, hosh mein aao” and “Sonia Gandhi zindabad”, party workers demanded rollback of oil prices. A man carrying a basket on his head represented the BJP’s gift to the nation. The paper pasted around the basket read, “Bhajpa sarkar ka tohfa — samasyaon ka bhoj”. It enumerated the problems of crime, oil price hike, unemployment, corruption and terrorism. Mr Surjewala said the IYC had decided to mobilise its workers to hold demonstrations in every district of the country to carry forward Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s recent message to the masses to uproot the cruel BJP government. While raising slogans as “Garib ka choolha rota hai, Atal Behari sota hai”, the IYC president urged his party workers to raise their voice to be heard by the Petroleum Minister who sits in Shastri Bhavan. He said the IYC would not tolerate any oppression of the Dalits or the weaker sections and would not let the poor man’s voice be suppressed. Senior Congress leaders attacked the BJP-led NDA government for its anti-poor policies and the consequent price rise. Mr Vora, general secretary and treasurer of the All-India Congress Committee, said the Congress would have to force the government to rollback the prices of petroleum products. The party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Mr Madhav Rao Scindia, said Divali would be sorrounded by darkness this time. He said the government was following the policy of making the poor poorer and the rich richer. Rajya Sabha MP and AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said the rise in price of diesel would have an impact on prices of commodities, including vegetables, pulses, wheat and rice. “This hard-hitting price hike in the country in the past two years surpasses the record of five decades”. Hailing the decision of the IYC to hold demonstrations to oppose the government’s anti-poor policies, Mr Azad asked the youth not to leave the campaign midway. He said the BJP had always followed capitalist policies and opposed Socialist policies. |
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Sonia asks PM to review Bill on cooperatives NEW DELHI, Oct 3 — The Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, has asked the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to reconsider its proposal to introduce the Bill pertaining to conversion of cooperatives into producer companies. In a letter to Mr Vajpayee last week, Mrs Gandhi said, “We have been informed that Companies (Amendment) Bill pertaining to conversion of cooperatives into producer companies is at an advanced stage of consideration in the ministry concerned.” “The cooperative movement is totally opposed to the conversion of cooperatives into producer companies. There is a fear that the intent behind the Bill appears to be to exclude cooperatives from certain areas of production and services,” she said, adding, “We have serious doubts whether there is any real need for this Bill. It would perhaps be best if you have the entire matter reviewed at this stage.” If the aim of the Bill was to facilitate the production and marketing of primary products it was not clear why these activities could be undertaken by the cooperatives, she argued. Given the right legal environment, the member-owned cooperatives could and did work on democratic prinicples, the Congress president said, adding that if the object was to promote the welfare of the poorer class of producers, cooperatives were best suited to do this. “The cooperative sector has its own philosophy and value system. As againt this, the basic objective of the producer companies will be to maximise profits,” Mrs Gandhi said. |
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Kidnap drama: CM
meets Oppn BANGALORE, Oct 3 (PTI) — Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna today held talks with Opposition leaders to seek their opinion on a new strategy to end the Rajkumar hostage drama, which entered the 66th day. Mr Krishna met the leaders individually seeking their views on the issue in the backdrop of journalist emissary R.R. Gopal returning from the forest empty-handed from his fifth round of negotiations with forest brigand Veerappan holding the Kannada film icon Rajkumar and two others in captivity since July 30. The new move is to evolve a consensus on adopting a fresh strategy to end the crisis, Karnataka Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters after the five-hour meeting. He declined to share details of suggestions put forward by the Opposition leaders, including those of the BJP, the JD (S) and the JD (U). This is the fifth all-party meeting since the crisis broke out. Mr Kharge said the Chief Minister and he had talks with Parvathamma, wife of Rajkumar and their three sons yesterday. Veerappan
rejects Karnataka offer BANGALORE, Oct 3 (PTI) — Forest brigand Veerappan, who is holding Rajkumar and two others hostage, has rejected outright Karnataka’s offer to depute an emissary to accompany “Nakkeeran” editor R.R. Gopal to negotiate an early end to the kidnap crisis. Karnataka Minister for Law D.B. Chandregowda, who disclosed this to reporters here today, said Karnataka suggested to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi that Mr Gopal be asked to take advocate Mr Venugopal along with him in his next mission to the jungles to meet Veerappan. Mr Karunanidhi broached the issue with the emissary, who in turn contacted Veerappan to seek the brigand’s approval. But the bandit conveyed to Mr Gopal his refusal to meet anyone other than the “present emissary”, Mr Gowda said. Mr Venugopal is the advocate for 51 TADA detainees, suspected to be supporters of Veerappan, who are languishing in Mysore jails.
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Include all rebels in talks : Naga CM NEW DELHI, Oct 3 — The Nagaland Chief Minister, Mr S C Jamir, today urged the Centre to involve all Naga rebel factions in the ongoing peace negotiations to find a lasting peace solution for the state. Mr Jamir, who met the Union Home Minister, Mr L K Advani, here, tried to impress upon him that any ‘peacemeal’ talks will not help in bringing peace in the state. “I urged Mr Advani that the Centre should involve all Naga factions in the ongoing peace process,” Mr Jamir told TNS soon after meeting the Home Minister. “Any peacemeal negotiations will create further problems,” he said, adding that he had given a detailed memorandum to the Home Minister. Asked whether he also talked to Mr Advani about the demand of the main Naga rebel group - National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M) - that the ceasefire should be extended to all other states where their presence was there, the Nagaland Chief Minister merely said, “It doesn’t fall under my purview.” |
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Centre forwards request on
Chhota Rajan NEW DELHI, Oct 3 — The Union Home Ministry today said it had forwarded to the Thailand authorities through the External Affairs Ministry the requests of the Maharastra Government pertaining to the extradition of underworld don Chhota Rajan to India. “At present, no extradition treaty exists between the Royal Government of Thailand and the Government of India. However, some requests received from the Government of Maharashtra have been taken up with the Royal Government of Thailand through the Ministry of External Affairs,” a Home Ministry spokesman said here. The Maharashtra Government had made a written request last week that its police team be allowed to visit Thailand to identify Chhota Rajan, who is recuperating in a hospital there after an attack by a rival group, to interrogate him and finally to bring him to India for trial in several cases of murders and extortions. |
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IMA to have more cadets next Jan DEHRA DUN, Oct 3 (UNI) — January, 2001, will see an increased number of gentlemen cadets at the Indian Military Academy (ima), here, Lt-Gen Yuvraj Mehta, Commandant, ima, said today. Addressing a press conference in Chetwode Briefing Hall on the occasion of ima’s Raising Day, General Mehta said the capacity would be increased to gradually make up the shortfall in the Indian Army. “However, there will be no compromise on the quality of training imparted by us,’’ he said. The Army should ideally have 43,000 persons but there are only 32,000 at the moment. General Mehta said the shortage was mostly in the Lieutenant and Captain ranks. At present, the ima has a capacity to train 1,650 cadets, the Commandant said, giving an elaborate description of the training inputs at the academy. General Mehta said soldiering was a way of life and the desire to be a soldier had to rage in one’s heart. “An easy and prosperous life is tempting many young people to take up other professions but, in a cross section, there will always be some who wish to join the Army.’’ Comparing the ima to the Kohinoor diamond, General Mehta said the academy’s invaluable contribution to the country’s defence should be highlighted and brought before the people of India as well as the whole world. Institutions like the National Defence Academy, the ima and ota were the guiding lights for the youth of the nation as they were dedicated, motivated and committed to train young men and women to serve the country, he said. |
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Creation of more PGI posts okayed NEW DELHI, Oct 3 — The Finance Standing Committee of the PGI which met here today approved the creation of a large number of faculty and non-faculty posts. The Health Secretary, Mr Javed Chowdhury, who chaired the meeting told TNS that the committee approved the creation of posts subject to the relaxation of the recently issued economy order. He said the committee also examined proposals for the release of allowances to research scholars and for sanction of allowances for the construction of housing quarters. Mr Chowdhury said the committee examined five proposals for the creation of posts of Assistant Professors in various disciplines and a large number of proposals for non-faculty posts of laboratory technicians, machine technicians and radio diagnosis technicians. He said these vacancies would be filled in due course. There are many new areas of research and new procedures. The staff has not been increased for 10 years. “We examined the increase in workload and found that it had increased in comparison to what it was five years back,” Mr Chowdhury said. Prominent among those who attended the meeting were the PGI Director, Dr S.K. Sharma, the Financial Adviser in the ministry, Mr Vijay Singh, the Financial Adviser of the PGI, Mr Bakshi Ram, the Deputy Director (Administration), PGI, Mrs P. Sahi and the Joint Secretary in the ministry in-charge of the PGI, Mrs Reenu Sahani Dhar. |
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Kempty Falls cry for attention MUSSOORIE: Fifteen kilometre from here, one of the most popular hill stations of North India
are the Kempty Falls attracting thousands of tourists every day. Once regarded as the most beautiful spot in
Mussoorie, the Kempty Falls are in danger of losing its precious, natural and scenic beauty. Perhaps the day is not far when there will be no abode of tranquility to rest harried minds. The most frightening reality of the Kempty Falls losing its charm is the accumulation of waste products on the site. The local administration or the Tourism Department of Uttar Pradesh seem to have no time to protect this sylvan beauty of our countryside. Right from the bus stop to the site, local people have constructed shops on either side of the stairs. There is no proper arrangement for the disposal of waste products thrown out of these shops or by the tourists. According to Mr
A.K. Singh, Deputy Director, Tourism (Hills), there is a need to prepare a master plan for developing the Kempty Falls. A detailed report regarding this has already been submitted to the state government for necessary action. In the report, more stress has been laid on the demarcation of land surrounding the site, besides the development of the falls and the entertainment park and the broadening of the road. The Tourism Department officials have admitted in the report that the Kempty Falls is losing its charm day by day and there is a dire need to protect it. A few NGOs have demanded that the government should put a ban on the construction of shops and hotels near the site. Gushing out of the mountains, the majestic waterfall splits into five distinct falls one on top of the other, the highest one over 40 feet. The condition of the pond into which the water falls is pathetic. On all sides of the pond, local people have encroached on the area to set up their shops. They have constructed private changing rooms and provide clothes to the tourists on rent. There is no proper arrangement for the disposal of waste products. The falls are without a bus stand and a parking area on the main road.The estimated cost as suggested in the report for constructing a bus stand and a parking area is around Rs 40 lakh. The stairs to reach the falls also need repair. Mr
A.K. Singh feels that the government should also look into the possibility of arranging a cultural programme every Sunday at the Kempty Falls. |
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AIADMK plans protests over
oil price CHENNAI, Oct 3 (UNI) — The AIADMK will organise protest demonstrations outside central government offices in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and other states on October 13, demanding a roll-back of the hike in the prices of petroleum products. AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalitha said in a statement here today that while Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had reigned from the Cabinet on this issue, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi continued to justify the hike. This showed that he was clinging to power without any concern for the people, she charged. Number of Padma awards raised NEW DELHI, Oct 3 (UNI) — The government has decided to raise the number of annual Padma awards (Padma Shree, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan) to 100 in view of the need to recognise and honour the “abundance of talent in various fields in the country’. Home Ministry sources said today that the present ceiling on the number of awards - 60 - was too restrictive and felt that there was adequate justification for raising this ceiling. However, this ceiling excludes posthumous awards, if any, and awards to foreigners or non-resident Indians. The sources said this will enable the government to honour a greater number of deserving people for their lifetime achievements. |
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