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| Thursday, November 23, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Normalcy returns to capital Decision on AJTs by
Dec-end Sonia has her say on farmer issue Amar Singh, Aiyar exchange hot words |
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PM opens World
Energy Council meeting Proposal to raise
old-age pension Freedom fighters’
pension hiked Malta boat tragedy:
team to visit Pak Dhumal opens Kisan
Bhavan Punjab ‘poised’ for
IT revolution Teachers protest outside UGC office
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Normalcy returns to capital NEW DELHI, Nov 22—Peace and normalcy returned to the Capital today after three days of agitation by owners of small-scale industrial units . The movement of traffic in the Capital was normal throughout the
day, barring incidents of protesters trying to block roads in the east delhi
area, the police said. The Laghu Udhyog Samiti (LUS) and other traders' associations demanded that the Central Government should make certain changes in the Delhi Master Plan to suit polluting industries in non-conforming areas. The General Secretary of LUS, Mr J. N. Joshi, said that sudden closure of small-scale industries in residential areas had affected the life of lakhs of workers. They protested on the Capital’s roads for two days against the Supreme Court’s order, given in 1996 for closure of polluting industries in residential areas. Keeping in view the excitement of agitating workers, LUS, the Laghu Udhyog Sangharsh
Samiti (LUSS) and a few other organisations had a meeting and decided to meet the
President, Prime Minister and a few Central ministers to pressurise the government to make certain changes in masterplan of the Capital. The current M aster Plan is valid till March,2001, he said. They demanded that non-conforming areas be declared as mixed areas where people could establish factories. These areas be considered neither residential nor industrial. He said there were such areas in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which were considered neither residential nor industrial. People are running industries in those areas. It follows an order of Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Ram Joice, a few years ago. The workers will submit a memorandum to the President for getting the Capital’s Master Plan changed, he said. The meeting was attended by the President of LUS, Mr Sudarshan Sareen, General Secretary, Mr J.N. Joshi, Convener of the LUSS, Mr Ravinder Bansal, former MLA, Mr M.L. Gaba and others. The Forum of Delhi Traders Associations urged the Lt Governor, Mr Vijai
Kapoor, and the Delhi Government, to immediately reopen those industrial units which were sealed in the recent crackdown on polluting units. No untoward incidents were reported from any part of the Capital today. However, commuters were stranded across the Capital as several private buses kept off the
road, demanding revised rates. Three persons were killed, including two in police
firing, when workers and owners protesting against sealing of polluting units in residential areas went on rampage on Delhi roads during the past two days. The protesters set ablaze and damaged public properties, including buses, a railway engine and government offices. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, yesterday gave an assurance to a delegation of BJP MPs that the Cabinet would make the neccesary amendments to the Delhi master plan in a bid to regularise polluting industries in non-conforming areas. |
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Decision on AJTs by
Dec-end NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — Defence Minister George Fernandes today informed the Rajya Sabha that a decision on the procurement of advanced jet trainers
(AJTs) for the Indian Air Force would be taken by the end of next month after the price negotiating committee submits its report to the
government. Mr Fernandes, who was faced with a volley of supplementary questions during question hour, also ruled out the replacement of the Russian-made MiGs in the wake of the spate of accidents in recent times, saying that the average fighter aircraft accident rate had come down during the past four decades. “The issue of acquiring the AJTs has been under discussion since 1983 and it was speeded up in 1995”, he said, adding that the “price negotiating committee is currently negotiating and I hope by the end of next month, we will have concluded the formality in order to procure the aircraft”, he said. The Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader, Dr Manmohan Singh, expressed concern over the 12 MiG aircraft crashes during the current year and the delay in finalising the procurement of the
AJTs. Answering a supplementary raised by Mr Suresh Kalmadi (Congress) on whether the government would consider scrapping the MiG aircraft in the wake of the accidents, Mr Fernandes said these aircraft had a life span of 35 years and there was no such proposal.
Mr Fernandes said from an average 35 to 40 fighter aircraft accidents a year, the figure had now come down gradually and it stood between 20 and 25 accidents a year. He said the MiG-21 aircraft had been the mainstay of the IAF and many aircraft had 10 to 15 years of life left. He said the government was also finalising the acquisition of other aircraft and a decision would be taken soon. “The new aircraft are necessary,” he said. The minister said many accidents this year were due to human error and technical faults. In reply to the main question, Mr Fernandes said a high-powered Committee on Fighter Aircraft Accidents was constituted under the chairmanship of the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister to analyse the cause of accidents. The committee submitted its report in 1997. Though several recommendations of the committee had been implemented, the rest would be considered soon after evaluating the expenditure and other factors, he said. Meanwhile, in a written reply, the Defence Minister said the IAF had lost 113 aircraft during the past five years. |
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Sonia has her say on farmer issue NEW DELHI, Nov 22—The Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, today said the Indian farmer was being crushed in a “chakki” of rising cost of production and falling prices of output and the Government was indifferent to their plight. Initiating an Adjournment Motion in the Lok Sabha, after the Speaker admitted a notice for an adjournment motion moved by party colleague, Mr Sujan Singh Bundela, on the plight of farmers in the country on the basis of a ballot of 77 notices on the issue, Ms Gandhi said,
“The Government is neither curbing costs nor intervening to ensure higher prices”. Charging the Government with failing on all fronts as far as the agricultural sector was concerned, the Congress President said there was no policy, no plan of action and no foresight. In Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh the procurement machinery had palpably failed and the crisis in agriculture covered every region of the country, she said. “This government does not seem to be at all concerned about the crisis and has severely neglected agriculture’’, she said. Stating that though states like Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra were facing a drought situation, she
regretted that it had "bypassed" the attention of the Government. Even though Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh were devastated by floods, she said there was "Not even sympathy nor assistance from New Delhi". Mr Anadi Sahu (BJP) sought to counter Ms Gandhi’s criticism by saying that the Government has done everything possible to ensure that farmer was not in a difficulty. This, he said, included a massive subsidy on agriculture and power supply to farmers. He claimed that the Vajpayee Government had brought in three revolutions—gene, information and communication revolution and eco-tech— in the past two years which had helped the farmers in getting high yielding seeds and best of technology. Outside the House, the BJP today questioned the seriousness of Congress on farmers issue, saying its first member to give notice for an adjournment motion was not even present in the house when called by Speaker G.M.C.Balayogi to move the motion. “Adjournment motion is a serious matter and 77 MPs gave notice and when the name of Sujan Singh Bundela figured, he was not present in the House, thus showing how serious the party is about such matters”, party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra told newsmen here. |
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Amar Singh, Aiyar exchange hot words NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh and senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar reportedly manhandled each other at the residence of Satish Gujral, brother of former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral. The incident took place apparently late at night with Mr Aiyar taking on Mr Amar Singh and the Samajwadi Party for not letting “Ms Sonia Gandhi become the Prime Minister of the country.” While Mr Amar Singh initially kept ignoring the Congress leader, he is said to have lost his cool against Mr Aiyar for the disparaging remarks against his party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav. The fall-out of the incident was that the Samajwadi Party members in Parliament ensured that Ms Gandhi would not speak when she sought to move an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha yesterday. The Samajwadi Party MPs constantly shouted at Sonia Gandhi attempted to raise the issue of the plight of the farmers finally leading to the adjournment of the Lok Sabha for the day. Mr Amar Singh confirmed to the TNS that the incident did take place at the residence of Mr Satish Gujral. He said Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar kept calling him and his party leader ‘names’ which provoked him. Mr Amar Singh said Mr Aiyar cornered him and first called him a ‘racist’ and that he had planted the Congress rebel leader Jitendra Prasad in the party to get even with the party president Sonia Gandhi. He then said Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav had not allegedly let Ms Sonia Gandhi become the Prime Minister. Mr Amar Singh said during the unbearable Yadav bashing, “I kept ignoring him”. Explaining he said Mr Aiyar further kept trying to provoke him by saying that “he was not a Thakur”. He said, “what kind of a Thakur are you... you are not getting provoked by my utterances,” Mr Amar Singh said. The Samajwadi Party General Secretary said Mr Aiyar then went onto say that he (Mr Aiyar) and Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav looked like brothers so “our father must be one”. However, the only difference is that I know English and your poor leader cannot speak the language. The Samajwadi Party leader admitted that at this juncture “I got angry and exchanged a few hot words with Mr Aiyar”. However witnesses at the party said the Thakur leader from Samajwadi Party and the Congress leader actually manhandled each other. |
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North India in Parliament NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — The Union Government has taken no decision to make the Gurdwara Election Commission a permanent body, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. The Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, said in a written answer that the Gurdwara Election Commission was created in December, 1994, by the government for conducting elections of the SGPC, Amritsar, which had since been held in 1996. The government proposed to let the commission continue till the next SGPC elections which were due in 2001. Proxy war: Pakistan is carrying out a low-intensity proxy war in Kashmir to bleed India, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr Vidyasagar Rao, said. He said Pakistan agencies provided direct support to various terrorist groups in the form of training, arming and financing them and in helping them to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir. Along with the terrorist acts, the thrust was on subversive actions to destabilise and communalise the situation, paralyse the economy and demoralise the state administration. To contain terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the government had adopted a multi-pronged approach which included, inter alia, strengthening the border management, neutralising plans of the terrorists by pro-active action against them in the hinterland, gearing up intelligence machinery, greater functional integration through an institutional framework of operation groups and intelligence groups of the UHQ at all levels, improved technology, weapons and equipment for security forces. To another question, he said 3,188 persons had been killed by terrorists and extremists in the valley during the past two years. Boundary disputes: There are boundary disputes between Punjab-Haryana-Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh-Haryana, Maharashtra-Karnataka, Orissa-Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh-Bihar, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr I.D.Swami, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written answer. He said the government had consistently been of the view that the disputes primarily had to be resolved by the state governments concerned through mutual discussions and the Centre would be glad to act as a facilitator. Referring to the Punjab-Haryana-Himachal Pradesh dispute, he said consequent upon the reorganisation of the composite Punjab State in 1966, the Central Government announced its decision on these disputes in 1970. This included transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab and part of Fazilka tehsil in Punjab to Haryana, etc. Three commissions had been appointed so far to determine the specific Hindi-speaking areas in Punjab which should go to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh. On the UP-Haryana border dispute, he said the deep stream of the Ganga and Yamuna formed the inter-state boundary between some parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Due to frequent changes in the course of the river, the inter-state boundary kept on fluctuating. Due to this disputes persisted. Maternal mortality rate: Punjab had a maternal mortality rate of 199 per thousand in 1998 and 196 in the previous year, the Lok Sabha was informed today. In Haryana the figure was 103 for 1998 and 105 for 1997. According to the World Health Organisation, about 6,00,000 women die every year globally as a result of complications arising from pregnancy and child birth. It is estimated that about 1.1 lakh women die every year in India due to maternal causes. Brain fever deaths: Punjab reported six deaths due to brain fever in 1999 while there has been no death so far in 2000. Haryana reported 56 deaths due to brain fever in 1999 and 32 till November this year. |
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Farm scientists decry Paroda’s
removal NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — The sudden removal of Dr R.S. Paroda as the Director-General of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, has evoked wide condemnation from the scientific community, led by Dr M.S. Swaminathan. The brainchild behind India’s green revolution said the country’s topmost official in the research and administrative wings of agriculture was no ordinary person and the government should have sought an explanation from him or held a proper inquiry. The government on November 16 had removed Dr Paroda from the twin posts alleging he was not cooperating in a probe ordered on a computer deal struck by the organisations he headed. Dr Paroda has denied the allegations saying the Government had not approached him for any clarifications on the deal. Even a person working in the government’s lowest post of a peon could not be removed without chargesheeting and seeking an explanation, Dr Swaminathan said. The Padma Bhushan recipient was relieved without observing the accepted procedures in the government. He said the action against Dr Paroda would send a wrong signal to the outside scientific world as the agricultural scientist was also the President of the Indian Science Congress, which is scheduled to meet in the capital in January and would be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. Opposing the government’s move to bifurcate the posts of ICAR DG and Secretary DARE, Dr Swaminathan said the decision to vest the top responsibility for research and research administration in one person was at the core of the national science policy. Following in Dr Swaminathan’s footsteps, scientists in other agricultural institutions in the capital also condemned the government’s move and said it was a ploy of the bureaucrats to usurp the top administrative post in DARE. While the position of ICAR Director-General has been vested in R.A. Mashelkar, who is also the DG of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the DARE position has been entrusted to the Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, Mr Bhaskar Barua. Several organisations of scientists have also sent representations to the Prime Minister and the President asking them to intervene in the unpleasant episode. |
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Army ‘unaffected’ by
officers’ shortage NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — The shortage of officers in the Army is not affecting its capabilities, although there is a total shortage of 12,155 officers, constituting about 26.56 per cent of the total officers’ strength, Defence Minister George Fernandes told the Rajya Sabha today. Mr Fernandes, who faced a number of questions on the issue during the question hour, said against the requirement of 45,756 officers, the Army had 33,601 officers. “Despite shortage of officers in the Army, there is no doubt about its capability. We have lived with it, fought with it and have won,” he said. Mr Fernandes said the Army had been facing shortage of officers since 1950 ranging from 28.9 per cent in 1962 to 29.7 per cent in 1999. This year it has come down to 26.56 per cent because of an image projection campaign launched by the Army in 1997-98, he said. In terms of intake, he said 741 officers had been recruited in 1997, 764 in 1998, 824 in 1999 and 1,469 in 2000, which was almost double of the 1997 figure. Every year, about 2,75,000 youths apply for jobs in the Army but the training facilities are inadequate, he said, adding that efforts were on to improve the system. Mr Fernandes said the government had
approved a six-month reduction in the training period of officers at the Indian Military Academy for ex-NDA, ex-ACC and direct-entry cadets for a period of two years from January 2000 to December 2001. |
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PM opens World
Energy Council meeting NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — The Prime Minister , Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today called for people-oriented energy goals and stated that they should act as the fundamental principles of energy business in the 21st century. Inaugurating the executive assembly, 2000, of the World Energy Council meeting here, he called for comprehensive national, regional and global policy initiatives to encourage reforms, augment infrastructure, upgrade and introduce new technology. All efforts should be made to balance environment as well as development concerns of different economies in harmony with the unique economic and social requirements, Mr Vajpayee said. He said in order to ensure equitable development within and among nations, there was a need to work towards equitable and sustainable access to and availability of energy sources. The Prime Minister said energy concerns across the world were marked by a certain amount of variance in priorities. Developed nations were seized with environmental implications of energy concerns. On the other hand, developing nations were focused on ensuring that their people had access to the basic minimum tools for securing their livelihood, including access to energy supply, he added. |
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Proposal to raise
old-age pension NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — The government is considering a proposal to increase the amount of pension to be disbursed under “vridhavastha”, the national old-age pension scheme, with the help of state governments, Rural Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu told the Rajya Sabha today. Answering supplementaries during question hour, Mr Naidu said the Centre was in touch with the states in this regard and he would request the Finance Minister to increase the allocation to his ministry for the benefit of senior citizens who did not have access to economic sustenance. He said in addition to the pensions provided by the Centre, the Rural Development Ministry launched the “Annapurna Scheme” under which 10 kg foodgrains per person was provided free of cost to aged destitutes. On the care of old persons, he said it was primarily the concern of the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry to provide financial assistance to NGOs for the establishment and maintenance of old-age homes, day-care centres and mobile medical units. He said the Surface Transport and Civil Aviation Ministries would consider fare concessions to senior citizens. |
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Freedom fighters’
pension hiked NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — The Centre has enhanced dearness relief for various categories of the freedom fighters and their eligible dependents from 20 to 24 per cent. The enhancement will be payable from August 1, 2000. The all-India Freedom Fighters’ Organisation today urged the RBI and the Deputy Chief Controller of Accounts (Pensions) to issue necessary instructions for early payment of enhanced pension, a press note said here. The pension enhancement is a follow-up of Gujral government’s decision linking freedom fighters’ pension with All-India consumer price index, the press note added. |
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Malta boat tragedy:
team to visit Pak NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — A team of the Malta boat tragedy probe mission will visit Pakistan from December 4 to interact with the authorities and kin of 31 Pakistani nationals, who were among the 272 persons killed in the incident in 1996. The six-member delegation headed by Balwant Singh Kher has requested the Pakistani Government to make arrangements for its meeting with the family members of the victims at Peshawar, and a town in Sindh. The mission will also meet Pakistan’s Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf, officials of foreign and home ministeries there to discuss the involvement of mafia in sending youths abroad illegally. The CBI, which had been probing the case in India, had said international mafia, having links with travel agents in South Asian countries, were involved in a racket of sending unemployed youth abroad. |
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Dhumal opens Kisan
Bhavan NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — Himachal Pradesh will use Internet to explore markets for sale of apples. Inaugurating the building of Kisan Bhavan here, the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, said 700 metric tonnes of apple juice concentrate was exported to Germany and the USA by the HPMC despite stiff international competition. Nearly 4,000 cartons of apple wine was exported to Kerala during the current financial year. The Kisan Bhavan, constructed at Azadpur Mandi at a cost of Rs 2 crore, would also serve as an education and training centre. About two crore apple boxes were brought to Delhi annually from the state, Mr Dhumal said, adding that the state had recorded 4.12 lakh metric tonnes fruit production in 2.11 lakh hactares. Mr Dhumal said the state would explore markets in Chennai, Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangalore to sell the produce. He said the initial experiment of Internet sale had been successful in the Kotgarh area and more apple-growing areas like Jubbal, Kotkhai, Kulu and Kinnaur would be covered for sale of apples during the next crop season. The Chief Minister said mango production in the state would be doubled from the present 14,000 metric tonnes by covering 34,000 hectares under the crop in the next 10 years. He said about 12,000 metric tonnes of kinnow was produced in 10,000 hectares in the state. Mr Dhumal said the state-owned HPMC was exploring the mineral water market of the country by introducing aqua mineral water in Chandigarh, Delhi and other big cities. Speaking on the occasion, the horticulture Minister, Mr Narinder Bragta, said Rs 60 crore in fees was paid by the orchardists in the Delhi market. Mr Maheshwar Singh, MP, detailed steps taken for the welfare of people since the BJP government came to power. Mr Sahib Singh Verma, MP and former Chief Minister of Delhi, congratulated the Himachal Pradesh government for taking pro-farmer steps. |
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Punjab ‘poised’ for
IT revolution NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — A leader in agriculture and milk production, Punjab today is poised for giant leaps in technology-driven areas. Having clear-cut policies for boosting industry and attracting investment, it is using technology to change meaningfully the lives of people. Punjab’s pavilion at the IITF is an effort to portray the emerging synergy between the traditional and the new. While a number of stalls reflect the strides in IT, several new agro-based products are also on display. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will be the chief guest at the Punjab Day function tomorrow. According to Ms Surjit Kaur Sandhu, Managing Director, PSIEC, the response to the stall has been encouraging and is likely to exceed the estimates of business. |
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Teachers protest
outside UGC office NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — University and college teachers from across the country demonstrated outside the University Grants Commission office here today demanding the implementation of the agreements and promises made out to them in the past. The agreements and promises on pay scales and service conditions had not been met by the authorities, said the demonstrating teachers affiliated to the All-India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (AIFUCTO) and the Federation of Central University Teachers Association. Terming the acts of the UGC and the Ministry for Human Resource Development as “black deeds”, the teachers in a statement said “the basic principles of pay revision have been flouted with impunity.” “The teachers were being denied the career advancement scheme from the due date for which pronouncements had been made by the HRD Minister outside and inside Parliament,” it said. |
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