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Saturday,
May 25, 2002, Chandigarh, India   
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Cong men
differ on coalition politics Sonia’s
remarks opportunistic: BJP Sonia to visit
China Cong for
President’s rule in Gujarat |
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CPM, TMC
allege land grab Punjab’s
no to lifting of paddy by states Poll heat
on in Goa US visa
fee raised Forum for
preview of Bhagat Singh films
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Fernandes briefs Boyce
on border tension New Delhi, May 24 The general mood prevailing in the country was put across by Defence Minister George Fernandes during his half-hour meeting with the visiting UK Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Michael Boyce this morning. Mr Fernandes also apprised the visiting dignitary, who is said to have paid a “courtesy call” to the Defence Minister, of the mounting tension on the border between India and Pakistan in the wake of the May 14 Kaluchak killings. The Defence Minister pointed out that Pakistani troops had been on a regular basis opening unprovoked fire on Indian targets. He said India reserved the right to resort to retaliatory fire whenever required. The UK has appealed to India and Pakistan to exercise restrain and resolve differences through bilateral talks. To defuse tension between the two countries, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is also expected to tour the sub-continent soon. Admiral Boyce yesterday met the Three Services’ Chiefs and discussed Indo-UK defence cooperation besides the situation in the sub-continent. Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry has described the media reports saying that India had decided to give two months to Pakistan to roll back crossborder terrorism ahead of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir as “speculative”. The Defence Ministry spokesman said today that no such decision was taken at the meeting of the Unified Command chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Srinagar yesterday. “Whatever decisions were taken at the meeting were announced by the Prime Minister”, the spokesman said. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed concern over rising tension between India and Pakistan and urged Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to take “vigorous action” to ensure full implementation of the policy set out in his speech of January 12. In a statement here by the UN Information Centre on behalf of Mr Annan, it said: “The Secretary-General is increasingly concerned by the alarming rise in tension between India and Pakistan. He is in close contact with the leaders of both sides, to encourage them to resolve their differences, including over Kashmir, by peaceful means. “The Secretary-General considers it essential that the logic and language of war be replaced by the logic and language of peace. At the same time, he wishes to reiterate his condemnation of all acts of terrorism. There can be no tolerance for such acts, especially across the Line of Control in Kashmir. |
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War only solution,
says VHP
New Delhi, May 24 “There is no other option, but war. And the government should decide the matter for once and for all. The treatment of Pakistan should be proper if we want to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue,” VHP senior Vice-President Giriraj Kishore told reporters. In an indirect criticism of the NDA government’s behaviour during the past few days, Mr Kishore said the changing statement of the ministers in the government, including the Prime Minister, indicate that an “external intervention” was forcing them to adopt a different posture. Asked to elaborate, he said the government was acting under pressure of the USA.
UNI |
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Cong men differ on
coalition politics New Delhi, May 24 Speaking on the political draft resolution moved by senior party leader Arjun Singh, several party leaders spoke on the issue with some suggesting keeping aside the Pachmarhi resolution on coalition and going in for a tie-up with like-minded regional parties. Former Karnataka Chief Minister S. Bangarappa suggested the party should have gone in for a tie-up with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh in the last assembly elections to stop communal forces from returning to power in the state. Stating that Uttar Pradesh and Bihar together comprised over 125 Lok Sabha seats, he said the party should concentrate on these seats to return to power at the Centre. Mr Bangarappa’s suggestion was strongly protested by Madhya Pradesh party MP Satyabrata Chaturvedi who said it was the Samajwadi Party which had inflicted greater damage to the party in Uttar Pradesh. Mr Chaturvedi stressed that the Congress leadership should review its support to the Rabri Devi government in Bihar. “It is time that we think whether we are going to continue on crutches or will have our own identity. We are supporting those in the state whose credentials are questionable. We have to think over it”, he said. Senior party leader Vasant Sathe echoing similar views on coalition, stated that time had come to give “up crutches and stand on our own.” |
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Sonia’s remarks
opportunistic: BJP New Delhi, May 24 Reacting to Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s criticism at the AICC session today that despite the deployment of troops along the western border for the past six months there had been no let up in terrorist activities, BJP leader J.P. Mathur and parliamentary party spokesman V.K. Malhotra said “her statements are full of opportunism rather than concrete support.” “As opposition leader, she has right to criticise the government. But, when our forces are at the front and both Houses of Parliament have given the message that the entire country is united, at this time to criticise the government and that too severely is unbecoming of the Leader of the Opposition,” Mr Malhotra pointed out |
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Sonia to visit China New Delhi, May 24 In its resolution on international affairs moved by senior party leader Natwar Singh, the Congress demanded extradition of LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran to India to stand trial in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka must be preserved with just internal constitutional settlement that would ensure political and civil rights to the minority, the party said. The resolution on foreign policy also makes a mention of Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s impending visit to Beijing while urging the government to proceed with “greater expedition in enhancing our relations with China both in qualitative and quantitative terms’’. Welcoming the party President’s decision to visit China in the near future, the resolution said a meaningful and steady engagement with China was a necessity as well as an advantage. |
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Cong for President’s
rule in Gujarat
New Delhi, May 24 The party, which has been spearheading a nationwide campaign for the removal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, upped the ante by demanding the imposition of President’s rule in the riot-torn state. The Congress is firmly of the view that Gujarat should be put under President’s rule immediately, so that all semblance of civilised behaviour is not lost on the people, the political resolution adopted in the one day AICC session said. Moved by senior party leader Arjun Singh, the resolution said while the Gujarat government had actively collaborated with communal elements and the Centre was doing little to stop them. The party came down heavily on the government’s handling of the national security, saying that mobilising of defence forces on the borders for the past several months had not helped control incidences of cross-border terrorism.  |
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CPM, TMC allege land grab Kolkata, May 24 The CPM party office, she alleged, was built on Mother Teresa’s land. The controversy started last week, following an allegation made by the former Kolkata Mayor, Mr Kanti Ganguly of CPM, now a minister in the Left Front government that the Trinamool Congress was setting up their new party office on a six-cuttach of land on
E. M. By-pass near Dhakuria, which actually belongs to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. (KMC) Ms Banerjee laid the foundation stone of the proposed party office building on May 18. The land was handed over to her as “gift” by Mr Javed Khan, Trinamool Mayor-in-Council (buildings), KMC. Ms Banerjee plans to shift the party office from her ghinzy Kalighat Temple Road residence to the new building within next three months and accordingly, she set up a committee, headed by the Mayor, Mr Subrata Mukherjee to take appropriate steps. But Mr Ganguly’s allegation about the ownership of the six-cuttach land caused much flutter both in the political and official circles. Mr Ganguly demanded to the state Municipal Department Minister, Mr Ashok Bhattacharyya, to institute an official inquiry into the “ownership of the land”, which he alleged, Mr Javed Khan had usurped. Mr Khan, however, categorically denied the charge and produced land documents and other necessary papers to the TMC supremo and the Mayor, justifying his claim to the land which he had inherited. On the contrary, he alleged that the CPM party offices at Alimuddin Street and the Ganasakti building (party’s newspaper building) had been not only illegally built but the lands on which the party building was built, was illegally and forcibly occupied from the Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, located nearby. |
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Punjab’s
no to lifting of paddy by states New Delhi, May 24 “The farmers of Punjab were asked to produce food for the entire country when India was relying heavily on foodgrain imports, they should not be meted out a raw deal now, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said at a press conference yesterday. The Chief Minister was highly critical of the Central Government for not moving out foodgrains stocks procured from the state which have now risen to 35 million tonnes with the fresh procurement of 10 million tonnes of wheat during current season. |
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Poll heat on in Goa Panaji, May 24 The state, which has seen 14 Chief Ministers in the past 15 years, is the first to go to the polls after the Gujarat riots. The build up on the Indo-Pak border also looms large in the backdrop. There are 210 candidates in the fray for the 40 Assembly seats. While the Congress is contesting all 40 seats, the BJP is contesting 39, leaving one seat, Vellim for an independent candidate Nary Philip Rodrigues. With only a week to go for the elections, being held in the state within two-and-a-half years of the last elections, candidates are going door to door canvassing for votes in the rural areas while campaigning is still to gather momentum in urban areas. In Panaji, there is only one huge cut-out of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L.K. Advani each near the BJP headquarters. Party workers zoom in and out in Tata Sumos on the streets throughout the afternoon urging the people to vote for the party candidate. After a string of electoral reverses the BJP is leaving no stone unturned for a win here. Party leaders and office bearers from Maharashtra and other neighbouring states are camping here since the past few days to ensure that nothing goes wrong. The Congress, too, is gearing-up to give a tough fight to the BJP. The party does not want to hamper its winning streak and aims at making Goa the 15th state ruled by it. Party president Sonia Gandhi’s election rally in Panaji on Thursday was a much required morale booster to the state unit Congress leaders.
UNI |
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US visa fee raised New Delhi, May 24 The last major revision of the fee schedule was in 1998. The new schedule is based on a cost-of-service study conducted by an independent contractor under the supervision of the Department and reflects the cost of providing consular services in 2002. The new fee is essential to maintaining and improving high-quality customer service while taking the advantage of advances in information technology and enhancing the security features of those services that are related to homeland security, a US Embassy release said here. |
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Forum for preview of Bhagat Singh films New Delhi, May 24 Addressing mediapersons at the Press Club of India here yesterday, forum general secretary Narendra Bhalla said they would petition the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to ensure a preview of these films by writers and historians who have documented the life and times of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Mr Bhalla said the forum would hold a demonstration on Parliament Street on May 27. He said if the mild form of protest did not yield the desired results, the forum would exercise the last option of filing a public interest litigation (PIL) to stay the screening of the films. Mr Bhalla alleged that the film-makers working on Bhagat Singh’s films had not cared to do proper homework or research. Citing an example of departure from facts, he drew attention to the promo of “shaheed”, which shows Chandrashekhar Azad being shot by a fellow revolutionary in Allahabad’s Alfred Park. “This is wrong. The fact is that Azad shot himself, he said. The promo of this film, produced by Dharmendra and directed by Guddu Dhanoa, shows Aishwarya Rai as Bhagat Singh’s fiancee. “The fact is that when Bhagat Singh’s family broached the subject of his engagement, the young revolutionary ran away to Kanpur where he worked in Pratap under the guidance of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi and Krishan Sharma Naveen. Distorting facts about legendary characters amounts to trivialising their supreme sacrifice,” he stated. “Not only this, film-makers have a social obligation towards the present-day audience and future generations. If they are allowed to take such liberties with historical facts, who knows they might attempt a film showing Socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan sitting in a bar in Mumbai?” Mr Bhalla asked. Citing other instances of distortion, he said in the film “The Legend of Bhagat Singh” directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi, Amrita Rao has played the role of Bhagat Singh’s beloved. “This again is misrepresentation of facts”, he said. As if this were not enough, the promo of a Punjabi film “Shaheed-e-Aazam”, shows Bhagat Singh wearing a “sehra,” Mr Bhalla said. |
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