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Friday,
June 14, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Left
isolated on presidential nominee Kalam
accepts NDA’s offer Bihari
farmers want Kalam as President
CBI
arrests 3 officials on graft charge Modi hints
at early Gujarat poll |
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Board
for shrines mooted 13 killed, 20 hurt in road mishap Bihar
objects to Nepal bus Patna
doctors play truant Advani
to visit Spain India
‘committed’ to aid African countries
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Left isolated on presidential nominee New Delhi, June 13 The meeting, scheduled to be held at the CPM office, is being held to decide on a candidate against the noted scientist A P J Abdul Kalam who is not only the
candidate of the ruling alliance but is also being supported by the main opposition party, the Congress. When contacted, Mr H.S. Surjeet, General Secretary of the CPM, told TNS that a meeting was being held tomorrow morning to decide on the Left’s presidential candidate. The Congress decision to support the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee for the post of the country’s next President came as a blow to the Left as it found itself isolated virtually alone on the nation’s political spectrum. Whether the Left would now find a sacrificial goat for giving even a symbolic fight to noted scientist Kalam is a million dollar question. The Left had been seriously considering to put up former Supreme Court Chief Justice Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi or Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed as the opposition candidate against Dr Kalam but now it is highly doubtful that any of the two would come forward to offer himself as a candidate. A person to match Dr Kalam’s profile and popularity would be difficult to find. No person of repute would care to stand in the election in the face of a certain defeat. Whether the Left’s stand on Dr Kalam could be compared to the CPM decision in 1996 when it stopped former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu to lead the United Front government at the Centre is for the Left leaders to decide. Though Mr Basu had later admitted that it was a “historical blunder”, but it appears that the Left leaders had not learnt a suitable lesson from its own past. In the process, the Left parties, with their obstinate stand, have not only exposed themselves as miles away from the popular pulse but also have caused a long-term damage to the third alternative which had come into existence by the formation of the People’s Front. The chief architect and the main ideologue of the Left stand on the Presidential issue is understood to be Mr Surjeet who opposed the candidature of Dr Kalam with an argument that the NDA was bringing a non-political person to the highest constitutional position with a view to manipulate the office of the President. Incidentally, Mr Surjeet had also opposed the proposal for making the senior CPM leader Basu to become the Prime Minister in 1996. The argument ran that Dr Kalam rather could be influenced for achieving political ends. This view was close to casting aspersions on a person whose track record as a reputed scientist remained beyond any doubts. The Left’s stand that the country should have a President who is well averse with the politics of the country did not stand the popular test as the image of a typical politician is already sullied and the nation at large particularly the opinion maker middle class
welcoming Dr Kalam’s candidature. |
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Kalam accepts NDA’s offer Chennai, June 13 In his first public statement after the NDA announced his nomination for the post of President on Monday, Dr Kalam said he was ‘’overwhelmed’’. Dr Kalam thanked the ‘’leaders, political parties and the nation for the confidence and faith they have reposed in me’’. ‘’The post of President indeed reflects the integrated aspirations of the nation,’’ he said. His Press conference, scheduled to be held yesterday and deferred till today, has been indefinitely postponed.
UNI |
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Bihari farmers want Kalam as President Patna, June 13 A year back, the poor farmers and labourers of the Narayanpur village near the state capital knew nothing about the man whom the world knows as a brilliant scientist. Bharat Ratna Dr A.P.J. Kalam had visited this nondescript village to launch his ambitious “Vision 2020” programme that envisages to make India a superpower by targeting the five sectors of agriculture and allied activities, healthcare, education, information technology and infrastructure. Dr Kalam had a free and fearless talk with the farmers and now when they heard that his name had been proposed for the post of President, they all are for it. Shiv Kumar, a villager says, “Rashtrapati banne ka adhikari wahi hai jo rashtra hit ki soche (one who thinks of the good of nation can only be eligible for the President’s post)”. In the short acquaintance with the ‘missile man’, Shiv had seen Kalam’s concern for the nation’s growth. The villagers remember Kalam’s prophecy, “You (Bihar) have water, good soil, and above all, a good work strength. You have the potential to become the granary of India and you can easily achieve the target of 400 million tonnes of foodgrain in 2020”. He had said that the farmers of Bihar were facing difficulties in getting the right price for their produce and he would take up this issue at the highest levels in Delhi. The farmers here are optimistic that as President of India he would be in a better position to turn his vision into concrete reality. |
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CBI arrests 3 officials on graft charge New Delhi, June 13 B.N. Behra, Executive Engineer (Civil) and A.K. Nayak, Assistant Engineer (Civil), working in Postal Civil Division, Cuttack were caught red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000 and Rs 4,000, respectively, a CBI statement said here today. The duo allegedly demanded a bribe from a complainant for showing favour in matter of passing the running account bill related to the construction of 16 type-3 quarters for postal employees at Balasore, Orissa. In another case, Pran Gopal Roy, Manager, Jute Corporation of India at Karimpur was arrested for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 3,000 to the complainant, who was a contract labourer in his organisation, for deposing evidence in his favour in a departmental enquiry, the statement added.
PTI |
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Modi hints at early Gujarat poll New Delhi, June 13 “The elections are due in March next year and can be held anytime before that,” Mr Modi said here at the BJP Headquarters during his first interaction with the media after the largescale communal riots in the state. Mr Modi, who earlier met External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, said he had urged him to get detailed information regarding the reform process of madarsas in Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia which could be incorporated in a future plan of the state government for the Islamic schools. He also urged the Union Minister to take up with Islamabad the case of 240 fishermen who were in Pakistan custody. “The government should be active and send a team to ensure their return,” he said, adding that Mr Jaswant Singh has promised to look into it. Mr Modi, who ducked most of the questions pertaining to communal violence in Gujarat saying that an inquiry commission is probing it, however, declared that anyone found guilty of violence would be punished and efforts were on to rehabilitate on a war footing those affected by the riots and staying in camps. Mr Modi claimed that 95 per cent of the rehabilitation work had been completed and about 24 camps existed only in Ahmedabad where too the rehabilitation process was in full swing. Asked about reports that some ministers in his government were involved in the violence, Mr Modi said an inquiry was already on into the incidents and the moment the report was received the guilty would be punished. To a question whether it was fair for people in power to continue in office when an inquiry was on and there were charges against them, he said, “In India we do not have any such tradition. There have been riots in the past also but nobody resigned to facilitate an inquiry”. To a question on whether there is a move to pull out former Punjab Police Chief K.P.S. Gill as his Security Adviser, Mr Modi replied in the negative saying, “He is my adviser... so long as this government remains, Mr Gill will be there.” |
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Board for shrines mooted Dehra Dun, June 13 Delivering the inaugural address at a national seminar on eco-tourism and mountains, organised on Tuesday by the Union Ministry of Tourism and the Department of Tourism, Uttaranchal, Mr Jagmohan said the step, if adopted, would help “plough back” the money donated as offerings, for the overall development of these temple shrines. The money could also be utilised to provide various facilities, including medical facilities, to the lakhs of pilgrims who visit these shrines as part of the Char-Dham itinerary, every year. Mr Jagmohan said that his ministry was trying to get the subject of tourism on the Concurrent List to enable Central legislation on the issue. This had become a necessity not only in the case of Uttaranchal shrines but at other places as well, which have long been suffering due to the concentration of large sums of money generated through offerings, in a few hands. Expressing concern over the pollution levels in the Ganga, Mr Jagmohan said that the country had spent more than Rs 1,000 crore for cleaning the river, but without any tangible results. On the occasion, Mr Jagmohan also announced full Central assistance to tourism projects in the state. |
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13 killed, 20 hurt in road mishap
Biharsharif, June 13 Four persons died on the spot in the accident which took place on the
Patna-Ranchi road near Karampur village in the district when the trekker was on way to Nawada from
Biharsharif. The truck was coming from the opposite direction. While seven persons succumbed to injuries at Biharsharif Hospital, two died minutes after being admitted to Patna Medical College Hospital, the police said. The condition of seven other injured was stated to be critical, the police said adding that the drivers and helpers of both vehicles were absconding. Angry locals blocked the highway for several hours after the accident and relented only after Nalanda District Magistrate Hukum Singh Meena and Superintendent of Police Amit Lodha intervened.
PTI |
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Bihar objects to
Nepal bus Patna, June 13 Official sources here maintain that Bihar is facing an internal security threat from the terrorists, smugglers and ISI agents that sneak through the 740 km long porous international boundary with Nepal. The opening of the international bus service would, they fear, allow the anti-national elements and smugglers to sneak in great numbers without an effective check. The officials believe that despite the deployment of large number of Special Service Bureau (SSB) forces and state policing along the borders, huge quantities of drugs and smuggled goods are made to enter Bihar via Nepal. |
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Patna doctors play
truant Patna, June 13 The state Health Minister, Mr Shakuni Chowdhary, has decided to act tough on more than 200 doctors who are absconding from duty. Not only that, he has also made it clear that whatever charges would stand against the erring doctors would automatically be slapped on the respective Civil Surgeons. The doctor fraternity is, however, not concerned or terrified. They know very well, “it rains in monsoon when the fields go dry”. The Health Minister had earlier sought reports from all districts on the status of the doctors attending their duties in the health centres. The list included 200 doctors who were found ‘absconding’ from duties. The Health Department sources said, “As the Civil Surgeons happen to be the leave sanctioning authorities, the disciplinary proceedings would also include them”. The probe on ‘absconding’ doctors gives interesting facts. The districts reported about the absconding doctors, since 1990, in the year 1998. The department slept over the file and finally, on May 3, 2002, the department notified the list of these doctors and placed an advertisement to locate their whereabouts. It would take another three years to take any concrete action. The list of doctors too has interesting facts. One doctor, deputed in Rohtas district is on leave since November 5, 1990. Another is absent from duty without taking leave since August 1992. Almost every district has reported extreme cases of dereliction of duties by the doctors. |
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Advani to visit Spain New Delhi, June 13 Mr
Advani, whose scheduled visit to Britain later this week was postponed, will be visiting Spain from June 19 to 23, Home Ministry sources said today. Besides finalising the treaty, Mr Advani would focus on India’s position regarding tension on the border and terrorism emanating from across the border, the sources said. |
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India ‘committed’ to aid African countries New Delhi, June 13 Speaking at a seminar on “India and African — New Horizon”, the minister said India’s technological programme in Africa was one of the satisfying programmes. |
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In video: The Gujarat Chief Minister seeks Centre's help in
upgrading the border intelligence network. (
