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Wednesday,
June 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Advani
leaves for Spain to ink treaty Steps to
cut N-risk proposed Cong
leadership peeved at ‘dictatorial’ Hooda Kalraj may
continue as BJP chief ‘Time’
report on PM malicious: BJP Dons
engineer mutiny in Bihar jails UNCTAD
paints grim picture |
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Army
reschedules training courses Move to
bifurcate Rlys opposed Scholarship
scandal
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Advani leaves for Spain
to ink treaty New Delhi, June 18 The Bilateral Extradition Treaty was initialled in June 2001 after more than seven years of discussions. A Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between India and Spain would also be signed during the visit. The treaty was recently finalised at the official level. During his stay in Spain, Mr Advani will meet the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Interior Minister, Mr Mariano Rajoy Brey and Mr Angel Acebes Paniagua, Minister for Justice. India has already signed the Extradition Treaty with 11 countries (Belgium, Bhutan, Canada, Hong Kong, Nepal, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, the UK, the UAE and the USA) and has also signed Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties in Criminal Matters with 13 countries (Canada, Russia, Switzerland, the UK, the UAE, Uzbekistan, Turkey, France, Kazakhastan, Kyrghyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and the USA). Enhancing bilateral cooperation on fighting international terrorism and related issues are also likely to be discussed during the visit. Both India and Spain have been victims of terrorism for a long time. Spain has supported the Indian initiative on the UN comprehensive convention against international terrorism. During EU Presidency, three major terrorist organisations operating in India, viz the Lashkar-e-Toiba, International Sikh Youth Federation and Babbar Khalsa International were included in the EU list of proscribed organisations. |
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Steps to cut N-risk proposed New Delhi, June 18 The nuclear risk-reduction measures (NRRMs) proposed by MIND include non-deployment of nuclear weapons, keeping nuclear warheads separated from delivery vehicles (missiles and aircraft) and disassembling bombs or warheads by removing their nuclear cores. The peace organisation has demanded that leaders of India and Pakistan come to the negotiation table to
discuss NRRMs for the safety and security of their citizens. MIND activists said their position had been endorsed by several organisations, including Women’s Initiative for Peace in South Asia (WIPSA), Saheli, Corpwatch-India, INSAF (Indian Social Action Forum), PEACE (Popular Education and Action Centre), Movement Against Nuclear Weapons (Tamil Nadu) and Muslim Women’s Conference (Delhi). MIND has warned that India and Pakistan’s eyeball-to-eyeball military confrontation highlights the special danger of a catastrophic nuclear conflict breaking out in South Asia. |
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Cong leadership peeved at ‘dictatorial’ Hooda New Delhi, June 18 Sources said AICC general secretary Mohsina Kidwai, who was in charge of Haryana, had not yet confirmed whether she would attend the June 21 rally that the Haryana Congress was organising in the national capital to highlight the “failures of the Chautala government and the atrocities committed on farmers.” Haryana Congress leaders also planned to meet President K.R. Narayanan to give him a memorandum demanding dismissal of the Chautala government and a CBI inquiry into the incidents of firing on farmers. Ms Kidwai, sources said, was not happy over the manner in which the programme for the rally in Delhi had been finalised “without properly consulting her.” She had told the loyalists of Mr Hooda that consultation with other senior Congress leaders of the state would have led to a better response for the rally and given a message of unity. Former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal was among the leaders who had not taken part in the march so far. He was likely to come to Delhi for the June 21 rally only on the instructions of the high command. The Haryana Congress march, which started from Jind and reached Bahadurgarh today, would go to Rajghat on June 20 and culminate in a rally at Ramlila grounds on June 21. Appealing to the people to join the Delhi rally in large numbers, a HPCC statement issued on behalf of Mr Hooda and several other MLAs and state Congress leaders, however, did not mention the name of former PCC chief Birender Singh, in whose home district the farmers’ agitation started and who had lent his help during the party’s agitation. Claiming that the march had drawn an enthusiastic response, Mr Hooda demanded dismissal of the Chautala government for its “anti-people policies.” He said people were feeling cheated by the state government due to heavy taxes and inadequate supply of power and water. The farmers, he said, had not been given adequate minimum support price, the law and order situation was deteriorating and corruption had been dogging institutions like the state public service commission. Maintaining that the march had given the Haryana Congress “a sense of achievement,” Mr Hooda said there had been no violence against farmers since the march started. “The Haryana Government had entered into negotiations with the very people whom it described as anti-social elements and criminals,” he said. The state government, the PCC chief said, had followed the example of the Congress by extending financial help to families of farmers killed in the agitation. |
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Kalraj may
continue as BJP chief Lucknow, June 18 Mr Mishra is in Delhi and met the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday. He is also expected to meet the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani. Highly-placed sources in the party said the BJP leaders had asked Mr Mishra not to resign. Mr Mishra has refused to divulge what transpired between him and the leaders. “It is a routine meeting,” he told The Tribune on telephone from Delhi. It may be recalled that Mr Mishra announced his resignation while inaugurating the state executive meeting of the party on June 1. The announcement came as a bombshell. He blamed infighting among four leaders, including himself, for the poor performance of the party in the Assembly elections. Owing responsibility for his failure to unite these leaders, he decided to put in his papers. The BJP leaders took affront to the way he aired his views before the media. At that time it seemed that his resignation would be accepted. But recent political developments in Uttar Pradesh, and the way Chief Minister, Ms Mayawati, changed the decisions of the Rajnath government made the BJP leaders take notice of where the BSP leader was going and her agenda. What added fuel to fire was the incident in which two BJP leaders – Mr Lalji Tandon and Mr Om Prakash Singh – exchanged hot words at the last Cabinet meeting over the tabling of the ordinance banning private tuition. This incident again brought to the fore that senior BJP leaders are still at daggers drawn. Alarmed at these developments, Mr Shiv Kumar, personal adviser to Mr Vajpayee, held a meeting with nine senior leaders of the BJP. Mr Vijay Goel is also expected to visit Lucknow soon. These developments have even made other senior BJP leaders like former Chief Minister Rajnath Singh to ask Mr Mishra not to resign. He has even urged the national leaders not to accept Mr Mishra’s resignation as there is no one at this stage who can replace him (Mishra) as state president. A few names were floated who could replace Mr Mishra. One was that of Mr Vinay Katiyar, firebrand Hindutva leader, while the other was that of Mr Radhay Shyam Gupta. Both of them were said to be incompetent to head the state unit. “Somebody senior is required who has political acumen – which these two leaders lack,” said a general secretary of the party. This lack of choice among the leaders has proved advantageous for Mr Mishra. “He will continue and the announcement to this affect will be made soon,” said a source. |
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‘Time’ report on PM malicious: BJP New Delhi, June 18 “Such baseless and malicious news reports should be condemned by one and all... We do not have words to express our condemnation for the report,” BJP spokesman Sunil Shastri told newspersons here. Wondering how a magazine of such repute could allow such a "malicious" news report without going into the depth of it, Mr Shastri said, "such malicious reports should be prevented from publication and it is for the government to decide what action it takes against the magazine." Virtually demanding a ban on the magazine, Mr Shastri pointed out that a few years back in Singapore, such a report had appeared in a paper of repute and, subsequently, the paper was banned for three years. Asked why it took three days for the BJP to react to the report, Mr Shastri said, “we did not consider it necessary to react to a report which is absolutely baseless. However, we decided to do so as many Indian newspapers started picking it up.” Asserting that the Prime Minister is perfectly fit and hale and hearty, Mr Shastri said, "The Prime Minister has acquired such a stature that we can proudly say that he is the tallest leader and people have full faith in him." |
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Dons engineer mutiny in Bihar jails Patna, June 18 The Minister of State for Jails, Mr Ashok Choudhry, admits: “Against a capacity of 65 prisoners, nearly 650 undertrials were lodged in Gopalganj prison”. This is not an isolated case as most jails in Bihar, including the VIP Beur Jail in the state capital, have at least 10 times the number of approved capacity of prisoners lodged in these since decades. The IG (Prison), Ms Harjot Kaur, while admitting the plight of the prisoners, said: “The 11th Finance Commission has allocated Rs 12.78 crore for jails reforms in the state and that will be spent to ameliorate the conditions in jails”. The Jail Minister said that the government had already acquired land and the Cabinet had sanctioned the money for the construction of a new jail building at Gopalganj. However, the real cause of mutiny was not the poor living conditions and lack of amenities. Earlier, Ms Harjot Kaur had said that there was no case of medical neglect as Jeetan was examined by the jail doctor. “The prisoners were actually agitated over the decision of the jail administration to shift 19 inmates to some other jail for security reasons. The Jeetan case was just an immediate factor,” she had maintained. This was also the reason for the last mutiny at Chhapra jail, where prisoners had taken control of the jail, protesting against the decision to transfer six prisoners. The siege had ended after a commando operation in which six prisoners were killed. The two mutiny cases have confirmed that jails in Bihar have become virtual dens of dons who are comfortably staying in jails and operate their criminal activities from there. The common prisoners and undertrials might be facing hardships but those who “cause the mutiny” get what they want in jail, including good food, wine, even drugs and mobile phones. Often, when the jail administration or district officials want to transfer some of the notorious inmates to other jails to break the network, the trouble begins. Jail officials say that unless the justice system improves, the jails would remain overcrowded and it would be difficult to maintain discipline in accordance with the jail manual. |
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UNCTAD paints
grim picture New Delhi, June 18 The UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs) report 2002, the first analysis of poverty in all LDCs, presents a new set of poverty estimates, showing that extreme poverty in these countries has doubled over the past 30 years to 307 million. The report, released today, further notes that among the LDCs, the incidence of extreme poverty is highest in those that depend on primary commodity exports for their economic survival and development. Eighteen of the 49 LDCs, comprising 42 per cent of the LDC population, have diversified from primary commodities and have been exporting primarily manufactured goods and services by the end of 1991; 31 others continue to specialise in primary commodities, with oil being the major export of Angola, Equatorial Guniea, Yemen and (since 1999) Sudan. The report says the type of export in which LDCs specialise makes a big difference to their economic success and patterns of poverty. It is the primary commodity exporters that are being left the farthest behind in global development. In 1997-99, 79 per cent of the people living on less than one dollar a day in the LDCs were living in these countries. In 1999, the average real GDP per capital (adjusted for purchasing power) was lower in non-oil commodity-exporting LDCs than it was in 1970. While access to foreign savings, markets and technology, as well as international migration, could theoretically help LDCs break out of the poverty trap, within non-oil commodity-exporting LDCs the trap was actually being reinforced, and not broken, by international trade and finance relationships, the UNCTAD report asserted. The report notes that the ability of international trade to act as an engine of growth and poverty reduction is being short-circuited by falling world commodity prices. At the end of 2001, real non-fuel commodity prices had plunged to half of their annual average for 1979-81. The report argues that as debts build up, aid disbursements have increasingly been allocated to ensure that official debts are serviced. In this aid/debt service system, the developmental impact of aid has been undermined as the "debt-tail" has been wagging the "aid-dog". The report further argues that recent changes in the structure of global commodity markets are reinforcing the cycle of economic stagnation and pervasive poverty. This is because they are leading to higher marketing margins between producers and consumers and greater commodity price stability. |
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Army reschedules training courses New Delhi, June, 18 Reports here said not only the courses, which were earlier suspended due to the prevailing security situation, were being restarted but the process for recalling the training instructors to the major defence institutions had also been initiated. The rules for leave were also being relaxed. “Normally 30 per cent of the troops in a unit are allowed to go on leave during the peace-time... presently, leave will be permitted to 12 to 15 per cent of the troops in a unit”, the sources said. On Pakistan’s statement yesterday that it would reciprocate troops’ withdrawal by India from the border, the sources ruled out de-escalation until Islamabad took concrete and visible steps to stop infiltration and cross-border terrorism. “There is no question of de-escalation as we must see on the ground whether Pakistan is sincere about keeping its word on permanently stopping infiltration”, they added. There is a thinking in diplomatic and military circles that pressure on Pakistan must be maintained till the elections in Jammu and Kashmir scheduled for October are over. |
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Move to bifurcate Rlys opposed Kolkata, June 18 TMC leader Mamata Banerjee alleged that the decision would only serve some vested interests while the Railways would suffer heavily due to it. She said during her tenure as Railway Minister, she had abandoned the proposal after consulting the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. She alleged that Mr Nitish Kumar had revived the proposal for his vested interests. The Chief Minister, yesterday sent a protest letter to Mr Nitish Kumar and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the steps. He also sent another letter to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention. Meanwhile, MLAs in West Bengal, irrespective of their political inclinations, had decided to take a deputation to the Prime Minister and Railway Minister in New Delhi to protest against the Railways’ decision. |
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Scholarship
scandal Hyderabad, June 18 Following the exposure, the Government has initiated a series of measures to streamline procedures to prevent recurrence of such malpractices, State Social Welfare Minister J. R. Pushparaj told PTI. In the racket, unearthed over the week end, some employees of the Social Welfare Department in collusion with Pay and Accounts Office staff, had drawn over Rs 18 crore during the last few years through forged bills for post-matriculation scholarships for non-existing students.
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