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Monday,
July 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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President,
PM condole Ambani’s death
Six held
over woman’s ‘agni-pariksha’ Pakistan
may launch war in four years: report ‘Trifurcation
demand due to discrimination’ Country
divided into 16 rly zones |
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Rath
yatra scares Muslims in relief camps BJP President meets PM Krishna
writes to PM on Cauvery issue Sahgal’s
secular chant on J&K Gun deal
with Israel Co dumped Girls’ schools in bad shape
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President, PM condole Ambani’s death New Delhi, July 7 Terming his demise as sad and untimely, Mr Narayanan said Ambani’s emergence as a leading figure in the corporate world was a remarkable example, which needs to be studied in depth to highlight his important role in India’s quest for economic growth and regeneration. Mr Kant said contribution of the head of the country’s largest private business to modern India would be long remembered. He was one of the principal architects of India’s entrepreneurial renaissance. Mr Vajpayee while expressing shock over the death of the doyen of Indian industry, said “The country has lost an iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination, can achieve in his own lifetime.” The Prime Minister said not only did Ambani build a large and diversified business conglomerate but also inspired many first generation entrepreneurs with his success. The Prime Minister also deputed Minister of State in PMO, Vijay Goel, to attend the funeral of the Reliance patriarch on his behalf. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who was in Ahmedabad cut short his visit to Gujarat and flew to Mumbai after hearing of the death, consoled Ambani’s sons, Mukesh and Anil, at their residence at ‘Sea Wind’ in south Mumbai. Mr Advani said the business tycoon was an embodiment of initiative and determination and would remain an inspiration for others as he helped India make a mark in the world over. Congress President Sonia Gandhi condoled the death and deputed R.K. Dhawan to pay respects to the departed soul on her behalf. BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu said Ambani was the doyen of Indian industry who created an industrial empire which immensely contributed to the economic growth of the country. Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said his life epitomises the spirit of entrepreneurship. Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, who is leading a Parliamentary delegation to Croatia described Ambani as a shining star on the industrial map of India. Besides political leaders, Captains of Indian industry and people from all walks of life paid tributes to the business icon. Eminent industrialist R.P. Goenka said “Indian business is poorer by the loss of its star performer.” While FICCI President R.S. Lodha described Ambani as the key architect of India’s capital market, CII President Ashok Soota said his exceptional success and achievement would serve as a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs. President of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry K.K. Nohria said Ambani dreamt big and his actions and achievements measured up to his grand vision of making India a front ranking industrial nation. Arun Kapoor, President of the PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said “He was an icon of our times and the nation stands impoverished with his death”. |
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Six held over woman’s
‘agni-pariksha’ Indore, July 7 Ms Sangeeta, belonging to the Sakal Gihara (Kanjar) Samaj, was subjected to “agni-pariksha” on July 5. She wanted to visit Vaishno Devi shrine, but her husband had always turned down her request, the samaj sources said, adding that after they had some dispute over attending a marriage of her relative in Mumbai, she and her friend had left for Vaishno Devi without informing anyone. When Sangeeta returned after 11 days, her husband refused her to enter to the house, suspecting her fidelity, following which she returned to her parents’ house here, the sources said. Later, her parents and in-laws asked her to undergo “agni-pariksha” in the presence of the people and other elders. However, even after proving her fidelity, Sangeeta’s husband and in-laws refused to accept her. The decision was taken by a panchayat and the whole episode was videographed.
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Pakistan may launch war in four years: report
New Delhi, July 7 “Pakistan’s collapse seems quite likely in the middle of the decade. It can lead to an all-out war with India as it had launched in 1971 just when it was about to be dismembered on account of the agitation in east Pakistan,” the Mumbai-based private think-tank ‘International Centre for Peace Initiatives (ICPI) said in a report. “When nothing is at stake, and the institutions are likely to disintegrate, Pakistan may consider a war around 2005-06,” it said. Apart from an appropriate defense strategy, it said a diplomatic strategy will be required to reduce Pakistan’s possibility of using nuclear weapons to the minimum level. It also warned that “a collapsing Pakistan has implications for Hindu-Muslim relations in India...There are indications that ISI has directed its attention to India’s communal fabric as a part of the future strategy,” the report said, adding, “Even without a pro-active ISI role, Pakistan’s collapse can have implications for communal peace in India”. Besides official documents and medical reports from Pakistan and international institutions, the 112-page report. The Future of Pakistan — is based on interviews of “several hundred people” ranging from villagers in north west frontier province of Pakistan to business leaders in Karachi and decision-makers in Islamabad, the ICPI claimed, adding that no Indian publication has been used in the report. As the war with Pakistan “seems inevitable, it will be essential to have the population in the border areas on the Indian side. This particularly applies to Jammu and Kashmir”, the report said, maintaining that it was “essential to win hearts of the Kashmiri people by launching a package of initiatives for resolution, reconciliation and reconstruction in the state.” The ICPI report also warned of a massive inflow of refugees in the border areas “with a potential to upset the demographic balance in sensitive cities like Ahmedabad and Mumbai” and said their inflow could also provide a cover for import of terrorists. Analysing the reasons for its projections, it said President Pervez Musharraf’s “double game” of “systematic cultivating of extremists” and joining the fight against terrorism was “not tenable in the long run even though it has helped him to survive in power for almost three years”. Due to the sharpening of differences within the army and growing influence of ‘jehadi’ forces, Pakistan was heading towards “institutional and economic crisis”. At the social level, armed militants are expected to increase “exponentially from their present strength of 200,000 compared to the army’s strength of 600,000.” In addition, Pakistan was also heading towards a crisis of provincial unity due to tensions between Punjab and Sindh over water, it said, adding that in the past three years, the flow of water from Punjab to Sindh has been curtailed by 30 per cent per year on an average.
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‘Trifurcation
demand due to discrimination’ New Delhi, July 7 “There is a widespread feeling in Jammu that the region has been continuously discriminated against and its people treated as second-class citizens by all state governments, particularly the National Conference, which has been in power almost throughout since Independence,” Mr Gupta, Minister of State for Defence, said here. “Besides, every other day, there is a demand for autonomy by the National Conference, which is not wanted by the people of Jammu or of Ladakh, Kashmiri Pandits, Gujjars, Bakerwals or Sikhs,” he said, “The people of Jammu have given immense sacrifices for integration with the Union of India, while the autonomy demand seeks to loosen the state’s link with the Union,” the senior leader of the region said.
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Country
divided into 16 rly zones New Delhi, July 7 In the sixties, three more zones were created taking the number to nine. It remained constant for almost 30 years till 1996 when the then Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan created six more zones. One more zone, namely, the Bilaspur Zone, was added to this list in 1998.
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Rath yatra scares Muslims in relief camps
Ahmedabad, July 7 In fact, several camp inmates have decided to defer their return to their home preferring to see how the Rath Yatra from the temple passes off. Though most of the relief camps were wound up by authorities before the onset of monsoon, a large number of riot-affected people are still hanging on at the camps, fearing fresh bout of trouble in view of the Rath Yatra. Over 10,000 riot-hit people are still languishing in camps across the state. A PTI correspondent who visited a camp was told by its organiser that the people, who had watched their near and dear ones being killed in front of them, were still in a state of shock and did not like to go back to their homes before the Rath Yatra. They are likely to go back only after July 12 with adequate protection, he said. Organiser of Dariakhan Gummat relief camp Ataullah Khan said district authorities have decided to continue the camp and provided extra sheds to accommodate people fearing fresh violence on the day of Rath Yatra, July 12. The district authorities have so far only asked to close the relief camp but it was not possible to actually do so because the inmates are not mentally prepared to go back and face another onslaught violence. At the Shah-e-Alam relief camp, 70-year-old Fathimabibi from Naroda, who could barely escape death on February 28 a day after Godhra train carnage, was still in shock and feared returning home along with her sons and daughters. She said she preferred the stay at the camp to going back to her place. Another old widow Jutinebibi, however, favoured going back to her places with police protection but, 45-year old Mariyam Bibi from Kerala would not, as she is still haunted by the sight of her son being burnt alive in front of her. Bibi Banu from Naroda Patia, who hails from Karnataka, expressed resentment over the authorities in not providing the compensation to her for family members including her husband, who were killed in the violence. Of the 11-member family, only three are alive. Many camp inmates are reluctant to take up the repair work of their homes destroyed in riots apprehending fresh violence during Rath Yatra. Besides, lack of compensation or meagre compensation, unhygenic condition at their original homes have forced many camp inmates to return. To add to their misery was the monsoon which worsened their life in the camps which did not have adequate facilities to protect them from torrential rains. Inmates of a camp were seen sleeping on the floor even as rains continued to lash them as temporary sheds developed leaks. Some tried in vain to plug those with pieces of cloth. At the Khampur camp, the inmates spent sleepless nights with just a small shelter to protect them from rain. Some of the affected persons from Mehsana district expressed unwillingness to go back to their places in view of lack of hygiene prevailing in the villages. Those people who were taking shelter at the relief camps had moved to private or relatives’ places due to the monsoon. In Ahmedabad city, at least half a dozen relief camps are still being maintained for the affected people from Naroda, Naroda Patia, Chamanpura, Shahibaug, Shahpur, Juhapura, Bapunagar and Madhavpura, housing about 10,000 sufferers. Though the government decided to close the relief camps, the circumstances were such that the inmates did not have the alternative to return and were allowed to stay on at the camps. Amiruddin Shaikh, running a relief camp in Khanpur locality here, says about 100 people, mostly poor from hutment areas on the bank of Sabarmati river, are still sheltered at the place where there was no proper hygiene. They could not return as their huts could not be repaired because they either did not get compensation in time or the compensation was too meagre to allow to undertake the repair. A 14-year-old boy Javed Ismaile, whose parents and sisters were burnt to death in front of him, said he has not been given any compensation on the ground that he did not have the FIR. Chief organiser of the Shah-e-Alam camp Mohsin Kadri said over 3,000 inmates of the camp were still allowed to stay as they still feared insecurity and there houses remained unrepaired. On the issue of compensation for survivors of families, Kadri said he had made representation to Gujarat Governor on this issue as in many cases, the death compensation could not be given for want of an FIR and the names of those killed in the violence did not figure in the FIR.
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BJP President meets PM
New Delhi, July 7 Mr Naidu, who assumed party presidentship on July 1, is understood to have informed the Prime Minister about the steps being taken by him to revamp the party. He is expected to discuss the matter with Deputy Prime Minister and senior party leader Lal Krishna Advani tomorrow. Party sources indicated that the new BJP President is expected to announce the names of the new office-bearers on Tuesday or Wednesday. Engaged in appointing office-bearers for the BJP’s organisational set-up, Mr Naidu wants to utilise the services of some ministers for party work. This also seemed to have come up during his discussion with the PM, party sources said.
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Krishna writes to PM on Cauvery issue Bangalore, July 7 “Our hopes of a vigorous monsoon have not fructified. We have been eagerly waiting for the monsoon to come to our rescue as the position has become quite difficult”, Mr Krishna said in a letter to Mr Vajpayee, which was released to the Press. Mr Krishna said: “My government would take appropriate action in the matter soon after the position improves to enable us to release the requisite quantity of water.” He said the inflow into the four reservoirs — Harangi, Hemavathy, Krishnarajasagara and Kabini — in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka had not been encouraging. So far, it was lower as compared to the corresponding period of the past five years, he added. The total storage and the total inflow is much below even the average for the corresponding period in the past five years, Mr Krishna said in the letter following the recent conversation with Mr Vajpayee, who had urged Karnataka to release three TMC ft as a goodwill gesture. Mr Krishna said he had been continuously monitoring the position of inflow and storage in the reservoirs in the Cauvery basin and was hopeful that the monsoon would be “good enough” to enable the state to ensure adequate supply of water to the farmers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
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Sahgal’s secular chant on J&K Chennai, July 7 Such a division would “eat the basic fibre of secularism” on which the country had been built, Ms Sahgal, who was here as part of her nationwide campaign, told a press conference. She pointed out that Muslim majority of Jammu and Kashmir had decided to join India, rejecting the options of remaining a separate nation or to join Pakistan, as it thought that its interests would be protected in secular India. Describing the suggestion as not new, she said the USA had mooted it in the early sixties to get a foothold there. She said the nomination of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, father of the country’s missile programme, by the NDA, would send wrong signals to the world. When the entire world was against arms pile-up and armed conflict, electing a nuclear scientist as the country’s President would send wrong signals, she asserted. Seeking a “conscience vote” in her favour, she said “I hope they have conscience”. On the Congress’ decision to support Dr Kalam, Ms Sahgal claimed this only showed that the party was drifting away from secularism, which it “pretended” to be practising. The then Congress government at the Centre could have averted the demolition of Babri Masjid by using mild action like water cannons, but it did not do so, she claimed. Justifying her decision to contest the elections, the Left Front nominee said she had decided to enter the fray only to protect secularism and the Constitution. She said armed conflicts were not a solution to most of the present problems faced by the country and dialogue alone could be the solution. Even in Jammu and Kashmir, a solution to militancy could be found only through talks, she added. She said she was totally against “weaponisation” of the country. Money spent on arms purchase could be better utilised for eradication of poverty and unemployment, she stated.
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Gun deal with Israel Co dumped Jabalpur, July 7 The cancellation comes in the wake of the Gun Carriage Factory (GCF) of the Defence Department here successfully producing its own upgraded gun after the ones produced by Soltem developed technical problems. The new gun prepared by upgrading the 130 M M gun has been sent to the Army for test.
UNI
Girls’ schools
in bad shape Hanumangarh, July 7 Seriously viewing low literacy rate among women in July 2000, the state government had made a provision for free education for girls up to the eighth standard. Under this the girls were no more required to pay the education fee, admission fee, school leaving certificate fee and students’ fund fee. The government schools were already facing a shortage of study material and other facilities and after this decision the condition of the girls’ schools up to the eighth class and those in which girls in large numbers were studying worsened. The situation is so bad that these schools have not been able to make available funds even to pay the bills of electricity and water supply. The furniture is not in good condition and the mats are also not available in these schools. Some of the school buildings require immediate repairs but this cannot be done because of lack of funds with the schools. Not only the studies but also other activities necessary for the overall personality development are also getting affected. |
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