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Saturday,
August 3, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Narayanan prepares for life as nonentity Bifurcation: Bengal CM to approach Centre BJP to okay Venkaiah’s appointment
today
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT More subsidy on urea transportation to HP New Delhi, August 2 The Centre has decided to extend additional transportation subsidy for decontrolled P&K fertilisers to Himachal Pradesh on similar lines as in the case of north-eastern states, including Sikkim and J&K, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. Stand-off on George issue continues
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Ministers to be present at PPCC
office
Ghana backs India’s anti-terror
fight UN Council seat: Belarus backs India Krishnamurthy joins Inter-State Council panel
Lalit Mansingh is DG Foreign Trade J&K poll
Pak’s acid
test: India EC team visits Godhra, inspects train coach 2 die in crowded WB lock-up Transporters’ stir hits life in Bihar
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Narayanan prepares for life as nonentity New Delhi, August 2 Today, by his own admission, former President K.R. Narayanan is preparing himself for life as a nonentity without any public role. “An ex-President has no role in India, except to remain away from politics,” Mr Narayanan, 82, told IANS in an interview on life after retirement. Mr Narayanan stepped down as India’s President on July 25, handing over charge to scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and shifted to a bungalow on to the tree-lined Prithviraj Road. One of his neighbours is Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani. When they shifted to the comparatively modest six-room bungalow, the Narayanans found everything in a depressing mess. “It was completely ramshackle. We did nothing in the past two days except arranging our things,” Mr Narayanan disclosed, looking relaxed on a sofa in his living room. “Now we are beginning to enjoy it.” The walls have been freshly whitewashed, the marble floor polished and objects of art carefully arranged. Purple raw silk curtains flutter on windows overlooking a huge lawn freshly laid out. The former President’s daughter Chitra, who is India’s Ambassador to Sweden, personally supervised the décor. The former first lady, Ms Usha Narayanan, who left Rashtrapati Bhavan richer by many flower varieties and little personal touches to its aesthetics, came out of the kitchen, smiling at compliments about the decor. She complained lightly how “a lot needed to be done” to make the house liveable. Her home of the past five years was a palace set in a 400-acre garden, with over 350 officers, some 200 household helps, 165 gardeners, 150 sanitary workers, 30 butlers and 15 cooks. Today, there are a few security personnel and a couple of gardeners — perhaps about a dozen staff in all. It must have come as a sharp contrast after five years in the presidential mansion. The former president shook his head. “I do not miss anything except maybe the lovely Mughal Garden, where I sometimes took a walk. Otherwise, it is just a big house. I just ignored the bigness and lived in it”. Dismissing speculations about his successor Abdul Kalam’s lack of political experience or constitutional knowledge, Mr Narayanan was encouraging. “I think things will come to him in due course. I was also not prepared for the job (of President) when I first got it. Every situation was the kind I had never experienced before in my life.” Mr Narayanan believed it was up to the person to make what he could of the post. “You have to deal with every situation on the basis of principles and convictions, and react accordingly.” He asserted that a President — even a former president — could not take strong views. “As the President, you reach the highest post of the land. You cannot take a decisive stand — you have to maintain your neutrality.” The former diplomat, journalist and economist came close to a second term as President of India. But the ruling coalition did not want him. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) never forgave Mr Narayanan for giving Congress President Sonia Gandhi a chance to try cobble together a new coalition after the Vajpayee-led government was voted out in Parliament in 1999. Mr Narayanan also proved to be more than a cipher, unlike his predecessors, living up to his vow of being a ‘working President’. Of note was his strong letter to the government, asking it to protect minorities after the gruesome burning of Graham Staines and his two sons by members belonging to the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu group linked to the BJP. He was also the first President to vote in a general election. Asked whether he was disappointed at being denied a second term — only achieved by India’s first President Rajendra Prasad so far — Mr Narayanan shrugged: “Some parties mentioned my name, that is all. “I told them you work out a consensus and then come to me, but there was no consensus.” The former President seemed to have taken the snub in his stride as he remarked: “There are no firm conventions in India. A politician is always a surprise.” He referred to his deputy, Vice-President Krishan Kant, who died on Saturday, with many believing that his fatal heart attack was triggered by his distress at not being elevated as President, breaking a precedent of the past three terms when Vice-Presidents were usually promoted to the post. “He (Kant) was almost chosen, but for the vagaries of our politics he would have been elected. I was also projected.” Mr Narayanan said he was a bit sad when Kant was passed over. “But I was happy that they chose Abdul Kalam.” Having joined the exalted league of former Presidents, Mr Narayanan said he had no definite plans yet. “After one has retired, at the age of 80, I do not plan anything. I have never planned anything in my life. I just took it as it came and most of it came as a surprise. Now I do not propose to plan anything.” He does plan to pen down his memoirs. A man who rose above a largely ceremonial post to give the government several anxious moments, will surely have a lot to write about.
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Bifurcation: Bengal CM to approach Centre Kolkata, August 2 Mr Bhattacharyya rejected Ms Mamata Banerjee’s proposal for calling an all-party meeting to jointly pressurise the Centre for reversing the bifurcation. He also refused to respond to her call for supporting Bangla Bandh on August 5, which she had called unilaterally against the bifurcation. On the contrary, he said, all steps would be taken to maintain normal life and activities in the state on that day, both administratively and at political levels. He wondered how Ms Banerjee could give a bandh call in Bengal when her target of attack was Delhi and the NDA, of which she was a partner. He hoped that the people of Bengal would not get into the trap of her political blackmail against the Vajpayee government. Incidentally, on August 5, the CPI(M) would observe the birth anniversary of Marxist patriarch Muzaffar Ahmed (known as Kakababu) at several functions in the city and a procession would be taken out in the city. The bandh would be opposed politically for ensuring normalcy in the city, said Mr Anil Biswas, CPI(M) state unit secretary. Mr Bhattacharyya said he would soon visit New Delhi and meet the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister and request them to find an amicable solution to the bifurcation issue. He was confident both would again look into the issue and find a solution. Meanwhile, the Babulal Marandi government and all political parties in Jharkhand unanimously decided to oppose the move of placing Dhanbad under the jurisdiction of Hajipur railways. The Jharkhand leaders demanded a new railway zone with its headquarter either at Ranchi or Dhanbad be set up for the larger interests of the people of backward areas of the state. On the other hand, the BJP central leadership made it clear to Ms Banerjee this time they would not yield to her pressure tactics and blackmail. BJP leaders told both Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr Lal Krishan Advani that if they still wanted Ms Banerjee to be back to the ministry, she would have to join unconditionally. |
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BJP to okay Venkaiah’s appointment
today New Delhi, August 2 The approval of the 1200-member National Council is only a formality. However, the meeting is being held to accord legitimacy to Mr Naidu’s leadership as provided in the party constitution. The National Council meets once every year and the National Executive once every three months. The party is likely to adopt a “Delhi Declaration”, a document which will encompass social, economic and political resolution aspects. The National Executive will hold a separate meeting after the National Council, the sources pointed out adding that an office-bearers’ meeting would also follow. All 230 BJP MPs, state Presidents, office-bearers, Chief Ministers and Leaders of the Opposition in the states are attending the meeting. Ever since the coming to power of the Vajpayee government, the BJP has been headed by three Presidents — Mr Bangaru Laxman, Mr Jana Krishnamurthi and now Mr Naidu — in the past three years, which is normally the term of a party President. The action plan drawn up by the new set of office-bearers proposes that each of them should devote 15 days every month to party programmes. This principle will also apply to state and district office-bearers. Priority will be accorded to visiting the areas where elections are due in October, November and in February next year. The party plans to have its own or rented offices in each district with telephones and Internet. It will lose no time to train workers at the district level and hold state party conferences. There will be a national level rally at Delhi. The party will also bring out publications on a massive scale in regional languages by way of booklets, folders, pamphlets and compact discs and hold frequent interactions with opinion-makers. Under the action plan, a new system of self-evaluation will be introduced to bring in more accountability and each office-bearer will submit printed sheets giving details of the tours, nature of programmes and suggestions to the
party. In all states, it will have brainstorming sessions to discuss “the party with a difference”. As a counter-attack, the party will compile the charges levelled by the Opposition in various regions and rebut these with facts and figures to expose the “double standards” of the opponents. There will be an aggressive strategy wherever the BJP is in the Opposition by sponsoring agitations. The plan also stresses the need to assimilate all sections of society into the party fold and enrol life members for the party’s Aajeevan Sahhogi Yojana and mobilise funds for the construction of headquarters in all states and the central headquarters. The party also came out with a 10-point “dos and don’t” code for the BJP workers in their public life. Meanwhile, Mr Naidu has also changed the presidents of the party morchas, with Maharashtra MLC Kanta Nalvade becoming the Mahila Morcha president. Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Ramapati Shastri, former Jharkhand MLA Dhutipan, Rajasthan MLA Ramzan Khan and former Maharashtra minister have been appointed presidents of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Minorities and Kisan Morchas. Party cells have also been reorganised, with Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Punj becoming the convener of the intellectual cell. Delhi lawyer Amitabh Sinha has been appointed the convener of the media cell and he would be assisted by two joint conveners, Mr Siddarth Singh and Mr Nalin Kohli. Former cricketers Kirti Azad and Shiv Lal Yadav have been appointed as the convener and joint convener of the sports cell. |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, August 2 Subsequently, the government has approved, in principle, the rates of transportation of these fertilisers to Himachal Pradesh and the notification to this effect is being issued in consultation with the state government, Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilisers Tapan Sikdar said in a written reply. The freight cost for transportation of urea to the Himachal Pradesh is reimbursed under the equated freight scheme. Larsen and Tubro and M/s Harish Chandra had submitted proposals seeking environmental clearance for setting up a MMTPA capacity plant at Chamba and Sundernagar in Himachal Pradesh, the Minister of Environment and Forest Mr T.R. Baalu, told the Rajya Sabha. In a written reply, the minister said that the proposal of Larsen and Tubro was not considered as the linked mining and forestry proposals as well as supplementary environmental information were not available for comprehensive assessment. Recently the matter has been reviewed and the company has been asked to submit complete information, including updated EIA report, for considering environmental clearance. The proposal of M/s Harish Chandra was not granted environmental clearance and the proposal returned as the proposed project site at Maloh, Sundernagar was not acceptable, the minister told the House. The Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NS-NIS) Patiala, continue to remain as an institute of national importance, the Minister of Civil Aviation Shahnawaz Hussain told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. The minister said NS-NIS was a premier institute of sports in the country. It was set up by the government in 1961 and was now part of the Academic Wing of Sports Authority of India (SAI) for coaches. Apart from conducting various academic courses, the national camps for preparing teams for different disciplines are also held at the institute. |
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Stand-off on George issue continues New Delhi, August 2 It was decided that the leaders would meet again on Monday to resolve the deadlock in view of the Opposition boycott of the Defence Minister following the Tehelka expose, sources said. The Opposition demanded that the issue be discussed in the House but this was rejected by the BJP, they said. The government suggested that the Opposition members could raise a few questions during zero hour which would be answered to by the Prime Minister. The Opposition is now expected to spell out its stance at the next meeting, the sources added. The meeting was attended among others by Mr Shivraj Patil, Mr Priyaranjan Dasmunsi (Congress), Mr Somnath Chatterjee (CPM), Mr Akhilesh Singh (Samajwadi Party) and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan. |
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Ministers to be present at PPCC
office New Delhi, August 2 Mr Hanspal, who is leaving for Punjab tomorrow to attend a function in Hoshiarpur on Sunday, said the ministers would be asked to be present at the PCC office for a few hours on working days on a rotational basis. The idea was to make it easy for the people to have their problems solved and to reduce the need of their having to make rounds of state Secretariat. The problems of those coming to the PCC office would be listed and presented to the minister concerned. The exercise, which has been approved by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, would be put in place after his return from the foreign visit. Mr Hanspal said the schedule of the ministers, detailing who would be present on which day at the office, would be drawn up soon. Such an exercise, Congress leaders recall, was also started during the tenure of Beant Singh, but it did not carry on for long. Mr Hanspal, however, said the presence of ministers would be ensured. Mr Hanspal would be in the PCC office in Chandigarh for a few hours tomorrow. A programme to mark his appointment as PCC chief would be organised on the return of the Chief Minister. Congress general secretary Mohsina Kidwai, who is in charge of Punjab, would also attend Sunday’s function at Hoshiarpur. This is the first visit of Mrs Kidwai to Punjab after she took over charge as general secretary of the state.
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Ghana backs India’s anti-terror
fight New Delhi, August 2 Talking to mediapersons about the forthcoming India visit of Ghana President J.A. Kufuor at his residence here, the Ghanian High Commissioner said he was appreciative of India’s show of restraint in dealing with Pakistan. “We have witnessed cross-border terrorist activities against India. We have followed developments on your borders with Pakistan with deep interest,” the Ghanian envoy added. He also expressed satisfaction that Pakistan had pledged that infiltration into Kashmir would end permanently and appreciated arrangements being made by India to conduct free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The Ghanian President is arriving here on Sunday on a four-day visit during which he would also be visiting Agra, Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai. Mr Oquaye pointed out that the President’s visit to India was a state visit during which he would seek Indian expertise in the fields of food security, information technology and other spheres of “appropriate and suitable” technology. The visit would focus on strengthening the bilateral relationship and concretise economic and trade relations. Mr Oquaye disclosed that Ghana was going to declare most favoured nation status for India. |
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UN Council seat: Belarus backs India New Delhi, August 2 During the visit, Mr Khvostov called on President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and handed over a personal message from President of the Republic of Belarus, Mr Alexander Lukashenko. He also called on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Minister of Defence George Fernandes, and Minister of Human Resources Development, Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi. Mr Khvostov also had a meeting at the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. |
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Krishnamurthy joins Inter-State Council panel New Delhi, August 2 Other members of the
committee are Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran, Power Minister Suresh Prabhu, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Kerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony, an official note said. |
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Lalit Mansingh is DG Foreign Trade New Delhi, August 2 Mr K.M. Sahni, Director-General, Bureau of Indian Standards, at present on leave, has been made Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture. Mr S.K. Das, Joint Secretary, Department of Space, has been promoted as Additional Secretary in the same department in place of Mr S.S. Meenakshisundaram. Mr Nirmal Singh, currently posted in Tamil Nadu, will succeed Mr K.M. Sahni in the rank of Additional Secretary under the Department of Consumer Affairs. Mr S.K. Sen, at present in the cadre, has been made Additional Secretary, Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare, in place of Mr R.K. Chandra. Mr Chandra has been made a member of the CBEC. |
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J&K poll
Pak’s acid
test: India New Delhi, August 2 A spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said the anti-national elements were using workers and cadres of various political parties for "virtual target practice". In response to a question she said India could not take on face value the statement of Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Inam ul Haq that Islamabad was interested in peaceful elections in J and K. "We are interested in deeds, not words. That is the signboard hanging at our doors," Ms Nirupama Rao, foreign office spokesperson said. |
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EC team visits Godhra, inspects train coach Godhra, August 2 The nine-member EC team had arrived in Gujarat on July 30 to assess if the present situation was conducive for the conduct of early Assembly elections, which was dissolved in mid-July. The team has split up into three groups of three members each to visit different areas. Earlier, a three-member group, led by Mr S.K. Mehdiratta, Legal Adviser to the Election Commission, also visited adjoining areas of Halol, Champaner, Lunawada, Santrampur, Kaalol and Delol. They reviewed the rehabilitation measures undertaken for the riot refugees and met several delegations. At Godhra, delegations of the BJP and the Congress, besides the refugees, met the team. UNI |
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2 die in crowded WB lock-up Kolkata, August 2 According to official report, all people arrested in various cases, were kept in the lock-up yesterday and were to be produced before a court the following day. Owing to extreme heat many of them fell ill. They wanted to come out. The duty officer, however, did not respond. The following morning, when all were brought out from the lock-up to be shifted to the magisterial court, it was found that two of them died and several others fell unconscious. |
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Transporters’ stir hits life in Bihar Patna, August 2 The Patna junction witnessed a tremendous rush in the absence of an effective alternative mode of public transport. Passengers were travelling on roofs of trains, risking their lives. The transporters are demanding immediate withdrawal of enhanced new road tax and levy of fresh taxes. The BMTF general secretary, Mr Sagirul Haque, claimed the strike had been total so far. He said commercial vehicles were also not entering Bihar. He said the strike would continue till the government withdrew the enhanced rate of road tax. He said the Bihar Transport (Goods) Association had directed its members not to book goods for outside the state.
UNI |
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