 |
Saturday,
September 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Crucial CCD meeting today Sonia mum on foreign origin issue Naval Chief’s US visit to boost
cooperation |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Pilots’ body threatens to stop Patna
flights Kalam breaks cordon to meet
kids Lanka failed state:
Swamy Amend statute to ban cow slaughter:
Advani Advani opens
website 8 die as bus hits
train Centre to issue ID cards to citizens Symposium focuses on
milk quality Jet Airways takes lead on cargo facility
|
|
Crucial CCD meeting today New Delhi, September 6 The crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) is scheduled for tomorrow evening. Hours before the CCD meeting, an informal meeting, to be chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, will be held ostensibly to iron out differences within the government on the issue. The informal meeting, convened by the Prime Minister and scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow, will be attended by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Defence Minister and NDA Convener George Fernandes, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik. Mr Naik, who returned from Brazil today after attending the World Petroleum Congress, is understood to have armed himself with a 20-minute presentation against divesting government equity in HPCL and BPCL. While Mr Naik is expected to unveil the details of the presentation during the CCD, sources said the issues were likely to come up for discussion during the informal meeting of the core group as well. The run-up to the crucial CCD meeting has been powered with arguments for and against divesting government stake in HPCL and BPCL. While Mr Shourie has minced no words in hitting out against those who are opposing the proposed disinvestment move, Mr Fernandes has expressed reservation on the issue citing strategic and security concerns. “The difficulty is that in a fragile and fractured policy and legislature, squalls of this kind can make all the difference. The disinvestment programme has run into a spot”, Mr Shourie said, adding that any delay at this stage could derail the disinvestment calendar which had been worked out earlier. Mr Fernandes, on the other hand, has expressed serious misgivings over the strategic sale route on the premise that it can give rise to private monopolies which can be dangerous for the overall security paradigm of the nation. The run-up to the CCD has seen a series of meetings between several leaders. The Prime Minister had convened a meeting of Mr Shourie and Mr Fernandes on Tuesday while Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani was closeted for an hour with Mr Fernandes to allay the NDA convener’s apprehensions. Meanwhile, the RSS has opposed the government’s disinvestment policy, saying that oil is in the strategic sector and should remain under state control. “It (oil) is a strategic sector. It should be under government control,” RSS spokesman M.G. Vaidya told reporters. |
|
|
Sonia mum on foreign origin issue New Delhi, September 6 Mrs Gandhi, who met mediapersons on the sidelines of a function to commemorate achievements of Madhya Pradesh in water management, said she would not talk about politics. “I don’t think I like to comment,’’ she said in response to a question on Ms Jayalalithaa’s remarks. Mrs Gandhi indicated that she would visit Jammu and Kashmir for campaigning in the second week on October. Mrs Gandhi has not spoken on the foreign origin issue though all senior Congress leaders, including 14 party Chief Ministers, have blasted Ms Jayalalithaa for trying to rake up a issue “settled long back by the courts.” Mrs Gandhi released a book, “Malwa ki Sanskritik Virasat evam Paryavaran,” written by Madhya Pradesh minister Subash K. Sajotia. In his welcome address, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh said success in achieving targets set for the Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Mission had been assured in places where the people themselves had come forward in creating a people’s movement for water conservation. He said the watershed mission had created environmental security and food security in graded and dry land areas by improving farm output and income of the poor. Mr Digvijay Singh said the watershed mission had grown to become the country’s largest watershed development programme and was currently operational in 7,600 villages covering 34.38 lakh hectares.
|
|
Naval Chief’s US visit to boost
cooperation New Delhi, September 6 The Naval Chief’s visit will also further boost the cooperation between the two navies. The Chief of Naval Staff told mediapersons here today that he would hold a series of talks with top US defence officials and also try to arrive at negotiations on major naval projects during the visit. The Naval Chief termed as “very major and crucial” the carrying out of joint Indo-US navy Malabar series of exercises towards the end of this month and early October. “This will be very crucial from India’s point of view”, he noted. He said the Navy would have some major inductions in the coming months, including Krivak missiles from Russia. “The first of the three missiles are expected to reach by this month-end and the other two — Talwar and Trishul — will come in at around six months interval of each other”, he added. He said the Scorpion submarine, using French technology, would be another major induction to boost the Naval forces in the country in a few months’ time. “Besides two other major indigenous aircraft carriers are being inducted on a high-priority basis”, he added. The Naval Chief said the Indian Navy was getting modernised fast and inducting new technologies in its endeavour to fight global terrorism. He said about 30-50 warships, including US and British task force, were present in the Arabian Sea as part of the operation “Enduring Freedom”. |
|
Indo-US naval exercises in
September New Delhi, September 6 A Delhi class destroyer, a Godavari class frigate and a Shishumar class submarine will join two US destroyers of the Ticonderog and Spruance classes and an SSN submarine in surface, sub-surface and air exercises. Maritime reconnaissance aircraft from the two navies will also participate. New Delhi, September 6 The expedition was flagged off by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh at a simple ceremony here today. A team of nine members, led by Lt-Cdr Satyabrata Dam, would leave on September 14 and was expected attempt the summit in mid-October before winter set in. The other members of the team are Lt-Amit Pande, deputy leader, Lt-Cdr Vombatkere, Lt Prashant Srivastava, Lt K.S. Balaji, Lt P.S. Anand, Lt Amit Rajora, Rak Kumar and Anirban
Chowdhury. |
|
Pilots’ body threatens to stop Patna
flights Mumbai/Patna, September 6 Indian Airlines pilots who are members of the ICPA have undertaken a signature campaign to stop flights to Patna ‘due to unsafe operational conditions and have warned that in the near future it will be forced to stop operations’. Though the runway is 6,900 feet long, the effective length available is only 5,500 feet owing to tall trees on one side and high tension electricity wires on the other, resulting in the threshold (landing spot) being displaced, the ICPA said in a statement here today. Pointing out the difficulty during landing, the ICPA said with a full load of 145 passengers in an A320, pilots were left with no margin, making it necessary for them to ‘duck under’ (a landing technique used) to do a spot landing. The airport controversy was triggered by the threat of the Union Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain to the state government on Wednesday that the airport would be “closed any day as it is the most unsafe airport in India”. The state government on Thursday accepted the demand of the Airport Authority of India and agreed to provide one acre on the fringes of the airport that was hindering the runway expansion programme. The land was deemed essential for funnel length, adjacent to the runway. The Forest Minister, Mr Jagadanand Singh, however, said. “The land acquisition near the existing airport for runway expansion cannot solve the safety aspect of flights here. The airport should finally be shifted out of the state capital. He said, “We cannot permit the cutting of 2,500 trees of the zoo as it is the ‘Lung of Patna’. We have trimmed the trees and as the trees do not hinder the flight path, the Union minister has no reason to complain.” |
|
Kalam breaks cordon to meet
kids Bhopal, September 6 Inaugurating the National Judicial Academy here yesterday evening, he said: “All of us have to work hard and do everything to make our behaviour civilised to protect the rights of every individual. That is the very foundation of the democratic values, which, I believe, is our civilisational heritage and is the very soul of our nation”. Affirming that every citizen in the country had a right to live with dignity, he said the judiciary was the guardian of civilised life and could not be a mute witness to the devaluation of life by anybody. President Kalam earlier broke the security cordon at a function to mingle with schoolchildren. During the programme on the presentation of People’s Education Act, 2002, the President could not resist the temptation of interacting directly with the children. Mr Kalam spoke to the children in his usual inimitable style who asked him if he could still spare time to do research work. He said his research work was still on and that he was able to find time for it. President Kalam’s visit, meanwhile, has left Bhopal gas victims euphoric. The President cut short the ceremonial inaugural function at Bhopal Memorial Hospital to spend some time with patients there. Victims’ organisations had appealed to the President not to visit the hospital and it was paying more attention to those with money. The state-level Gas Relief Advisory Committee headed by Chief Minister Digvijay Singh and comprising several official and non-official members, submitted to the President last night a memorandum seeking, among other things, the dissolution of the hospital trust. Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan convener Abdul Jabbar, who is also a member of the committee, said over the telephone he was very happy that the Chief Minister had come round to accepting the demands of the victims. |
|
Lanka failed state:
Swamy New Delhi, September 6 Asserting that the Sinhala overwhelming majority in Sri Lanka had sequentially destroyed the island nation concept by sticking to an outdated unitary Constitution and systematically deprived the Tamil minority their fundamental rights, Mr Swamy in a statement here observed that “now having failed to suppress the aspirations of the Tamil for equality, the Sinhala leadership is reaching behind the democratic Tamil leadership and to shake hands with the terrorist LTTE.” |
|
|
Amend statute to ban cow slaughter:
Advani New Delhi, September 6 “Article 48 of the Constitution should have been more comprehensive in its scope...and the situation today would have been substantially different had it fully addressed the issue of cow slaughter,” Mr Advani said while inaugurating a two-day conference and exhibition on the usefulness of the cow in the economy of the nation at the Indian Institute of Technology here. Highlighting the need for such a ban, the Deputy Prime Minister said it was reverence and faith which was most essential for having such a law. Citing Article 48, he said it had spelt out that the state shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall take steps for preserving and improving the breeds as also for prohibiting the slaughter of cow and calves and all milch and draught animals. |
|
Advani opens
website New Delhi, September 6 With the launching of the website, it will not be necessary for data users to have expensive GIS software and special skills for generating thematic maps, demystifying spatial data presentation. Currently, it is being put in the public domain free of cost and will be available at the click of the mouse. |
|
8 die as bus hits
train Kolkata, September 6 The pilgrims were on their way to offer puja at the Kali temple at Kalighat, south Kolkata, which is located near Trinamool Congress leader, Mamata Banerjee’s residence. After the accident, the gang man on duty at the level crossing fled. But a group of angry people attacked the Station Master with stones and bricks. Some of them entered the room and ransacked the office. The situation was, however, soon brought under control on the intervention of the senior police and railway officials. According to a report, the level crossing was unmanned and kept open. As a result, the bus did not make any halt before speeding through the gate, which led to the tragic incident. The railway authorities, however, denied the charge. They claimed that the gate was closing down at the level crossing as the goods train had already came to a halt near the gate for want of signal. But the bus driver ignored the red signal at the level crossing and instead drove the bus through the gate which caused the incident. The injured persons were admitted to local hospitals. Senior police and railway officials rushed to the spot. An inquiry was ordered by the railway authorities into the accident. |
|
Centre to issue ID cards to citizens New Delhi, September 6 The scheme when fully implemented seeks to provide a credible individual identification system for the Indian nationals and use of the identity cards for several multifarious socio-economic benefits and transactions within and outside the government. A meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Kamal Pande and attended by Secretary of the States and Union Territories was held here in North Block to discuss key issues relating to the modalities for the implementation of the pilot project. |
|
Symposium focuses on
milk quality New Delhi, September 6 Experts participating in a technical symoposium on mastitis and milk quality here yesterday said that India had the potential to emerge as a major player in world exports due to inherent advantages. These included its geographical location in the midst of milk deficit countries and low-cost production due to cheap labour. The sympoisum inaugurated by Planning Commission member D.M. Tewari, focuses on mastitis, an infection in the animal’s udder which affects the milk production and its quality. |
|
Jet Airways takes lead on cargo facility New Delhi, September 6 The first of these modern warehouses was inaugurated at the Delhi airport at a cost of Rs 41.6 lakh which will have a capacity of 25 tonnes for all types of consignments, including perishables, bonded cargo and valuables. Similar warehouses are also going to be commissioned in the near future in the other key cargo generating destinations of Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Pune, Goa, Kochi, Guwahati and Coimbatore, Mr Bram Stoller, Executive Vice-President (Commercial) told reporters. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Videos
