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Monday,
October 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Togadia flayed for remarks on Sonia Defence commanders’
conference starts today V.P. Singh offers to break J&K deadlock |
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No threat to my govt: Mayawati SP for alliance against BJP |
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Patna Sikhs unable to visit Nankana Sahib Punjabi council to open
US chapter Remove duty on drug imports : exporters
Salman may be chargesheeted today DD to cover entire country
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Togadia flayed for remarks on Sonia New Delhi, October 20 Congress Working Committee members Manmohan Singh, Shivraj Patil, Ambika Soni, Pranab Mukherjee, Kamal Nath, R.K. Dhawan and Natwar Singh met at the AICC to condemn Mr Togadia’s remarks. At a rally in Bhuj, Mr Togadia referred to Mrs Gandhi as “a dog from Italy.” “We must ponder as to where this debasing of political culture will lead us,’’ Mr Manmohan Singh said after the meeting. He said that the party expected that Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and BJP leaders would condemn the abusive language of Mr Togadia. Mr R.K. Dhawan said that never in the past 40 years of his life in politics had he come across such a language. Mr Pranab Mukherjee said that the party took political criticism in its stride as part of a democratic functioning, but it could not tolerate such aberrations. “It is not a question of an individual. But what type of culture is this?” he said while referring to Mr Togadia’s language. Mr Mukherjee said that not only the political class but also others should take note of Mr Togadia’s remarks and respond appropriately. Asked why the Congress was responding to the remarks of Mr Togadia who was sometimes ignored by the BJP, Congress leaders said that Gujarat was heading for a poll and it was undesirable that elections were fought in this manner. In separate statements, Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Arjun Singh, Natwar Singh said that no words were strong enough to condemn the outrageous assertions of Mr Togadia. Mr Ashwani Kumar, MP from Punjab, said Mr Togadia’s remarks would drive the last nail in the political coffin of the Sangh Parivar which was the self-claimed champion of India’s culture. He said that Mr Togadia and those who derived sustenance from his words had shown that the country’s political culture and values stood devalued as never before and the nation must give a befitting reply. Youth Congress activists staged a dharna outside the VHP office in R K Puram yesterday during which its president Randeep Singh Surjewala and some activists were taken into custody by police after a mild lathi charge. The Youth Congress leaders detained by police near the VHP office included its general secretaries Kuljeet Singh Nagra, Anil Bhardwaj, Jagat Singh and Jiten Prasad and spokesman Rajiv Gambhir. Congress secretary Satyajit Gaekwad said that Mr Togadia’s remarks reflected his frustration at failure to communalise the situation in the country. “The people have rejected the communal politics of the likes of Mr Togadia,” Mr Gaekwad said. |
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Defence commanders’
conference starts today New Delhi, October 20 The conference will be inaugurated by Defence Minister George Fernandes. Official sources said the meetings of the Air Force and Army commanders will last five days while Navy Commanders will meet for three days. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will address the Combined Commanders Conference on October 23 at which he is likely to speak about India’s security concerns and the circumstances under which Government decided to withdraw the troops from the border after 10 months of deployment in the wake of the December 13 terrorist attack on Parliament House. The Combined Commanders Conference will also be addressed by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, besides the Defence Minister. The meeting will chalk out various logistical and operational matters pertaining to the pullout of over 4,00,000 troops from the International Border to peacetime locations as instructed by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday, the sources said. The redeployment of forces from the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat would take between two and six weeks. The task of moving back men, heavy artillery and tanks back to their peacetime bases would depend on the availability of rolling stock and other logistical support. Mines that had been laid during Operation Parakram would have to be de-activated before the charge is handed over to the
BSF. Besides, railway wagons and rolling stock will have to be mobilised to bring back the men and material. |
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V.P. Singh offers to break J&K deadlock Varanasi, October 20 Mr V.P. Singh said he had held talks in this regard with the PDP chief, Mr Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, recently. “It is the responsibility of both Congress and the PDP to form a popular government in Jammu and Kashmir as early as possible”, he told reporters here. He appealed to both parties to rise above the party lines and form a popular government in Jammu and Kashmir in the interest of the country and the people of the state. He praised the people of Jammu and Kashmir for strengthening the democracy by participating in the elections in large numbers. Mr V.P. Singh, who is the convener of the Kisan Morcha, asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to enact a law to enable the sugarcane growers to sell their produce to those mills which were ready to pay fair price for their produce. “At present, sugarcane growers are like bonded labourers of the mills,” he alleged. Mr V.P. Singh demanded that the Centre should issue a White Paper on disinvestment policy. He said the Kisan Morcha would soon launch a movement to raise the problems faced by the farmers all over the country. He alleged that the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, had lost control over his office, which had become a symbol of
corruption. PTI |
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No threat to my govt: Mayawati Lucknow, October 20 “The coalition government in the state is running smoothly and there is no threat to it from any quarter”, she told reporters in an informal chat at Amausi Airport where she had gone today to see off the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, who left after cutting short his two-day visit to the city. She termed the Samajwadi Party President, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s claim that dissidents had got in touch with him to topple her government as a “wild imagination”. Mr Yadav had said yesterday that the dissidents had contacted him but he would not take the initiative to topple the government as it would fall under its own weight.
PTI |
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SP for alliance against BJP New Delhi, October 20 “A grand alliance of secular parties is needed to prevent the BJP from coming back to power. Being the largest opposition party, it should be the endeavour of the Congress to take along other parties”, party general secretary Amar Singh told newspersons on the sidelines of a function here. Emphasising that his party was interested in an alliance with the Congress, he said the party was already holding talks with senior leaders of the Congress on the issue. |
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Patna Sikhs unable to visit Nankana Sahib Patna, October 20 Every year Sikhs from Bihar and Jharkhand participate in great numbers in the anniversary functions at the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara. However, for the past three years in a row, the growing tension between India and Pakistan has affected the flow of thousands of Sikh polgrims. The ‘Parbandhak’ of Takht Harmandar Sahib here in the Patna City, Mr Mahendra Singh said “Every year in August we get a letter from the Union Home and Foreign Ministers on pilgrims wanting to visit Pakistan. This year it has not arrived so far”. This in effect means that the pilgrimage is most likely to be cancelled even this year. Mr Mahendra Singh said: “The birth anniversary functions of Guru Nanak Dev start on November 19 and pilgrims usually start their journey 20 days before”. The formalities start in August and so far no communication has been received by Harmandar Takht Parbandhak Committee from ministries concerned. The Sikh community here believes that the governments of the two countries must ensure that issues like pilgrimage and other cultural exchanges are made irrespective of any tension. An old Sikh here said: “We visit Nankana Sahib every year. This is the third year in a row that they are not being allowed to visit the holy place. The Sikhs have visited Nankana Sahib through all ups and downs in the Indo-Pak relations and never felt threatened. Why should the government become a stumbling block? The Sikhs here feel the Union Government has not done enough to make the Nankana Sahib pilgrimage a smooth affair.
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Punjabi council to open
US chapter New Delhi, October 20 The council launched its website www.icpunjabis.com here today in view of its expansion programmes all over the world, with its chapters in the UK, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. The website was
inaugurated by Mr Autra Singh Autopins, Chairman Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, at a function here today. The website will help Punjabis all over the world to know more about the activities of the council, to take legal assistance and help provide matrimonial alliances. The general secretary of the council, Mr Pushpinder Singh, said there would be a special page on the website highlighting the achievements of Punjabis all over the world. He added that depending on the person’s contribution there would be a page on “Punjabis of the week”. This page will be updated every Monday and at the end of the year 52 of these personalities will be featured in a book. |
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Remove duty on drug imports : exporters New Delhi, October 20 The scheme was withdrawn last year. In a letter to Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, through the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA), the exporters said unless the government took immediate action in this regard, the aim of attaining 1 per cent share of global trade in the shortest possible time would remain only a slogan. IDMA said though the DEPB scheme, under the Exim policy, had been the most successful and widely used instrument for promoting exports, the levy of SAD on imports had severely affected the competitiveness of Indian exports. Although the imports under the DEPB scheme were exempt from SAD levy till March, the exemption had been subject to the element of an additional duty being debited from the DEPB licences since April this year. As a result, the premium on the sale of DEPB licences, which was being generated by the SAD exemption factor, had declined from 110 per cent or more to about 95 per cent, IDMA said. |
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Kalam asks students to build nation Dehra Dun, October 20 Speaking at the 67th Founders Day of The Doon School here yesterday, Dr Kalam said the students should strive to build the country so as to bring it on a par with the G-8 nations. “Education brings creativity in young minds and is the best thing which can happen in the lifetime of any human being. If you do not dream, you will not have thoughts and hence there would be no action”. He urged the students to commit themselves for bringing the nation forward. “We have to transform India from a developing nation to a developed country bringing it on a par with the G-8 nations”. Later, speaking at the centenary year celebrations of the MKP College, Dr Kalam said schools should promote science and technology education for the development of the nation. Earlier in the day, Dr Kalam unveiled the foundation stone of the Uday Shankar Academy for Dance and Music at Falsima in Almora. He also visited and flagged-off a mobile van of the Mobile Clinic and Research Centre, a joint project of the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) and the Uttaranchal Government. Present on the occasion were Uttaranchal Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Jagmohan (at Almora), Minister of State for Science and Technology Bacchi Singh Rawat, Uttaranchal Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari, former Chief Minister Nityanand Swami, Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari and
MLAs. |
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Salman may be chargesheeted today Mumbai, October 20 District and Sessions Judge P.V. Bavkar had on October 16 rejected the bail plea of the actor on the grounds that he might tamper with the evidence. The judge upheld the contention of special public prosecutor R.V. Keni that Salman, if released on bail, might tamper with the evidence as he was “economically influential”. The Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate had on October 14 remanded Salman in judicial custody till October 21 on the premise that the charges levelled against him under section 304 of the IPC could only be “exclusively tried’’ by the Sessions Court.
UNI |
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DD to cover entire country Gorakhpur, October 20 Addressing officials of Doordarshan and AIR after ‘bhoomi poojan’ of the new studio building of Gorakhpur Doordarshan Kendra in the Raptinagar area, constructed at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore, Mr Bais said Doordarshan and AIR were not just media of entertainment. “They have to perform various other responsibilities as public broadcasting systems. They are a source of entertainment as well as education for the people,” he said. He said
Doordarshan, earlier, could not reach 2 per cent of the remotest areas in the country due to “shadow effect’’. “But now the ground work was almost ready and it would soon cover 100 per cent area of the country.” The minister further said since FM had become more popular in the Mahanagar areas, the government had decided to spread its network to other parts of the country as well. FM would soon start from
Gorakhpur, he added. UNI |
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