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Monday,
November 4, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Vajpayee leaves for ASEAN summit today PM announces $ 68.5m grant for Kabul
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BJP
meeting at Nagpur put off
Prove majority, Paswan tells Mayawati Suspended ministers to move court |
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GDP growth rate pegged at 5.4 pc
Scientists
look back for the future ‘India twice lost chance to resolve Kashmir issue’ Call meeting to review water release: Gowda DIET scheme hit for want of land Akalis praise US justice
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Vajpayee leaves for ASEAN summit today New Delhi, November 3 On his five-day two-nation visit, Mr Vajpayee will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, which includes External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, for the talks with the ASEAN and its dialogue partners — China, Japan and South Korea — on Tuesday in Phnom Penh. After the summit in Phnom Penh, Mr Vajpayee will pay a bilateral visit to Laos from November 6, the first Prime Minister to visit the country after Jawaharlal Nehru went there in 1954. In the aftermath of the recent terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia, and the global fight against the scourge after the September 11 attacks in the USA, terrorism will be high on the agenda of Mr Vajpayee’s discussions. This is especially so because Mr Vajpayee, in April this year before embarking on a bilateral visit to Cambodia, in Singapore had called for the need to evolve a comprehensive security framework in the region to tackle terrorism. The Prime Minister had urged for a major consensus on the issue from all ASEAN countries for combating the menace. Much importance is being attached to the meet as India is the fourth country to have summit-level dialogue with the ASEAN, a decision taken at the ASEAN summit in Brunei in November, 2001. The Prime Minister will also hold bilateral talks at Phnom Penh with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. He will also have an audience with King Norodom Sihanouk India is keen on taking part in the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) to bring the four new members — Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia — to the level of the other six countries in the region. A major proposed Indian initiative is the grant of unilateral tariff concessions to four countries. New Delhi is
particularly interested in HRD projects, information and communication technology and railways, either on its own or with the cooperation of the other countries like Singapore and Malaysia in these countries. A task force has also been set up for preparing the framework for the establishment of a regional trade and investment area between India and ASEAN for free trade. In Laos, the Prime Minister will have bilateral talks with the President and the Prime Minister. A few agreements, including one giving credit to the country on preferential terms, will be signed. |
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PM announces $ 68.5m grant for Kabul New Delhi, November 3 Mr Vajpayee, who was briefed by Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah on progress in the economic reconstruction programmes in his country, approved the remaining $ 68.5 million dollar of the 100 million line of credit announced in February this year as a grant. During the half-an-hour meeting, there was a review of the current state of Indo-Afghan bilateral relations and an assessment of the general situation in that country,
particularly relating to political security and economy, an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said. Emerging from an hour-long meeting with Abdullah, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said the two sides discussed
India's role in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. He said they reviewed the progress of a number of projects started in that country after the interim administration headed by Hamid Karzai assumed office in December last year.
PTI |
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BJP
meeting at Nagpur put off New Delhi, November 3 The meeting has been put off to enable
the BJP leaders to campaign for next month’s Assembly poll in
Gujarat, BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in a statement
here. About 100 prominent Central ministers and party leaders have been asked to campaign for the party for seven days each in Gujarat. Meanwhile, the Central Election Committee, which met on Friday last, has authorised the Party President Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu to finalise the names of the Rajya Sabha candidates for Uttar Pradesh and to the lone byelection to the Godda Lok Sabha seat from Jharkhand. The
committee also decided not to field its candidate for the lone Rajya
Sabha seat from Uttaranchal, the statement added. |
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Prove majority, Paswan tells Mayawati Patna, November 3 Before leaving for Burh Ganjoi village in Gaya district where five dalits were killed on Friday, Mr Paswan told reporters that Uttar Pradesh Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri had now the chance to “rectify his error which he had committed in the past by not giving an opportunity to the single-largest party, the Samajwadi Party, to form government and prove its majority on the floor of the House.” Replying to a question, Mr Paswan said there was no need for imposition of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam Singh Yadav should be given an opportunity to form an alternative government, he said adding that “I hope that Congress will extend its support since it is a matter of keeping the communal forces at bay.” Mr Paswan said he was confident that the Congress and other secular parties would take a positive decision on Uttar Pradesh imbrogilio. Communal riots was on the rise ever since the NDA formed the government at the Centre, he claimed. Alleging that the Mayawati government had become synonymous with corruption, he said “If this government
did not go, the onus would fall on the Congress”. Referring to the coming Gujarat elections, Mr Paswan said the only object of his party was to defeat the BJP. He also charged the Rabri Devi government with being insensitive to the plight of dalits and demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a government job to the family members of all those killed at Burh Ganjoi village of Naxalite-affected Gaya district.
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Suspended ministers to move court Imphal, November 3 According to Mr Erabot, the question of the ‘unattached members’ can’t arise as they have not been expelled from their original party, the Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP). The two ministers were suspended by party President Chaoba Singh following the proceeding for their ‘anti-party’ activities. Mr Erabot said the Constitution did not empower the Speaker to declare any member unattached while he or she was under suspension but only after he had been expelled from the original party. They would file the case when the court opens after Divali, he added. Meanwhile, the MSCP President had written a letter to the Speaker to review his decision declaring the two ministers as unattached pointing out that the ministers were only suspended from the party and not expelled. Mr Chaoba suspended the ministers from the party on October 10 and consequently the Speaker declared them as the unattached members of the House on October 25.
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GDP growth rate pegged at 5.4 pc New Delhi, November 3 “We do not expect growth in the industry and services to be affected significantly by the declining agriculture production,” the CII’s “State of the Economy” report says. It has projected zero growth for agriculture as compared to the 5.7 per cent growth rate the previous year. “Our forecast is that the industry will grow at 6.5 per cent
and services at 7.5 per cent. Assuming agriculture to remain flat, we arrive at our GDP growth estimate of 5.4 per cent for 2002-03,” it said. The report, which based its reasoning on the steeply declining correlation between growth in the foodgrain production and the other components of Growth Domestic Product in the past 30 years, said while these correlations were 0.46, 0.32 and 09 during the period 1971-72 to 1991-92, these numbers have declined to minus 0.08, minus 0.07 and 0.51 during the period from 1991-92 to 2001-02. “This suggests that the dependence of the economy on rural growth has declined in recent times. We, therefore, assume that the industry and services will continue to show the positive trends seen in the first quarter,” it said. On the disinvestment controversy, the Confederation of Indian Industry report expressed hope that the recent postponement in the disinvestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited would not lead to a reversal of policy but simply a delay. “We at the CII are keeping our fingers crossed. It is the best that we can do,” it said. |
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Scientists look back for the future Pune, November 3 Under a project funded by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), scientists are perusing the ancient text of “Arthashastra”, the ancient Indian political handbook, to decode brilliant strategist Chanakya’s tips on warfare. “The powder of several herbs, mixed with clarified butter is a recipe against hunger, effective for a month. Shoes made of camel skin smeared with a serum made from the flesh of owls and vultures can help soldiers walk hundreds of miles during a war without feeling tired,” says the 2,000-year-old text’s 14th chapter. Penned by Kautilya, better known as Chanakya, who groomed and guided India’s first emperor Chandragupta Maurya in the 4th century B.C., the “Arthashastra” is a political treatise many historians liken to Machiavelli’s “Prince”. While 13 chapters of the treatise are written in simple language, the 14th chapter, which deals with military secrets, is written in a code. Scientists from Pune University are attempting to unlock some of those secrets as part of the year-and-half-long research project. While suspension of hunger is the focus of the first phase of study, the second phase will concentrate on enhancing the long-distance walking capabilities of soldiers without fatigue. “These are purely scientific investigations and not based on any myths,” Vikram Ghole, the principal investigator and coordinator of the project, told IANS. A biochemist by training, Ghole said: “Right now, we are concerned with postponement of hunger and we are trying to experiment in a scientific and systematic way. At present, we are trying the formulations on mice. Once we come down to statistical analysis and assess the significant differences with this preparation, we will hand it over to the DRDO, which will try it on higher levels such as monkeys, like the testing of any drug.” Others working on the project are S.L. Bodhanker, head of pharmacology, Bharatiya Vidyapeeth, S.V. Bhavsar, an expert in Sanskrit and ayurveda who is helping the scientists decode the “Arthashastra”, and two junior research fellows, Nanda Kumar, a pharmacologist, and Soumya Ghosh, a zoologist. “In chapter 14, Chanakya is secretive and has encoded these formulations because he wanted his secret means to be understood by a chosen few,” said Bhavsar. “The challenge is to pick the right things and right combinations,” added Ghole. “For instance, Chanakya has mentioned three plants but he has not mentioned whether we are supposed to use the leaves, branches, roots or bark. There is no mention of the process, proportion or the method of administering it,” he said. The project has drawn flak from some quarters, with questions raised about the prudence of investigating an ancient text in today’s technology-driven world. Countered Ghole: “When our soldier is fighting in conditions where there is scarcity of food and yet he has to be attentive and vigorous, we have to look for solutions. “Humans have a lot of reserve energy in our bodies, basically in terms of fat and proteins. If that energy is properly channelled, then a person can maintain vigour and strength and go without food for a longer time,” he contended. “We are trying to see if they (soldiers) can maintain vigour, strength and attentiveness at least for seven days. Modern substances for suppressing hunger (which people use to reduce weight) have a lot of side effects. So we should have preparations that will suppress hunger but at the same time the person should be mentally calm, maintain vigour and be attentive,” he asserted. The researchers claim they are getting good results. Said Ghosh: “The couplet mentions that the churna (powder) of three specified plants has to be mixed with clarified butter to prepare the formulation (that quells hunger).
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‘India twice lost chance to resolve Kashmir issue’ New Delhi, November 3 Expressing regrets that nobody either in India or Pakistan had been strong enough to solve the issue, Field Marshal Manekshaw claimed that way back an option had come up when Pakistani military ruler Ayub Khan had proposed to the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that as both of them were unquestionable leaders in their respective countries, they could move forward a solution of the Kashmir issue. “Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan, who, though senior to me, was a friend,” the Field Marshal told mediapersons at the sidelines of a Kargil war book release. “I saw Nehru, I told him I can do what I like in Pakistan and nobody dare say anything and Panditji, you can commit murder in India and everybody will say wah! wah! So, can we sort it out,” the former Army chief quoted the Pakistani strongman as having told him. “But Panditji said you have no right to be in Kashmir. Kashmir belongs to us,” Field Marshal Manekshaw said Ayub Khan had told him, adding, “So it could have been done then”. He said the second opportunity to solve the Kashmir issue came after the 1971 war, when the then Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, after promising to cooperate on resolving the issue to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, got away with only seeking time for it. “Bhutto told Gandhi, ‘I have just taken over from Yahya Khan. If I do anything now, they will throw me out. Give me a chance, I promise you everything will be OK.’ But he had no damned intention of ever doing anything,” he said. Asked to comment on the recent redeployment of troops from the border and whether Indian forces should have attacked Pakistan, the Field Marshal said, “These are all political matters and nothing we soldiers can do. It is a political thing.”
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Call meeting to review water release: Gowda New Delhi, November 3 In a letter to Prime Minister, Mr Gowda said the release of Cauvery waters as per the Supreme Court order had resulted in law and order problem in Karnataka. If Karnataka continued to release water as per the apex court order of November 1, the state could not save the standing crops in its Cauvery basin, he added. The agitating farmers of the Cauvery basin of Karnataka were very much concerned about saving the standing crops which was their main source of livelihood, Mr Gowda said. |
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DIET scheme hit for want of land Hanumangarh, November 3 After Hanumangarh became a district in 1994 the need to start the DIET programme here was felt. But because of non-allocation of land, the scheme is facing problems. The DIET functions include giving training under the DRU (district resources unit), work experience, planning and management (P&M), educational technology (E.T.), CMDE and IFCI in various streams. It also runs training benches for widows and illiterates etc, besides providing training and instructions to teachers. The DIET also has to supervise examinations of classes V and VIII. At present, the DIET programme in the district is being run from some other place, causing inconvenience to the beneficiaries. Chunawarch DIET is looking after the additional charge of the district, which itself has been facing a staff shortage. Five posts, including those of the Principal and Vice-Principal, have been lying vacant for quite some time. |
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Akalis praise US justice New Delhi, November 3 “Frank Silva Roque, who shot dead Balbir Singh Sodhi outside his gas station in the suburb of Mesa, was caught and charged immediately with first-degree murder. But it is unfortunate that no action has yet been taken against the authors of the anti-Sikh riots in India,” senior Akali leader Onkar Singh Thapar said at a memorial service for the riot victims in a Delhi gurdwara. Mr Harinderpal Singh, a senior member of the SGPC regretted that the BJP “too did nothing to bring the 1984 riots guilty to the book during its Central rule”.
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