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Saturday,
November 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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MAJITHIA MEMORIAL
LECTURE Dewan Gajendra Kumar (President, Dyal Singh College Trust Society) with Kuldip Nayar (MP) at the Dyal Singh Majithia Memorial Lecture organised by Dyal Singh College in the Capital on Friday. Sonia’s
clean chit unjustified: BJP Relief camp cards
voter ID documents |
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BJP campaign from today Bill
debarring convicts from poll tabled
President to present Colours to Coast Guard NORTH INDIA IN
PARLIAMENT Special drought relief prices Faulty
spares to be blamed: Russian expert Row over
SAARC meeting continues Stop
terror for talks with India, Russia asks Pak George rubbishes Dhaka’s claim SC
questions trial of Hinduja brothers Season
of French events from Feb
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MAJITHIA MEMORIAL LECTURE New Delhi, November 29 The inaugural lecture, organised in memory of the late “great nobel sardar,” witnessed faculty members, students, alumni, karamcharis and members of the Dyal Singh Trust converge on the college amphitheatre to mull over Solutions to the Jammu & Kashmir problem. Recollecting personal accounts with Indian and Pakistani leaders, Mr Nayar brought forth in-built conflicts in the process of a dialogue, which emanated from Pakistan’s reluctance to create a “conducive environment”. He said: “Shabaz Sharif, former CM of the Punjab province in Pakistan, had suggested to his then counterpart in India, Mr Parkash Singh Badal during Mr Vajpayee’s visit to Pakistan to keep Ladakh and Jammu while relinquishing the valley to Pakistan owing to its Muslim character. Mr Badal did not seem it appropriate to react but I had told him that we will not let a part of India secede just like that.” In his opinion, the call for the trifurcation of the region were blasphemous. He said: “The area is one integrated region, the religious constitution of the population should have no bearing on a solution. We need to approach the region as one entity.” He did admit that the only solution lay in an amicable dialogue. He also highlighted the need for the Centre to empower people of the region through devolution of powers and greater autonomy for the region. Earlier, the Guest of Honour, Mr Dewan Gajendra Kumar, President of Dyal Singh College Trust Society, paid homage to the greatness of the “true Punjabi”. He asked students to emulate the qualities of Dyal Singh Majithia, founder of the college. He said: “The founder of this college was a great scholar and gentleman who also took active interest in political activities without actually getting involved.” “The establishment of the two trusts and the stature that they enjoy in society even in the current context is a testament to his character, from which the trust draws its character,” he said. The function concluded with a vote of thanks by the Principal of Deepak Malhotra Dyal Singh College (evening), and the presentation of mementos to the guests by him and Dr D. Jagannathan, his counterpart for the morning college. |
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Sonia’s clean chit unjustified: BJP New Delhi, November 29 Briefing newspersons, the BJP Parliamentary Affairs Party spokesman Mr V.K. Malhotra, said the party had no objection to her going there but giving a clean chit before even visiting the place was not justified. On her lecture at the Oxford Islamic Centre, Mr Malhotra said she could have discussed with the government the antecedents of the Centre. “It is not government’s duty to tell a person where to go. She could have had informal consultations with the government before taking the decision,” he said. Underlining that the Congress by saying that it would bring out a White Paper on Godhra if elected to power in Gujarat, Mr Malhotra asserted Godhra had now become an election issue. “When you say that Godhra is not an issue in the elections and later talk of the White Paper on it, then why not Godhra be an election issue,” the BJP spokesman said. He said the Congress manifesto for Gujarat Assembly poll said special courts would be set up for trying those responsible for post-Godhra riots. “This is like rubbing salt on people’s wounds in the state,” Mr Malhotra said. On the J and K detenues’ issue, he said though the Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had declined to talk to Mr Arun Jaitley, the Centre’s
interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir, he should tell the Centre what he wanted to talk and with whom. “Does he want to talk of releasing terrorists or ending terrorism in the state?” Mr Malhotra asked. “As far as autonomy is concerned, there is no question of reverting back to pre-1953 status in the state,” he
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Relief camp cards voter ID documents
New Delhi, November 29 Issuing the list of the 21 alternative documents here this evening, the commission said these were passports, income tax identity (PAN) cards, driving licences, service identity cards issued to Central and state Government employees and to those of their undertakings, bank/kisan/post office passbooks (accounts opened on or before November 1, 2002), ration cards issued prior to November 1, 2002, SC/ST/OBC certificates issued by competent authority, student identity cards, property documents such as “pattas” or registered deeds and arms licences. Also among the approved list are conductor licences issued by the transport authority, pension documents, ex-servicemen’s widow/dependent certificates, railway/bus passes, certificate of physical handicap, freedom fighter identity cards, domicile certificates issued by government, identity cards/ house allotment letters issued by slum clearance board up to October 31, 2002, and certificate of residence.
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BJP campaign from today
New Delhi, November 29 Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will address election rallies in two phases on December 5 and 7, for which the venues have not yet been decided. Mr Advani will campaign in Rajkot and Bhuj towns tomorrow, while Mr Naidu will address meetings at Vadodara and Anand. Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi will address election meetings at Surat and Bharuch and Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan in Dhoraji, Dwarka and Jamnagar. Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj will be in charge of the campaigns in Patan and Ahmedabad. BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley will be taking care of the campaigns in Himmat Nagar and Uma Bharti will be in charge of Jetpur, Dhoraji and Junagarh.
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Bill debarring convicts from poll tabled
New Delhi, November 29 The Representation of People (Second Amendment) Bill, 2002, introduced by Law Minister Jana Krishnamurthi, seeks to correct a legal anomaly whereby a person convicted under Section 8 (1) of the Representation of People Act (RPA) could contest election after expiry of the six-year ban period. Under the present law, a rapist convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment would remain disqualified from fighting the elections only for six years, according to the Bill. The Government also proposed to bring every punishment under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 within the ambit of disqualification as provided under now defunct Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987. Again at present, a person could be disqualified on conviction for an offence under the 1988 Act, covered under Section 8 (3) of the RPA, only if the sentence of imprisonment is not less than two
years. PTI |
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President to present Colours to Coast Guard New Delhi, November 29 The solemn ceremony of presenting Colours, one of the most inspiring moment for a force in the list of military ceremonials, will be attended by Defence Minister George Fernandes. Traditionally, Colours are carried in a slow march through the lines of troops so that every soldier recognises them and knew his rallying point in the heat of battle. They are carried in a battle in the centre of the formation and are always closely guarded by a phalanx of specially chosen officers. This honour has been conferred on the three Naval Commands and the Western Fleet of the Indian Navy. The Coast Guard, which began with two frigates and five Seaward Defence Boats in 1977, has now developed into a fulltime maritime organisation, keeping vigil over the 2.01 million sq km of India’s Exclusive Economic
Zone. |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, November 29 In the previous year, the corresponding figure stood at 40. The number of atrocities committed on SCs/STs in Haryana during 2001 were 150 while the number of cases in 2000 were 117. The minister said as per crime statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, there had been a slight increase of 0.13 per cent in the incidence of crime against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes from 29,645 cases in 2000 to 29,683 cases in 2001. With a view to preventing atrocities on SCs and STs, the state governments and union territory administrations had been requested to implement the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, in letter and spirit, the minister told the House. Financial assistance was also provided for strengthening of administrative, enforcement and judicial machinery, relief and rehabilitation of the affected persons, the minister said. Minister of State for Railways Bandaru Dattatraya informed the Rajya Sabha that the Jammu Mail and a goods train carrying fuel, were barely 500 metres apart when their drivers saw each other from the opposite directions on the same track and stopped in Hiranagar (Jammu) on October 12, 2002. The two trains stopped safely within a distance of more than 800 metres. The block instruments were not working and the trains were despatched on “paper line clear”. The Committee of Officers, inquiring into the accident concluded that it occurred due to “wrong issue of authority to proceed”, the minister said. |
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Special drought relief prices
New Delhi, November 29 Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh said in a written reply that the Government had asked the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) to recommend measures to help farmers. Proposals submitted by the CACP were under consideration, he said.
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Faulty spares to be blamed: Russian expert New Delhi, November 29 Asking the Indian military to declare what proportion of spares it bought from Rosoboronexport, Mr Komardin said he would be responsible for spares bought from his company. He, however, admitted that spares bought from his company would be more expensive as well as requiring time to deliver. This would be due to the spares being taken from current production and requiring clearance from various ministries. He made it clear that the Russian side had no problems in incorporating non-Russian equipment in equipment ordered though he warned this ‘customerisation’ could lead to differences in the final product and result in it being more expensive and taking longer time to complete, since negotiations for the parts had to be done with third parties. Mr Komardin, who was speaking at a seminar on “Indo-Russian Strategic Cooperation in the 21st Century”, organised in view of the proposed visit of the Russian President here next week, said Indo-Russian military and technical links were steadily moving from the ‘seller-buyer’ relations to those of joint designers and developers of advanced military hardware. He mentioned the prominent examples of defence cooperation as being the Sukhoi (Su-30 MKI), the T-90S tank and the cruise missile ‘Brahmos’. The first two weapons are to be now built in India under licence and the missile had been developed jointly. Mr Komardin claimed that the Su-30 MKI was one of the most advanced combat aircraft in the world today, with lethal air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, up-to-date avionics, phased array radars and vector control engines, which allowed more maneuver capacity. He said the Indian air chief had also praised the performance of the Su-30 MKI, calling its weapons delivery phenomenal. GANDHINAGAR: Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy said on Friday that recent mishaps involving IAF aircraft were mainly due to technical problems. Talking to reporters here, he said the crashes of Jaguar and MiG aircraft were just “bad luck” and the inquiries revealed not so much pilot error as technical snags. “The assistance of the British air force has been sought to sort out the technical snags in the Jaguar aircraft”, he said. He said in the past eight months, IAF personnel had
acclimatised to the weather and geographical conditions on the international borders, learning valuable lessons of endurance and maintenance of equipment.
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Row over SAARC meeting continues
New Delhi, November 29 But his statement was virtually contested by an External Affairs Ministry spokesman who stated that the dates of the summit were yet to be finalised. He said he was not aware if any formal invitation had been extended by Pakistan to Mr Vajpayee. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry today asserted that it would not countenance any pre-conditions from any quarters merely to ensure their participation in the summit. The statement was obviously referring to National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra’s comments in an interview that it would be “very difficult’’ for Mr Vajpayee to visit Islamabad in the absence of any “substantive progress’’ in the SAARC agenda.
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Stop terror for talks with India,
Russia asks Pak New Delhi, November 29 The Russian Ambassador to India, Mr Alexander Kadakin, said today that Moscow was not going to mediate between the two hostile neighbours, though it would be ready to facilitate dialogue between India and Pakistan. Mr Kadakin said Pakistan should deliver on the promises it had made to the international community about putting a permanent end to cross-border terrorism and infiltration. |
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George rubbishes Dhaka’s claim
Bangalore, November 29 Responding to Dhaka asking New Delhi to provide “credible evidence”, Mr Fernandes told reporters here: “We not only have intelligence information but also human evidence in the sense that our border security forces in that area and media persons covering that area have personally told me about the Al-Qaida elements in Bangladesh”. Bangladesh had yesterday rejected India’s charge that its territory was being used by Pakistan’s ISI and Al-Qaida for anti-India activities. He said it was only expected that Dhaka would deny it. “No body expects anyone to say that... yes.. yes... we have them (ISI and Al-Qaida) in our territory. They (India’s charge) are contradicted. That was expected”, said Mr Fernandes, who earlier attended a function organised at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited here. Asked if incidents such as an attack on the Raghunath Temple at Jammu suggested that Pakistan was stepping up cross-border terrorism, Mr Fernandes said cross-border terrorism was in the same mode as it was earlier. “There isn’t any stepping up nor any reduction,” he said.
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SC questions trial of Hinduja brothers New Delhi, November 29 When senior advocate Ram Jethmalani requested for an early hearing of the CBI appeal against the High Court order, a three-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice, Mr G.B. Pattanaik, observed that staying the High Court order and allowing the trial to continue amounted to allowing the appeal right at the initial stage. The Bench, also comprising Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice Arun Kumar, felt that the trial should be stayed at the right earnest but agreed to hear the matter in detail on Monday when the CBI counsel, Mr A.D.N. Rao, said the stay order was passed by the apex court after hearing all parties.
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Season
of French events from Feb New Delhi, November 29 Giving details of the event a week before leaving for his next diplomatic assignment in Japan, Ambassador Bernard de Montferrand said, “We also plan to have an economic rendezvous to give a new impetus to economic relations. We will concentrate on some areas where Indian and French professionals can work to mutual benefit.” The Ambassador also announced a plan to set up a French tourist office in India in the coming year. He said the maximum number of foreign tourists who came to India were from France. “About 75,000 French tourists come to India every year.” He said Mr Raffarin would address Indian trainees of Franco-Indian companies and scholarship holders of the French Government in France. Mr Montferrand said although names of the visiting ministers would be confirmed only in early January, the ministers of Culture, Equipment (Transport), Small and Medium-Sized Companies, Aeronautics, Agriculture and Education were expected to participate in the French season. The Ambassador said interaction between French businessmen and decision-makers in India was imperative for economic progress. “We want them to update their knowledge about India — to see the India that we see — the new India on the move. It would also help Indian partners know what is the preoccupation of the French investor,” Mr Montferrand said. The Ambassador said France would invite Indian businessmen and professionals to discover its art of living, particularly in the luxury and gastronomy sectors, its expertise in the field of communication technology, the performance of its agro-industries, the perspectives of cooperation in civil and defence aeronautics, its know-how in biotechnology, its experience in the field of environment management, water and waste management and its experience in the field of energy. Mr Montferrand also unveiled a logo designed for the event by French artist Colrat. It projects the smiling face of an Indian woman wearing tri-coloured dots on her forehead in the order of colours in the flag of France. The Ambassador said the event would also witness seminars and exhibitions in Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata. He said the French Prime Minister would visit Bangalore where a strong French presence is expected at the Aero India show. He said France was also keen on developing an intellectual dialogue with India. “We love discussion and debate. A world without debate is a world which lacks democracy and diversity. We plan to have a seminar on Andre Malraux, a very important French intellectual who had a special
relationship with India and was always asking questions,” Mr Montferrand said. |
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