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Sunday,
December 22,
2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Pant warns against social
unrest Minor bureaucratic reshuffle at
Centre Cong CMs doubt 8 pc growth
rate MP Speaker pleads his innocence
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BJP executive meets
tomorrow
Modernisation plan for IAF
prepared Jaya to attend Modi’s swearing-in
CPM condemns J&K killings Couple has twins in ripe old age
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Pant warns against social
unrest New Delhi, December 21 “The most pressing issue facing us today is the rapid growth in the labour force that we are likely to experience over the next decade”, Mr Pant said while speaking at the National Development Council (NDC) meeting here today. Mr Pant said that achieving eight per cent rate of growth would require strong and coordinated effort by all Central ministries and every by state. The Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission identified three areas of concern — fiscal correction, power sector reforms and removal of inter-state trade barriers — and these were important policy imperatives for the state governments to follow. Stating that implementation of the projects held the key to achieving eight per cent rate of growth, Mr Pant said that “no matter how good the plans and programme, it can all flounder on poor implementation” and pointed out that rightsizing both the size and role of the government was critical in achieving the growth targets. He proposed to develop an incentive mechanism for the states for facilitate faster economic growth. On the sagging power sector, Mr Pant said the investment would not pick up unless profitability was increased significantly. “The financial condition of the state electricity boards not only limits their own ability to invest, but also discourages private investment”, Mr Pant said. The NDC met here to adopt the Tenth Five Year Plan which sets an ambitious target of eight per cent rate of growth besides eradicating poverty and unemployment. |
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Minor bureaucratic reshuffle at
Centre New Delhi, December 21 In a minor bureaucratic reshuffle announced today Mr R.C.A. Jain, an IAS officer of the Bihar cadre and presently Special Secretary in the Home Ministry, has been made Secretary (Border Management) in the same ministry by re-designating the post of Special Secretary currently held by him. He will continue to look after the work assigned to him at present. Mr Habibullah, presently Director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussorie, will replace Mr S. Bandopadhyay, who is retiring this month. Mr Binod Kumar, presently working as Special Director of the academy, has been promoted as Director. Mr A.M. Gokhale, presently Additional Secretary in the Environment and Forests Ministry, has been appointed Chairman of the FCI. Mr Kanwar Pratap Singh, presently Joint Secretary in the Department of Defence Production and Supplies, has been promoted as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. |
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Cong CMs doubt 8 pc growth rate New Delhi, December 21 Addressing a National Development Council meeting, the Congress Chief Ministers said the allocation of resources to the states should not be based on the “dynamics of coalition politics”but on the development potential of different regions. “Politicisation of the allocation decisions in an open economy will only be detrimental to healthy growth,” Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna said, adding that attaining 8 per cent growth was a “daunting task” considering the large fiscal deficits and lack of resources. Expressing similar views, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said state finances were under a “severestrain and the Centre should come forward to provide relief. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the ambitious 8 per cent growth target was not achievable due to the faltering pace of economic reforms. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh said the development process should focus on the backward states of MP, UP, Bihar and Orissa. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the plan was” too ambitious” as attaining 8 per cent growth would be possible only through higher investment and demanded a review of the system of Centre’s allocation of resources to states, reduction in the interest rates on Central loans and relief for natural calamities. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh sought debt relief through rescheduling of loan repayment, consolidation and realigning interest rate structure to the prevalent market rate without which the ever increasing salaries, pensions and wages would be unsustainable. He demanded Rs 1280 crore from the Centre for breaking the wheat-rice cycle through a crop diversification scheme. Jammu and Kashmir, where the Congress shares power with the PDP, demanded a hike in allocation by the Centre from the present level of Rs 14,500 crore saying it was not adequate to achieve 6.3 per cent growth in the state GDP. Uttaranchal Chief Minister N D Tiwari said since the state was created only after the 11th Finance Commission recommendations, it had been deprived of revenue deficit grants and other assistance. He said the state should get grants to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore as was being given to other states with similar conditions. Kerala also attacked the Centre saying there had not been any evidence of “serious” reforms to reduce fiscal deficit and improve governance. Chief Minister A.K. Anthony said the proportion of Central assistance through loan and grant should be reviewed to 50:50 instead of the present ratio of 70:30 and interest rate, now at 11.5 per cent, be reduced substantially.
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MP Speaker pleads his innocence Bhopal, December 21 That is the only point to which Mr Tiwari has made a passing reference in his eight-page reply. He has not touched upon other allegations contained in the petition against him. He has sought dismissal of the petition on the ground that the petitioners, being his political rivals, “have no locus standi to file the instant public interest litigation petition”. This once again takes the case to the 1999 stage when the Madhya Pradesh High Court, at Jabalpur, had dismissed the petition with the observation that “these kind of allegations against an individual cannot be construed as a public interest litigation”. The petitioner at that time, Mr Ram Charan Patel, had then gone in appeal to the Supreme Court. A Division Bench of the apex court had remanded the case to the High Court with the following observations: “We are of the opinion that the High Court ought not to have dismissed the writ petition before it in limine without calling for a reply and examining the same. We, therefore, allow this appeal, set aside the impugned order of the High Court and remand the case to the High Court for a fresh decision in accordance with law”. Meanwhile, Mr Ram Charan Patel withdrew his petition and five others filed a petition containing the same allegations. A Division Bench of the High Court then issued notices to Mr Tiwari as well as to the Secretary of the Assembly and the Alp Aay Varg Griha Nirman Sahakari Samiti with the observation that “on a perusal of the allegations in the writ petition and the documents appended thereto”, returns from Mr Tiwari and others were warranted. The allegations against Mr Tiwari cover the following fields:
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BJP executive meets
tomorrow New Delhi, December 21 While the meeting will begin with the customary welcome address of BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu in which he will not only congratulate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and party workers for the massive electoral conquest but will also launch a bitter attack on the Congress for its “negativism”, the draft political resolution is going to focus on the spectre of terrorism which is threatening the unity and integrity of the country. The meeting, which will be presided over by Mr Naidu, will be addressed by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who in his concluding speech will focus on the achievements of his National Democratic Alliance government. It will be interesting to note whether Mr Modi will be asked to address the executive as former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh was asked to do in 1991 after he led the BJP to victory in the wake of Mr Advani’s rath yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya. The report of former UP Chief Minister Rajnath Singh’s committee on the Kelkar Committee recommendations will also be presented and discussed at the meeting. Mr Naidu told reporters, here just before the start of the central office-bearers’ meeting that the meeting would take up the Gujarat Assembly election results. |
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Modernisation plan for IAF prepared
Hyderabad, December 21 “With the technology advancing rapidly in the field of aerospace, we need to have a stronger human resource base which can meet the challenges faced by the country”, he told reporters after reviewing a combined graduation parade at Dundigal Air Force Academy near here. A totally new concept, from the selection of cadets to maintenance of machinery was being brought in the IAF, he said, adding that civil engineers and science graduates would be preferred for various jobs, including pilots, so that they can obtain civil licences to serve in the commercial sector after retirement or completion of service. The IAF has decided to motivate young graduates in select universities to join the force and the training commands have been asked to create the required infrastructure to facilitate the training of international standards. Pointing out that 700 MiG 21 jets had been inducted in the force since 1966, the air chief, replying to a query about jet crashes, said they were basically combat aircraft and not training aircraft and the slightest human error could cause a catastrophe. “We are in process of inducting latest fighter jets very soon”, he said, adding that there were aircraft 45 to 50 years old which were being used in the USA and UK.
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Jaya to attend Modi’s swearing-in Chennai, December 21 Ms Jayalalithaa has accepted Mr Modi’s invitation for the ceremony. She had earlier sent him a congratulatory message on his election victory, although in the wake of the communal riots in Gujarat, she had said that Mr Modi should step down from his office. But soon she changed her tune, and while commenting on the BJP victory in the state assembly elections, she had given credit to Mr Modi for his achievement in the face of heavy odds and no-holds-barred campaign by the Congress. Lately, Ms Jayalalithaa has been receiving accolades from BJP leaders for her pro-Hindutva declarations and for her legislation banning forcible religious conversions. Mr Karunanidhi, leader of the DMK, a member of the NDA coalition at the Centre, has come under criticism from BJP functionaries for his alleged anti-Hindu statements. |
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Sahitya Akademi award for Gulzar New Delhi, December 21 The executive board of the Akademi, which met here under the chairmanship of its President Ramakant Rath, approved selection of 22 books, chosen on the basis of the recommendations made by a jury of three members in the languages concerned, its Secretary K Satchidananadan said in a release here. The award in the form of a casket containing an engraved copper plaque and a cheque for Rs 40,000 would be presented at a special function here on February 17. The board also selected 17 translators, including Krishan Mohan in Hindi for the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation, which carries an amount of Rs 15,000 each. While Gulzar has been selected for his collection of Urdu short stories ‘Dhuan’ (smoke), Sirpi has been chosen for his poetry collection Oru Giraamattu Nadi (River in a village) and Elkunchwar has been selected for the Marathi Play ‘Yugant’ (End of an era), the release said. The other winners of the akademi awards are Nalinidhar Bhattacharya (Assamese), Sandipan Chattopadhyaya (Bengali), Om Vidyarthi (Dogri), Amit Choudhuri (English), Dhruv Bhat (Gujarati), Rajesh Joshi (Hindi), S Narayana Setty (Kannada), Naji Munawar (Kashmiri), Hema Naik (Konkani), Somdev (Maithili), K G Sankara Pillai (Malayalam), R.K. Bhubansana (Manipuri), Prem Pradhan (Nepali) and Bharat Ola (Rajasthani). Sarat Kumar Mohanty (Oriya), Harbhajan Halwarvi (Punjabi), Kashinath Mishra (Sanskrit), Hari Himthani (Sindhi) and Chekuri Rama Rao are among the others chosen for Biography, Poetry, Short Stories and Essays respectively. The winners of the Sahitya Akademi award for translation are Prabhat Chandra Sarma (Assamese), Usha Ranjan Bhattacharya (Bengali), Neetha Kumar (English), Shakuntala Mehta (Gujarati), Krishan Mohan (Hindi), Veena Santeshwara (Kannada), Gokuldas Prabhu (Konkini), Prabodh Narayan Singh (Maithili) and Damodharan Kaliyath (Malayalam), Megachandra Heirangkhongjam (Manipuri), Ibrahim Afgan (Marathi), Shanthi Thapa (Nepali), Nrusingha Tripathy (Oriya), Gulwant ‘farigh’ (Punjabi), Satyanarayan Swami (Rajasthani), D.V. Subba Rao (Telugu) and Rattan Singh (Urdu).
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CPM condemns J&K killings New Delhi, December 21 Conveying its sympathies to the families of those killed, including three girls for not wearing burqa, the CPM Politburo said in a statement that the dastardly crimes had been committed by those who wished to disturb peace in the state. |
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Couple has twins in ripe old age Jaisalmer, December 21 Nainu Devi gave birth at Galaberi village, about 10 km from Barmer town, to the twins — a boy and a girl — on December 7 baffling many. “There is nothing strange in it. It is god’s gift and I am happy to become father again at this old age”, Pema Ram said. The couple already has five children, the oldest being a 15-year-old girl. Last time Nainu Devi gave birth to a boy about a decade ago. Villagers are thronging the couple’s house to greet them.
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In video: The
stage is all set in Ahmedabad for the swearing-in ceremony of
the Gujarat caretaker Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi. (
