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Saturday,
January 11, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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NSCN (I-M) not to interfere with
poll Tension in
Gaya, Army help sought Mahatma
Gandhi failed in SA: Naipaul Modi
treads cautiously
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 Advani
allays fears on secularismNew Delhi, January 10 India today sought to dispel the notion that elements of theocracy have crept into the fundamentals of the country’s democratic polity and were eroding the secular fabric of the nation. 
In video (28k, 56k)
Kanpur
records coldest day Proceedings
stayed in Vaiko case Anerood:
people’s aspirations supreme HC
quashes order on Bofors parts SC
dismisses Karnataka plea on TADA verdict
Jha
quits, split in Samata averted Asthana to head SFC Curfew in Vidarbha town
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NSCN (I-M) not to interfere with poll New Delhi, January 10 On day two of their peace talks with the Indian leadership, the two NSCN (I-M) leaders, Chairman Isak Chisi Swu and General Secretary Thuingaleng
Muivah, met Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and carried on from where they left last night during discussions with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. “While the NSCN (I-M) would not interfere in the election process, its cadres will not participate in the poll”, they told reporters after a 50-minute meeting with Mr Advani here.
NSCN (I-M)’s stand on the poll process is in sharp contrast to the boycott call given by it during the last Assembly elections in the state. Mr Swu and Mr
Muivah, who had a 40-minute meeting with Mr Vajpayee last night, described their parleys with Mr Advani as “very fruitful”, observing that the response of the Deputy Prime Minister was “very positive”.
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Tension in Gaya, Army help sought Gaya, January 10 Mobs took to streets indulging in arson and stoning policemen soon after the news of the damage caused to the portraits of the gods spread. Protests were witnessed in some parts of the town and the police had to use lathis to disperse the agitators. Divisional Commissioner (Magadh range) M.C. Sirohi told PTI that the administration had asked the Army to stand by and assist in defusing tension in the event of the situation getting out of control. Mr Sirohi, however, expressed confidence that the situation was likely to be controlled with the help of additional reinforcements sent from Patna and neighbouring districts. He said one company of the Rapid Action Force and anti-riot Vajra vehicles had arrived from Patna. A security blanket has already been thrown in and around Bodh Gaya where the Kalchakra puja, the most sacred of rituals of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism, is beginning from January 12. Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and the 17th Karmapa title claimant, Ugyen Trinley Dorje, are to participate in the nine-day puja.
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Mahatma
Gandhi failed in SA: Naipaul New Delhi, January 10 In his ten-minute address, heard amid pin-drop silence at the ongoing Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here, Sir Naipaul blamed the government of India on two more counts: for doing nothing for indentured migrants and blaming the British for every ill of the country. Little had the rendition of thundering claps settled down as Sir Naipaul rose to deliver a special address, the audience stuttered to a silence as the eminent litterateur argued how the Father of the Nation returned from South Africa as a “failure”. “Mahatma Gandhi was a failure in South Africa”, Sir Naipaul said as stunned NRIs and Deputy Prime Minister
L.K. Advani looked on with bated breath for Naipual to put together the threads of the argument. “The idea of a victim is something we should not dwell so much about. We should develop a true sense of history and stop blaming the British for everything”, he observed. Sir
Naipaul, a Trinidadian by birth but settled in the UK, was making an obvious reference to remarks made by Dr Linda Sairtri
Baboolal, President of the Senate of Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, who painted a poignant picture of lives of the indentured people in British Guyana after migrating to the Caribbean. The positive aspect of the failure was that Mahatma Gandhi clearly saw the emergence of an independence movement in India and returned home on January 9, 1915, he said. It is important not to forget that the country (India) did not give any kind of protection to the indentured victims. “Mahatma Gandhi saw that very very closely”, he said and pointed out how, therefore, he could foresee the emergence of the Indian independence movement. Drawing similarities between the life of medieval period art connoisseur Anand K. Kumaraswamy with that of Mahatma Gandhi in that they were both journeys in self discovery, Sir Naipaul narrated the regretful fact about how Benares Hindu University had turned down the offer of Kumaraswamy to donate the priceless paintings of the Rajput era. |
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Modi treads cautiously New Delhi, January 10 “I believe in the concept propounded by the rishis and munis for thousands of years. We have all been brought up in that tradition. He is the first Prime Minister who has defined it and I welcome his boldness”, Mr Modi said in reply to a question at his first press conference in the capital after winning the recently held Assembly elections. Asked to comment on VHP leader Praveen Togadia’s statement which wanted him to replace Mr Vajpayee, Mr Modi while declining to reply to the question directly, said: “Some friends even say that I should not be alive.” Asked to react on Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh’s statement asking people of Himachal Pradesh to beware of outsiders trying to vitiate the communal atmosphere, the Chief Minister said: “Such statements were also made in Gujarat and the people there took out the correct meaning. We hope that the people of Himachal will also give the same reply.” In reply to another question concerning Mr Lyngdoh, Mr Modi remarked that in a democracy, everyone had a role to play to preserve its dignity and “we are a political party”. To a query whether he would campaign in Himachal Pradesh as he was the BJP General Secretary in charge of the state some time ago, he said he was a disciplined worker of the party and would go by its directions. When a questioner sought to know whether he treated media as his “enemy”, he remarked: “Whatever I am today is due to the Press, especially the electronic media”. Asked whether his government planned to bring an anti-conversion bill, he said it would bring forward a freedom of religion bill prepared by incorporating the best provisions in the concerned legislations enacted in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Asked whether the riot cases would be pursued since BJP had again come back to power, the Chief Minister said Gujarat was being governed as per rule of law. To a query whether terrorism and Mian Musharraf would again be made issues in Assembly poll in other states, Mr Modi said the election strategy in each state would be prepared as per the situation there. |
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Advani allays fears on secularism New Delhi, January 10 “Secularism is part of our tradition. India will always remain secular. Whatever happened in Gujarat is an aberration. Let’s have it behind us”, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani told members of the overseas Indian community at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here. The Deputy Prime Minister’s made good use of the opportunity to allay fears that policies of the current government were eroding the secular fabric of Indian democracy. “Theocracy and theocratic society is unacceptable to Indian society. India has been a secular country and our Constitution guarantees that it will not discriminate against anybody on the basis of faith”, he parried amidst rounds of applause. “Secularism is so embedded in our thinking that there can be no departure from that”, Mr Advani said. On the grant of dual citizenship to PIOs of only certain countries, Mr Advani said the government’s thinking was guided by concern of national security and also by the fact that the host country should also have reciprocal law of granting dual citizenship to naturalised citizens. “I deal with the problem (security) everyday. And internal and external security have so intermeshed that it is impossible to think of one aspect without the other”, he said. “For a start we are granting dual citizenship to PIOs of such countries which do not jeopardise our security”, he said. Further, in addition to the Prime Minister’s announcement on insurance scheme for the NRIs of the Gulf region, Mr Advani said several more schemes for the blue-collared workers would be unveiled by the government. |
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Kanpur records coldest day at 0°C Kanpur, January 10 This was the lowest minimum temperature recorded here so far, local meteorological office sources said. The city had registered 5.8°C minimum temperature yesterday. Normal life in the city was thrown out of gear due to icy winds and dense fog, which also badly affected rail and road traffic since last night. Seven persons have died in the current cold wave in this industrial city so far and all primary and junior high schools have been closed till January 12 by the district administration. PATNA: The mercury plummeted to 2.4°C at Gaya in Bihar, the lowest in a decade, with icy westerly winds aggravating the cold wave condition in the state. Director, Meteorological Centre at Patna, R.K. Mukhopadhya said there was no let up in cold wave conditions with icy westerly winds sweeping through the state. The temperature at Gaya went down to 2.4°C while Bhagalpur recorded 5.4°C, he said adding the mercury dipped to such a low due to the shivering cold in North India for the past one week and icy westerly winds. The biting cold wave has already claimed 48 lives. Unofficial sources, however, put the death toll at 155. JAIPUR: Rajasthan was swept by icy winds for the 10th consecutive day on Friday throwing life out of gear with Churu experiencing the coldest night with the freezing point on Thursday night, Met office said. The night temperature continued to plummet as the minimum temperature in the entire desert state varied between 1°C and 8°C. Dense fog engulfed Churu, Bikaner, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Pilani, Jaipur and Bharatpur regions affecting normal life. Pilani recorded a minimum of 1°C, followed by Bikaner 3°C, Jaipur 3.7°C, Ganganagar 4°C, Jaisalmer 6°C, Tonk 7°C and Ajmer 8°C.
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Proceedings stayed in Vaiko case Chennai, January 10 Mr Justice P Thangavelu, who granted the interim stay, ordered notice to the Police Inspector at Mayiladuthurai police station, on a revision petition filed by Mr Vaiko, who was then in the DMK. Mr Vaiko had challenged the dismissal of his petition seeking that he be discharged from the case, by the Nagapattinam Additional Sessions Judge. Mr Justice Thangavelu posted further hearing on the case to January 30. According to complainant M.Pandian, an AIADMK functionary, the accused belonging to the DMK formed themselves into an unlawful assembly with the object of rioting on May 19, 1984, while he and his partymen were campaigning for the party in Mayilauthura. Mr Pandian had also submitted in his petition that Mr Vaiko, who was then in the DMK, and former DMK minister Kosi Mani, had instigated the accused to cause damage to the van in which the AIADMK partymen were travelling and assaulted them.
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Anerood: people’s aspirations supreme New Delhi, January 10 “Our identities as members of Parliament in our respective societies prove that in being representatives of the people, what matters is not the religious, linguistic, racial or regional background, but the ability to represent effectively the people and meet their aspirations,” the visiting Prime Minister said at the inaugural session of the Second Conference of Parliamentarians of Indian Origin here. Mr Jugnauth is first among the Indian diaspora to hold the post of Prime Minister in Mauritius. Underlining the need to enrich Democracy, he said, “democracy does not simply mean the casting of votes at election time. It encompasses the participation of all the sections of people in the process of development and progress.” Observing that the parliamentarians would have to redefine their role in the context of globalisation, Mr Jugnauth said they would have to satisfy national aspirations along with local needs. Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat inaugurated the conference, organised by Indian Council for International Co-operation. Pointing out that women were under-represented in most parliaments, the Mauritian Prime Minister said women would have to be given more opportunities to join the political arena. The contribution of women in parliamentary debates on major issues affecting society would be beneficial in more than one respect, he said.
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HC quashes order on Bofors parts New Delhi, January 10 The ministry had cancelled the contract with Sarswati Dynamics Pvt Ltd (SDPL) for the supply of VSGs for 1,000 Bofors guns on August 6, 2001, alleging that one of its directors had offered bribe to some officials in the departments concerned, while the company claimed that it was done at the behest of some big arms supplier. Quashing all orders by various authorities for cancelling the deal with the company, Justice Manmohan Sarin said the ministry would be at liberty to issue fresh notice to the SDPL as the cancellation order was passed without any notice to it.
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SC dismisses Karnataka plea on TADA verdict New Delhi, January 10 A three-judge Bench headed by Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu dismissed both appeals in the admission stage, saying there had been an inordinate delay of 358 days in their filing. The statutory period of limitation provides that appeals should be filed within 90 days. Superintendent of Police Harikrishna and several other policemen were killed by Veerappan and his gang after luring them to a location on M.M. Hills on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.
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Jha
quits, split in Samata averted New Delhi, January 10 Mr Jha’s resignation was accepted at a three-and-a-half hour meeting of the Samata Parliamentary Party presided over by party chief and Defence Minister George Fernandes here. Mr Fernandes told the MPs that Mr Jha had submitted his resignation to him last night. The meeting decided to appoint party MP Basistha Narain Singh as interim convener of a committee to oversee the organisational elections in Bihar. |
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Asthana to
head SFC
New Delhi, January 10 Air Marshal Asthana (58), with a long experience in directing tactics and combat, will take over his new appointment on January 12, an official announcement here said. The Command of the Strategic Forces will be rotational among the three services — the Air Force, the Army and the Navy. The government said the new Strategic Forces Command would be temporarily headquartered in the Capital till a suitable strategic location was found. The command, which would carry out the actual firing of nukes, has also been empowered to formulate the strategy for nuclear retaliation and advise the Chief-of-Staff Committee.
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Curfew
in Vidarbha town
Nagpur, January 10 The trouble erupted over some dispute in Taluka place in Washim district, the police said tonight. Stabbing incidents were also reported, the police said, adding that 56 persons were detained in this connection.
PTI |
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Case against Gilani withdrawn
New Delhi, January 10 Sunita Rani
New Delhi, January 10 New
party
Chennai, January 10 |
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Assent to 2 bills New Delhi, January 10 Ahmedabad, January 10 |
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