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Tuesday,
February 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Maya
issue: BJP calls UP leaders Cong for
no-confidence against Mayawati WTO
summit: India urged to play key role US aircraft grounded India holds talks with Uzbekistan Bharat
Ratna for Kalpana sought Venkaiah
rules out mid-term poll 34 hurt in
pre-poll clash in Tripura |
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Mashelkar
gets Naoroji award Livestock
policy soon Eunuch’s
election as Mayor quashed
Bathinda
Shatabdi bookings to be suspended Serial
blast accused shot at
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Maya issue: BJP calls UP leaders New Delhi, February 3 Perturbed over spate of statements by various UP leaders condemning the state government over the arrest of former minister Raja Bhaiya under POTA and its possible repercussions on the longevity of the coalition government, the central leadership decided to convene the meeting. Sources said after the meeting between the central and state leaders, another meeting would be held with the BSP high command, that is party supremo Kanshi Ram and Chief Minister Mayawati. The party high command was very keen that the BSP-BJP coalition government lasted till the next Lok Sabha elections so that the two parties could contest the elections jointly and the BJP candidates could benefit from transferable Dalit votes. Sources said the meeting assumed urgency as Ms Mayawati sent alarming signals by managing to split the Congress Legislature Party and her efforts to break the Samajwadi Party. This meant Ms Maywati would be reducing her dependence on the BJP, sources said, adding that the party’s popularity graph had been steadily going down and it would not be surprising if the party fared dismally in the next Lok Sabha poll without an alliance rather than an electoral understanding with the BSP. The opposition to the arrest of Raja Bhaiya under POTA by senior BJP leaders like former state Chief Minister Rajnath Singh, former state BJP chief Kalraj Mishra and BJP state President Vinay Katiyar along with some other Rajput MLAs has annoyed Ms Mayawati, who is determined to nail down the former scion of Kunda in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. Moreover, Ms Mayawati’s handling of Raja Bhaiya has evoked a positive popular response and opposition from the BJP is further hurting the party’s image. With increased popular support, Ms Mayawati has also indicated that she will not be averse to a mid-term Assembly poll and this has alarmed the BJP high command. |
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Cong for no-confidence against Mayawati New Delhi, February 3 Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Pramod Tewari, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi here along with the 16 party MLAs, said later that a no-confidence motion would also be brought against the Assembly Speaker. This was the first meeting of the MLAs with Ms Gandhi after the “split” in the Congress Legislature Party in Uttar Pradesh. PCC chief Arun Kumar Singh `Munna’ was also present at the meeting. The decision to bring the no-confidence motion comes in the light of a meeting Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav had with Ms Gandhi last night and after some breakaway MLAs reportedly decided not to
commit themselves to supporting Ms Mayawati. Mr Tewari said the Congress would bring the no-confidence motion against the Mayawati government and the party was confident that the move would succeed as “people have lost faith in the Government”. The CLP leader made it clear that the Congress would take support of all opposition parties, including the SP, as also the BJP rebels in the move. He said an alternative government would be formed after the fall of Mayawati government and the Congress was not in favour of mid-term poll in the state. The Congress had earlier been non-committal about supporting the Samajwadi Party’s efforts to topple the Mayawati government. The party had said it would support a “secular alternative” after the Mayawati government was dislodged. The shift in the Congress stance comes after its altercation with Ms Mayawati over the incident in Amethi involving a Dalit and the “split” in the legislature party which is blamed on Ms Mayawati. Asked whether a decision to bring the motion was taken at the meeting Ms Gandhi had with Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav last night, Mr Tewari said he was not aware of what transpired at the meeting. He said the MLAs from the breakaway group had “constantly been in touch with us and the communication had intensified since yesterday”. Asked whether the Congress was planning any disciplinary action against the members of the breakaway group, Mr Tiwari said he was waiting for their return. “We are aware under what circumstances they left. They did not go on their own but were forced. Fake FIRs were filed against them. I have got the evidence,” he said. Lucknow: The SP also indicated that it was likely to hand over a notice to the Assembly secretariat on moving a no-confidence motion against the Mayawati government tomorrow. Leader of the Opposition Mohammed Azam Khan said here that leaders of the SP would meet to discuss the issue of moving the no-confidence motion, tomorrow. “And if need be, we could move the notice tomorrow itself,” he added. Meanwhile, the newly formed Akhil Bharatiya Congress (ABC), the breakaway faction of the Congress, today split when four of its eight MLAs joined the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh. The Assembly Speaker has approved their move to join the BSP. The ABC was formed on January 28 when eight of the 23 Congress legislators in the state declared a split. Mr Tripathi had recognised the new group in the Assembly. The four who joined the BSP today are Kazim Ali Khan, Virendra Singh Bundela, Shyam Narain Tiwari and Kameshwar Upadhyaya. Mr Kazim Ali said they met Chief Minister Mayawati in the afternoon and decided to “dedicate” their loyalties to the BSP.
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WTO summit: India urged to play key role New Delhi, February 3 Ahead of the WTO mini ministerial conference at Tokyo later this month, which would be attended by Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh and Commerce and Law Minister Arun Jaitley, over 12 African countries, including Egypt, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Morocco, have urged India to take the lead in all future WTO negotiations on agriculture to build a common strategy against flooding of farm items from advanced nations threatening their domestic agriculture. The fact that India is sending a high-level delegation led by the Commerce and Agriculture Ministers to the mini ministerial conference, beginning on February 14, reflects the earnestness with which New Delhi has been approaching the meeting as it would form the basis for the WTO ministerial conference at Cancun in Mexico in September this year. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has brought Mr Jaitley, who has a penetrating insight into legal issues, to the helm of the Commerce Ministry. Mr Jaitley would be able to put forward the country’s case at the meeting with convincing arguments. “Following our bold stand and systematic lobbying for the cause of developing countries at Geneva, many African nations want India to take the lead at the WTO to safeguard their farm sector,” Mr Ajit Singh, who led the Indian delegation to the Geneva negotiations, said here. India is working to evolve an effective networking with like-minded countries, including those from the Cairns group, for dismantling of farm subsidies in advanced countries and improved market access to the Third World, the minister said, describing the outcome of the Geneva talks as “highly fruitful”. “Apart from African countries, many others are also in agreement with us on the need for special safeguards to protect agriculture in the developing world as also address the concerns of food security,” Mr Ajit Singh pointed out. Stating that it was really difficult to build a consensus among 144 member countries, he said though most of them wanted substantial reduction in domestic support and export subsidies on farm products, differences cropped up on the quantum of cut. Mr Ajit Singh said India was of the view that specific rules should also be established to govern export credit, guarantee, loans, insurance and food aid. The government has also decided that support measures, which distort trade and are not under reduction commitments, should be brought under disciplines of reduction commitments as far as possible. Negotiations in agriculture at the WTO have been going on since January, 2000, and the Doha ministerial conference of the WTO, held in 2001 had set up a framework for negotiations. The modalities of the negotiations have to be agreed upon by the WTO member countries by March 31, 2003. The target date for the completion of all negotiations including agriculture, is January 1, 2005. |
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US aircraft grounded
Mumbai, February 3 Air Traffic Control here asked the pilot belonging to Conco Corporation, USA, to land here at 6.11 p.m. as it did not have “air defence clearance,” Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain told PTI in New Delhi. Airport officials said the aircraft was taken to an isolated bay for investigation and questioning of the pilot, John Burg, and the co-pilot. In all, there were 11 crew members. Mr Hussain said the Director-General of Civil Aviation and other authorities had been asked to make a detailed investigation as the plane was still awaiting defence clearance. The ATC had been informed of the flight by the military liason unit. This is the second intrusion by a foreign aircraft in three days after a US Air Force plane flew 150 nautical miles east of Chennai last Friday.
PTI |
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India holds talks with Uzbekistan New Delhi, February 3 The importance of Uzbekistan from the Indian point of view can be gauged from the fact that President A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha had talks with him today. Mr Sinha hosted a dinner in his honour and Defence Minister George Fernandes is scheduled to meet him tomorrow. Sources said Uzbekistan was of crucial importance in India’s diplomatic focus on the strategic Central Asian region which Pakistan had been using as its ‘strategic hinterland’ against India during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In the great diplomatic game being played on the Central Asian chess board, India is marching towards turning the tables on Pakistan and trying to reverse Pakistan’s strategic encirclement of India in this region. Uzbekistan’s support is of paramount importance, the sources said, if India’s first and only foreign military base in neighbouring Tajikistan is to be made more effective. This can be done if Uzbekistan gives India a land and air corridor to Tajikistan. It is against this backdrop that Mr Kamilov’s talks tomorrow with Mr Fernandes assume significance. Uzbekistan and India today agreed to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) on counter-terrorism — the third Central Asian country after Kazakhstan and Tajikistan — to do so. India agreed to extend into this year its already given creditline of $ 10 million to Uzbekistan. The CII is going to have an enterprise show in Uzbekistan in June this year. However, one of the most important decisions taken today was to have an intense cooperation in the road sector and India agreed to help Uzbekistan in upgrading its road network. Of immense interest to India would be upgrading the road network in the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan border region so that India can access Afghanistan without using Pakistani territory. Through the proposed Central Asian road network, India would be cutting down distances by about 1500 km. |
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Bharat Ratna for Kalpana sought New Delhi, February 3 In a letter written to the Prime Minister, former Union Minister and Chairman of the Centre for Social Justice Chandrajit Yadav said Kalpana was proud of her Indian origin. Kalpana’s love for India was well known. During the past five years, she had invited 10 Indian students to NASA and inspired them to become astronauts, he pointed out.
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Venkaiah
rules out mid-term poll New Delhi, February 3 He said the BJP was only preparing itself to face Assembly elections this year and the Lok Sabha in 2004 by expanding the base taking all the National Democratic Alliance constituents into confidence. “We are committed to the promises made to the people that the BJP-led NDA coalition would complete its full term, he said. There was also no move to drop any BJP office-bearer from the team in the proposed reshuffle as speculated in the media. “There will be work reallocation and the party had not even given a thought to dropping anyone from the team,” he said. It is understood that Mr Pramod Mahajan would be made general secretary incharge of Rajasthan and Delhi while Mr Rajnath Singh would be given charge of Madhya Pradesh. Mr Singh, who was at present in charge of Uttar Pradesh also, might not be able to retain his home state as Mr Naidu is said to be very keen to revive the old practice that a office-bearer should not be given responsibility of his or her home state. BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan and Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley would be overseeing the party campaign in Himachal Pradesh from Shimla for the February 26 Assembly elections, he said. |
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34 hurt in pre-poll clash in Tripura Agartala, February 3 The clash between ruling CPM and opposition Congress-Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura combine broke out at Pechartahal in North Tripura district when unidentified miscreants pelted stones at a procession brought out by the former last evening, the police said. Thirty supporters from both sides were injured, along with four policemen. The police then resorted to a lathi charge and fired in the air to disperse the clashing groups. However, none was injured in the firing. Among the injured, 25 were CPM supporters and the rest were of the Congress and INPT alliance. Two injured CPM supporters were later shifted to the hospital, they said. In another incident today NLFT ultras kidnapped at gunpoint 16 persons belonging to an opera party at Emrapassa village in North Tripura district. However, four members of the group escaped, the police said, adding eight among the kidnapped were CPM supporters and the rest four belonged to the Congress.
PTI |
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Mashelkar
gets Naoroji award New Delhi, February 3 The award for the year 2002 was presented to Dr Mashelkar for his achievements and pioneering efforts in the field of science and technology. It carries Rs 1 lakh and a silver plaque. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mashelkar said, ``It gives me immense pleasure to accept this award. I’m sure it also encourages young scientists to work towards the growth of science in this country.’’ The Chairman and the trustee of the Dadabhai Naoroji Memorial Prize Fund, Mr Adi B. Godrej said, “The award is being given to Dr Mashelkar for
advancing the interests of the country in the field of science and technology.’’ Sources in the CSIR said the earlier recipients of the award have been Mr J.R.D Tata, Mr Nani A. Palkhivala, Mr Satyajit Ray, Mr Vijay Merchant, Dr C.D. Deshmukh, Dr Verrier Elvin, Dr Salim Ali, Ms M.S. Subbulakshmi, Mr Arun Shourie, Dr Homi Sethna and Mr F.C. Kohli. When Dr Naoroji died in 1917, the residents of Mumbai raised a memorial fund to have his statue installed as a tribute to him in and his leadership to the cause of India’s freedom movement. The trust was set up in 1929. It gives an award every year to an Indian who has contributed to the advancement of the interests of the country in any sphere of national life, except politics. |
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Livestock
policy soon New Delhi, February 3 “Budgetary allocation to the sector has further declined to 0.62 per cent of the total budgetary resources for the Tenth Plan and 1.1 per cent during the Ninth Plan”, Mr Singh said while speaking at the inaugural function of the state ministers’ conference on animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries. The minister said the draft livestock policy, which has been circulated to states, would be announced shortly. The policy would lay down a broad roadmap for pitchforking the sector into a high growth trajectory. Despite the potential in the livestock sector remaining under-exploited, the contribution of this sector to the GDP has been continuously growing at 6 to 8 per cent growth rate as against the 2 per cent growth rate in crop production. In addition, despite the highest milk production of 85 million tonnes during the last financial year, the per capita availability of milk in the country is low at 221 gm per day as against the world average of 285 gms per day. Available estimates indicate a deficit of 61 per cent in green fodder and 22 per cent in dry fodder with frequent droughts further compounding the problem. Mr Singh said immediate measures need to be taken to protect Indian producers from cheap imports. He said the cooperative sector has to play an active role in the poultry sector and it was important to establish an extensive marketing network of cooperatives. |
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Eunuch’s election as Mayor quashed Bhopal, February 3 Additional District Judge of Katni Virendra Singh had ruled in his 40-page judgement delivered on August 29, last year, that Kamla Jaan was not a female and, therefore, ineligible for occupying the office of the Katni Mayor. Kamla Jaan later moved the High Court against the verdict. The office of the Mayor of Katni was reserved for women and Kamla Jaan, an Independent candidate, was elected defeating Alka Jain of the BJP and Aradhana Jain of the Congress. Kamla Jaan had declared “herself” female in the nomination papers. |
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Bathinda Shatabdi bookings to be suspended Patiala, February 3 The train has been attracting few passengers ever since its launch on August 16 by Union Railway Minister Nitish Kumar and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Occupancy has now apparently reached an all -time low with only 30 to 35 passengers travelling on the train on some days during the last month. Railway sources said the railway authorities had posted a message on the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) to suspend all bookings for the Shatabdi after February 10. At present bookings in the train are being done only for the morning journey to Delhi from Bathinda. This, many say, may be the last journey of the train. |
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Serial
blast accused shot at Mumbai, February 3 Kasam was standing in the balcony of his residence at the BIT Chawl at Imamwada in Dongri in south-central Mumbai when Arafat alias
Guddu, a resident of the same locality, along with another person fired two rounds at him and fled.
UNI |
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SC notice to
Centre on ads New Delhi, February 3 |
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Navjot’s bail plea dismissed New Delhi, February 3 |
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NDA dharna against rising crime rate Patna, February 3 Citing instances of rise in abduction, state BJP President Nand Kishore Yadav said the release of kidnapped brick kiln owner Janaki Singh in wee hours yesterday “proved beyond doubt that the criminals enjoyed the government’s
patronge”. Mr Janaki Singh was kidnapped on Friday. He demanded the government initiate steps to secure safe release of other abducted persons, including medicine dealers Dilip Barnwal and Prabhakar
Barnwal. PTI |
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