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Sunday,
March 9, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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India
against war on Iraq: Advani Vajpayee:
war clouds hovering over Iraq
Bangladesh
told to curb infiltration SP to
release another cassette soon Nation’s
mood against BJP, says Sonia |
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CPM
flays HC order on Ayodhya CISF to
handle security at Delhi airports NEW FERTILISER POLICY 8,000
women die during childbirth: report
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India against war on Iraq: Advani Tekanpur, March 8 “We are concerned about the Indians residing in the Middle-East and are keeping a close watch on the situation in Iraq... We don’t want a war against Iraq,” Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani told newspersons at the BSF Academy here before the meeting of the Consultative Committee attached with the Ministry of Home Affairs. If there is any failure or shortcoming on the part of Iraq, any action against it should have the approval of the United Nations, Mr Advani said. The Consultative Committee, which comprises MPs of various political parties, is meeting for the first time at BSF Academy, Tekanpur. Expressing continued support to the Afghanistan Government in its endeavour to rebuild the war-ravaged country, Mr Advani said New Delhi had offered its help to Kabul to train their police personnel in the state-of-the-art commando training centre of the National Security Guards located in Manesar, Haryana. “During Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s visit we have offered to give commando training for their police personnel at NSG training centre. In this connection, Mr Karzai told us that he would be sending their Interior Minister to New Delhi soon,” Mr Advani revealed. On the speculation over the whereabouts of Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, Mr Advani said the intelligence inputs indicated that he was alive but nothing more could be said on this. The Deputy Prime Minister also ruled out the appointment of a new political interlocutor in place of former Union Home Secretary K. Padmanabhaiah for peace talks with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M). The talks would go on with the NSCN (I-M) and there was no proposal to remove K. Padmanabhaiah as interlocutor, he said. About the problems being faced by the widows of BSF jawans killed in anti-insurgency operations, Mr Advani assured that the Centre would look into the matter. |
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Vajpayee: war clouds hovering over Iraq
New Delhi, March 8 “War clouds are hovering in the horizon. You never know when the war begins, but till the last moment we should try to avoid it,” he told a gathering of women in the media on the occasion of the International Women’s Day at his residence. He made the remarks while dwelling on the international scenario. “The inspection (by UN inspectors) and whatever is coming out of Iraq shows that they have not some weapons of destruction,” Mr Vajpayee said. “Iraq is also ready to destroy its weapons. Keeping this in mind, more efforts should be made to avert a war,” he said. Mr Vajpayee said during his telephonic conversation with US President George Bush, the US President had indicated that war was the last option even for them, but said “Sadam is adamant”. “We have also expressed our concern at the United Nations saying that India was against the war,” Mr Vajpayee said.
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Bangladesh told to curb infiltration Tekanpur, March 8 Addressing a Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting of the Home Ministry at the BSF Academy here, he said New Delhi’s strong reservations on the issue, which led to border tension between the two countries recently, were conveyed to the Bangladesh Foreign Minister during his recent visit to the capital. The Bangladesh Foreign Minister gave an assurance that his country would take necessary steps in this regard, Mr Advani told the 12 MPs who attended the meeting, Minister of State for Home Affairs I.D. Swami told reporters here.
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SP to release another cassette soon Lucknow, March 8 The copies of the earlier CD and cassette were being distributed among party workers to be shown to the people all over the state, he said adding that it would also be put on sale at the party offices.
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Nation’s mood against BJP, says Sonia Raipur (Chhattisgarh), March 8 Speaking after unveiling a plaque to mark the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the new capital of Chhattisgarh at Pauta, about 20 km from Raipur, Ms Gandhi emphasised that the Congress had scored victories in the recent elections to the assemblies of Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya and the party was on a winning course. Accusing the BJP and Sangh Parivar of trying to disrupt social harmony in the country, she said it was not an ordinary danger and directly affected the unity of the country.“I am proud that an atmosphere is building all over the country against the divisive policies,’’ she said at the rally signalling the start of Congress preparations for the November elections in Chhattisgarh. Ms Gandhi said her biggest worry was declining standard of politics. ``It has become a means of gaining power and people were losing faith in politicians.’’ she said. The Congress president said people who considered politics as a means to serve people should come forward. Calling for “big and unselfish thinking,’’ she said political parties had the responsibility to fulfil their promises. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi pledged to make the new state capital the best in the country. Pointing out that the Rs 4,500 crore project for the new capital was a symbol of the hopes and aspirations of two crore residents of Chhattisgarh, he said a state was very often known by the kind of capital it had. Taking a dig at some of his political opponents who are opposing the capital project, Mr Jogi said they were the same people who had earlier opposed the creation of Chhattisgarh. The Chief Minister said though he had written several letters to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee regarding money for the new capital, ``not a single paisa had been given.” He said when capital cities like Chandigarh, Bhubneshwar and Gandhinagar were built, the then Congress governments had given the money liberally. Senior Congress leaders Ambika Soni, Motilal Vora and S.C. Shukla accompanied Ms Gandhi. Earlier, the Congress president inaugurated Chhattisgarh’s first cooperative sugar mill at Ramhepur in Kawardha district and addressed a rally of women self-help groups in Dongargaon village in Rajnandgaon district. The programme coincided with the International Women’s Day today. Ms Gandhi came to Chhattisgarh after one-and-a-half years.
Praising Sonia Few Congress Chief Ministers can match Mr Ajit Jogi in praising Ms Gandhi. As expected Mr Jogi today repeated his prophecy of Ms Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister in the near future. He also asserted that no project started by Ms Gandhi ever gets stopped .
« « « Religious imagery Like his counterpart in adjoining Madhya Pradesh, who is facing elections this November and now often refers to his Hindu roots, Mr Jogi used imagery of Hindu Gods in his speech. The references were as much targeted at the audience as at the BJP, which is looking for appropriate issues in the state before the crucial elections. |
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CPM flays HC order on Ayodhya New Delhi, March 8 A statement issued by the CPM Politburo here on Saturday said such a step was unwarranted as the Bench was hearing the title deed suit regarding the ownership of the land. “The archaeological excavation in an area which has been inhabited for 2,000 years, is not germane to the case being heard,” the statement reads. Commenting on the futility of the exercise, the party said, “It will not be possible for the Archaeological Survey of India to excavate and come to any conclusions relevant to the title deed suit. Neither will it be possible to ascertain whether there was originally a Ram temple in an area which has seen hundreds of temples being constructed over the centuries.” The party has warned that such a judicial step was also fraught with serious consequences as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the RSS have maintained that there were thousands of mosques which were temples earlier and demanded their restoration. The party has expressed the apprehension that the order would only exacerbate the situation as sites at Mathura and Varanasi could be targetted with demands for excavation. |
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CISF to handle security at Delhi airports New Delhi, March 8 The specialised agency, expected to take over the airport security from the Delhi police on April 2, has made necessary security arrangements to handle its new assignment. “We are confident to meet the new challenge, besides preparing ourselves to ensure the safety of others by providing them the foolproof security, “CISF Director-General B.B. Mishra told The Tribune. “We are in touch with the airport authorities and would function according to their specific security requirements with the help of our specially trained commandos, and quick-reaction teams, said Mr Mishra. Specialised fire-fighting equipment and devices like cameras, CCTVs and hidden metal detectors to reduce the time of frisking and avoid confusion are also taken care of. The agency has already taken over 45 airports in the country, including the international airports of Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Besides these the authorities concerned of the Thirupati airport have also asked the CISF to take over the airport security. Besides airport security, the new areas of vital concern of the CISF would be VIP security, protecting vital government installations, sensitive historical monuments like Taj Mahal and Red Fort and disaster management, Mr Mishra added. According to Mr Mishra, the government is providing the CISF, a ‘nodal agency status’. The agency is also offering consultation services to private security agencies in the country. The CISF now has clients including the British High Commission, the Indian Embassy at Kathmandu, the NSG headquarters, the National Institute of Criminology, the IIT, Kharagpur, the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation, and the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat. Equipped with handling both manmade and natural disaster in the airports, the agency would function with the help of the local police and agencies in the respective states, he said. |
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NEW FERTILISER POLICY New Delhi, March 8 The Union Fertilisers and Chemicals Minister, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, told The Tribune that the prices of fertilisers in the international market were much lower than the domestic prices. However, we could not throw open the market at this stage, as this would criple the domestic industry. “Further, the prices are low now, but can increase in the future, then the country will not be in a position to come to the rescue of farmers,” he added. Mr Dhindsa said the subsidy has to continue to protect the domestic industry. The new policy, which would be effective from April this year, aims to gradually move the production units to supply the fertilisers in the direction of parity with international prices based on the use of most efficient feedstock and state of the art technology. The scheme would be implemented in stages. The farm gate price of urea is fixed at Rs 4,830 per tonne. On an average, a subsidy amounting to more than Rs 4,100 per tonne is borne by the government on every tonne of urea sold to the farmers. Subsidy on urea in 2002-03 is estimated to be Rs 7,004 crore, the Economic Survey said. Amongst states in the plains per hectare consumption was highest in Punjab with 173.38 kg per hectare and Haryana with 155.69 kg per hectare. The all India average is 90 kg per hectare. During the 1980s, kharif crops accounted for nearly one third of the total fertiliser consumption, whereas the rabi crops accounted for a much larger share. This has now changed and the consumption is more evenly spread between the two sowing seasons, reflecting more assured water availability in kharif season at all India level, the survey added. |
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8,000 women die during childbirth: report
Kolkata, March 8 According to a National Family Health Survey (NFHS) report, only42.3 per cent of the deliveries are assisted by health professionals. In the Human Development Index, the status of women in India is ranked at 115, reveal in their low status in the country. Female literacy, which has a significant role in addressing women's health problems, stands at 54.16 per cent and the maternal mortality rate is 424 per lakh of live birth. Women from the vulnerable sections and rural India remain the worst sufferers of malnutrition as 70 per cent women, between 15 and 45 years, suffer from nutritional anaemia. As per the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NIMB), 2001,about 51.8 per cent women in the country are anaemic. The figureis very high in the case of pregnant women, with about 84.0 per cent of them being anaemic. Anaemia has remained a severe health problem with women in the country with about 30-70 per cent of the women from rural India, including urban slums, suffering from nutritional anaemia in this region, including the north eastern states. Another cause for poor health among women is that 65 per cent of adolescent girls are married before the age of 18. As per a UNICEF study on the status of children in the world,
maternal mortality rate in India stood at 410, and 33 per cent of newborn babies maintained low birth weight, which remained highest
among most of the countries under the study.
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