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Thursday,
March 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Opposition flays rollback
decision Pak ‘centre’ of global terrorism ‘Pandits will not be forced to return’ No legislation on Ayodhya:
Swami |
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BSP to hold ‘pardaphaash’ rally Malaysian minister regrets excesses Dam
building to be taken up with Nepal: minister US magazine apologises for Gandhi
cartoon TC, Left members
clash Cong delegation to meet President
today ‘Bill on cow slaughter in current session’ Mamata downplays reports Concern over rising crime against
women BJP discusses poll strategy
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Opposition flays rollback
decision New Delhi, March 12 The announcements and then roll backs were making a mockery of the intentions of Treasury benches, said the two prominent Opposition speakers, Pranab Mukherjee of the Congress and Nilotpal Basu of the CPM during the resumed Budget discussion in the Upper House. Mr Mukherjee asked the government to revive the former Finance Minister P.Chidambaram’s proposal for a broad based all-party dialogue on enforcing financial discipline particularly on vexed issue of subsidies. He said for a credible quantum jump in GDP, the country needed to have investment growth at 32 per cent and wondered how the government proposed to go about it as its fund collection from disinvestments were falling below target year after year. Mr Basu warned that the oil import bill would escalate with the steep increase in the prices of crude oil fanning inflation in the country. Pooh-poohing the claims that globalisation will help in pushing up growth and employment, Mr Basu said there was no evidence in the country in the past 10 years of liberalisation as growth had stagnated. In fact, there has been an overall slow down in the world economy which was unprecedented as globalisation has not pushed demand. He wondered how could ambitious eight per cent growth target be achieved during the tenth plan when fresh investments were not forthcoming. Government claims it was divesting public sector units in a bid to encourage private investment. But this was not happening, he said. Congress member Ashwani Kumar, while participating the budget debate in the Rajya Sabha said the budget proposals do not adequately address the concerns of the distressed segments of our society, nor is there adequate response to negative GDP growth in the agricultural sector. He said “allocating a princely sum of Rs 50 crore only for diversification of the agricultural economy and adoption of hi-tech interventions betrays insensitivity of the government to the plight of our farmers.” Mr Kumar said the effects of the impending war in Iraq appear not to have been factored in considering that a dollar per barrel hike in petrol prices raises the inflation rate by half a percentage point and we expect the price per barrel of oil to climb to $ 40 against $ 35. This inflationary spiral, widening of trade deficit and the resulting pressure on the rupee does not appear to have been factored in. Lowering of interest rate regime will put undeserved pressure on those who depend on fixed incomes from their life time earnings. The impact of increase in service tax to eight per cent has not been factored in while computing the wholesale price index, which raise serious questions about certain fundamental assumptions made in the budget, the Congress member said. |
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Centre’s role on Iraq ‘dubious’ Kolkata, March 12 Mr Basu while addressing a convention of the Democratic Youth Federation demanded that the Prime Minister should not only condemn the US policy on Iraq unequivocally but India should also join hands with all other anti-imperialist forces against the USA and its allies on the issue. |
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Pak ‘centre’ of global terrorism New Delhi, March 12 Addressing a delegation of the Communist Party of China, led by Dr Wang
Jiarui, Alternate Member of the Central Committee, Mr Naidu said the world community was focussed on Iraq but ignoring Pakistan would be perilous. “All those helping Pakistan financially and militarily should review their policies before it was too late,” Mr Naidu said. |
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‘Pandits will not be forced to return’ New Delhi, March 12 Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, however, admitted that Kashmiri Pandits, living in camps in Jammu and Delhi, were not yet convinced about their safety in the Valley. “The yardstick for their return will be safety. Nobody will be pushed anywhere,” Mr Advani said, adding that the migrants were living in a pitiable condition in the camps. Mr Advani said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had sanctioned Rs 10 crore for rehabilitating the migrants at Mattan and Kheer Bhawani shrine places in the Valley. Even earlier when Kashmiri Pandits were asked whether they were prepared to move to the Valley, they had expressed their apprehensions till a conducive climate was created, he said, adding that the purpose would not be served unless they felt reassured about their safety. Mr Advani said though the people were living in pitiable conditions in the camps, they would have to be assured that jobs would be provided to them in new locations. Taking part in the discussion, Mr Abdullah warned that Kashmiri Pandits would not be safe in the Valley and the Al-Qaida and other militant groups would be after them. This would lead to a communal problem in the country, he added. “I do not think conditions are conducive enough for these people to go back,” Mr Abdullah said, adding that the government’s plan to set up two colonies would not solve the problem. The government had to provide adequate security to them, he said. “They will become a target of the Al-Qaida and other movements,” he said, adding that the fallout of any attack would be felt in other places of the country. |
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No legislation on Ayodhya:
Swami New Delhi, March 12 “There is no proposal under consideration of the government.” The Union Minister of State for Home, Mr I.D. Swami, said in a written reply to a question from CPM member, Niloptpal Basu, in the Rajya Sabha. “With a view to maintain public order and to promote communal harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood among the people of India, the Central Government acquired a total area of 71.361 acres, including the disputed site at Ayodhya, under the provisions of the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, 1993,” Mr Swami said. On whether the government finds any change in the situation now and whether it would reverse the position as enshrined in the law, the minister replied in the negative. The reply of the minister assumes great significance as the VHP, which has been spearheading the Ram temple movement, has been mounting pressure on the Vajpayee government to bring a legislation in Parliament to reverse the takeover of the disputed site. |
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BSP to hold ‘pardaphaash’ rally Lucknow, March 12 “This rally would be an answer to the nefarious designs of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party who had tried to malign the image of the Bahujan Samaj Party,” the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms
Mayawati, told reporters here today. Ms She said the video cassette, which she called doctored, was released with a political motive and both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party were hand-in-glove in this conspiracy. Ms Mayawati clarified that the rally would purely be a BSP affair with Kanshi Ram as the chief guest. In the last BSP rally called “dhikkar” rally the Deputy Prime Minister Mr
L.K. Advani, was the chief guest. Ms Mayawati held a meeting of the MPs, MLAs and senior party functionaries in the party headquerters today and chalked out a detailed strategy. A four-page pamphlet was also distributed among the party workers which highlighted the need to call a rally. “What is most hurting is the timing of the release of the video cassette”, she told party workers. Ms Mayawati gave a detailed account of the video cassette saying the said meeting was held in February 2001. “The opposition has got at least three opportunities where they should have released the said cassette for political gain. This could have been used in the Assembly elections of 2001 or in May 2002 when I was made the Chief Minister or in February 2003 when
by elections were held in the state,” she said. The video-cassette was released just a day before the no-confidence motion was brought against my government and this smacks of conspiracy, Ms Mayawati said. |
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Dalits denied justice: MPs New Delhi, March 12 Participating in a special discussion on the issue, the MPs said dalits were not getting justice and the legislations made for their welfare were not implemented with sincerity. Starting the debate, Mr Ramji Lal Suman (SP) called for a change in the mindset of officials and political leaders to ensure the welfare of Dalits. He alleged that some people were celebrating the killing of Dalits. He said the government was not serious about reservation of jobs. The disinvestment policy was resulting in denial of reservation to Dalits and this should change, he said. According to him, allocations for Dalits’ welfare were not utilised by states like Uttar Pradesh. He alleged that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati was not interested in the welfare of Dalits but only in staying in power. Mr Muni Lal (BJP) said the exploitation of Dalits had been continuing for more than 5000 years. Dalits were socially and economically exploited and were not treated as human beings or part of the society, he lamented. Though several legislations had been made for the protection and welfare of Dalits, even police officials were not aware of these, he said. Even the media was not reporting atrocities on Dalits, he said. Describing Ms Mayawati as the voice of Dalits, he said the BJP had made her Chief Minister for the third time at its own cost. Mr Ram Vilas Paswan (LJSP) said atrocities had forced Dalits to embrace other religions. In various states, members of this community had been subjected to inhuman acts like drinking of urine, denial of water from common wells and death by burning. Laws should be enacted providing for reservation for Dalits in the private sector and reports of various commissions set up for the weaker sections should be discussed in the House. There should also be a penal provision against officials who failed to enforce the reservation policy, he said. Mr Paswan and several other members, including Mr Shivraj Patil and Ms Margaret Alva (both Congress) and Dr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) took exception to the absence of senior ministers when the House was discussing this extremely serious issue. |
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Malaysian minister regrets excesses New Delhi, March 12 The regret was expressed by Malaysian Entrepreneurial Development Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz who stopped over in New Delhi on his way home from Britain and met India’s Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi. Mr Aziz told Dr Joshi it was a “most unfortunate incident” and his government “is seriously looking into the matter” and “action will be taken against the police and authorities” found guilty, an official statement after the meeting said. The Malaysian minister acknowledged that such excesses could not be condoned even against illegal immigrants, adding that Malaysia did not condone the incident nor had any intention to do so. He admitted that the Malaysian authorities committed excesses and the victims were not all illegal immigrants and included IT professionals. Dr Joshi conveyed the Indian government’s serious concern over the incident and told the visiting Malaysian minister to “see that such incidents are not repeated,” the statement said. He reminded the visitor that Indian immigrants contributed to the growth of Malaysia and such incidents “are not in the best interests of bilateral relations.” Mr Aziz requested Dr Joshi to see that the incident did not have “any bad impact” on “friendly” and “co-operative” relations between the two nations. Dr Joshi demanded strict action against the guilty authorities whose high-handedness led to the incident. He pointed out that the Indian government allowed professionals and students to travel abroad only after proper verification. The Malaysian minister told Dr Joshi that he would go back and convey to his Government India’s “unpleasantness and concern” over the incident. He also mentioned to Dr Joshi the matter of admission of Malaysian students to Indian medical and IT institutions and was asked to send a proposal for consideration.
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Kalam apprised of voters’ list rowTribune News Service New Delhi, March 12 The BJP today urged President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to intervene and direct the Madhya Pradesh Government to abide by the orders of the Election Commission and suspend the officials involved in large-scale irregularities in the voters’ lists in the state. A 55-member delegation of the Madhya Pradesh BJP legislature party, led by Mr Himmat Kothari and accompanied by Ms Uma Bharti, the state BJP president, Mr Kailash Nath Joshi, and Mr Pramod Mahajan, met the President and apprised him of the irregularities with alleged nexus between the government and the official machinery. The leaders handed over a three-page memorandum to Dr Kalam, which alleged that the number of bogus voters were in thousands and could seal the fate of several legislators. It also alleged that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had not taken action to suspend three collector-level officials and punitive measures against five more officials as ordered by the Commission in its March 7 order. It had upheld the BJP’s complaint of large-scale manipulations and asked the officials to prepare afresh the voters’ lists of 16 districts, involving 41 Assembly constituencies. The Commission had sought objections from 189 Assembly constituencies following the BJP allegations.  |
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Dam
building to be taken up with Nepal:
minister New Delhi, March 12 “Water is national wealth and as such cannot be privatised,” the Minister of State for Water Resources, Ms Bijoya Chakraborty, informed the House yesterday. Responding to supplementaries during question hour, she said there was no such proposal before the government and the Centre had not so far entered any such deal. In reply to another question, she said the government would take up the issue of building dams to control floods in the Bagmati, Kosi and Gandak with the King of Nepal during his visit to India. Replying to a question by Mr Ram Deo Bhandari on the rivers originating from Nepal causing floods in Bihar, Ms Chakraborty said a joint team of experts was already considering the issue and the government would certainly take it up with the King of Nepal during his visit. She said the silt brought by the floods was certainly a major problem blocking the river course. She said the Bihar Government had not sent any proposal about strengthening of embankments for the 10th Plan. Mr L.M. Singhvi said the river problem with Nepal was a “diplomatic challenge” and should be taken up at the earliest to save the country from facing floods. Ms Chakraborty said the ground water level was decreasing fast. If steps were not taken to check this trend, there would be no ground water available by 2030. It was because of this that the ministry had formulated a Rs 24,500 crore master plan for harvesting rain in the entire country to solve the worsening water problem. |
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US magazine apologises for Gandhi cartoon New Delhi, March 12 The periodical ‘Maxim’ in its February issue carried a humour piece in which Gandhiji was the subject of a cartoon. The article, Mr Khanna said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, had hurt the sensibilities of the Indian community who had raised a strong objection to it. In his apology, the Editor-in-Chief of Maxim said no offence was intended to Mahatma Gandhi. The magazine, he said, believed in Gandhiji’s teachings on peace. Gandhiji was chosen for the cartoon because he was the “least likely target of aggression imaginable.” The explanation and apology by the Editor suggested that the article in question was published due to a misplaced sense of humour, rather than a deliberate act of insult, Mr Khanna said.
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TC, Left members
clash New Delhi, March 12 Raising the issue immediately after the commencement of zero hour, Trinamol Congress leader Mamata Banerjee raised the issue alleging that there was no law and order in the state. At this juncture, a number of Left party members and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) were up on their feet protesting that making a hue and cry over the incident was only a political ploy. |
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Cong delegation to meet President
today New Delhi, March 12 Sources said the Congress delegation, likely to be led by party president Sonia Gandhi, would demand the imposition of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh over the “failure of constitutional machinery” in the state. The Congress leaders have criticised the Mayawati government over the manner in which the no-confidence motion and vote of thanks on the Governor’s address was dealt in the Assembly. The Congress leaders said the no-confidence motion was passed without discussion in the Assembly.
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‘Bill on cow slaughter in current session’ New Delhi, March 12 The BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said while Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had written to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, asking him to come out with a cow protection legislation in Parliament, his party was “shamelessly” involved in physically preventing the introduction of the Bill. |
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Concern over rising crime against
women New Delhi, March 12 Minister of State for Home I D Swami said during question hour that various measures were being taken to ensure that crime against women did not increase. For this purpose, a women’s cell had been created in each district in the Capital where women could lodge their complaints. He said more measures would be taken once the Justice Maliamath Committee panel set up to suggest reforms in the criminal justice system, gave its report. Mr Swami assured the agitated women members that steps like all-women courts and committees in various ministries and departments for addressing the problem of harassment of women were being taken. |
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Mamata downplays reports New Delhi, March 12 “Cabinet berth means nothing for us. We have been and are working with the NDA,” Ms Banerjee, who opened her party office here, told newspersons. Defence Minister George Fernandes, BJP President M. Venkaiah
Naidu, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel, INLD leader Sushil K
Indora, Trinamool Congress MPs and several West Bengal MLAs were present at the function. |
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BJP discusses poll strategy New Delhi, March 12 The meeting chaired by party President M. Venkaiah Naidu and attended by General Secretaries, including Pramod Mahajan and M.A. Naqvi, discussed the broad outlines of strategy for the crucial Assembly elections, party sources said. |
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Cop says he saw order on phone taps Mumbai, March 12 |
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Hurriyat for N. Ireland model New Delhi, March 12 The Hurriyat Conference sources said its delegation comprising during its stay here was seeking to garner support from diplomatic missions for this purpose.
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Govt to slash SDS, GPF rates New Delhi, March 12 The move comes hardly two weeks after Finance Minister Jaswant Singh announced a 1.0 per cent cut in small savings and public provident fund rates in the Budget for 2003-04.
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