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Tuesday,
April 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Bandh against VAT partial New railway zones fully functional from today 3 per cent hike in DA Training of US troops put off
Indian relief team in Jordan |
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No change in Indo-Kuwait flight schedule Jogi protests to PM over ‘IB document’
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Bandh against VAT partial New Delhi, March 31 The “Bharat bandh” was claimed to have been an overwhelming success in the major commercial centre Delhi and some northern states but “moderate” and “partial” in industrially-advanced states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Essential services, including those in health and transport sectors were, however, kept out of the purview of the bandh, called by the Bharat Udyog Vyapar Mandal and the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). “Lakhs of traders belonging to more than 5000 trade organisations all over the country kept their shutters down, registering strong protest and anguish over the proposed VAT”, CAIT general secretary Praveen Khandelwal said. Markets in Chandni Chowk, Khari Baoli, Naya Bazar, Naraina, Kashmere Gate, Sadar Bazar, Connaugut Place and Chawri Bazaar observed a “complete” bandh, he said. Traders in Maharashtra claimed that 10 lakh members belonging to wholesale and retail trade responded to the bandh. Dry fruit merchants and garment dealers also participated in the bandh. In Gujarat, response to the bandh call was ‘moderate’. In Uttar Pradesh, shops and commercial establishments remained closed in major market places of Lucknow, while the bandh was reportedly complete in other parts of the state. The strike in Utaranchal was also reported to be “complete” with all major towns, including state capital Dehra Dun responding fully to the call. However, the bandh call evoked partial response in Rajasthan. KOLKATA: Traders and businessmen in West Bengal on Monday participated in the bandh in protest against the introduction of VAT, paralysing trade market in Kolkata, which controls the entire circle in the north-eastern region. This is the second time in the past one month that such a bandh had been called. The issue also figured in the Assembly when MLAs belonging to the treasury Bench and also the Opposition demanded immediate intervention of the Chief Minister in the matter. |
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New railway zones fully functional from today New Delhi, March 31 The North Central Railway, Allahabad, will comprise reorganised Allahabad division of Northern Railway, reorganised Jhansi division of Central Railway and newly constituted Agra division. East Coast Railway,
Bhubaneshwar, will comprise Khurda Road, Waltair (Vishakapatnam) and Sambalpur divisions of South Eastern Railway. South Western Railway, Hubli will comprise Bangalore and Mysore divisions of Southern Railway and reorganised
Hubli, division of South Central Railway. West Central Railway,
Jabalpur, will have Jabalpur and Bhopal divisions of Central Railway and reorganised Kota division of Western Railway. South East Central Railway, Bilaspur, will comprise Nagpur and reorganised Bilaspur division of South Eastern Railway and newly constituted Raipur division. Sources in the Railway
Ministry said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would dedicate South East Central Railway to the nation on April 5 although the new zone would start functioning from April 1. Railway Minister Nitish Kumar will inaugurate North Central Railway at Allahabad, West Central Railway at Jabalpur and East Coast Railway at Bhubaneshwar on April 1. Minister of State for Railways, Bandaru Dattatreya will inaugurate South Western Railway at
Hubli. Nitish Kumar will inaugurate Rangiya division on Northeast Frontier Railway in Assam on April 2, Pune division on
April 3 and Agra division on April 4. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani will
inaugurate Ahmedabad division on April 6. The reorganisation of railway zones and divisions into cohesive and manageable administrative units is expected to improve the productivity and
efficiency of Indian Railways. The Supreme Court, in its landmark judgement on March 13, had upheld the legal and constitutional validity of the newly created railway zones. |
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New rail fares New Delhi, March 31 |
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3 per cent hike in DA New Delhi, March 31 The increase has a financial implication of Rs 785.7 annually, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. Meanwhile, in a major decision aimed at bringing the state electricity boards (SEBs) out of the red the Union Cabinet tonight cleared a Rs 40,000-crore incentive package to improve their financial health within five years. Under the package Rs 20,000 crore would be for strengthening their infrastructure and an equal amount for reducing their cash losses.
UNI, PTI |
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Training of US troops put off Aizawl, March 31 While no alternative dates have been fixed, official sources said the special units could arrive at the CIJW located in Vairengte by mid-April. Though no clarification had been given over the delay of the US forces’ arrival, the war in Iraq could be one of the probable causes, the sources said. The CIJW top brass, however, refused to comment on the matter. The forthcoming training of the American special units is seen as crucial, especially in the likely event of the USA taking control of the Iraq capital Baghdad. According to defence experts, the key factor for the coalition forces in the Iraq campaign would be to deal with small guerrilla and fidayeen units raised to make things difficult for them. The CIJW trained forces to ‘’fight a guerrilla like a guerrilla’’ and this training would be beneficial to the Americans, said a former Army strategist. The training was part of the Indo-US defence agreement under which exchange programmes for the armies of both countries were held. The Indian forces underwent training with their American counterparts in Alaska on high altitude warfare early this year. Incidentally, both Iraqis and Americans had from time to time been trained at the CIJW on counter-insurgency tactics as both nations had friendly relation with India. Besides, armies of Kenya, Nepal, Singapore and Sri Lanka had also been trained at the CIJW. The school presently trains officers of the Indian Army and foreign trainees on specialised low-intensity combat courses, which makes it the most sought after training school on counter-insurgency techniques.
UNI |
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Indian relief team in Jordan Mumbai, March 31 Raza Academy spokesperson Sabir Yasin Nirban said the team was carrying a huge stock of medicines to be distributed in the war- ravaged country. HYDERABAD: In a major shift from its policy of the ‘annihilation of class enemy’, the PWG now had turned it’s focus to a fight against imperialistic aggression on Iraq. Even as anti-war demonstrations were being held in the city demanding a boycott of American and British goods yesterday, the PWG demonstrated it by attacking the godown of ‘Pepsi’ at Piduguralla village in Guntur district. Armed naxals attacked the godown and destroyed about 200 cases of Pepsi bottles, fired in the air and withdrew with slogans against the Iraq war.
UNI, PTI |
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No change in Indo-Kuwait flight schedule New Delhi, March 31 According to Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz, Hussain there was no thinking in his ministry to curtail AI and IA flights to and from Kuwait despite drop in passenger traffic in the wake of Iraq war. The minister said the air traffic to Kuwait had come down to 30 per cent while it was 70 per cent from the gulf city but still the ministry had no plans to reduce its number of flights. Mr Hussain was talking to reporters after receiving a dividend cheque from Pawan Hans at a simple ceremony here. He said contrary to apprehensions about mass exodus from Kuwait in the wake of Iraq war, there was in fact a drop in the passenger traffic. Neither was there any cause of exigency nor cancellation of flights, he said. The minister, however, admitted that the Civil Aviation sector was the most affected sector after oil industry. As per the estimate, the minister said, AI was to net a profit of Rs 100 crore but now it would come down significantly. He said, despite the reverses, AI would be able to register profit in the excess of Rs 40 crore achieved during the previous financial year. In reply to a question, Mr Hussain said the new Civil Aviation policy had finally been drafted and would be sent for Cabinet approval soon. While replying to another query, the minister said the stand of the ministry on disinvestment of the aviation sector was clear as it had asked the government to exclude it from the list of disinvestment. The Cabinet Committee of Disinvestment (CCD) would take a decision in this regard when it meets next time, he said. |
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Jogi protests to PM over ‘IB document’ New Delhi, March 31 In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Jogi said the gameplan seemed to be to “fabricate stories of corruption, use meticulously forged documents and then systematically disseminate disinformation through the media at an appropriate time to reap political mileage in an election year.” Briefing mediapersons at the AICC office today, Mr Jogi gave a copy of a “confidential IB document” which listed undisclosed property allegedly owned by him and members of his family. Describing the details in the “IB document” as baseless and frivolous, Mr Jogi said he was “outraged, disappointed and hurt” over “dubious machinations and dirty manipulations.” |
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TV Today’s
new English channel New Delhi, March 31 The name and logo of the channel was previewed on Aaj Tak, which is also running an interactive SMS campaign for its viewers to judge the channel’s viewership and response in various parts of the country, a press note informed today. |
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MID-AIR REFUELLING |
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