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Wednesday,
June 11, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Go ahead to Goa as film fest venue AYODHYA ISSUE Task force for Rajasthan
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Pak 'behind' tardy growth of peace process New Delhi, June 10 The familiar blame game has started between India and Pakistan rocking the boat of the much-hyped peace process between the two sabre-rattling nuclear adversaries. Pakistan-watchers in the Vajpayee government here believe that Islamabad is itself to be blamed for the tardy growth in the peace process between the two countries.
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CONSTRUCTION AROUND
GT ROAD Third front taking shape in MP
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Go ahead to Goa as film fest venue New Delhi, June 10 Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, told mediapersons that the proposal to make Goa a permanent venue for the IFFI was approved by members of the key advisory group on films in the Ministry at a meeting held on Tuesday afternoon. The Chairman of the FICCI Entertainment Committee, Mr Yash Chopra, the Chairman of the CII Entertainment Committee, Mr Subhash Ghai and cine actresses Shabana Azmi and Raveena Tandon were present at the meeting. “We need to develop a world class infrastructure in our quest for a good film festival of international standard. All over the world, film festivals are known by the city and not the nation as Cannes and Toronto. Goa is known for its lovely people, places, beaches and greenery,” the minister said. Mr Prasad said the Centre would assist Goa in setting up the requisite infrastructure. He said a team from the I&B ministry and another from the film industry would visit Goa soon in this regard. The minister said while he appreciated the zest and enthusiasm of the Goa Chief Minister to host the festival next year, the advisory group on films was in favour of flexibility for delivery of infrastructure. Hailing the initiative, the Chief Minister of Goa, Mr Manohar Parikkar, said the infrastructure would be nothing less than “world-class.” Replying to a question, Mr Parikkar said various sites were being considered for the venue including one in Panjim and another in Madgaon. Filmmaker Subhash Ghai stressed the need to “redefine the character of IFFI as cinema is changing.” Mr Prasad said money would not be a problem for developing world-class infrastructure in Goa as he had already got half-a-dozen offers of sponsorships, including five from abroad and one from India. He said Director of the Cannes Film Festival Giles Jacob had promised him assistance in making good arrangements. |
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AYODHYA ISSUE New Delhi, June 10 Refusing to elaborate on who all were involved in talks, Mr Naqvi reiterated that the BJP was against any political party interfering in the matter and the only way out was either through discussion between the communities concerned or through a court verdict. To a question that it was the BJP which had politicised Ayodhya in its Palampur resolution, Mr Naqvi said “it was never so as we always considered Ayodhya to be part of cultural nationalism and not a political issue.” Asked whether the criticism being levelled by various groups on the efforts to resolve the dispute, especially on the statement made by Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, would not hamper the process of ongoing negotiations, he said “the reactions by various organisations on the proposals would not affect efforts to resolve the Ayodhya issue.” |
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Task force for Rajasthan New Delhi, June 10 This programme will provide for rehabilitation of traditional pastures by developing pasturage nurseries, facilitate restoration of traditional water courses and implement other measures. Mr Kamal Morarka will head the seven-member task force, which has been set up for a period of three years. Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh had indicated the setting up of such a task force in his Budget speech. |
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Pak 'behind' tardy growth of peace process New Delhi, June 10 Pakistan-watchers in the Vajpayee government here believe that Islamabad is itself to be blamed for the tardy growth in the peace process between the two countries. They point out that exactly a fortnight after the Vajpayee government had announced on May 26 its decision to resume the Delhi-Lahore "peace bus" from July 1, the Pakistani technical team is yet to arrive here. "We have not heard of any dates when the Pakistani technical team is coming here," Mr Navtej Sarna, spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs told The Tribune today. India has invited the Pakistani
technical team for talks to finalise the nitty-gritties of technical aspects like customs, visa and security checks. Pakistan's Acting High Commissioner here, Mr Munnawar Sayeed, told The Tribune this evening that the technical team was expected "within the next 10 days" and hoped that the peace process would bear fruit. Pakistan-watchers say that one fact stands out in yesterday's outburst of new foreign office spokesman of Pakistan, Mr Masood Khan, in which he complained about the slow pace of the Indo-Pak peace process. No spokesperson can make such a remark without clearance from the higher-ups. And in Pakistan there is only one person who takes policy decisions, at least since October 12, 1999: General Pervez Musharraf who is wearing many hats, including those of Pakistan's all-powerful President and Chief of Army Staff. A point to be kept in mind in this context is that Mr Khan made this remark on the first day of his high-profile job of foreign office spokesman. A newcomer is hardly expected to make a sweeping remark like he did. An equally interesting fact is that Mr Khan's immediate predecessor and Pakistan's High Commissioner-designate to India, Mr Aziz Ahmed Khan, who sat through the press briefing at which the remark was made, did not intervene. The question arises: why did the new Pakistani foreign office spokesman made the remark that he did? Reasons can be several. First, Pakistan foreign office is signalling its blow-hot stance vis-a-vis the ongoing peace process after blowing cold in the past few weeks. Islamabad has conveyed its unhappiness with the slow pace of peace process but actually it means unhappiness over India not moving ahead in the arenas Islamabad wanted New Delhi to. In Pakistan's scheme of things, Samjhauta Express gets a higher priority than resumption of air links or overflight facilities between the two neighbours. The Indian priorities are just the opposite. Secondly, by complaining about the so-called tardy pace of the peace process, Pakistan has thrown a stone aiming at two birds: India and the international community, the latter being an euphemism for the USA and the UK. Mr Khan's statement has come at a time when Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is already in the USA where he has conferred with the top political leadership and is about to visit the UK where he is going to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top ministers. Indian foreign office spokesman, Mr Navtej Sarna, has expressed surprise at his Pakistani counterpart's remark and maintained that Islamabad has still not responded to New Delhi's long-standing query with regard to resumption of air links and overflights facilities. Besides, Pakistan has not yet addressed India's core concern about Pakistan's brazen support to cross-border terrorism aimed at India and not taken any concrete steps on trade and economic issues. Against this backdrop, it is highly unlikely that the much-awaited thaw in Indo-Pak relations will materialise in the near future. Exchange of High Commissioners by the two countries is not going to bring about this thaw. The real progress has to be on the issues of terrorism, trade and people-to-people contacts. Till that happens, the two nuclear powers in the Indian subcontinent will remain prisoners of mutual distrust and hatred, the Pakistan-watchers pointed out. |
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CONSTRUCTION
AROUND GT ROAD New Delhi, June 10 The state government’s action has been challenged in a Special Leave Petition (SLP) by Rajinder Singh, the owner of Punjabi Delux Dhaba, located on the GT Road at Kambopura village in Karnal district. The dhaba owner has contended that the removal of his property would be illegal without the finalisation of the development plan by the government as is laid down under the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled Areas (Restriction Unregulated Development) Act, 1963. A vacation Bench comprising Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar while issuing notice to the Haryana Government on the SLP, directed that the status quo be maintained with regard to the Punjabi Delux Dhaba. The SLP was filed against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order rejecting the petition of the dhaba owner even though it had castigated the state government for not finalising the development plan, advocate Mahabir Singh, appearing for the petitioner, said. Mr Mahabir Singh said if the state government’s order was implemented, several dhabas on either side of the GT Road would be removed. The counsel said his client had been running the dhaba from the same plot of land for over 20 years. According to him the land belongs to the village panchayat. The petitioner said under Section 5 of the Act it was mandatory for the state to finalise the country and urban development plan to regulate construction activities in the state. In the absence of the plan, people would not be aware whether construction activities in a particular area have been prohibited or not, he said. The petitioner contended that his property was situated 30 metres away from the road and therefore did not violate Section 3 of the Act, which prohibits raising of a structure within this limit of the national highway. While disposing of the petition, the High Court had said the state government had shown “absolute apathy” in finalising the development plan during the past one-and-half decades though it had an obligation to do so under the Act. The state’s inaction indicated the “sorry state of affairs” on an important issue of public interest as the government was yet to invite objections on the proposed country and urban development plan, the High Court had observed. |
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Third front taking shape in MP Bhopal, June 10 Seven parties have already decided to contest the elections jointly under the banner of Jana Mukti Morcha. These are the Communist Party of India, Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal (Secular), Kranti Dal, Samata Dal, Samajwadi Janata Party and Justice Party. None of these parties has a presence in the present Assembly. The “front” spokesman, Mr M.W. Siddiqui said today that the CPI (M) was yet to take a decision on joining the morcha in Madhya Pradesh, though its representatives had been attending the preliminary meetings where the decision to constitute Jana Mukti Morach had been taken. The Morcha leaders are in contact with Mr Kalyan Singh and Ms Maneka Gandhi also. He said that the morcha leaders no more considered the Congress a secular party, mainly for three reasons: the then Congress government at the Centre had got Babri Masjid demolished and a temporary structure constructed there; failure of the Congress to come to the help of the minorities in the post-Godhra pogrom in Gujarat; and the adoption of soft-Hindutva by the Congress leaders. Mr Siddiqui announced a programme of rallies and public meetings to be held later this month in Gwalior, Satna, Morena, Bhind, Betul, Sagar and Damoh districts. The Janata Dal (S) leader and former Prime Minister, Mr H.D. Devegowda, and the CPI leader, Mr A.B. Bardhan, are to participate. |
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Train fire report: no clue to cause New Delhi, June 10 Mr Bhupendra Singh, who held a statutory inquiry, has not arrived at any conclusion on how the fire started. |
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US centre attack
accused admits link with ISI Kolkata, June 10 Nadim Ahmad’s admission has once again justified the allegations made by the Vajpayee government regarding the ISI’s involvement in the terrorist activities in Kashmir and several other places in
India. OC |
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Manmohan to
visit Jalandhar New Delhi, June 10 |
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