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Saturday,
June 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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RSS does
not consider anyone as Atal’s successor: Sudarshan NDA
leaders to meet today George to
take test-flight of Sukhoi-30 Temple
movement in disarray 2 lakh for Bismillah
Khan’s treatment |
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Vajpayee calls
on President No institutes in my
name: Kalam
Kamal
Hassan to change film title
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RSS does not consider anyone as Atal’s
New Delhi, June 20 Breaking his silence over the leadership controversy in the BJP, the RSS chief told weekly Outlook, “We do not consider anyone to be Atalji’s successor. Since the BJP is a democratic party and people come through elections, new people must come and replace the old ones. And the older people should allow the others to come forward to take on their responsibility.” However, he said no personality could be bigger than the party. “Why base the part on personality? Once upon a time people asked after Nehru who. Nehru died and Shastri took over, we should not forget who made the big leaders — the cadres.” Criticising the Kanchi Shankaracharya’s efforts for a negotiated settlement of the Ayodhya dispute, the RSS leader said his solution was not acceptable to the Sangh. “The Shankaracharya had spoken to me on Ayodhya. I told him if we had to make this kind of a compromise, we would have done it in 1991 when the Babri Masjid Action Committee offered us the Ram temple in exchange for dropping Kashi and Mathura. The Ramjanmabhoomi Andolan will go on. The VHP will reach out to one crore people,” he informed. Mr Sudarshan said the VHP leaders, unhappy over the Shankaracharya’s move, had told him that there was no question of giving up Kashi and Mathura. Though endorsing the VHP’s position on the issue, the RSS leader was critical of the intemperate behaviour of the Parishad. “The VHP gets excited when decisions are taken against them. It is a sort of persecuation phobia as they believe that some people want to finish them off.” Mr Sudarshan suggested that the BJP should fight the next election on its own manifesto. “Since none of the other NDA allies have given up their agenda, why should the BJP?,” he wondered.
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NDA leaders to meet today New Delhi, June 20 The meeting is being convened five days after a Pentagon team held meetings with its Indian counterparts on the issue. The meeting is taking place a day after Defence Minister and NDA convenor George Fernandes ruled out any immediate dispatch of troops to form part of the stabilisation force in Iraq, saying several key questions raised with the USA on command and control, logistics and the UN involvement remained unanswered. The meeting will also decide on sending a fact-finding team to Punjab, to “checkmate” the “political witch-hunt” launched by Punjab Chief Minister Capt
Amarinder Singh against Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Parkash Singh Badal. The SAD had been
disappointed over the lack of strong reaction from the NDA allies on the issue of raids being conducted by Punjab’s Vigilance Bureau in the farmhouse of Mr Badal. |
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George to take test-flight of Sukhoi-30 New Delhi, June 20 Mr Fernandes would be flying off to Pune, the Air Force station where the Sukhois are based, late
tomorrow evening to be in the cockpit of the latest version of the twin-seater fighter aircraft, which India is receiving from Russia on Sunday morning. The Indian Air Force (IAF) spokesman here said that the Defence Minister would be taking a test-flight in the aircraft, apparently to see for himself what improvements have been made in the aircraft by the Russians over the initial aircraft supplied to India. The IAF had sought specific modifications in the SU-30s supplied initially by Russia to meet its requirements and from the modified versions India has already received about eight aircraft, called the SU-30MKIs. The delivery of the rest will be in a phased manner over the next five years. Mr Fernandes would take the test flight by placing himself in the trainer’s seat of the twin-seater aircraft. However, the aircraft would not be flown at supersonic speed. It would fly for almost half an hour and carry out some basic manouevres. The Defence Minister would be setting a record of sorts by flying a supersonic fighter aircraft, but he would not be the first Indian Defence Minister to do so. Former Defence Minister Sharad Pawar is said to have squeezed his way into a single seater aircraft. Incidentally, it was Mr Fernandes who had signed a deal in October 2000 for the licenced production of SU-30MKIs in India. As per the agreement with Russia, India would be producing 140 SU-30MKI fighter aircraft over the next 17 years. |
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Temple movement in disarray New Delhi, June 20 Then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today alleged that the demolition was done under directions from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and senior RSS leaders who were “part of a conspiracy”. While the VHP, afraid of losing its hold over the sadhus and saints, has stepped up its campaign for the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya, Mr Kalyan Singh’s statement only shows that the unity in the Ayodhya movement was breaking. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s move to rope in Kanchi’s Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati in finding an amicable solution to the dispute has also been questioned by VHP leader Ashok Singhal. Mr Singhal also challenged the BJP leaders to quit the NDA government if they supported the construction of a Ram temple. Not only this, the VHP leaders also questioned Kanchi Shankaracharya’s credentials to take a initiative on the Ayodhya issue saying that Jayendra Saraswati was a “Shaivite” and not a “Vaishnavite.” Disgruntled followers have formed the Akhil Bharata Ram Mandir Karsevak Sangh and are trying to contact kar sevaks in different parts of the country to pose a challenge to the VHP which controls massive funds collected from millions of followers across the globe. It all began on June 7 when a kar sevak R.N. Das — one of the five accused being tried at the CBI court in Lucknow — alleged that Mr Advani, Dr Joshi, former Union Minister Uma Bharti and other senior BJP leaders had instigated them to undertake the demolition of the Babri Mosque. The VHP’s aggressive tone is the result of frustration among the followers who are using the RSS and its affiliated organisations to gain political power. |
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2 lakh for Bismillah Khan’s treatment New Delhi, June 20 The renowned shehnai player has been ill for some time and needs immediate financial assistance. Recently, he had reportedly complained that he had received no help despite having written to the Prime Minister twice in this regard. Ustad Bismillah Khan, 87, is credited with popularising single-handedly the shehnai, which earlier had remained only an accompanying musical instrument. He has been honoured with the nation’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna besides the prestigious Padma Vibhushan. He has also received, among others, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Tansen Award of the Madhya Pradesh Government. |
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Vajpayee
calls on President New Delhi, June 20 Mr Vajpayee will leave for an official visit to China on Sunday. |
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No institutes in my name: Kalam New Delhi, June 20 A press note issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan here today said the President considered such moves highly inappropriate and felt that individuals and groups should desist from such moves and engage themselves in the task of nation building. The President expected that his sentiments would be honoured in letter and spirit, it said. |
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Kamal Hassan to change film title Chennai, June 20 He told newspersons about this decision after a 40-minute discussion with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa at the State Secretariat here today. The actor said he had explained in detail to the Chief Minister about the problems being faced by him in shooting the film and made it clear that it was not intended to hurt anybody’s feelings. The title of the film was the only problem and since he had decided to change it, there would not be any need for police protection, he added. Asked whether the Ms Jayalalithaa suggested the change of title, he said it was already decided by him and it was conveyed to Ms Jayalalithaa. “Now the problem is solved’’, he added. Claiming that there was no problem as far as the storyline was concerned, he said the shooting of the film would be held in Tamil Nadu and the exact location would be disclosed later.
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