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Tuesday,
July 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Northern states to get power Liberhan panel urged to summon Centre’s clean chit to PM,
Advani Protests in Pak over Islamic curriculum Ease visa norms for Pak: Nayar |
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Senegal envoy leaves India
Chhota Rajan gang member
nabbed Extortionist Dharmendra Anand of the Chhota Rajan gang, who was nabbed by the crime branch of the Delhi Police on Monday.
— Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal Nalin Surie is envoy to China Lieut-Gen Gill retires
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Northern states to get power from
Bhutan New Delhi, June 30 Addressing a press conference here today, the Power Grid
CMD, Mr R.P. Singh, said the Rs 1,980-crore transmission line project for the evacuation of power from Tala hydel station in Bhutan will be a trend-setter for bringing in more and more private investment in the power sector not only in India but also in other developing countries. The 49-51 joint venture between the state-owned Power Grid Corporation and Tata Power, the first of its kind in the power sector in the country, will send right signals and help the Power Grid mobilise Rs 10,000 crore from private investments as planned for the Tenth Plan period (2002-07), he said. The financial closure for the 1,200-km 400 kv double circuit transmission line project would be achieved in early as September. The joint venture component accounts for Rs 1,100 crore, with the Power Grid putting in equity amounting to Rs 162 crore and the Tata Power Rs 168 crore and the remaining Rs 770 crore to come from banks and other financial institutions without any guarantee either from any of the joint venture partners. The joint venture will have a Managing Director and Director (Finance) from Tata Power, while the Chairman and Director (Projects) will be from the Power Grid. Tata Power will have one director more on the Board than the number of representatives from the Power Grid. Mr Singh said that he had already got indications from the USA and other countries that the joint venture would result in foreign direct investment in transmission and other power projects in India. The Tala Hydro Electric Project in Bhutan is being executed by the Tala Hydroelectric Project Authority. The 1020 mw project is being funded by India — 60 per cent in the form of grant and 40 per cent on loan. |
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Liberhan panel urged to summon Vajpayee, Advani New Delhi, June 30 The application was filed by Mohd Aslam, alias Bhure, on whose petition the Supreme Court had last year banned all kinds of religious activity on the 67 acres of acquired land adjacent to the disputed site. Two other applications were also filed by Bhure through counsel O.P. Sharma, seeking to summon Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Kalyan Singh, whose recent remarks about the alleged conspiracy had created a flutter in the political circles. All three applications were posted for hearing on July 10 by the Commission. Mr Singh, had on June 20, alleged that Babri Masjid was demolished under the directions of Mr Vajpayee, Mr Advani, Union HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and senior Sangh Parivar leaders who were “part of a conspiracy”. “I was Chief Minister but they kept every thing under wraps and even forced me to sign on the dotted line,” he alleged at a press conference, a day after the Centre accused his BJP state government of failing to deploy Central forces to protect the structure in 1992 at Ayodhya. —
PTI |
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Centre’s clean chit to PM,
Advani New Delhi, June 30 Stating that Mr Vajpayee, Mr Advani and Mr Joshi had “no role” in the demolition of the disputed structure on December 6, 1992, the Centre’s counsel Lala Ram Gupta, in an affidavit, said that the approach of the three top BJP leaders along with other party functionaries “had always been finding out a meeting ground to create a consensus for the construction of the Ram temple.” Referring to Mr Advani’s deposition before the commission, it said “he (Advani) had categorically said that he or his party had no intention to demolish the structure but the kar sevaks went out of control.” “There are independent evidence available that Mr Advani was appealing to kar sevaks not to climb on the disputed structure. His pre-demolition and the post-demolition statements also reflect his state of mind in this matter,” the Centre contended. Meanwhile, the term of the Liberhan Commission probing into the circumstances leading to the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya in 1992 has been extended by six months. “The term of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry has been further extended upto December 31, 2003, a Home Ministry notification said today. |
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Protests in Pak over Islamic curriculum New Delhi, June 30 Unable to handle the protests, the administration has deployed army personnel in Gilgit town to tackle the situation. Residents of the northern areas, including
Gilgit, were agitated over the government’s move to introduce the new curriculum saying that it was in conflict with their school of thought. Media reports from Pakistan said the agitation and boycotting of classes against the controversial curriculum turned violent last week when a mob reportedly tried to shut down an army-run school in
Gilgit. The administration has deployed the army and the Frontier Constabulary in Gilgit city following violent protests during the past five days in which scores of people were injured. In view of the deteriorating law and order situation, the administration has imposed Section 144 in the city, banning the assembly of more than four persons, carrying of arms and use of loudspeakers. The administration has said discussions were on between leaders of the Shia community and officials of the Education Ministry. The Dawn editorially commented on June 19: “Regardless of the ongoing debate as to whether the northern areas, comprising Gilgit and
Baltistan, belong to the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir or form part of Pakistan, the two million people of the region deserve to be given some meaningful political representation. The toothless Northern Areas Legislative Council, comprising 28 elected members, has no real administrative or legislative powers.” |
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Ease visa norms for Pak: Nayar New Delhi, June 30 Talking to newspersons here today, after arriving in New Delhi after leading a nine member MP delegation to Islamabad, Mr Nayar said the easing of restrictions would go a long way in promoting mutual trust among the people of the two nations. He said: “Pakistanis openly said the core issue is not Kashmir, but mutual mistrust between the two countries and this mistrust must be removed. This can be only achieved through people-to-people contact.” The Rajya Sabha MP said a Pakistani political leaders’ delegation, led by former cricketer Imran Khan, would be coming to India in August or November as part of the efforts to increase people to people contact. |
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Senegal envoy leaves India New Delhi, June 30 Mr Diop left behind a signed but an undated statement in which he said the slain driver, Dilaver, had pushed his son. “There was an altercation and both fell down... It seems that Dilaver hit his head on a hard surface, which resulted in a critical injury. My son suffered a fracture in his arm,” Mr Diop said in a statement which was released today. Mr Ali allegedly killed his driver, 32-year old Dilaver during a fight at a five star hotel on May 24 while a function to mark Africa Day was underway. Mr Ali reportedly found Dilaver in an inebriated state and asked for the car keys telling the driver that he was not in a state to drive and he would drive it himself. A quarrel followed during which Dilaver is said to have hit a hard object and died. Mr Diop said: “My son knew that I would dismiss him (the driver) from service immediately if I see him in that state. My son treated Dilaver not as an employee but as a friend and a brother. He (my son) pleaded with Dilaver to go home and leave the key of the car with him.” The Ambassador said he and his family were deeply religious and none of them take alcohol. “Apparently Dilaver had lost control over himself and refused to give the key to my son. Instead, he (Dilaver) pushed my son,” he said. The diplomat said he was issuing the statement because the media, particularly the television channels, were giving only one side of the story and portrayed his son as some kind of a criminal who wanted to take shelter behind diplomatic immunity. The police registered a case under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against Ali who was not arrested on the ground that he may enjoy diplomatic immunity. Under the 1961 Vienna Convention, diplomats and their families enjoy immunity for crimes in the host country. But if a diplomat’s family member is an adult, then such a person does not automatically enjoy this facility. Special permission of the host government has to be sought for getting immunity. |
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‘Take a ride in MiG-21, George’ New Delhi, June 30 Senior service officers, who do not want to be identified, said if the Defence Minister’s intention of undertaking the sortie in SU-30MKI was to know the problems of the pilots or dispel their fear then he should have been taking a ride in the MiG-21s. For, the Sukhoi is not only the latest aircraft in the Indian military’s inventory but has hardly been in the air when compared to the MiG-21s. The oldest Sukhoi fighter is just three to four years old as compared to MiG-21s whose production stopped way back in 1986, the service officers point out. The MiGs incidentally account for over 50 per cent of the fleet and are the source of the commonest problems faced by pilots. “If he was trying to instill confidence in IAF pilots, that was the wrong way to go about it. They all know it was nothing more than a photo-opportunity for the Minister,” noted a service officer. He further said the Sukhoi had the maximum number of fall-back options as compared to the MiG which has practically none. Leave alone the Sukhoi, even the slightly older Mirage planes have an accident-free record for the last 10 years, he added. Insiders recall a similar well-publicised effort by a former IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal (retd) A.Y. Tipnis, who donned the flying gear and conducted a supposedly impromptu sortie in a MiG-21 during a media visit to the Bareilly Air Force base. This MiG-21 was the safest version and had been especially brought in from a distant base, another officer said, adding that Mr Fernandes’ Sukhoi excursion was in a similar category of shallow exhibitionism. More problematic, according to some, is Mr Fernandes’ short-circuiting of the command chain. A Minister is supposed to be guided by the expert advice of specialists instead of physically verifying every machine. “Between the last guy who is the executing authority and the Minister, there is a chain of experienced people. He should be getting the feedback from these people. Because of these gimmicks, things remain where they are,” noted another officer. Taking the analogy further, the critics want to know whether the military equipment not tested by the Minister was not up to the mark or its adequacy would have to wait for an on-the-spot test by Mr Fernandes. They list several other shortcomings in other machines that the Minister could have ascertained instead of getting flown in the most modern aircraft with the IAF. The workhorse of the IAF, the AN-32, has a good flight safety record but suffers from excessive vibration and noise. Its airframe is also getting older leading to pilots flying the plane below the height recommended for high altitude operations. The officers were of the opinion that the Defence Minister should already start working on finding replacements for the 110-odd surviving AN-32s (eight have crashed so far). This, since getting an Advance Jet Trainer (AJT) for replacing the MiGs for training pilots has been an uphill task, getting the AN-32s replaced would possibly be another difficult project. |
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Chhota Rajan gang member
nabbed New Delhi, June 30 The suspect was arrested at Sunder Vihar near Paschim Vihar. He was in his white Maruti Zen car and fired at a police party on being directed to stop. He has been identified as Dharmender Anand, alias Punjabi. A Maruti Zen car, a US pistol and three live cartridges were seized from his possession, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Deepender Pathak said. The suspect is a Surat-based gangster working for Thailand-based underworld don Chhota Rajan. Anand was wanted in connection with at least three cases of extortion in Surat. According to information provided by the Surat police, Anand was residing in Switzerland and had been running an extortion racket from there. He had come to India recently and since then the Surat police was on his trail, the DCP said. Anand is being currently questioned by crime branch personnel to ascertain if he was in the capital in connection with his extortion racket, the DCP said. |
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Nalin Surie is envoy to China New Delhi, June 30 Mr Surie takes over from Mr Shivshankar Menon who has been appointed High Commissioner to Pakistan. Mr Menon is expected to take up his new assignment in a fortnight. |
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Lieut-Gen Gill retires New Delhi, June 30 Commissioned on June 30, 1963, General Gill had a number of staff and command appointments during his service in the Army. |
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Pakistanis want visa restrictions between the two nuclear neighbours to end or at least be relaxed to boost bilateral trade, tourism, educational and cultural exchanges, said the Rajya Sabha MP, Mr Kuldip Nayar.
The crime branch of the Delhi Police today claimed to have arrested a member of the Chhota Rajan gang after a brief encounter.
The suspect was arrested at Sunder Vihar near Paschim Vihar. He was in his white Maruti Zen car and fired at a police party on being directed to stop.
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