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Tuesday,
October
14, 2003,
Chandigarh, India  
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Venkaiah belittles Cong for poll
debacles Senegal President meets
PM
SC notice to states on overspending
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Election Commission pulls Sanjay Dutt exempted from court appearance For Pervez, Laloo
is ‘an artist of a politician’ Sops to Rajasthan farmers ahead of poll UP Govt asked to produce records in Taj Corridor case High Court stays rally ban order India, Canada agree to ensure track II contacts No Al-Qaida men in J & K: Fernandes Sinha to visit Lanka today Shetty panel
denied extension
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Venkaiah belittles Cong for poll
debacles New Delhi, October 13 Addressing newspersons at a specially convened press conference here on the completion of four-year NDA rule, BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu said NCP President Sharad Pawar had once again invoked the foreign origin issue in Jaipur and has defiantly stuck to his stand even after the Congress ultimatum to withdraw the remarks. The Congress-led government in Maharashtra has neither the moral right nor the political propriety to continue in the office, Mr Naidu said. The NDA government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had successfully completed four years in the office besides, providing a stable government and putting the country on strong footing economically and politically in the international arena. In a frontal attack on Ms Gandhi, Mr Naidu said her “undignified comment”, describing the NDA government’s target for achieving 8 per cent growth in the GDP as “Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne” was a “no confidence in the Indian economy, farmers, workers, professionals, and entrepreneurs.” “The Congress willingness to form coalition has no takers and no backers,” Mr Naidu said. The party’s condition is ‘pathetic’ as it has repeatedly failed to unite the opposition under Ms Gandhi’s leadership. Mr Naidu said the party was proud as it had exploded the myth that only the Congress could provide a stable government. The Prime Minister’s popularity rating was also high, he said adding that Mr Vajpayee was the third longest serving Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. He is also the first longest serving non-Congress Prime Minister, he added. Former Prime Ministers Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Deve Gowda, I.K. Gujral and Chandrashekhar were associated with the Congress at one point or the other, the BJP President said adding that after the next Lok Sabha election Mr Vajpayee would cross the late Indira Gandhi’s record also. He said the success of the NDA in the economic front was visible and the image of the government was clean. The foreign exchange reserves had touched an all time high and the economy of shortages had been transformed into nation of surpluses, Mr Naidu said. He said the NDA government had taken steps to promote farmers’ interests besides taking measures to develop rural infrastructure. Agriculture had received a major thrust and programmes like free foodgrains for the poor and measures to promote the cause of social justice had been initiated by the government. The nation had seen a revolution of connectivity be it physical connectivity — road, rail, air and water, the digital or the political connectivity. Meanwhile, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy said today that Ms Gandhi was an "unacceptable candidate" for the nation’s leadership. Endorsing the Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar’s statement on the "foreigner’s issue," he said that Ms Gandhi and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had allegedly entered into a secret deal. |
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Senegal President meets
PM New Delhi, October 13 Mr Wade’s four-day visit is aimed at strengthening relations with India. It also reflects the Vajpayee government’s commitment to improving ties with African countries. Mr Wade, who was accorded a ceremonial welcome on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, told reporters that he looked forward to further strengthening all-round relations with India. He arrived here last night at the head of a high-powered delegation.
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SC notice to states on overspending
New Delhi, October 13 A Bench comprising Mr Justice P.V. Reddi and Mr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan issued the notices on a public interest litigation filed by ex-MP Era Sezhiyan through advocate E C Agrawala seeking a direction to the state governments to place for approval of Parliament and legislative Assemblies the demand for excess expenditure. In the report of Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) published in April this year it was shown that a sum of Rs 1,91,554 crore had been spent in violation of Article 115 and 205 of the Constitution. The notices were issued to the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and also to the CAG. The petitioner pointed out that the Speaker of the Lok Sabha had ruled as early as August 22, 1956 that the demand for money already spent in excess of the voted grant should be made not by way of supplementary demand but in the form of an excess demand. It alleged that till 2002, both the Centre and states had expended funds in excess of 1,91,544 crore without regularising such excess expenditure by placing them before the legislature. By making way for the expenditure through supplementary demands, the states and Centre had curtailed the right of the legislature to know why the excess spending was required, the petitioner alleged. Sezhiyan, who was the former chairman of Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, said the citizens of the country had a fundamental right to know “as to how, where and when the state has expended these public funds”. Seeking a direction to the Centre and states to place such additional expenditures for approval of the legislature, the petitioner gave details of the states spending in excess of their approved expenditure and identified Assam as the worst example in the case. —
PTI
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Propagating Indian spirituality New Delhi, October 13 An Indo-American film, ‘Beyond the Soul’, produced and directed by Rajiv
Anchal, has tried to remove the misconceptions in an understated manner. What is remarkable is that the attempt has evoked a positive response in the targeted area, having not only generated a lot of curiosity but also a few awards in the bargain (including best feature, best director and best screenplay awards at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival this year). Shot in India and the USA, the film revolves around a spiritual reawakening that occurs when an American physician seeks alternative remedies for a patient suffering from an undiagnosed disease. His net-surfing leads him to an ayurveda acharya. He flies to India where the source of his patient's illness is revealed to him in a vision. The philosophy of past life sins and reincarnation is not everyone’s cup of tea but since Rajiv is himself into meditation, he has handled the subject logically and with sensitivity. Rajiv began his career as an artist, but switched over to production designing with the Malayalam film ‘Chillu’ in 1980. He made his directorial debut with a low-budget children’s film ‘Ammanam Kili’ in 1990. ‘Butterflies’ and ‘Kashmeeram’ (1994) became big hits. ‘Guru’ made in 1997 represented India in the best foreign language film competition at the Oscars. His next film, ‘Rishi Vamsam’ became controversial for what was believed to be its propagation of a particular religion leader who fashions himself the tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu. His current film, a ‘cross-cultural metaphysical journey’, does not go to such extremes but it still requires a lot of creduality to accept the storyline. As far as cinematic values are concerned, there are no reasons to complain. It has been shot by Ramachandrababu, President of the Indian Society of Cinematographers, and Keith Gruchala in the USA It marks Rajiv’s American debut. The hero, Thampi Antony, is attending the festival along with Rajiv Anchal.
*** The possessive nature of overbearing parents is beautifully projected in ‘I Think the World of You’ from Serbia and Montenegro. What can happen to children when they have a beautiful, strong and possessive mother is brought out forcefully by director Predrag Velinovic. Since many children in India go through a similar experience, the film develops an instant rapport with the audiences. The widowed mother ants to keep her son and daughter at home and thus delay their growing up and becoming independent. When the daughter brings home her new boyfriend, the mother tries various tricks to set him out of the house. Many twists and paradoxes follow. It has Tanja Boskoviae and Ana Sofrenoviae in lead roles. *** Lars von Trier is one of the two Artistes whose retrospectives are being held in the festival. Right since he burst on the international scene in 1990s, the Danish director has revelled in his capacity to provoke audiences worldwide. Perhaps this attitude is inherited from his radical, nudist, Communist parents who raised him in an unconventional environment. Today he has established himself as a master of ominous atmospherics. To him goes the credit of resurrecting Scandinavian cinema. The 1983 graduate of Copenhagen’s film school showed early signs of his future potential when his debut feature, “The Element of Crime” (1984), won a prize for technical achievement at the Cannes Film Festival. He took a controlled stab at post-modernism when he continued his feature trilogy about Europe with the reflexive thriller, ‘Epidemic’ (1987). He completed the trio with ‘Europa’ (1991), renamed ‘Zentropa’ for its American release. This film forms part of the six -film retrospective but the main focus is on his 2003 film ‘Dogville’ starring Nicole Kidman which has distinguished itself at Cannes, Karlovy Vary, Zagreb, Copenhagen, Sarajevo, Toronto, Helsinki, New York and London. This film is being considered as much a masterpiece as his 1998 offering, “The Idiots”.
*** Participants in a seminar on ‘intellectual property theft’ last evening were unanimous that India had been neglecting the lethal malady for far too long. Ms Smita Thackeray, Chairperson, IMPPA Piracy Vigilance Forum, who was the chief guest, warned that if preventive measures were not taken, the dreaded disease would affect the film industry as well the country as a whole. Mr Diwakar Menon, Professor of Cinematography at Jamia Milia University, was of the view that nearly 800 out of 2000 cinemas had been forced to shut their doors because of the rampant piracy. Yet, the kingpins are never caught. The seminar was inaugurated by Mr Saawan Kumar, President, IMPPA. |
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Election Commission pulls up
Jogi New Delhi, October 13 The Election Commission directed the state government to remove over 2,500 hoardings immediately bearing pictures of Mr Jogi and highlighting the achievements of his government. The stricture from the Election Commission comes close on the heels of CBI filing a chargesheet against the Chattisgarh Chief Minister in a forgery case. The Election Commission passed its orders following a complaint filed by the Nationalist Congress Party. (NCP). The President of the state unit of the NCP Mr V C Shukla, has also complained that the state government had distributed more than 25 lakh school bags bearing pictures of Mr Jogi. The Election Commission assured the NCP delegation that it would study the complaint and take necessary action. |
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Sanjay Dutt exempted from court appearance Mumbai, October 13 Designated Judge Pramod Kode of the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA), while granting the exemption to the accused today, also allowed them to travel within Maharashtra and outside. Acting on a plea made by defence lawyer Farhana Shah, the court directed all of them to appear before the court on November 3 when the court assembles after the Divali holidays. The court granted permission to Sanjay Dutt to go to Ooty for shooting. Among the other accused, Sayed Abdul Rehman, Karji Adijania, Russi Mulla and Anant Bhoir, were allowed to visit Gujarat while Samir Hingora, Asafur Rehman, Mohammed Sultan Sayed and Mohammed Ahmed Mansoor Ahmed were allowed to go to Delhi during Divali. The blasts trial is on the last stages. The Central Bureau of Investigation has examined 684 witnesses and evidence runs into more than 13,000 pages. |
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For Pervez, Laloo is ‘an artist of a politician’
Patna, October 13 The gift was delivered to the inimitable RJD President by ruling Pakistan Muslim League Senator Tariq Azim Khan and National Assembly member of the Opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Zulfiquar Ali Gondal, who specially flew into the state capital to meet Mr Laloo and his wife, Chief Minister Rabri Devi. “With best compliments to an-artist-of-a politician Laloo saheb,” wrote General Musharraf in his autograph. “Our visit to India would not have been complete without paying a visit to Laloo saheb who is the best ambassador India could have for forging a lasting bond of friendship with Pakistan. India is fortunate to have a son like Laloo saheb,” Mr Khan, leader of the six-member Pakistani delegation which is currently in India at the invitation of the British Council, told reporters at a press conference where both Mr Laloo and Ms Rabri Devi were present. Mr Khan, who is also the national spokesman for the ruling party of Pakistan, extended an invitation to the duo on behalf of President Musharraf, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Muslim League President Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain to visit Pakistan once again, which the RJD supremo gladly accepted. —
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Sops to Rajasthan farmers ahead of poll
New Delhi, October 13 Announcing this here, Union Food Minister Sharad Yadav said that to mitigate the hardships of farmers of Rajasthan and on request of the state government, it had been decided to relax the quality norms for procurement of bajra at minimum support price. “It has been decided that the government procuring agencies, including the FCI, will now procure bajra containing upto 7.5 per cent slightly damaged/discoloured grain instead of 2.5 per cent provided in the uniform specifications,” he said. The government procuring agencies commenced procurement of bajra containing up to 5 per cent slightly damaged or discoloured grain instead of 2.5 per cent provided in the uniform specifications, the minister said. Mr Yadav asserted that the increase in the percentage of these slightly damaged crop would have no adverse effect. The minister also denied this was being done for political purposes, saying the Centre had taken various steps for the drought-hit farmers in the state last year when there were no elections. This was a market intervention measure to prop up the prices of bajra in the market, he said, adding about one lakh tonnes of the commodity was estimated to be procured as a result of the measures. Mr Yadav said about 1,920 quintals of bajra had been procured in Rajasthan so far, of which about 780 quintals had been procured by the Food Corporation of India. He said to further assess the situation, on his direction, a two-member central team had visited Rajasthan. “Based on the feedback just received from the Central team, it has been decided that further relaxations in quality norms is called for, in view of the position that the standing bajra crop has been affected due to widespread rains in September,” the minister said. The procurement price of bajra with relaxed specifications would be Rs 495 per quintal as against the price of Rs 505 per quintal earlier announced, he said. The minister said this price was Rs 15 per quintal higher than the MSP announced during the last kharif season. He said 75 procurement centres for bajra had been opened in the state. Of this 25 would be operated by the FCI and the rest by the Rajasthan agencies acting as sub-agent of the FCI. He said the Centre had also allowed the Rajasthan agencies to open 25 centres for maize at locations to be decided by the state government. In addition, the FCI would open five centres for procurement of maize at locations where the FCI had its own depots and godowns, he said, adding maize would be procured at the earlier announced MSP of Rs 505 per quintal. Mr Yadav said half of the procured bajra under the relaxed norms would be supplied under targeted public distribution system (TPDS), while the other half would be sold in the open market. The minister said the Central Government had supplied as much as 32 lakh tonnes of wheat to Rajasthan, free of cost, under the ‘Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana’ (SGRY), to tackle the drought situation. This was in addition to over 10 lakh tonnes of wheat supplied to Rajasthan during 2002-03 under the TPDS and other welfare schemes, the minister added. In reply to a query on the achievements of the NDA government after completion of four years, Mr Yadav said the economy was looking up and the government had taken various measures such as construction of rural roads and several welfare schemes for the poor. —
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UP Govt asked to produce records in Taj Corridor case
Lucknow, October 13 The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Justices Jagdish Bhalla and P.K. Chatterjee. The writ petition filed by M/s Jai Prakash Industries Ltd had challenged the order of the appointment of the commission of inquiry issued on September 26, appointing a retired judge, Justice S.R. Misra, to inquire into the matter of award of contract for the Taj Heritage Corridor project. The commission was also expected to find out lapses, if any, or illegalities made while awarding the contract and suggest remedial measures. It was stated that the action of the state government was wholly illegal, arbitrary, discriminatory, mala fide and contemptuous. The project was conceived in March, 2001, for the construction of a corridor between Noida and Agra. —
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High Court stays rally ban order
Kolkata, October 13 On an appeal filed by the West Bengal Government against Mr Justice Amitava Lala’s landmark order, the Bench comprising Mr Justice Ashok Ganguly and Mr Justice S.P. Talukdar stayed the order until further direction and asked the state to file paperbook in the case two weeks after the court re-opens on October 27. Mr Jutice Lala had passed the order on September 29 after initiating a suo motu contempt proceeding against the Kolkata traffic police when he was held on the street on the way to court on September 24 due to a procession by Adivasis. Appearing for the state, Advocate-General Balai Roy submitted that the detention of Mr Justice Lala on the way to court due to a massive rally by Adivasis was no contempt at all as it was not an intentional act on the part of the police. He further submitted that the judge could not pass such a prohibitive order in a contempt case. Again, the detention of Mr Justice Lala allegedly by the traffic police would be a criminal contempt if, at all, it is considered to be a contempt on the face of the court, and as such the case should have been heard by a Division Bench. The Advocate-General, however, appreciated the concerns raised by Mr Justice Lala regarding processions blocking the roads and hampering normal flow of traffic, but submitted that the way the order was given was not acceptable.
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India, Canada agree to ensure track II contacts New Delhi, October 13 External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and his Canadian counterpart Bill Graham also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the Foreign Services Institutes of the two countries and agreed to enhance Track II contacts between New Delhi and Ottawa. After signing the MoU Mr Sinha told reporters that India and Canada had held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and international matters and had “almost complete understanding” on all issues. The two foreign ministers also exchanged notes on other issues like the situation in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka and the sub-continent. |
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No Al-Qaida men in J & K: Fernandes
Patna, October 13 During his day-long whirlwind official visit to Bihar which ended last night, Mr Fernandes said it was a proven fact that the terrorists were associated with foreign forces, however, the government had so far no concrete proof of involvement of Al-Qaida men in Jammu and Kashmir. He said common people of the state were against cross-border terrorism and were not supporting the terrorist groups infiltrating the Indian territory which has helped the security forces in combating terrorism. Reacting to the statement by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in the recent United Nation Council meeting on terrorism, Mr Fernandes said that Mr Musharraf was exposed by his statement as he had announced steps to check cross-border infiltration. He said the statement was an indicator that Pakistan was promoting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. —
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Sinha to visit Lanka today New Delhi, October 13 Mr Sinha would be meeting Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and other Sri Lankan leaders. He is expected to announce a $ 30-million assistance to Sri Lanka out of India’s $ 100-million line of credit to Colombo. The last meeting of the joint commission was held in 1998. |
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Shetty panel
denied extension
New Delhi, October 13 A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice V.N. Khare, Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti passed the order to this effect during the resumed hearing of the All-India Judges case. “When the commission had submitted its second report on the pay scales of the court staff, no useful purpose will be served in continuing it,” the court said. Earlier, senior Counsel F.S. Nariman, appearing as amicus curiae in the case, said the Commission should be allowed to continue till the court had approved its second report. The Chief Justice said just as the first report of the commission on the pay structure and service conditions of the subordinate judiciary was approved with certain modifications, the same would be the case with the second report. |
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