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Advani hopeful of positive outcome
Talks with Hurriyat
Advanced light chopper in 50 months, says
HAL Poll not to hamper weapon purchase,
says Fernandes SC notice to Haryana on clemency to
convicts PM to visit Thailand, Australia in Feb |
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Protests against globalisation at World Social Forum Cong to claim 4 LS seats in J&K, says
Sharma Rs 40,000-cr road project launched SGPC puts off stir on turban issue Give preference in HR jobs to sacked staff:
SC Delhi, Mumbai most
corrupt cities, says report Protests over disbanding of districts
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Advani hopeful of positive outcome
Talks with Hurriyat New Delhi, January 16 Inaugurating a two-day meeting of Chief Secretaries and Director-General of Police on internal security here, Mr Advani expressed the hope that the Hurriyat leaders would make “sincere” efforts to end the era of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the level of infiltration and the number of violent incidents in Jammu and Kashmir had perceptibly come down in recent months. The Deputy Prime Minister, however, cautioned the country’s top security brass against lowering its guard and asked them to be vigilant. Describing as “historic” and a “major breakthrough” the India-Pakistan joint statement reached in Islamabad during the SAARC summit, he said the government had always been open to resolution of all conflicts through dialogue and peaceful means. He said India would continue to ask other neighbouring countries to emulate the example set by Bhutan to neutralize Indian insurgent groups operating from their territories. The Deputy Prime Minister said the action taken by the Royal Bhutan Army against the banned ULFA, NDFB and KLO had been a “major breakthrough”. India has been voicing concern over reports that insurgents and terrorists were operating from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal. The three countries have also given assurance to India that they would not not allow their soil to be misused by anti-India elements. On the Islamabad SAARC summit concluding an Additional Protocol to the 1987 SAARC Convention on Suppression of Terrorism, Mr Advani said with this “important landmark” coupled with the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, all member SAARC countries “must fulfill the obligation” under the UN Security Council resolution 1373. On the internal security situation within the country, he said 2003 was “best year” with regard to dealing with security challenges in the last five years of the NDA rule. While no effort would be spared in eliminating or arresting terrorists, the Deputy Prime Minister said the Centre was always prepared to talk to insurgent groups which abjure the path of violence and to redress their legitimate grievances. |
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Advanced light chopper in 50 months, says
HAL New Delhi, January 16 HAL Chairman N. Mohanty said, “As soon as we get a go-ahead, the prototype will be ready in 25 months and the three services will get the ALH in 50 months.” The helicopter has got a civil certification from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and it will also be available for private and public sector companies. Even as the Indian armed forces sought early completion of the ALH project, Mr Mohanty said several countries had evinced interest in floating joint ventures with the HAL to take part in its serial production. Addressing a seminar on ‘Heli Power India 2004’ to mark 50 years of chopper operations in India, Army and Navy Chiefs Gen N.C. Vij and Admiral Madhavendra Singh sought early completion of the project. Air Chief S. Krishnaswamy said the ALH would meet the challenges of high-altitude flying and would be the smallest and the lightest among attack helicopters in the world. Pointing to the achievements of the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots and technicians Air Chief Marshal Krishnaswamy said Indian pilots and technicians had succeeded in flying heavy-lift helicopters at 19,000 feet in heavy winds while carrying even bulldozers. “Our technicians changed an engine and the rotor of a helicopter at 17,000 feet where the temperature was minus 20oC. Air Chief Marshal Krishnaswamy said the ALH was a “pioneering work” to meet the needs specific to Indian conditions. Admiral Madhvendra Singh stressed the need for early completion of the project. Air Commodore S.K. Majumdar (Retd) was honoured by the organisers and the US-based chopper manufacturing firm Sikorsky for being the first Indian to operate a chopper and launching the chopper service of the Indian Air Force. |
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Poll not to hamper weapon purchase,
says Fernandes New Delhi, January 16 The government would go ahead with the acquisition of some more major weapons systems, he added. These would include the purchase of Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, and French Scorpene submarines, which would be assembled here. He was talking to reporters after visiting an NCC camp where the cadets have assembled for the Republic Day parade. He said, “I don’t think early elections will in any way come in the way of procurements”. He also gave away awards to cadets at the investiture ceremony. He expressed optimism that the $1.6 billion deal with Russia for acquiring the 45,000-tonne aircraft carrier would go through during the upcoming visit of his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov. The Russian Defence Minister is due to arrive here early next week. Mr Fernandes said there were a number of other major armament deals in the pipeline, which were also likely to be cleared before the close of the current financial year. He was hopeful that even these deal would come through. About the SOS sent by his ministry to the Finance Ministry for allocation of more funds for capital outlay, he said, “The Finance Minister has been very generous”. He said Finance Minister Jaswant Singh had assured him that there would not be any shortfall as far Elaborating on the Admiral Gorshkov deal, he said all work that had to be done preceding the signing of the contract had been completed and the contract had been sent to the He also indicated that a number of other major deals had been cleared
by his ministry and sent to the CCS for approval. Though he did not not specify the deals, reports here said these included the $ 2-billion deal for assembling six Scorpene submarines at Mazagoan Docks and some others. To a question whether the Defence Ministry had proposed a separate budget on the lines of the Railway Budget, he said this was not true. All that his ministry wanted was to make its capital outlay allocation non-lapsable, he added. He said this had become essential as finalising defence deals was time consuming and often could not not be completed in one financial year, leading to surrendering of these funds. “We would like separate accounting for this outlay which should be made revolving,” he said. Earlier, in his address to the NCC cadets, he said there had been a dramatic change on the country’s western Border after the announcement of Indo-Pak ceasefire. He expressed hope that the stability on the Border would continue. He said stable Indo-Pak Border would go a long way in ensuring peace and stability in the South-Asian region. |
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SC notice to Haryana on clemency to
convicts New Delhi, January 16 A Bench of Mr Justice S. N. Variava and Mr Justice H. K. Sema, which had on September 26, 2003 stayed premature release of convicted prisoners and issued notice to Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and the state government, today issued a fresh notice to them for filing affidavits within six weeks. Further time for filing reply to the previous public interest litigation (PIL) by advocate Anil Sharma and the new petition by the Society for Human Rights and Civil Liberties (SHRCL) was given by the court after Haryana’s counsel D. P. Singh submitted that the state government needed more time to file its affidavit. The SHRCL in its letigation alleged that the Haryana Government on May 24, 2001 had recommended “clemency” to several life convicts before completing the 14 years of jail term and consequently on July 18, 2003 the Cabinet had approved premature release of nine life convicts sentenced for heinous crimes in “violation” of the apex court guidelines. The government had released life convicts after their serving three to four years of sentences even when their conviction was confirmed by the Supreme Court, the SHRCL in the PIL, filed by its lawyer Kailash Chand, said. Even government jobs had been given to some of the convicts, who were let off on the ground that jails were “overcrowded”, they needed to look after their ailing parents and had responsibility of their wives and children, the SHRCL claimed. When the court had issued notice to the state government on previous date on Anil Sharma’s litigation, senior advocate G. L. Sanghi, arguing the matter on his behalf, had alleged that since the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) Ministry, headed by Chautala, had taken over, nearly 275 criminals involved in heinous crimes had been let off. The SHRCL said it was not only the Chautala government that had released convicts but former Chief Ministers Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal had also remitted the sentences of nine convicts during their tenure. The petitioner claimed that some of the released hardcore criminals had again indulged in heinous crimes, including murders. “It is pertinent to mention that one released convict, Satbir, who is a son of INLD President of Pehowo Block had said the government gave me the justice that the court had denied,” the litigation alleged. |
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PM to visit Thailand, Australia in Feb New Delhi, January 16 PMO sources told The Tribune yesterday that Mr Vajpayee would be visiting Thailand from February 8 to 10 and from there he would go to Australia for a long overdue official visit (February 11-12). |
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PM flags off Deccan Odyssey He launched the train through video-conferencing from the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan at Malabar Hill. The Deccan Odyssey has been benchmarked against best luxury trains in the world like the Blue Train of South Africa, the Orient Express of Europe and the Eastern and Oriental of South-East Asia. The luxury train, targeted at foreign and NRI tourists, would commence its seven-day journey from the country’s commercial capital and traverse
Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Tarkarli and Sawantwadi, Goa, Pune, Aurangabad and
Nashik. The Deccan Odyssey has 44 suites in 11 suite cars, four presidential suits, two restaurant cars, one bar car, one conference car with business centre, a spa car, a staff car and two power cars. The train is fully air-conditioned having business centre with Internet, fax, ISD and STD facilities, LCD TV, plasma TV with allied equipment, beauty parlour, gymnasium, foreign exchange facility and public address/music system. —
PTI |
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Protests against globalisation at World Social Forum Mumbai, January 16 Mr V.P. Singh, former Prime Minister, who was supposed to chair the inaugural session, did not turn up due to health problems. In his absence a message sent by him was read to the gathering by the organisers, in which Mr V.P. Singh said he was expressing full solidarity with the WSF. Quoting the WSF slogan that an alternative world is possible, the former Prime Minister said, “an alternative world is inevitable, our job is to hasten its arrival”. A large number of people, numbering about a lakh, had gathered at the site where the inaugural session was held. Danseuse Mallika Sara-bhai invited Pak rock band Junoon on stage, making a great atmosphere. The meeting was chaired by Ms Lakshmi Sehgal of the Indian National Army (INA) fame. She said globalisation was having a particularly damaging effect on the womenfolk. “ Crime against women is rising while hearth and home of women were getting destroyed due to the closure of small-scale industries following the arrival of big houses,” she said. Ms Shirin Ebadi, Nobel laureate from Iran, said she had come to India to join the protest against globalisation. Abdul Amir from Iraq, Jeremy Corbyn from UK, Chico Whitecar from Brazil and Shabana Azmi and Arundhati Roy from India also addressed the gathering. Earlier in the day, the World Socialist Tendency, an umbrella organisation of pro-Trotsky socialist outfits from South Korea, UK and other parts of the world, held demonstrations against the US occupation of Iraq. A large number of demonstrations were also held, including a procession by the WSF activists from Nepal. All demonstrations were, however, held inside the premises of the Nesco ground, which surprised some of the international participants. “When the last WSF conference was held in Brazil, a procession of about one million people went out on the streets to protest against globalisation,” said a WSF delegate from the UK. |
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Cong to claim 4 LS seats in J&K, says
Sharma New Delhi, January 16 The Congress and PDP, coalition partners in Jammu and Kashmir, have decided to contest the Lok Sabha poll together. Mr Sharma, who was in the Capital to inaugurate Kashmir Handicrafts Expo, said the Congress had contested four seats when it had contested the Lok Sabha poll along with the National Conference. “We had then contested the two seats in the Jammu region besides Ladakh and Baramula. We would press our claim on these seats,” he said. Mr Sharma indicated that a Cabinet expansion could take place before the Lok Sabha poll but added that the final decision would be taken by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and the central leadership of the Congress. |
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Rs 40,000-cr road project launched New Delhi, January 16 “Code named as the Pradhan Mantri Bharat Jodo Pariyojana, the project involves four-laning of 10,000 km of road stretches. These road stretches have been identified on the basis of traffic density, connectivity of state capitals with the NHDP and important centres of tourism and economic activity. The project will be completed by 2008,” Minister for Road Transport and Highways B.C. Khanduri said. “We have already tendered for the laying of 622 km of roads and expect the four-laning of these in 30 months,” he said. The projects would be implemented on BOT basis. On the NHDP, he said four\six-laning of 2,395 km of the first phase, called Golden Quadrilateral, connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, had been completed, while work on 3,368-km stretch was in full swing. “I expect 95 per cent of the Golden Quadrilateral project to be completed by the target date of December 2004,” he said. Of the 7,300-km corridors, north-south corridor joining Srinagar with Kanyakumari and the east-west corridor linking Silchar with Porbandar, 565 km had already been four-laned, while work on 433-km stretch was in full swing. —
PTI |
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SGPC puts off stir on turban issue New Delhi, January 16 “As the Indian Government has taken up the issue with the French authorities and the Prime Minister himself is taking keen interest the SGPC has decided to cancel the proposed demonstration on January 22,” Mr Harinderpal Singh, an SGPC member from the Capital, said here today. |
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Give preference in HR jobs to sacked staff:
SC New Delhi, January 16 A direction to this effect was issued by a Bench of Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar and Mr Justice Arun Kumar, while disposing of an appeal by the Haryana Government against Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order dismissing its petition on certain connected issues. The Haryana Government had gone for emergency recruitment of nearly 1,500 employees in the HR during December, 1993 strike with a promise that they would be kept in service even after the strike was over. But after the strike, their services were terminated, advocate Jasbir Malik, appearing on behalf of some of the employees, told the Court. Since the High Court in its March 18, 2002 order had rejected the petition of the Haryana Government on the connected matters relating to giving preference in employment to these persons, when some of them had moved petitions before it for such a relief, the state government had filed an appeal before the Supreme Court. |
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Delhi, Mumbai most corrupt
cities, says report
New Delhi, January 16 At least one in four persons in these cities knew someone who had to pay bribe for these services, according to the 2003 report of the Centre for Media Studies(CMS) on Corruption in Public Services released here today at a function attended by Vigilance Commissioner P Shankar among others. The findings of the study are based on the responses of 4,500 persons interviewed across the the five cities. The middlemen network was found to be more organised and more prevalent in Delhi across all public services, the report said. —
UNI |
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Protests over disbanding of districts Lucknow, January 16 People in Mirzapur, around 300 km east of Lucknow, staged a demonstration and blocked traffic to protest against government decision to disband Mirzapur as commissionary. In Sant Kabir Nagar crowd burnt an effigy of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and blocked the Gorakhpur-Basti road. —
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India
will remain vigilant in spite of peace moves with Pakistan: Advani. (
Mumbai, January 16
Mumbai, January 16