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Structured defence talks with USA sought Stay on HC order on new UP dists declined RJD ready to take on BJP-led Opposition |
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Indigenously built
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India, Pak to discuss Natwar’s doctrine |
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Burdwan fire loss several crores NTR's son involved in murder bid case PM in dilemma over official address Arjun keen on decommunalising education Sonia chief of National Advisory Council
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Structured defence talks with USA sought New Delhi, June 4 However, what has emerged is that Mr Mukherjee is skipping the meet, where Defence Ministers from 20 Asian countries and from the major Western powers, including the USA, would be participating as New Delhi is seeking to have just a “structured dialogue” with Washington rather than informal meetings. Mr Mukherjee would have been heading the Indian delegation at the Singapore meet starting
tomorrow and there was a possibility of him meeting the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on its sidelines. Mr Rumsfeld is due to deliver the keynote address at the meet where he would also outline the Washington’s security strategy for the region and its plans for Iraq. The Indian delegation would now be led by Defence Secretary Ajay Prasad. The issue of India and the USA holding this first ‘minister level unofficial meet’ was also said to have been discussed at the highest level in the government and the conclusion was to skip it. The issue of Mr Mukherjee meeting Mr Rumsfeld also apparently came during the discussions which the US Under Secretary for Defence Douglas Feith had with the Indian Defence Minister during his just-concluded visit. Mr Feith was heading the US delegation at the Defence Policy Group (DPG) meeting between the two countries which concluded yesterday. At the DPG meeting the USA gave a clear indication that it would be waiting for the new dispensation to work out the extent of the finer details of India’s strategic relations with it. Mr Feith had said the USA would be waiting for the new government to assess, “where we are and where we need to move forward”. Sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the new government was still working on its stand towards the USA and a meeting between Mr Mukherjee and Mr Rumsfeld in Singapore would have been a premature one. This specially, as the Congress-led UPA government, which has the Left parties as its major supporter, would first like to clarify Washington’s stand on some issues which were important to New Delhi, before moving forward. Besides, since India and the USA had just concluded an official-level meet, another discussion at the minister level would not have served any purpose, the sources said. The Defence Minister would only have exposed himself to undue pressures from the USA at this meeting without having really reviewed the previous NDA government’s policies towards Washington. According to the sources, one of the issues that India apparently wants to clarify with the USA is the Washington’s soft stand towards Islamabad. The new government wants to seek answers from the USA as to how Pakistan could be it strategic partner in the region rather than India. The new
government wants to put India at a plane from where it could talk to the USA at equal terms. And for this could even narrow down some passages which had been thrown open by the previous government. The sources disclosed that there was also an advisory from the Ministry of External Affairs for the minister to skip the visit to Singapore as it was again in favour of India and the USA having just the “structured dialogues” at official meets, rather than unofficial meetings. |
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Stay on HC order on new UP dists declined A Bench of Ms Justice Ruma Pal and Mr Justice B N Agrawal, while issuing notices to the opposite parties for filing replies, declined to grant interim stay on the UP Government’s appeal against the High Court’s May 21 order quashing a notification of the state government abolishing the creation of nine new districts and four commissioners division, created by the Mayawati regime. The Mayawati government had created 12 new districts but the Mulayam Singh administration after returning to power had ordered abolition of nine of them. The 12 new districts created by the Mayawati ministry were; Kaushambi, Jyotiba Phule Nagar, Chitrakoot, Maha Maya Nagar, Gautam Budh Nagar, Chandauli, Balrampur, Shravasti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Bagpat, Auraiya and Kanauj, the court was informed. The abolition order of Mulayam Singh government was challenged in the High Court by six petitioners, who were today issued notice by the apex court on the UP Government’s appeal with a direction that they should submit their replies within four weeks. When UP Government counsel Rajiv Dhawan pressed for at least issuing of the notices to the opposite parties on its application for interim stay, the court said it would be considered on the next date of hearing. The creation of new districts and their abolition later had snowballed into a major controversy in the state, especially between the Samajwadi Party and the Bhaujan Samaj Party. |
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RJD ready to take on BJP-led Opposition New Delhi, June 4 Addressing the media here, RJD deputy leader in Parliament Devendra Yadav said: “We are ready with all documentary proof to take on the Opposition attack on the floor of the House.” The BJP must not forget that it had tainted leaders like Mr L.K. Advani, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi and Ms Uma Bharti, Mr Yadav said adding the RJD had procurred
necessary documents and would counter the baseless allegations levelled against its leaders. Distributing five sets of papers containing the names of the candidates with criminal charges fielded by the BJP and its allies in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls, he said the BJP fielded 49 such candidates while the JD(U) had 15 candidates with criminal charges. Mr Yadav said it was an irony that the NDA delegation which had yesterday called on President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on the issue of “tainted ministers” was led by “tainted leaders” like Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and former Defence Minister George Fernandes.
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Indigenously built warship launched Mumbai, June 4 Looking resplendent in her colourful buntings, the 143 metre long and 16.9 m wide ship, slipped into the warm waters of the Arabian Sea amidst the strains of ‘Saare Jahan Se Acha....’ after Harveen
Krishnaswamy, wife of Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy, Chief of Air Staff, pressed the trigger. Shivalik, the first ship of this class, was launched in April last year. The ‘Satpura,’ which was built two months ahead of its schedule and expected to be commissioned by September 2007, will be fitted with latest surface-to-surface vertical launched missiles, surface-to-air missiles and state of the art radar and communication equipment, according to Admiral Madhvendra Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff.
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India, Pak to discuss Natwar’s doctrine New Delhi, June 4 These will be informal consultations of a very preliminary nature between Indian and Pakistan experts. The talks with Pakistan on nuclear CBMs will be held here on June 19 and 20, which will be followed by Foreign Secretary-level talks a week later (June 27-28). There is no reaction from China yet on Mr Natwar Singh’s idea, which has been described as “new and innovative” by Pakistan’s foreign office spokesman Masood Khan. The fact that Beijing has chosen not to react so far is being interpreted in the diplomatic circles here as China’s desire to distance itself from any move that would acknowledge the nuclear status of New Delhi and Islamabad and bring it on a par with the two South Asian countries. Before Indo-Pak informal discussions, Islamabad would hold consultations with its “all-weather” friend and ally, China. Diplomatic observers here believe that Mr Natwar Singh’s proposal — irrespective of the fact whether it is workable or not — is tactical and possibly aimed at extracting an important concession from Islamabad. While the declared stand of both India and China vis-a-vis nuclear weapons is that of “no first use”, Pakistan has never committed itself to it. On the contrary, Islamabad has several times openly threatened a nuclear conflict, but also followed by statements of President Pervez Musharraf who went on record to say that only a mad man could talk of waging a nuclear war. Sources said Mr Natwar Singh’s idea of the Common Nuclear Doctrine for the three Asian powers was a diplomatic masterstroke to force Pakistan to shed its ambivalent attitude on the use of nuclear weapons and give a “no-first-use” pledge. Meanwhile, Pakistan media has come out with a few comments on Mr Natwar Singh’s idea. The News quoted Head of Strategic Studies Department at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Riffat Hussain as saying that Mr Natwar Singh seemed to suggest that Pakistan was an equal player in the “trilateral nuclear equation”. Mr Hussain was quoted as saying: “It is significant because so far Indians have been arguing that their security concerns go beyond Pakistan and they have refused the effort by international community to have India, Pakistan and China sit together and talk about nuclear issues.” Another Pakistani daily, The Nation, in its report “Pakistan to consider Indian common N-doctrine proposal” said: “According to analysts, India, by proposing a Common Nuclear Doctrine, had tried to demonstrate that it was opting for a non-aggressive attitude towards Pakistan and China.... They said with this proposal India had also admitted the fact that Pakistan was an equal and important nuclear state of the region.” |
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Burdwan fire loss several crores Kolkata, June 4 Despite deployment of Army and Air Force personnel to fight round the lock along with the state fire-fighting unit, the fire was yet to be fully controlled. A red alarm was sounded in the local areas against spreading of fire in the adjoining locality. Senior IOC officials and the Minister for Fire Service, Mr Pratim Chatterjee, rushed to the place today. According to official sources, one of the 20 oil storage depots at the Rajbandh centre suddenly caught fire around 7 last evening following lightning during a heavy storm accompanied with thunder which lashed Burdwan and its adjoining districts. Local people soon rushed to the spot, finding flames blowing out of the depot, which stored about 90,000 kilolitres of petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel. As a fire spread, residents raised the alarm and started leaving the area. Senior police and district authorities rushed to the site soon after receiving the report of fire. The IOC’s fighting engines were first pressed into operation but they failed to control it. Soon 50 fire engines came to the spot from three districts and started putting out the flames. The Army personnel from Panagar and Durgpur also rushed in along with the Air Force men from Bagdogra base. Till filing of this report, the fire was partially put out. Officials said adequate safety measures had been taken for protecting some other oil storing units in the adjoining areas belonging to Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum. |
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NTR's son involved in murder bid case Hyderabad, June 4 The police said that Mr Balakrishna opened fire at Mr Bellamkonda Suresh, who produced the star’s latest blockbuster, “Lakshmi Narasimha”, and his associate, Mr Satyanarayana Chowdary, at his Jubilee Hills residence where they went to meet him at around 9 p.m. yesterday. The star fired six shots at Mr Chowdary and two at Mr Suresh with a .32-bore revolver licensed to his wife, Vasundhara, presumably after a heated argument. While the victims, who, the doctors said, rushed to Apollo Hospital on their own immediately after being shot at, are receiving care, Mr Balakrishna got himself admitted to another city hospital claiming that he was injured in a shooting accident. The police said the star, who is a brother-in-law of former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, would be taken into custody after he was discharged from hospital. Meanwhile, in another development, Mr N. Saikrishna, the elder son of N.T. Rama Rao, who had been in coma for the past four years following a fatal car accident, died in a private hospital yesterday. |
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PM in dilemma over official address New Delhi, June 3 Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had stopped functioning from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in South Block primarily because of health reasons. Given his knee problems, it was felt Mr Vajpayee might be inconvenienced in negotiating South Block's lengthy corridors. Consequently, the office was moved to 7, Race Course Road. Government sources said Dr Manmohan Singh realises the convenience of this office. He would not have to hold up office each time he has to travel the short distance to South Block and he can also meet people without attracting too much public attention. On the flip side, he is equally keen on restoring the prestige of the PMO in South Block. The Prime Minister, it is reliably learnt, is still weighing all options. He may, however, strike a compromise by dividing his day between 7, RCR and South Block. It was stated that when Dr Manmohan Singh went to South Block to take charge formally after his swearing-in, the place was virtually deserted. Consequently, he has been functioning from 7, RCR although Mr Vajpayee is still to move to his new residence on Krishna Menon Marg. In fact, the meetings of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to finalise and release its common minimum programme were both held at 7, RCR. The place has been especially refurbished to equip it with the state-of-art facilities. |
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Arjun keen on decommunalising education New Delhi, June 4 Mr Arjun Singh has already gone on record to say that he would not take any action which smacked of political vendetta. He would follow official procedures and not rush into matters, he clarified. The Left parties and the academic community, who had been protesting the earlier regime’s efforts at “saffronisation of education” wanted the new government to withdraw the controversial history text books brought out by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) at the behest of former HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi. Their other demands included a probe into the functioning of bodies like the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and appointments made by the previous regime to academic institutions. Indications were that Mr Arjun Singh could begin by debating these issues in the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the highest education body, which had been defunct for over a decade and was now to be revived. The membership of CABE included state education ministers and representatives of the academic community. “The effort will be to encourage a public debate on all issues and involve as many persons as possible,” explained a senior HRD official, adding that the objective was to adopt a participatory approach. It was stated that it was not just the issue of history textbooks but all other matters pertaining to the education sector would be discussed and debated in this forum. Follow-up action would be taken up on the basis of a consensus emerging from these deliberations. Sources close to Mr Arjun Singh maintained that the process of “decommunalising education” might be slow but there would be no deviation from this final goal. This had been made clear to HRD Ministry officials who, it was stated, would probably require some time to read just to the new regime’s priorities. |
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Sonia chief of National Advisory Council New Delhi, June 4 In addition, a separate office will be set up for the Congress leader. In view of Ms Gandhi's security cover the Centre is planning to locate the office in the Vigyan Bhavan annexe, it is learnt. A notification to this effect was issued by the Cabinet secretariat today, it was officially stated. The decision to set up the council was taken at the UPA government's first Cabinet meeting. The council would include representatives of the alliance partners. It is not clear how this proposed council will function and, more importantly, how it will interface with the government. It will, nevertheless, attract the charge from the Opposition that Ms Gandhi is emerging as an extra-constitutional authority in the new government. |
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New appointment New Delhi, June 4 |
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RS adjourned New Delhi, June 4 |
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