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Indian gets World Food Prize
It was an extraordinary experience: Advani
Advani’s efforts failed: Karat
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BJP Executive meets next month in TN
Paswan wants a Muslim to be Bihar CM
India to insist on authentication, monitoring system at Siachen
Chawla to hold temporary charge of IA
100 molecules brought under Schedule ‘H’ drugs
More troops for Assam to combat militancy
Cops beat striking varsity students
Pinjore to have centre for
vulture breeding
Pact with Australia
on whales
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Indian gets World Food Prize
Hyderabad, June 11 Dr Gupta’s name was announced by the World Food Prize Foundation yesterday at a ceremony at the US State Department at Washington DC, according to a press note from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) here. Dr Gupta, whose hometown is Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh, was till his recent retirement the Assistant Director General at WorldFish, an international fisheries research institute under the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) based at Penang in Malaysia. While making the announcement, Ambassador Kenneth M Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, said through Dr Gupta’s dedicated and sustained efforts in Bangladesh, Laos and other countries in Southeast Asia, he made small-scale aquaculture a viable means for over one million very poor farmers and women to improve their family’s nutrition and
well-being. As a result of Dr Gupta’s efforts, freshwater fish production has risen dramatically in these countries by as much as three to five times. He developed unique methods of fish farming, requiring little cost while causing no environmental damage. “The World Food Prize is a great honour for all those who work with improving fish production for reducing poverty and environmental protection,” said Dr Gupta. Dr Gupta is the sixth citizen of India to receive the World Food Prize since it was established in 1986. The World Food Prize will be formally presented to Dr Gupta at a ceremony on October 13, 2005, in the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines, USA. |
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It was an extraordinary experience: Advani
New Delhi, June 11 “All the time people keep learning and some experiences are extraordinary and unexpected. I have had such an experience in the past 15 days,” Mr Advani said while addressing the party’s central office-bearers and chiefs of various morchas (front organisations) at the BJP headquarters. “I learnt a lot during my visit to Pakistan and after my return in the past four days. I hope that what I learnt would prove useful in the discharge of my responsibilities in future,” BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj quoted Mr Advani as saying. Earlier, Mr Advani arrived at the party headquarters amidst celebrations by BJP workers. Firecrackers were burst and workers, including women, danced to the beat of drums to welcome him. In an obvious effort to shift the focus from him to the tasks ahead, Mr Advani in an impromptu address to the workers recalled his leading a march of Bihar MLAs yesterday to Rashtrapati Bhavan to apprise President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam of the government’s action in “misleading” him into dissolving the Assembly there. “Keep aside what the President will do now and what the courts will decide (on dissolution). The fact that 126 MLAs, along with letters of support from six others, of the dissolved Assembly called on the President yesterday confirms that the NDA was in a position to form the government but the Assembly was dissolved before that. “The writing on the wall is clear. Whenever there is an election in Bihar, the NDA will emerge victorious and that will be a real turning point in Indian politics and not my withdrawal of resignation,” Mr Advani told the party workers. Among those present were party vice-presidents M. Venkaiah Naidu, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, general secretary Sushma Swaraj, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha V.K. Malhotra and Delhi unit president Harsh Vardhan. Later, Ms Swaraj described Mr Advani’s return as a “good and happy ending” to the four-day crisis.
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Advani’s efforts failed: Karat
New Delhi, June 11 “However, the only good thing that came out of Advani’s resignation drama is that India-Pakistan relations continue to be on the path of progress,” CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat said here. “Only those with illusions about the true nature of the party expected any defiance and break with the RSS ideology,” he said. On Mr Advani’s comments on Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the CPM leader said: “Jinnah was demonised by the Hindu communalists as solely responsible for Partition. Their version cannot be accepted by any objective view. “At the same time, Hindu communalists made an equal contribution towards communalising politics and facilitating the two-nation theory. In this category falls the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha of Savarkar.” “The effort of Advani to depict Jinnah’s advocacy of a tolerance of other religious communities in an Islamic state as a secular vision, is in line with his depiction of Savarkar and Hindutva as secular. Advani does not realise that it is not enough to decry a theocratic state to be secular,” Mr Karat said. |
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BJP Executive meets next month in TN
New Delhi, June 11 The meeting took stock of the political situation in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, West Bengal and Kerala, where Assembly elections are due next year. The leaders also debated on the separate reports presented by those in charge (prabharis) of these states, Ms Swaraj said. The meeting felt that the BJP would “emerge strong’’ in all these states where the party had a nominal presence at present, she said. Ms Swaraj said there was no discussion on the possible alliances in the states going for elections and any such decision would be taken by party’s Parliamentary Board on receipt of specific proposals from respective state units.
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Paswan wants a Muslim to be Bihar CM
New Delhi, June 11 Referring to the four-day drama in the BJP and the manner in which Leader of the Opposition L K Advani withdrew his resignation as BJP President, Mr Paswan said it was clear that the party was just an organ of the RSS without an identity of its own. Though former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mr Advani wanted to keep their secular image alive, he said, the VHP and Bajrang Dal wanted to divide the country on communal lines. Mr Paswan called for a national debate on whether founder of Pakistan Mohammed Ali Jinnah displayed patriotism during the freedom struggle. At the same time, Jinnah spoke of partition and played a major role in the formation of Pakistan, he observed. With an eye on the minority Muslim community, Mr Paswan once again took up the cause of a Muslim being the Chief Minister of Bihar. Addressing a conference of minorities of his party here today, the union minister said the Mandal Commission had not earmarked any quotas for the minority communities. The meeting adopted a resolution demanding job reservation for the backward Muslims under Article 341 of the Constitution. The meeting also demanded a rise in the grant for the Maulana Azad Foundation from Rs 70 crore to Rs 500 crore. Simultaneously, it wanted the grant of the Minority Financial Development Corporation to be raised to Rs 1000 crore. |
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India to insist on authentication,
New Delhi, June 11 Senior Defence Ministry officials said here yesterday that India had conveyed to Pakistan that it insisted on the authentication of the existing positions held on the Saltoro ridge commanding axis to the 72 km-long Siachen glacier. However, there could be flexibility on the methodology to be adopted for the verification of the proposed demilitarised zone to be set up. “We want to map coordinates on the Saltoro ridge but we are open on the methodology to be used for verification and monitoring once disengagement takes place,” the officials said. Army officials, while talking on the issue of how the proposed disengagement would take place, said the Army would definitely insist on some sort of map coordinates which could be authenticated even on the ground. “There have to be some parameters for the disengagement and redeployment,” they said. Defence Ministry officials said there had been progress in the just-concluded ninth round of Indo-Pak Defence Secretary level talks on the glacier in Islamabad and the Pakistani mindset was much more positive than in the last round of talks in New Delhi in 2004. “Pakistani side understands our position but has difficulty in putting it on paper”, they said. However, Islamabad finds it difficult to authenticate the present ground situation, as in the present situation its claims as per the 1975 map issued by the US, which showed Pak territory till Karakoram Range, would fall to ground. Officials said one of the positive outcome of the talks had been the two countries agreeing on record, to continue the ceasefire in force in the Siachen areas in Jammu and Kashmir since November 26,2003. “The ceasefire except for stray incidents is generally holding”, officials said, adding that India’s position was that the authentication of ground positions should be followed by disengagement, redeployment of troops to mutually agreed new positions and setting up a methodology of verification to guard against violations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf had also reiterated to resolve the Siachen and Sir Creek issue when General Musharraf visited New Delhi in April, the officials said. Incidentally, the Prime Minister would be touching base at Siachen on Sunday to get first hand experience of the tough conditions in which the troops live there and guard the borders. He would also interact with the operational commanders and troops. Elaborating upon the importance of the authentication of positions and delienation on the maps, they said such a process would serve as a record and any violation thereafter would be clearly visible for the two nations and the international community. The officials said the two countries expressed their resolve to lay down a roadmap for the subsequent series of talks leading to authentication, disengagement, redeployment and setting up of a mutually acceptable monitoring mechanism for ensuring demilitarisation of the Siachen area. The officials also said the possible method of authentication could involve defining the map co-ordinates through aerial and satellite imagery. When asked about the hurdles in agreeing for an authentication, they said Pakistan was of the view that the Siachen area should be marked in a straight line from NJ 9842 to KK Pass. They said, normally these demarcations were made along the geographically identified points like watersheds and mountain peaks, and India wanted to follow the same principle for the Siachen area. India and Pakistan took military positions in the Siachen area in 1984 and the last 21 years saw nine rounds of talks between the two governments to ease tension there and finally withdraw troops. |
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US body to adopt Hawa Mahal Jaipur, June 11 This was stated by the representatives of RANA at a reception organised in honour of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje who was on a visit to America early this week. When Ms Raje in her speech made an appeal to non-resident Rajasthanis to strengthen their emotive ties with the soil of their native state and come forward to undertake welfare programmes, Chairman of RANA Ajay Kumar and other office-bearers, including an eminent cardiologist, Dr Sameen Sharma, Mr K. K. Mehta and Mr Kamal Surana, met the Chief Minister and expressed their determination to adopt Hawa Mahal and some other monuments of Rajasthan. The Raje regime had recently contemplated offering for adoption historic forts, palaces and monuments to the private sector. Since the maintenance of these monuments warrants a huge expenditure, a call was given to the heritage-lover Rajasthanis living off the shores and other NRIs. As envisaged, those who come forward for adoption would be free to use these places for promotional PR campaigns subject to certain conditions. According to official sources, the programme would initially cover more than 200 monuments, including the celebrated palace of winds. As many as 268 monuments have been identified to be covered under the programme titled ‘Adopt A Monument’, said the sources.
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Chawla to hold temporary charge of IA
New Delhi, June 11 Sources in the Indian Airlines said the orders issued by the government said Ms Chawla would hold the charge of CMD of the airline “till further orders”. Ms Chawla at present looks after the airlines’ Finance Department while being the Deputy Managing Director. While the Ministry of Civil Aviation has asked the government to set up a search committee for Mr Arora’s successor, the Cabinet Secretariat is still to nominate any names for the post. As a result, the Department of Training and Personnel recommended that the seniormost official in the organisation assume charge in the interim as this process could take up to three weeks. Meanwhile, speculations are still on as to who could be nominated to the post. Among the front-runners are Air-India CMD V. Thulasidas, Joint Secretary in the Civil Aviation Ministry Sanjay Narain, and Ms Sushma Chawla herself. While sources said a tug of war was under way between some officers posted with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to grab the prestigious posting, there were chances that an outsider may get the nomination from the government. The Congress-led UPA government would have to keep in mind the preferences of its ally NCP while making the nomination.
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100 molecules brought under Schedule ‘H’ drugs
New Delhi, June 11 Announcing the move to update the list of prescription drugs at an international seminar on “Responsible self-medication” here today, Drugs Controller General (India) Ashwani Kumar said a draft notification for bringing 100 molecules under Schedule H had been issued. He said the final notification was expected by August-end. Though the list of molecules brought under Schedule ‘H’ was not available with Mr Ashwini Kumar, sources in the Health Ministry said the molecules added to the list included antibiotics, anti-hypertension, anti-anginal, anti-cancer and anti-HIV drugs. Experts say these molecules had not been placed under any Schedule of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. There are three Schedules of the Act. While Schedule H lists prescription drugs, Schedule K lists non-pharmacy drugs that can even be sold in a grocery. The third category is of non-prescription drugs. Any drug that is neither in Schedule H nor in Schedule K is a non-prescription drug that can be sold only by a chemist. Mr Ashwani Kumar told The Tribune that the move was aimed at regulating the sale of drugs meant for sale only under prescription. He said such drugs would now be formally brought under Sechedule H. Dr Sanjiv Malik, president elect, Indian Medical Association and member, Drug Technical Advisory Board, is of the view that the list should be revised from time to time. “The list was revised 10 years ago. Inclusion of new molecules in Schedule H has to be an ongoing process,” he added.
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More troops for Assam to combat militancy
Silchar (Assam), June 11 Sources in the Army disclosed as part of the programme troops of 57 Mountain Division, at present based in Haflong, would be shifted to the Sribar camp in Assam’s Cachar district. The region was relatively calm following a ceasefire between Dima Halong Daoga (DHD), a militant outfit, and the Centre two years ago. However, violence has returned recently with the surfacing of the Dimasa militant outfit. According to sources, apart from cadres belonging to the anti-talks group of DHD, led by Jewel Gorlossa, some of the armed cadres of DHD’s pro-talks group, led by its chairman Dilip Nunisa, are indulging in extortion and kidnapping in border areas of Cachar and North Cachar hill district of South Assam. The sources said the cadres of the outfit had been entering Cachar district in large numbers from their bases in North Cachar hills. |
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Cops beat striking varsity students
Kolkata, June 11 The parents of the striking students and other sympathisers, including several girl students, were also lathi-charged and driven out of the university campus. Three girl students from the mechanical engineering department, who were sympathising with the striking students, alleged that they were locked inside police station, molested and beaten up by policeman. The students gave a call for an indefinite strike at Jadvapore University from Monday demanding punishment for the guilty policemen and the university officials, who called up the police force. The University Teachers Forum and the employees union also protested against the police action and supported the students. According to an official report, five of the seven injured students have been admitted to Bangur Government Hospital. But other students, who were admitted last night, were released after first aid today. Three girl students, who had lodged an FIR at Jadavpore against a police official and three constables, alleged that they were locked inside a room, stripped and beaten up by a Sub-Inspector, whom they had identified. The Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, was unhappy on learning that the police entered the university premises and beat up the striking students. He assured that the guilty policemen would be firmly dealt with. He also ordered an inquiry into the incident. He, however, appealed to the students to immediately call off their agitation and come to a settlement with the university authority. The incident caused uproar when all political parties in the city were busy campaigning for their respective candidates in the local municipal and Salt Lake City elections scheduled for June 19. The CPM’s student wing, SFI, however, came out openly criticising the police action inside the university premises. But it requested the striking students to call off the agitation and take examination. But these students, who had already been penalised and denied the chance of appearing in the semester II and III examinations for not complying with the examinations rules, refused to respond to the request and demanded that they be first given the opportunity to appear in the examinations they had missed. |
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Pinjore to have centre for
vulture breeding
Jaipur, June 11 The Bombay Natural History Society has come forward to take up this task with the help of the forest departments of Rajasthan and Haryana. To begin with, the breeding of the two species, namely the long billed vultures, and white backed vultures would be taken up at the proposed centre. The Forest Department of Rajasthan has ordered to capture vulture couples from the jungles of Alwar, Bharatpur and Jaisalmer for sending them to Pinjore. Initially, the programme aims at ensuring copulation of 20 couples. Dr Vibhu Prakash, well-known specialist of the Bombay Natural History Society, would be the overall in charge of the project. The entire expenditure on the project would also be borne by the society. The Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan, Dr R.N. Mehrotra, told The Tribune that once the initial experiment turned out to be successful, more couples would be sent to the centre. After adequate nurturing, baby vultures, on attaining appropriate growth, would be set free in their natural habitat, he added. |
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Pact with Australia
on whales
New Delhi, June 11 This was indicated at a meeting between the Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr Thiru A.Raja, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia, Mr Alexander Downer, at a meeting here yesterday. Stating that Australia is committed towards protecting whales, Mr Downer stressed the need for pursuing an international ban on commercial whaling. Mr Thiru Raja reiterated India’s commitment to continue supporting ban on commercial whaling. He said India was against the killing of endangered species. He also said that emission of green house gases by India was very low both in terms of per capita and aggregate emissions. |
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Pandits to hold martyrdom day
New Delhi, June 11 In a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, the samiti president, Mr Sunil Shakdher, said the community would re-establish its inalienable right to its home and live as free citizens in a democratic and secular India. “Kashmiri Pandits will not take the situation lying down and we will not allow our identity to be diluted,” he said, adding “we have been left with the only option of fighting for our survival, entirely on our own. The assembling of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits on September 14 will assert our right to return to our homeland. We have been living in exile for the past 16 years and its time to return now.” |
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Balidan divas on June 23
New Delhi, June 11 BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said it was on this day that Mukherjea entered Jammu and Kashmir without permit to protest against the special status accorded to this state under Article 370 of the Constitution. He fought for a single authority and the National
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