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India, US working on N-site separation
Iran issue to be taken up in Parliament on February 23
Cartoon row: Congress does damage control |
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Charges to be framed against Salman, Saif, 3 heroines Canadian High Commission felicitates Khushwant
SC notice to media, parties on exit poll
MDMK pledges support to DMK-led alliance
EC raps Bengal, TN for slack warrant execution
Bhopal gas survivors begin march to Delhi
AAI officers’ petition dismissed
Monthly dole for HIV patients soon
Herbal cure for bird flu
3 tigers suffer food poisoning
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India, US working on N-site separation
New Delhi, February 20 The nuclear programme in this country since the days of Homi Bhabha had not contemplated separating the civilian nuclear facilities from the strategic ones, which has led to a host of problems in preparing the separation plan, according to sources. Therefore, it has become extremely tricky and delicate for the nuclear establishment to designate all facilities as civilian. And in any case, India’s military programme is not the concern of any country even though there are strict control systems in place meeting the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime. Considering the complexities of the discussions on the Indo-US nuclear deal going through, certain key aspects are on the table, including the status of fast breeder reactors (FBRs) and keeping them out of the purview of international safeguards for a four-year period as they will become operational in 2010. And the major question is will the US acquiesce to this proposal for facilitating the separation plan. It is no secret that the FBR programme in this country is a prototype and has not reached any level of maturity at this juncture. Under the circumstances when India has an undifferentiated programme in the nuclear sphere where the reactors cannot be detached from the electricity grid, it is widely believed that the Bush administration should be able to defend in the Congress the July 18, 2005 joint statement by Bush and Manmohan Singh issued in Washington in pursuing collaborative efforts in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. It is in this context that the two-day visit of US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns to New Delhi from February 23 assumes significance in the efforts to reach a zone of convergence on the separation issue. Mr Burns will meet National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and hold discussions with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran’s team, which includes Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar and strategic planner R.B. Grover. In a radio address to the nation on Saturday, Bush observed: “I believe that it is a good policy for the United States to encourage these emerging economies to use clean energy, nuclear power, so as to help reduce demand for non-renewables.” With new technologies being developed coupled with the bold new Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, “we will work with our partners to help developing countries meet their growing energy needs by providing them small-scale reactors that will be secure and cost effective. We will also ensure that these developing nations have a reliable nuclear fuel supply.” The success or otherwise of the visit of Bush to this country is not predicated as hinging solely on the Indo-US nuclear deal going through. |
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Iran issue to be taken up in Parliament on February 23
New Delhi, February 20 Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi told newspersons as per the revised schedule, the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address would be concluded in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on February 22 with replies from the Prime Minister. The government has taken the decision for a day-long debate on the Iran issue as the Left has been inisisting on a full-fledged
discussion on the issue. The Left has been saying that India’s vote in the IAEA on Iran’s nuclear plans was the result of the US pressure which means that the UPA has abandoned the course of country’s independent foreign policy. |
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Cartoon row: Congress does damage control
New Delhi, February 20 The government’s move follows reports that Samajwadi Party is whipping up passions on this issue to polarise the polity, put the Congress in the dock and project it as being anti-Islam on the ground that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh failed to take up this matter with the Danish authorities. There have also been some unseemly references to Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s indifference to this matter on account of her being a Christian. Consequently, the government today made a belated attempt to clarify its position on the cartoon controversy. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi explained that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had conveyed India’s “sense of outrage” over the cartoons of Prophet Mohammad to the Danish authorities in New Delhi and Copenhagen way back in December after his attention was drawn to it by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. In his reply to Mr. Azad, the Prime Minister stated that after the demarches made by India and the OIC countries, the Damish PM and Foreign Minister had issued statements that their government did not intend to offend or humiliate Islam or any other religious community. They condemned the publication of the cartoons but added that the Danish government had no means to influence the press as freedom of expression is a basic human right in their country. Concerned that this issue is alienating the minorities, the UPA government is planning to make a special statement in Parliament to clarify its position. Alternatively, it is exploring the possibility of Parliament adopting a resolution condemning the caricatures. However, UPA leaders are not sure if the BJP will agree to the suggestion for a resolution as it may want it to include a condemnation of artist M.F.Hussain over his portrayal of Indian Gods and
Goddeses. What has sent alarm bells ringing in the UPA government is the concerted attempt being made to convert the protests over the cartoons into an “antiAmerica, anti-Bush” agitation. |
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Charges to be framed against Salman, Saif, 3 heroines
Jodhpur, February 20 Judicial Magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit adjourned the case till February 27, asking all five and another accused to appear before the court for hearing. The court said in its order that there was prima facie evidence against the six accused - Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Neelam,
Tabu, Sonali Bendre and a Jodhpur resident, Dushyant, Public Prosecutor N.K. Sankhla said. It directed framing of charges against Salman under Section 148 of the Indian Penal Code, Wildlife Protection and Arms Acts. Charges against the remaining accused would be framed under Section 147 of the IPC and under provisions of the Wildlfe Protection Act and Section 149.
— PTI
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Canadian High Commission felicitates Khushwant
New Delhi, February 20 Looking pointedly at an ageing Khushwant dressed in a navy shalwar-kameez, the High Commissioner saud: “You spoke and wrote extremely well of my home town Ottawa. Also, it is Khushwant who has taught us everything we know of India and he has related it in a rather humorous manner.” The High Commissioner went ahead and presented Khushwant with a silver memento of Canada’s national bird and presented him with the Sewa award for distinguished service. A nostalgic Khushwant said: “I really owe a lot to Canada and was posted there at the Indian High Commission several years ago. I still remember I passed the winters there skiing and the summer travelling from coast to coast. Never was nature more beautiful as in Canada. I saw maple leaves turn red and also the glory of the Niagara falls.” He paused and then began again: “It was really in Canada that I started writing and my first stories appeared in Canadian dailies.” “From Canadian dailies the next step was writing for Harpers. At this point I also met a lot of Canadian writers and intellectuals and this gave a new direction to my life,” we said. “It was at this time that I resolved to do better things then merely entertain and be entertained,” he said with his usual dose of sarcasm.”So I went ahead to London and resigned from the Indian diplomatic service. Since then it has been simply another life and to date I am in touch with writers in Canada,” he added. |
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SC notice to media, parties on exit poll
New Delhi, February 20 The notices were issued on an application for impleading them as respondents in a writ petition, filed earlier last year and the court already issuing notices to the Centre, the EC and the Press Council of India (PCI). Since the court had said that the real parties involved in the exercise were media organisations and the political parties were the affected parties, they should also be made respondents. Meanwhile, the PCI, the EC and the Union Government placed on record its affidavits, filed in response to earlier notices issued by the court to them. While the PCI said it had already issued guidelines in 1996 for the print media relating to the exit and opinion polls, the EC said the results should not be published in a multi-phased election till the last date of the actual poll. It said all political parties were agreeable to the proposal of the EC, which was of the view that “there should be reasonable restriction in publication and dissemination of the results of the opinion and exit polls during certain specified period of the election process.” The government in its affidavit, however, refrained from taking a clear stand and said: “It would be for the EC to take a decision in exercise of its plenary powers… to issue due directions/frame guidelines, generally regulatory in nature, without interfering the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression conferred under Article 19(1) of the Constitution.” |
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MDMK pledges support to DMK-led alliance
Chennai, February 20 For the past one week there had been widespread speculation that he might join hands with the Jayalalithaa camp to get more seats for his party for the May Assembly elections. In a statement after a MDMK meeting, Vaiko said: “ The MDMK, which remains in the DMK-led alliance, is determined to strengthen the combine and work for its victory in the electoral arena.” He immediately spoke to DMK chief M. Karunanidhi who reacted by saying: “I am very happy and I welcome it. This was what I expected.” Vaiko stated that the MDMK had always practised principled politics in its 12 years of existence and that his party had wholeheartedly worked for the victory of the alliance in the 2004 Lok Sabha election despite being unhappy with only four seats it was offered. He said: “Even when we had to leave the alliance (National Democratic Alliance in which the DMK and the MDMK figured then) in 2001, we did not join the AIADMK alliance.” Hitting out at DMK treasurer Arcot N. Veeraswamy who had accused Vaiko of political dishonesty, the MDMK general secretary said: “For the MDMK, political honesty and political decency are like its two eyes. Our party is an open book, where decisions are made transparently.” |
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EC raps Bengal, TN for slack warrant execution
New Delhi, February 20 At a meeting with Chief Secretaries, Director Generals of Police and senior officials of the five poll-bound states, the Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner B.B. Tandon said the EC found progress in execution of NBWs “tardy”. The EC asked the police in all five states to speed up drive for unearthing illegal arms, ammunitions and explosives, the commission said in a statement. Asking the officials to ensure that the model code of conduct was enforced at the time of elections in letter and spirit, the EC ordered a close watch on the conduct of officials engaged in election duty in order to ensure their total neutrality. “No civil or police officer against whom any chargesheet has been filed in a court of law or departmental action has been initiated for election-related misconduct be associated with election work during the forthcoming elections,” it said. The commission asked the Chief Electoral Officers to look into various complaints received from political parties, public and other stakeholders expeditiously. Subjects ranging from final publication of electoral rolls, photo identity cards, execution of NBWs and law and order and security scenario also came up for discussion. |
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Bhopal gas survivors begin march to Delhi
Bhopal, February 20 The march has been sponsored by several organisations working for the survivors’ cause. They expect to cover the nearly 850-km distance in four weeks, wending their way through Rajgarh, Beaora, Guna, Gwalior and Dhaulpur. Medical treatment is high on their demands, which also include economic rehabilitation of the survivors and provision of potable water in the localities around the erstwhile Union Carbide pesticide plant. Currently, the drinking water they get from hand pumps is contaminated by the chemical waste that the plant had dumped there. They also want a special cell in the CBI to prosecute Union Carbide, its then chairman Warren Anderson and others responsible for the criminal negligence that resulted in the death of an estimated 30,000 persons and inflicted disability, in various degrees, upon lakhs of others. |
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AAI officers’ petition dismissed
New Delhi, February 20 A Bench of Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice C.K. Thakker, while dismissing the petition of AAI Officers Association, came down heavily on those preferring to file public interest litigations (PILs) on such issues and imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on a lawyer for filing a parallel petition in the matter when affected parties had challenged the bidding process in the court of law. The AAI officers had moved a special leave petition (SLP) against the Delhi High Court’s September 28, 2005 order challenging the government move even when the bidding process was not yet over. The court did not agree with the contention of AAI employees’ counsel R.K. Jain that in the amended AAI Act of 1996, privatisation if existing airports was not permitted. In the related PIL, filed by advocate Aditya Kumar Choudhary on whom Rs 10,000 cost was imposed, he had alleged that the consultants engaged by the government to advise it on the bidding issue, were in fact those who had worked for the two successful bidders for the Delhi and Mumbai airports. Court said such practice of filing PIL should be stopped, particularly when the interesting parties were themselves agitating the matter in the courts. |
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Monthly dole for HIV patients soon
Jaipur, February 20 It would be extended to all those children orphaned in both manmade and natural disasters. Disclosing this at the end of the two-day national media cnsultation on human trafficking held here yesterday, Mr R.K. Ojha, Deputy Secretary, Department of Woman and Child Development, said the project would be implemented by the Ministry of Woman and Child Welfare. |
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Herbal cure for bird flu
Meerut, February 20 Hakim Ahmed said bird flu could be cured by giving water, prepared by boiling the leaves of chirayta (swertia chirata), bark of chob chini (smilex china) and Khaksi (sisymbrium irozinn) either of them or all separately to the affected birds to drink. — UNI |
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3 tigers suffer food poisoning
Itanagar, February 20 Official sources said today it was suspected that miscreants
trespassed into the zoo and threw beef pieces impregnated with zinc sulphate and phosphorous. The poisoned leftovers were found yesterday after the big cats fell ill, the sources said.
— PTI |
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