Excelsior... Nation

Venkaiah Naidu

Naidu asks Cong to
support economic reforms

CHENNAI, Dec 3: The BJP today asked Congress to extend support to the Vajpayee Government’s efforts to speed up economic reforms and not....more

Mamata Banerjee

Mamata exhorts women to take lead, held end CPI-M misrule

HATIHALKA (MIDNAPORE), Dec 3: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has exhorted the women to take the lead and help end the CPI(M) misrule in the state and establish a pro-people Government...more

Sitting SC judge to
probe Punjab rail mishap

SARAI BANJARA (PUNJAB), Dec 3: A sitting Supreme Court judge will probe yesterday’s train accident near here, Railway Minister Mamata.....more

Exercise to prepare new Panchayatiraj Act begins

DEHRA DUN, Dec 3: A new Panchayatiraj Act for the hill state of Uttaranchal, keeping in mind its geographical, social and economic environment is in the offing.......more

Abdul Gani Bhat

APHC chief welcomes
Pak’s offer of restraint
on LoC

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chief Abdul Gani Bhat has said Islamabad’s offer of restraint on the Line of Control (LoC) in .....more

Sino-India border dispute
Politicans should seize initiative

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: More than a decade after India and China resolved to settle their border dispute, the first exchange of maps on the issue last .....more

‘Delhi hospitals don’t destroy bio-medical
waste properly’

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has informed the Delhi High Court that six major Government hospitals in the .....more

CPI-M welcomes new EC system on national party status

NAGPUR, Dec 3: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) which had earlier lost its national party status would be benefitted by the new criteria being ....more

Parliamentary panel
for amending of Trade
Unions Act

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: A parliamentary committee has recommended that a bill to amend the Trade Unions Act of 1926 be immediately introduced to reduce multiplicity of trade unions.

Naidu asks Cong to support economic reforms

CHENNAI, Dec 3: The BJP today asked Congress to extend support to the Vajpayee Government’s efforts to speed up economic reforms and not respond to the efforts in a confused and ‘immature’ fashion.

Flaying the Congress draft document on economic reforms, BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said "not only has the document been rightly criticised in political and intellectual circles for its utter lack of focus, but it has also shown up the deep split within the party on its approach to economic reforms".

The Union Minister for Rural Development said it was Congress which had "adopted" the Avadi Resolution in 1956, and during P V Narasimha Rao’s Prime Ministership "rejected" Nehruvian socialism.

He said Congress had initiated the economic reforms in 1990 but was now speaking in a split voice. The party’s draft document criticises the NDA Government’s economic policies. Its hypocrisy was evident to one and all, he said.

Stating that most of the Congress critics were ministers when the reforms were set in motion, he said the Vajpayee Government had given a human face to the reforms. (PTI)

Mamata exhorts women to take lead, held end CPI-M misrule

HATIHALKA (MIDNAPORE), Dec 3: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has exhorted the women to take the lead and help end the CPI(M) misrule in the state and establish a pro-people Government.

"Matangini Hazra took the lead against the British in this district. Let the mothers and daughters of this area now take the lead against the CPI(M). I promise I will wipe out the CPI(M) rule with their help, " Ms Banerjee said yesterday.

Earlier, she distributed Rs 25,000 each to the widows of SK. Kamiruddin Shamir Mandal and Rubul Mondal and to the daughter of SK Kamiruddin.

The "Chamkaitala Model" was followed by the CPI(M) near the meeting place with the entire way from Midnapore town to the meeting venue decorated by red flags. The shopkeepers were asked to keep their shutters down.

Reiterating her determination to end "the CPI(M) misrule", the Trinamool Congress chief said, "I undertake my voyage to rural areas in the state from this place. Wherever the CPI(M) has captured our area, we will recapture those. No force on earth can keep the CPI(M) in power anymore".

Mr Goutam Choubey, son of late Narayan Choubey, the founder of CPI in the district, was inducted in the TC on the occasion. (UNI)

Sitting SC judge to probe Punjab rail mishap

SARAI BANJARA (PUNJAB), Dec 3: A sitting Supreme Court judge will probe yesterday’s trAin accident near here, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced today.

Terms of reference of the inquiry and the name of the judge would be announced in a couple of days, she told reporters here.

Banerjee, who visited the scene of accident early today along with her Deputy Digvijay Singh, expressed "dissatisfaction" over conflicting versions of the drivers and the technical staff regarding the accident.

Asked if she would quit her post in view of the accident that had claimed 42 lives, Banerjee said "if this helps the railways, I am ready to do so."

"However, the question right now is not of resignation but of making efforts to check such accidents in future," she added.

Banerjee said sabotage could not be ruled out but added this could only be ascertained after the receipt of the inquiry report.

The minister, who saw track clearance operations at the mishap site, said stringent action would be taken against those found guilty.

Banerjee also visited the injured in hospitals in Rajpura and Fatehgarh Saheb and enquired about their condition. (PTI)

Exercise to prepare new Panchayatiraj Act begins

DEHRA DUN, Dec 3: A new Panchayatiraj Act for the hill state of Uttaranchal, keeping in mind its geographical, social and economic environment is in the offing.

The new Government has begun the exercise to frame this act and a conference was held on December one in new Tehri town as the first step in this effort.

The Village Development Ministry organised the conference which was presided over by Village Development and Panchayatiraj Minister Mohan Singh Rawat ‘Gaonwasi" and attended by heads of leading NGOs of the hill region, academicians and local bodies’ leaders from 13 districts of the new state.

Addressing the conference, "Gaonwasi" said the role of panchayats in the development of villages in the new state would be crucial. "We will develop a modern pattern of village development in our state which will do away with the negative aspects of the UP Panchaytiraj Act," he said.

Uttaranchal Village Development Commissioner R S Tolia said the draft of the new Panchayatiraj Act would be placed before the cabinet.

Talking about the empowerment of panchayats in the nascent state, Chairman of the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) Avdhesh Kaushal said a Non-Governmental Committee should be constituted to prepare the new Panchayatiraj Act for the state.

"A State Finance Commission should be created at the earliest which will decide revenue sharing between the state and the panchayats," the head of the Doon-based NGO felt.

Mr Kaushal said the 73rd constitutional amendment should be included in the Panchayatiraj Act of Uttaranchal. This amendment provides women a minimum reservation of one third of the total seats to be filled by direct election including those reserved for scheduled castes and tribes.

Data available with the RLEK shows that more than 10,924 women had been elected to panchayatiraj institutions in the Garhwal region.

Chairman of the Himalayan Action Research Centre (HARC) M S Kunwar felt the new act should use simple language, and be framed in a manner that would help panchayats become self-sufficient. (UNI)

APHC chief welcomes Pak’s offer of restraint on LoC

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chief Abdul Gani Bhat has said Islamabad’s offer of restraint on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, could lead to a breakthrough in thawing Indo-Pak relations and resumption of dialogue to find a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue.

He expressed hope that it would pave way for restarting the dialogue process, which got derailed after the Kargil conflict last year.

Prof Bhat said APHC is ready to talk to Indian and Pakistani leaders. Both the countries needed to recognise the "stark realities" and rise above prejudices to end violence and find a peaceful solution to the problem, he stressed.

"Pakistan’s response to India’s ceasefire offer is really a breakthrough and will help resumption of dialogue which should be held with a concrete purpose," he said. (UNI)

Sino-India border dispute
Politicans should seize initiative

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: More than a decade after India and China resolved to settle their border dispute, the first exchange of maps on the issue last month is seen as a positive development by experts who say Indian political leadership must now seize the initiative for an early settlement.

Notwithstanding media reports of Chinese incursions into Arunachal or in the Aksai Chin Area, defence and international relations analysts view the exchange of maps as the first stepping stone in the overall process of dispute settlement.

"The experts group meeting did exchange maps, which pertain to the central sector, on which there is least difference," says Dr Manoranjan Mohanty, Director, Institute for Chinese Studies here.

"It’s a positive development following the President’s visit early this year... Now there should be substantive political moves from both sides," says Mohanty, who is also a professor of political science at Delhi University.

Noting that the progress on the border talks has been slow — since 1982 when the countries decided to talk on the border there have been 12 JWG (Joint Working Groups) and eight experts group meetings. M V Rappai, a China analyst from Instiute of Defence Studies and Analyses says "only when political leadership gets into the process things can be expedited.

"Progress of JWG meetings was slow, because there was no direction," says Rappai, noting that the President’s statement was the first political statement on the border issue since the 1993 agreement between the two countries to maintain tranquillity along the borders.

Says another expert requesting anonymity, "it will become difficult for India to settle the border dispute at a later date... Time is in their (China’s) favour.

"China is getting ahead militarily and economically, becoming stronger," he says explaining that in international relations one country deals with the other on the basis of realism which stems from strength.

"China has settled its border dispute with all the other countries and that leaves its military relatively free, in comparison to the Indian side, which is hard-pressed on the western sector."

The only other alternative to a negotiated settlement is war, which either way is not in the interests of both nations, says Rappai underlining the significance of an early settlement.

According to Dr Mohanty, the significance of the map exchange should not be undermined, even though it happens to be in a area where there are no contesting claims because it’s the first process on the basis of which negotiations can be held.

The Sino-Indian border dispute is about half a century old because claims to large portions of territory on either side of the boundary by both sides. According to a report in Indian Defence Review, a quarterly journal, the entire length of the boundary is 4056 kms, of which 2176 kms is the western sector, 554 kms the middle sector and 1,326 kms the eastern sector.

The area under western sector is 38,000 sq kms, in the middle sector it is 2,000 sq kms, while 90,000 sq kms in the eastern sector or Arunachal Pradesh is disputed.

But map exchange assumes significance because both sides acknowledge that LAC (Line of Actual Control) is not demarcated on the ground.

"This is important because once LAC is demarcated, that can be the basis for border negotiations on the principle of MUMA (Mutual Understanding and Mutual Accommodation," explains Dr Mohanty. According to him there already exists a framework on which this mutual accommodation or bargaining on areas done in light of statements by Chinese leaders over the decades.

Says Dr Mohanty, "we are still within the framework of give and take principle first proposed by Chou En Lai in 1960 that India could keep NEFA (as Arunachal Pradesh was then known as Northeast Frontier Agency) while Aksai Chin in the northern sector could be retained by China.

"India rejected this in 1960 under pressure from rightist forces but Deng Xiaoping repeated such a proposal in 1980," says Dr Mohanty adding the political leadership of the day is today the best suited to mobilise public opinion in favour of a settlement.

"If people think that a coalition Government would not have the mandate for such decisions, it is not right. Prime Minister Vajpayee has the status and influence in the country to offer a substantive package," says Dr Mohanty adding that the PM should consult opposition leaders who should back the initiative with wide political support.

"There should be a public opinion to appreciate the need of an early border settlement.

Unlike the defence analyst who considers that time is on the side Mohanty says even the Chinese want full peace on all their borders and we should take advantage of it.

Rappai too suggests an early settlement more or less on existing ground position.

"Unless Sino-Indian relations improve effectively, China will continue to play a role in South Asian politics," says Mohanty, asserting the sooner one embarks on the process of dispute resolution, the better. (PTI)

‘Delhi hospitals don’t destroy bio-medical waste properly’

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has informed the Delhi High Court that six major Government hospitals in the capital including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have not been maintaining their incinerators properly to destroy bio-medical waste completely as per the laid down specifications. Taking strong note of the ill-maintenance of incinerator and hospital authorities taking the matter lightly, a division bench comprising Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice O P Dwivedi on Friday issued notices to six hospitals including Moolchand and Batra, in private sector.

Four Government hospitals — Ram Manohar Lohia, Safdarjung, Kalawati and Sucheta Kriplani — were also issued notices by the court with a direction that they should file replies regarding disposal of bio-medical waste and functioning of incinerators.

The court also directed CPCB counsel Vijay Panjwani to send its teams to Apollo and Escort Heart Institute, two super speciality hospitals in private sector, to examine the system of waste disposal devised by them and file a report within four weeks.

The directions were issued during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on authorities’ failure to evolve an effective waste management system, especially for disposal of hazardous bio-medical waste produced by hospitals in the capital.

While MCD counsel Raman Duggal said the report was almost ready, AIIMS counsel Mukul Gupta said the Institute had initiated steps to increase the temperature in its two incinerator to the required level so that the medical waste was properly destroyed.

CPCB in its report had further stated that the medical waste was not properly segregated by the hospitals resulting in burning of polythene bags and other PVC materials which cause emission of dangerous gases by them.

CPCB counsel said developed countries like USA were now using the technology of autoclave instead of incinerators to destroy medical waste and Apollo Hospital had been using the same.

Escorts Heart Institute had claimed that it was sending anatomical waste for processing in the local laboratory after segregation leaving very little bio-medical waste, he said.

Advocate B L Wadhera, who had filed the PIL, said as per the expert reports, the required temperature in incinerators should be at least 1250 degrees instead of 1050 degrees as prescribed in the medical waste rule, 1999 to ensure complete disposal of it. (PTI)

CPI-M welcomes new EC system on national party status

NAGPUR, Dec 3: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) which had earlier lost its national party status would be benefitted by the new criteria being worked out by the Election Commission, its politburo member Sitaram Yechuri has said.

The existing national parties recognised by the EC including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bahujan Samaj Party were likely to lose their present status, Yechuri told reporters here yesterday.

CPI-M had lost its national recognition despite having 33 MPs while smaller parties having four-five MPs enjoyed privilege simply because they got six per cent votes at national level in four states. The CPI-M now qualified for the EC recognition with 33 Members in Parliament, he said.

Yechuri, while opposing the demand of smaller states including Vidarbha and Telengana from where he hails, blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) for its gameplan in creating smaller states to weaken them and make Centre strong.

Smaller states will always be at the mercy of Centre since they may not be economically viable, Yechuri felt. He questioned the propriety of Shiv Sena’s opposition to Vidarbha which has supported the statehood to three new states in the country, in Parliament.

He predicted emergence of third front in near future. The difference among the NDA allies will come to fore and will pave the way for non-Congress non-BJP third front in the country, Yechuri said. (PTI)

Parliamentary panel for amending of Trade Unions Act

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: A parliamentary committee has recommended that a bill to amend the Trade Unions Act of 1926 be immediately introduced to reduce multiplicity of trade unions.

In its latest report, the Standing Committee of Labour and Welfare has expressed "grave concern" that the act had not been amended so far.

Its early amendment would give fillip to the Trade Union movement in the country, the committee said in the report which was presented to Parliament last week.

The report in its introductory remarks said effort for substantially amending the 1926 act, providing for registration of trade unions of employers and workers, was made through the Trade Unions and the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Bill 1988 introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

The bill was not taken up for consideration by Parliament and was withdrawn in 1990 when a bipartite committee comprising representatives of employers’ organisations and Central Trade Union Organisations was constituted under the chairmanship of G Ramanujam for formulation of specific proposals for a new Industrial Relations Bill.

Based on the committee’s recommendations, a bill for amending the act was drawn up and presented in the Rajya Sabha in 1994. However, at the introduction stage itself, several members raised preliminary objections and the bill was referred to the parliamentary standing committee on labour and welfare.

The standing committee elicited the views of the Labour Ministry and various trade unions and presented its report to the Lok Sabha in 1995. (PTI)