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Threats of war from Pak NEW DELHI, Nov 10: Threats of war from Pakistan soon after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee assumed office in 1998 led India to conducting the Pokhran nuclear tests, says PM’s principal secretary Brajesh Mishra.....more CPI-M demands NEW DELHI, Nov 10: CPI(M) today demanded resignation of Minister of State for Defence Production Harin Pathak and Gujarat Health Minister Ashok Bhatt, against whom charges of rioting have been framed by an Ahmedabad court.......more
Maran on road to recovery, says German specialist CHENNAI, Nov 10: The German invasive cardiologist, Prof. Horst Kuhn, who flew in here this morning to examine the ailing Union Industries Minister....more |
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Govt has open mind on NEW DELHI, Nov 10: Government has an open mind on the issue of allowing foreign equity in print media . ....more Mixed reactions pour in DEHRA DUN, Nov 10: People here are expressing varying thoughts at the creation of Uttarakhand and ...more HC unseats MLA from Samalkha Assembly CHANDIGARH, Nov 10: The Punjab and Haryana High Court today unseated MLA Kartar Singh Bhadana from the.....more Major administrative JAIPUR, Nov 10: In a major administrative reshuffle, Rajasthan Government has shifted 28 IAS officers, including four District . ....more NER to run 270 GORAKHPUR, Nov 10: The North Eastern Railway would run at least 270 Mahakumbh mela specials to ....more |
Threats
of war from Pak led to Pokhran NEW DELHI, Nov 10: Threats of war from Pakistan soon after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee assumed office in 1998 led India to conducting the Pokhran nuclear tests, says PM’s principal secretary Brajesh Mishra. Well, actually discussion (on the nuclear policy) took place two weeks or so after the Prime Minister took oath (on March 19, 1998) and we left it at that. Then came the missile and all the claims from the other side, of a war. And at that point, the Prime Minister said, ok, lets go ahead (with the tests), Mishra told Vir Sanghvi on Star Talk Programme to be telecast on November 12. He recalled having told Sanghvi during a panel discussion in the mid-1990s that if BJP came to power, it would immediately explode a nuclear device. Yes, I have always felt that you cannot in today’s world be counted for something without going nuclear, Mishra, who is also the national security adviser, asserted. He said the 1995 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review Conference decided to extend NPT indefinitely which meant perpetuating the regime of the five nuclear weapon states and the rest in a state of nuclear apartheid. A retired Indian foreign service officer, Mishra, who was convenor of BJP’s foreign affairs cell after joining the party in 1987, said at that point, he had decided that if he had ever anything to do with the Government, going nuclear would be the first priority, according to a transcript of the interview made available. Asked if he was the only person who knew about the decision to conduct the Pokhran tests, Mishra said well, I cannot say who else the Prime Minister himself mentioned it to. I have no no idea. I have never asked him.... It is possible that he did talk to some of his Cabinet ministers. He admitted that he knew about the nuclear tests right from the word go and was totally involved with the entire process. On the recommendation of the Subrahmanyam Committee that an independent national security adviser should be appointed, Mishra said a group of ministers was examining ways of implementing the Kargil Review Committee report. But there is another angle to it and this I am not not saying for personal reasons. I have seen this happen in other countries where both national security and the job of principal secretary requires people who are totally trusted by the PM. Secondly, you do not not want a conflict in this situation, so it is better for one person to deal with (them), he said. Maintaining that India was in the initial stages of setting up a national security system, he said in my view at this time, it is better for the two jobs to remain with one person but this should not be the ultimate solution. You may come to a point a year or two later when you can separate the two jobs. (PTI) |
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CPI-M demands resignation of 2 ministers NEW DELHI, Nov 10: CPI(M) today demanded resignation of Minister of State for Defence Production Harin Pathak and Gujarat Health Minister Ashok Bhatt, against whom charges of rioting have been framed by an Ahmedabad court. It is shameful that the BJP leadership is trying to justify their continuance in office even after proceedings have been launched against them, the party polit bureau said in a release. It said both should resign immediately in the interest of the proper conduct of the case. (PTI) |
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Maran on road to recovery, says German specialist CHENNAI, Nov 10: The German invasive cardiologist, Prof. Horst Kuhn, who flew in here this morning to examine the ailing Union Industries Minister, Murasoli Maran, said today that the minister was on road to recovery, thanks to the septal ablation administered on him on Tuesday last. He is now on road to recovery and there is no doubt about it, he told the media after personally examining maran and going through the various clinical data. Ruling out a surgery to correct his heart condition, Prof Kuhn from the Stadtlschen Kliniken, Bielefed City, Germany, said, operation will not be a therapy of choice for this patient. The risk associated with septal ablation was low compared to the surgical procedure. Pointing out that there was no need for another dose of septal ablation, Kuhn said after this novel non-invasive procedure, he could see that the narrow part of Maran’s left ventricle had widened and there was reduction in the pulmonary oedema. He felt that Maran would have to be on ventilator support for three or four days more. He was optimistic that Maran would be able to resume his duties in the next fortnight. I am very optimistic about this’, he said. Kuhn said the obstructive cardiomyopathy, which Maran was suffering from, was a genetically transmitted chromosome disorder. One person out of every 500 population in the world suffered from such disease, which was completely asymptomatic. He said surgery was one of the options in Germany but for the last five years, surgical procedures were not undertaken as the risk involved in surgery was more than the non-invasive procedure like septal ablation, the success rate of which was 90 per cent. Kuhn said he would examine Maran again this evening and tomorrow morning before chalking out further course of treatment. The x-ray, blood samples, echo monitoring and ECG were now okay. The patient had passed nearly one and a half litres of urine after septal ablation showed that the minister was on his road to recovery and he was responding to the treatment. This is my objective measurement and I am very optimistic, he said. Earlier, Executive Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals, Dr Pratap Reddy, said Kliniken was one of the five or six major centres in the world where the revolutionary non-surgical septal ablation was administered. Prof. Kuhn had treated over 250 cases of obstructive cardiomyopathy in his clinic. Civil Aviation Minister, Sharad Yadhav and Janata Party President, Dr Subramanian Swamy, visited the hospital and met the Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to enquire about Maran’s health. (PTI) |
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Govt has open mind on
foreign equity in NEW DELHI, Nov 10: Government has an open mind on the issue of allowing foreign equity in print media which has generated adverse reaction from professional bodies so far, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. Talking to reporters, she said that 80 per cent of representations received by the Government were against allowing foreign equity while the rest have favoured it. She, however, made it clear that Government has not not set any timeframe for taking a decision on the issue. "Media is just not another sector of trade and a view needed to be taken with extra caution and care". Swaraj sought to emphasise that Government was not approaching the issue with "pre-conceived" notions or a "biased" mind and has not not taken any view of either allowing or disallowing. Stating that "we have an open mind", she said that Government has only raised a national debate on the issue and would take a view after going through the pros and cons. At the same time, she said that there was need to look at the issue in the context of the new millennium and in view of the changed information scenario since the cabinet resolution in 1955 which disallowed foreign media in the country. Stating that no thought has been given to the issue over the years, she said "we should at least think in the changed scenario. We can reach the conclusion that the concerns expressed in 1955 are still valid in 2000". Replying to a question as to why foreign equity should not be allowed in the age of internet and satellite channels, Swaraj said there has been a view that print media not only influenced trade, but the political process as well. The impact of the print media was much greater than others, she said. During her interaction with representatives of the Indian Newspapers Society and National Union of Journalists in the last one month, she found that they were against allowing foreign equity in print media, she added. On the other hand, Aveek Sarkar of Anand Bazar Patrika, who has been the first in advocating the entry of foreign print media, as also India Today and Indian Express wanted the Government to allow foreign equity in the media, she said. (PTI) |
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NER to run 270 Mahakumbh mela specials GORAKHPUR, Nov 10: The North Eastern Railway would run at least 270 Mahakumbh mela specials to cope with the rush of passengers for the millenniumis first Mahakumbh to be held at Allahabad in January next. According to an per release yesterday, the North Eastern Railway general manager V K Garg visited Allahabad and Varanasi recently to check the arrangements on both the stations for smooth movement of these mela specials. He has directed the officials to ensure the provision of all facilities at the Allahabad and Varanasi railway stations including booking of tickets, computerised reservation facility and cleanliness on the platforms. He said that special arrangements would be made for Allahabad city and Daraganj railway stations as these two stations were expected to be crowded during the mela period. There would be spacious waiting rooms and sufficient toilets while 70 booking counters would also be opened. Mr Garg said the passengers would be provided with information through the public announcement system. North Eastern Railway would spend Rs 13.5 crore to provide better amenities to the passengers travelling through this railway. At least 20 stations would be made model stations. (UNI) |
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