Excelsior... Nation

S M Krishna

Karnataka CM convenes
all party meet today

BANGALORE, Oct 2: Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna has convened a meeting of opposition party leaders here tomorrow to discuss the Rajkumar kidnap crisis in the wake of empty-handed return of emissary R R Gopal and the escape of one of the hostages from Veerappan’s captivity........more

Chadar to be presented on
behalf of PM at 788th Urs of

JAIPUR, Oct 2: A "Chadar" would be presented on behalf of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the ongoing 788th Urs of noted Sufi Saint Khawaja Muinuddin Chisti at Ajmer in Rajasthan tomorrow......more

Yoga can prevent
diabetes, says Dr Bijlani

PANAJI, Oct 2: "Yoga" can play a significant role in prevention and treatment of diabetes, says Dr R L Bijlani, Professor and Head of the Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).....more

Delhi - A mega city with a chance missed: Plan panel

NEW DELHI, Oct 2: Delhi being the national capital could have served as a model city, the Planning.....more

Mahatma Gandhi

Nation fondly
remembers Bapu

NEW DELHI, Oct 2: President K R Narayanan today led the nation in paying homage to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his.........more

Jyoti Basu

Basu ridicules
Mamata’s decision

CALCUTTA, Oct 2: West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu today sought to belittle the protest resignations of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and.......more

Krishna hits back at critics

BANGALORE, Oct 2: Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna today indirectly......more

Keeping distance from
‘Hindutva’ will cost BJP
dear, says VHP

KANPUR, Oct 2: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today said the BJP would face dire......more

Karnataka CM convenes all party meet today

This will be the fifth all-party meeting to be held by Krishna since the hostage crisis started on July 30. The meet would be followed by discussions with MPs of the state.

Indications are that the State Government would be eliciting views from opposition party leaders and MPs on adopting a new strategy to solve the crisis, which entered the 65th day today. Krishna’s meeting with MPs has fuelled speculations that he might seek their help to put pressure on the Centre to help end the crisis.

Krishna has been in constant touch with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L K Advani, posting them of all the developments on the kidnapping issue.

Official sources said the Centre had appreciated the state’s approach to end the crisis through negotiations.

Some opposition leaders have suggested to the Government to think on alternative strategies but have not specified it.

Though Krishna would take opposition leaders and MPs into confidence, the next strategy would be worked out only after his meeting with his counterpart in Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi soon.

After Rajkumar was kidnapped from his farm house at Gajanur in Tamil Nadu, Krishna and Karunanidhi have held meetings in Chennai and once in Bangalore. (PTI)

Yoga can prevent diabetes, says Dr Bijlani

Presenting a paper on ‘role of yoga in the prevention and management of diabetes’ at the international conference on diabetes and nutrition - a South Asian perspective’, Dr Bijlani said, a combination of certain yoga asanas, specially those which include dhanurasana, could help in preventing and managing diabetes. He pointed out that some studies had demonstrated that these asanas reduced fasting and postprandial glucose.

In his paper, Dr Bijlani said in a randomised control trial on 21 patients having Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM), inclusion of yogic postural, breathing and relaxation exercises in the daily regimen in addition to usual prescription and medication led to lower fasting blood glucose and glaycosylated haemoglobin as compared to controls. Subsequent studies by other groups on still larger number of patients also pointed in the same direction, he added. He pointed out that obeseity, inappropriate diet, lack of physical activity and mental stress are major factors contributing to the risk of diabetes, and added that moderate physical activities along with Asanas and Pranayama could help eliminate overeating, and other forms of greed. (UNI)

Delhi - A mega city with a chance missed: Plan panel

NEW DELHI, Oct 2: Delhi being the national capital could have served as a model city, the Planning Commission has said regretting that its haphazard growth over the years has resulted in a host of civic problems.

Unauthorised settlements, growth of slums, pressure on infrastructure facilities like water supply, sewerage and power accompanied by environmental degradation and increasing crime marked the capital city’s woes, reflecting the state of affairs in urban planning all over the country, the Commission said in its mid-term appraisal.

The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) was established to contain the pressure on population in Delhi and to attain balanced and harmonious development of the city and the adjoining areas of the neighbouring states, it said.

However, the concept of NCR Delhi had not yet succeeded due to inadequate coordination within and among the member states, provision in the outlays of the States and Central Ministries, prioritisation of projects, delay on the part of the member states to conform to the requirements envisaged to make the programme coherent, the appraisal noted.

For effective urban planning, the Commission said, the scope of the scheme for urban mapping using high resolution satellite remote sensing technology required to be widened to include areas like drainage, sewerage, low cost sanitation and urban waste management.

Urban transport development, a crucial component of urban infrastructure needed to be accorded a higher priority, the appraisal pointed out.

Housing, essentially a private, self-help activity, was another area requiring urgent attention, the Commission said expressing concern about the growing gap between demand and supply of basic infrastructure facilities for the urban population, especially the poor.

Another fallout of the absence of structured housing schemes for the urban poor was the rapid growth of slums, causing immense pressure on urban basic services and infrastructure, the appraisal noted.

"Urban poverty remains an area of significant and persistent neglect in public policy and is a manifestation of the lack of income and purchasing power attributable to lack of productive employment, high rate of inflation and lack of access to social infrastructure, affecting the quality of life of the people," the Commission said.

In view of the fast pace of urbanisation and the growing gap between demand and supply of the basic infrastructure facilities accompanied by environmental degradation affecting the quality of life of urban population, an integrated urban management policy incorporating different facets like development planning, resource mobilisation, capacity building and responsive administration was a key concern, it said.

With over 30 per cent of urban population below poverty line, the Commission suggested an impact assessment of poverty alleviation programmes.

To improve quality of urban governance, it was necessary to ensure appropriate follow-up action on the constitution 74th amendment, which envisaged decentralisation of the functions of the municipalities. (PTI)

Nation fondly remembers Bapu

NEW DELHI, Oct 2: President K R Narayanan today led the nation in paying homage to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his 131st birth anniversary.

Narayanan, Vice-President Krishan Kant, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other leaders paid floral tributes to Bapu at his Samadhi at Rajghat on the banks of the River Yamuna.

Vajpayee stood in silence with folded hands before the spartan memorial for some time as representatives of different religions offered prayers.

Both the President and the Prime Minister briefly attended the inter-religious prayer meeting.

Former Prime Ministers V P Singh and I K Gujral, Home Minister L K Advani, Urban Development Minister Jagmohan, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Delhi Lt Governor Vijai Kapoor and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also offered floral tributes to the apostle of peace and non-violence.

Congress leaders Manmohan Singh, Oscar Fernandes, Ghulam Nabi Azad and members of the diplomatic corps were present on the occasion.

Well-known classical vocalist Madhup Mudgal sang Gandhi’s favourite Bhajans including "Vaishnava Janato" and "Ram Dhun" even as several men and women spun on Charkha, which was a symbol of resistance during the freedom struggle.

Later, the leaders offered floral tributes to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at his Vijay Ghat Samadhi on the occasion of his 96th birth anniversary.

Outside Rajghat, about 100 Gandhians from across the country sat on a daylong fast to draw the attention of the people and Government towards basic issues such as education and health.

Sarva Seva Sangh, National Alliance of People’s Movements and Rashtriya Yuva Sangathan were among the organisations which participated in the fast.

At another function, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, her cabinet colleagues, MLAs, freedom fighters and other civil and police officials paid floral tributes at Gandhi’s statue at Old Secretariat. (PTI)

Basu ridicules Mamata’s decision

CALCUTTA, Oct 2: West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu today sought to belittle the protest resignations of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and another Trinamool Congress Minister Ajit Panja from the Vajpayee Government saying she was a party to the Centre’s decision to increase the prices of petroleum products.

"It was a unanimous cabinet decision....Banerjee was present there. Prime Minister has said it," Basu told reporters here while announcing that CPI-M would launch a "bigger" movement against the price hike after the Puja festival.

When newsmen pointed out that she had resigned in protest against the price rise, Basu said, "but the decision to increase the prices was taken in her presence."

Asked about the possibility of the Trinamool Congress leader coming closer to Congress, he said "I do not bother about who joins Congress, BJP or Muslim League."

Flaying the Vajpayee Government for the increase in the prices of petroleum products, the Chief Minister said his party had already organised protest demonstrations against the hike and would "launch a bigger movement after the Puja festival."

Basu said he has already written to the Prime Minister opposing the petro price increase. State Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta, he said, would shortly go to Delhi and talk to the Union Finance Minister on the issue.

Dasgupta would also talk to the Prime Minister if the latter could give time, he said.

The Chief Minister said the poor would be most hard hit by the increase in price of kerosene oil. Transport operaters would also launch movement against the oil price hike, he said. (PTI)

Krishna hits back at critics

BANGALORE, Oct 2: Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna today indirectly hit back at some senior ruling Congress leaders in the state who had questioned his Government’s handling of the Rajkumar kidnap crisis.

‘A sensitive matter has to be viewed from all angles and an appropriate decision taken. We can’t take decisions in haste’, Krishna, who was speaking at a Gandhi Jayanti function at KPCC office here, said apparently referring to the Rajkumar issue.

‘Forget about others. At least the Congressmen should realise this’, he said in an apparent sarcastic reference to former Chief Minister S Bangarappa and senior Congress leader C K Jaffar Sharief who had last week expressed reservations about the Government’s handling of the issue.

Krishna said the litmus test of a leadership was in their capacity to take appropriate decision after weighing all the consequences. In an embarrassment to the Krishna Government, Bangarappa had fully backed the September 28 bandh called to protest the delay in securing the release of Rajkumar from the captivity of forest bandit Veerappan and had indicated that he was not happy with the way the issue was tackled.

Reports had also quoted former Railway Minister C K Jaffer Sharief as having said that the Rajkumar crisis should not have been allowed to drag on for this long. (PTI)

Keeping distance from ‘Hindutva’ will cost
BJP dear, says VHP

KANPUR, Oct 2: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today said the BJP would face dire political consequences if it continued to "keep its distance from the path and policy of ‘Hindutva"’.

At a news conference here, VHP general secretary Praveen Bhai Togadiya attributed the ruling BJP’s defeat in the recent panchayat and local bodies elections in Gujarat to a "change" in its earlier policy on "Hindutva".

While the Congress party captured a two-third of the seats in the elections, the BJP was restricted to only a one-third, Dr Togadiya said, adding the "hot issue of Hindutva" was one of the main reasons for the party’s defeat, "despite its good governance in the state".

The Congress party, though not seen as advocates of "Hindutva", scored an advantage over public displeasure with the ruling party, he said.

Dr Togadiya claimed a stand against "Hindutva" was bound to cause reverses for any political party, and not just the BJP alone.

Also, the VHP leader said construction work at the Ram Temple was passing through a lull, but "it does not mean that the efforts in this direction have been given up."

He said the stone-cutting and carving work for the temple was in its "full swing" and 60 per cent of it would be completed by March, 2001.

The VHP’s Kendriya Marg Darshan Mandal (Central Advisory Board) was scheduled to meet in Goa on October 18 and 19 to discuss the organisation’s agenda on the issues of Ram Mandir and conversion. This agenda, he said, would be presented before the Dharma Sansad (religious conclave of saints) to be held at "Prayag" (Allahabad) during the Kumbha Mela in January, 2001.

Dr Togadiya said the Ram Temple issue would "never lose its importance for his organisation and supporters."

In reply to a question, he said the VHP had supported any party which favoured the Ram Mandir and other related issues, and that it could "even support congress" if its president Sonia Gandhi announced her party support to the construction of the temple and abolition of Article 370. (UNI)