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My book is about
conspirators who NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Bitter over the way he was sacked from the Union Cabinet and the way a section of media reported the whole episode, former.....more
Kargil war pushed up defence in the agenda of NDA Govt NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Coming to power under the shadow of the Kargil war, the BJP-led NDA Government accorded a significant thrust to the country’s .....more Film studios in BANGALORE, Oct 15: The massive floors of film studios in Karnataka wear a forelorn look and hundreds of workers ....more ITDC making senior NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Ignoring Government’s directives on cost-cutting, the India Tourism Development .....more |
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Naidu contemplates a HYDERABAD, Oct 15: After emerging as a cynosure of information technology industry, Andhra Pradesh Government is contemplating putting.....more
Centre announces Rs 350 cr relief package for Punjab NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Facing the wrath of opposition parties and agitating farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal today succeeded in....more BIHARSHARIF, Oct 15: Barely a day after the massacre of eleven Yadavas of a family, five people belonging to backward community were killed and...more Govt to go ahead with talks on bilateral air agreements NEW DELHI, Oct 15: To enhance availability of seats for air travellers, Government is going ahead with holding discussions with various countries....more |
My book is about conspirators who threw me out: Jeth NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Bitter over the way he was sacked from the Union Cabinet and the way a section of media reported the whole episode, former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani plans to present his side of the story through "big egoes and small men", which he says is a book on three conspirators. "I want to present to the people the whole story in one comapct form. At least, my book will go to those who should read my book - important judges in India and abroad and weIl-known lawyers - and judge the incident," Jethmalani told PTI a week before the release of the book. Asked who were the conspirators, the former minister said "Chief Justice of India A S Anand, Attorney General Soli Sorabjee and Union Minister Arun Jaitley - who played a key role in my ouster from the cabinet." The ‘big egoes and small men’ starts thus - "this book is about an incident in Court No. 1 of the Supreme Court of India on 21st July, the likes of which has not smudged ever the copy book of any court in the commonwealth or the United States." Narrating sequence of events relating to his differences with Justice Anand over the appointment of Justice (retd) B M Lal as MRTPC Chairman, the book accuses the Chief Justice of converting "his administrative fight with the then Law Minister (Jethmalani) into a judicial one by criticising him in open court." (PTI) |
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Kargil war pushed up defence in the agenda of NDA Govt NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Coming to power under the shadow of the Kargil war, the BJP-led NDA Government accorded a significant thrust to the country’s security needs and capped the first year in office with a series of significant defence agreements with Russia for acquiring state-of-the-art military hardware. The agreements, initialed during the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin included licensed production of Sukhoi 30-MKI frontline multi-role fighters besides acquirement of 300 T-90 tanks and aircraft carrier ‘Admiral Gorshkov’. This was the biggest ever defence deal signed by New Delhi amounting to more than three billion dollars. The Kargil Review Committee report was tabled by Defence Minister George Fernandes in the Lok Sabha on February 24 and subsequently the Government appointed a Group of Ministers under Home Minister L K Advani to review the national security system in its entirety and formulate specific proposals. The four task forces set up to analyse various aspects of security have since submitted their reports to the Home Minister. Apparently to avoid repeat of a controversy like the 1986 Bofors gun deal, Mr Fernandes in February requested the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to investigate all defence purchases since 1989. The final report of cvc in this regard is still awaited. Mr Fernandes paid a five-day visit to Japan in January, the first ever by any Indian Defence Minister, to begin a strategic dialogue between the two countries after a dip in bilateral ties in the aftermath of 1998 Pokhran explosions. Ins Aditya, a 24,612 tonnes displacement Fleet Replenishment Tanker (FRT), constructed indigenously, was commissioned in April while Dhanush, the naval version of Prithvi surface-to-surface missile with a range of 150 km, was testfired in the Bay of Bengal on April 11. (UNI) |
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Film studios in K’taka wear a forelorn look BANGALORE, Oct 15: The massive floors of film studios in Karnataka wear a forelorn look and hundreds of workers of the tinsel world scourge for their next square meal as the Kannada film industry painfully awaits for the return of its "demigod" Rajkumar. Seventyfive days have passed and there was no sign of the evergreen hero of the silverscreen of Kannada emerging out of the woods even as his fellowmen wait in hope for the revival of the industry. The industry had already lost more than Rs 225 crore in terms of turnover since July 30 when Dr Rajkumar and three others were kidnapped by forest brigand Veerappan from his farm house in Doddagajanur in Tamil Nadu. On an average at least Rs three crore was being invested every day in the industry including release of advertisements and posters. But everything had come to a grinding halt as in a show of solidarity the industry struck work till the return of "Annavaru" as Rajkumar is called by the industry. No one was willing to work until the hostage crisis was resolved. The Gandhinagar area in the city, considered the heart of the film industry wore a deserted look reflecting the gloom that had set over the Kannada film industry. A cross section of industry craftsmen who spoke to UNI said they were in a helpless situation as it was a self-imposed closure and no no one could take the blame. Although the Karnataka film chamber of commerce had asked its members to take up production of films no no one was ready to engage in production as the artists and technical workers involved in the production had clearely taken a stand that they would not resume work until their the actor was released. Dr Rajkumar had a wide emotional fan following and it was not not surprising that his abduction continued to cause concern to Kannadigas even 75 days after it took place. The first month of abduction saw all the three wings of the industry—production, distribution and exhibition of films— closing the shop. While production continued to be closed, distribution and exhibition of films resumed from September one in a small scale. It picked up later except for a few sensitive pockets where linguistic minorities lived. Though 120 and odd theatres in the city were screening some of the old Kannada movies, the cinegoers continued to flock the theatres which screened other language movies including Hindi and English. A Tamil film distributor, told to UNI correspondent revealed that he feared taking up distribution now. Consequently, the superstar Kamal Hassan featured "Tenali" which was due for Diwali release might be delayed indefinitely. Other Tamil film distributors also face the same situation. But the Hindi, Telugu and English film distributors had no such problems. According to K V Gupta, a veteran distributor, it was unfortunate that the industry had to face such a dicey situation. ‘’ as it is Kannada filmgoers were less in number and this development would further decrease their number. The impact of the closure would be felt in the coming months and there would not be any new film for screening. The only alternative to rekindle the industry was to conduct a market survey and produce films with more family appeal and comedy by scouting talents from the stage,’’ he added. He stressed the need to attach economical dimension to the issue rather than emotional factor as the film industry was not like any other business to quantify the losses incurred. The damage to the industry was perceivable and it was keeping this in view that Dr Rajkumar had urged the industry representatives to resume the work without waiting for his release. "If the industry is not there, none of us will be recognised. Rajkumar was recognised by the industry because of his dedication to work for over four decades and that was the main reason he appealed to the workers not to stop the work," he observed. Mr Manickchand, a leading financier of high budget films, said the transactions had come to a standstill and it was not a good sign for the industry. No new film was financed in the last three months except one or two films wherein producers had their own resources to fund the production. If the same situation continued for some more time, it would have far reaching consequences on the growth of the industry, he felt. But the Chamber president K C N Chandrasekhar felt that the industry was slowly limping back to normalcy. Though exhibition sector had picked up well, production and post production activities were yet to start and it all depended ultimately on the artists, technicians and workers connected with the industry. Leading artists including Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh had categorically ruled out to act until the actor was released. The president, who had called on Home Minister L K Advani two days ago pleading for the centre’s intervention, said the Centre should send a crisis management committee to help Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to resolve the tangle. He was hopeful that at least this time the four-member emissary team headed by journalist R R Gopal would secure the release of the hostages. The situation is likely to continue for a few more days even as those involved in the industry continue to experience agony and despair. An award winning director aptly remarked that ultimately in this vicious circle it was the poor and faceless workers of the industry who were thrown on to the streets without jobs. It was this dedicated wing of the industry that has decided to continue its struggle till the safe return of the actor along with the other two hostages. (UNI) |
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ITDC making senior level appointments NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Ignoring Government’s directives on cost-cutting, the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is making senior level appointments at a time when the process of disinvestment in six of its hotels is already on. Interviews for two posts of vice presidents have been slated for Tuesday, despite a decision taken at a high-level meeting here only 12 days ago to reduce costs. The meeting was chaired by Tourism Secretary M P Bezbaruah. The ITDC Officers Association has reportedly written to Bezbaruah pointing out that the ITDC management had decided on a series of measures to reduce costs drastically in this fiscal. These included not filling up of vacant posts and saving on overtime payments. However, despite these decisions, the ITDC management has decided to fill up the two posts of vice presidents and scheduled the interviews for October 17. Already, as much as 43 per cent of ITDC’s turnover was spent on salaries, association sources said. Six of the 32 ITDC hotels located in various states are scheduled to be privatised. The process of inviting bids will start soon. When asked to comment, Bezbaruah said expansion of the organisation and appointments were decided by the ITDC Board and its management. "The Government generally does not interfere in these routine matters." "The disinvestment process is on and the Board will have to decide whether or not to make the appointments. Its decision should be in keeping with the normal functioning of the Corporation. "If any representation (like the one made by the Association) comes up, we will obtain the reaction of the board and take a judicious decision," the Secretary said. The Association sources said that a communication had been sent to the Central Vigilance Commission to probe the antecedents of some of the candidates invited to the interview. (PTI) |
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Govt to go ahead with talks on bilateral air agreements NEW DELHI, Oct 15: To enhance availability of seats for air travellers, Government is going ahead with holding discussions with various countries on finalising bilateral air agreements, despite a growing opinion in the aviation industry that such talks would degrade the value of Air India (AI) at the time of its disinvestment. Apart from its real assets, AI’s bilateral entitlements to operate in different countries, under the air services agreements, are a major attraction for investors who want to participate in the divestment process. Lack of capacity with the airline has left about 30 per cent of these bilateral rights to remain unutilised, official sources said. While the Government has conducted negotiations and finalised air agreements with malaysia and the Gulf during the past fortnight, its talks with German aviation authorities have remained inconclusive and have been postponed, civil aviation secretary A H Jung told PTI. However, sources in the aviation industry feel that giving out these bilateral rights to foreign airlines to fly out of Indian cities to different destinations, instead of allowing AI to do so, would lower the carrier’s worth in the market, especially when it was being privatised. But Jung asserted that the Government would continue with its policy of signing or reviewing the bilateral air services agreements even while AI’s divestment process was on. (PTI) |
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