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Govt considering allowing foreign equity in print media NEW DELHI, Oct 18: Government today said allowing foreign equity in print media was under consideration in view of the changing information scenario but made it clear that due caution would be taken before taking any decision......more SC clears decks for NEW DELHI, Oct 18: Supreme Court today cleared the decks for the construction of controversial Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River which will benefit three states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat as per the tribunal award but made any further construction subject to clearence from......more
HC admits Buta’s
appeal NEW DELHI, Oct 18: The Delhi High Court today admitted for hearing former Union Minister Buta Singh’s appeal against his conviction in the JMM MPs ....more UP legislature meets today LUCKNOW, Oct 18: The Uttar Pradesh legislature meets here tomorrow to bid farewell to its members who will now be a part of newly formed hill state.....more |
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Narasimha Rao to NEW DELHI, Oct 18: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao will move the Delhi High....more Dalit Christian supports NEW DELHI, Oct 18: The RSS, which has come under fire from several....more HC concerned over NEW DELHI, Oct 18: The Delhi High Court today expressed concern over the Centre taking lightly the issue of proper maintenance of....more
Customs framework
free of controls From B L Kak |
Govt considering allowing foreign equity in print media NEW DELHI, Oct 18: Government today said allowing foreign equity in print media was under consideration in view of the changing information scenario but made it clear that due caution would be taken before taking any decision. "I have not said we are not allowing or allowing. This is under consideration," Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Economic Editors’s conference here. She was asked as to why Government was not allowing foreign equity in the print media in the changed scenario when foreign newspapers were available on the internet. The minister prefaced her remark by saying all sectors could not be treated by the same yardstick when it came to opening up and "we are not in a blind race". She said countries, which had allowed foreign print media, had been extremely cautious while dealing with the issue and emphasised that it has to be seen as to what extent doors can be opened for it in India. Asked if her statement implied change in the stand of the Government, which was bound by the 1955 cabinet resolution barring entry of foreign print media in the country, Swaraj said "we have not changed our stand but there is change in the scenario and these changes have to be considered." Regarding Direct-To-Home (DTH) television, she said a decision was likely to be taken within 15 days. She refuted reports that there was any divergence of views in the Group of Ministers on making Doordarshan the platform for dth saying "the information was misplaced. A whole lot of misinformation is coming out of GOM." Expressing concern over the transmission problems in the hilly areas of the Northeast, she said this would be dealt with on top priority. She dismissed reports that the Kashir channel was being wound up. (PTI) |
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SC clears decks for Sardar Sarovar Dam NEW DELHI, Oct 18: Supreme Court today cleared the decks for the construction of controversial Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River which will benefit three states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat as per the tribunal award but made any further construction subject to clearence from environmental and rehabilitation authority. The dam, at present, has a height of 88 metre but the court last year had given clearence for the construction till the height of 90 metre. The tribunal envisages the maximum height of the dam at 138 metre. "Construction of the dam will continue as per the award of the tribunal keeping in mind the cost economics of the project," a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice A S Anand held by a majority of two to one. Justice S P Bharucha who gave lone dissenting judgement ordered immediate stoppage of construction activities at the dam site but said the work could be resumed only after the environmental impact group of Ministry of Environment and Forest took a detailed survey of the project and cleared it. The majority judgement written by Justice B N Kirpal said the construction work of the dam till a height of 90 metre could be taken up immediately saying the relief and rehabilitation of the oustees has been carried out satisfactorily by three State Governments of Maharashtra, MP and Gujarat. The bench said for the construction in stages however, will depend on the clearances given by the environmental impact group and authorities monitoring the rehabilitation work. The project was stalled for four years from 1995 due to the challenge made to it by the petitioners on various grounds, most important being the aspect of relief and rehabilitation of the tribal oustees .In 1994 the Apex Court had however allowed raising of the height of the dam on the River Narmada to 85 metres and in the beginning of the current year the court allowed the height to go upto 90 mts. The majority judgement said the height of the dam could go upto 138 mts in stages after obtaining proper sanction from concerned authorities. The majority judgement also expressed satisfaction over the relief and rehabilitation measures taken for the oustees. Mr Justice S P Bharucha who dissented with the majority felt that the project required reconsideration in view of the fact that proper environmental clearance had not been obtained in the late eighties when the project was cleared by the Centre. Mr Justice Bharucha wanted the construction of the project to be stopped forthwith and outlined a series of measures to be taken by the project authorities before the construction could be undertaken again. (UNI) |
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HC admits Buta’s appeal for hearing in JMM case NEW DELHI, Oct 18: The Delhi High Court today admitted for hearing former Union Minister Buta Singh’s appeal against his conviction in the JMM MPs bribery case and issued notice to CBI asking it to file a reply by November seven. Justice R S Sodhi, while admitting the appeal, however, made it clear that the court "will not suspend" the fine of Rs two lakh imposed on the convict by the trial court. The court made this observation after CBI counsel A K Dutt said the trial court, while granting bail to the convict, had power only to suspend the sentence of imprisonment under Section 398 of CRPC but not the fine. The trial court, which had sentenced former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao and Buta Singh for bribing four JMM MPs for three years on October 12, had suspended the operation of the judgement till November 8 while granting them bail. The court had also imposed a fine of Rs two lakh on each of them and on failing to pay the amount they will have to undergo further imprisonment of six months. Dutt said the CBI would like to argue on this point before the appeal was admitted. However, Buta Singh’s counsel Satish Tamta told the court that his client was ever ready to deposit the fine amount in the trial court when granted bail and would have no objection to that even now. Singh, challenging his conviction, claimed that the trial court had "erred" in holding him guilty of bribing four JMM MPs and "failed" to consider that the "prosecution had not been able to bring any incriminating evidence" against him. Rao’s counsel Lovkesh Sawhney said the appeal by the former Prime Minister might be filed next week after senior advocate R K Anand, who fought his case in the trial court, returns from abroad. Buta Singh, in his petition, further said "there was neither any direct nor circumstantial evidence to draw the inference of criminal conspiracy" against him. He said his conviction was entirely based on the "uncorroborated testimony" of approver Shailendra Mahato, one of the four JMM leaders. The trial court failed to appreciate that the approver himself was "unworthy of any reliance" because he had innumerable of times told "lies" on this issue, Singh in his petition alleged. The approver’s testimony was required to pass two tests — that he (the approver) was creditworthy and his statement was corroborated with material evidence with reference to the specific allegation against the accused, it said. However, in this case, the prosecution evidence had failed to connect him to any of the offence and there was also no corroboration, the petition claimed. He said neither a case under Section 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) nor Sections 7, 12, 13(2) and 13(1)(D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act could be made against him. (PTI) |
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UP legislature meets today to bid adieu to members LUCKNOW, Oct 18: The Uttar Pradesh legislature meets here tomorrow to bid farewell to its members who will now be a part of newly formed hill state of Uttaranchal, to come into being on November nine. As many as 22 members of the 426 member Vidhan Sabha and eight members of the 108 member Vidhan Parishad would cease to be members of the Uttar Pradesh house once the Uttaranchal state becomes a reality. The State Assembly which had 426 members since 1967 will be reduced to a 404 member house, while the council will have only 100 members. The current 13th Uttar Pradesh Assembly, which has witnessed several historic moments besides establishing some new political traditions will adopt the budget for the first six months for Uttaranchal state — the region which has the honour of giving the first Chief Minister, Govind Ballabh Pant to Uttar Pradesh. The five-day session, a fortnight ahead of the formation of the new state, is also scheduled pass six bills seeking replacement of ordinances and supplementary budget. (PTI) |
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Customs framework
free of controls From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Oct 18 : The Government has issued notifications providing for a customs frameworks free of controls, based on trust and founded on green channel clearances. This information was given by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Murasoli Maran, while addressing the conference of Economic Editors here on Wednesday. He announced that three existing Export Processing Zones (EPZs), managed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, at Mumbai, Cochin and Kandla and the private EPZ of Surat would be converted into Special Economic Zones (SEZs) from November 1 this year in order to give fillip to the units in these zones. Stating that many State Governments and the private sector are presently working to establish these zones, Mr Murasoli Maran pointed out that the Government of India had given in-principle clearance to the process launched in Positra (Gujarat), Nangunery (Tamil Nadu), Kakinada-Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Paradip (Orissa), Kulpi (West Bengal) and Bodohi (Uttar Pradesh). Mr Murasoli Maran reiterated that the exports should be viewed as a ''national effort'', asserting that it cannot be considered as an exclusive domain of the Union Government. He also pointed out that a scheme had been evolved to provide financial assistance to States and Union Territories proportionate to their export effort. To begin with, an allocation of Rs 250 crores has been proposed for the current year, which would be suitably enhanced and the details, according to Mr Maran, will be announced shortly. This financial assistance, he said, can be utilised by the States for creation of export infrastructure as well as other export promotion efforts. Reiterating that India had been articulating the imbalances and inequities of the existing WTO agreements, lack of meaningful implementation of their WTO obligations by the developed countries and non-operationalisation of the various ''special and differential treatment clauses'' provided under various WTO agreements, Mr Murasoli Maran made it clear that India had demanded along with other developing countries that the various implementation issues should be addressed upfront without the developing countries being asked to pay again by way of taking any further fresh obligations. According to the Commerce and Industry Minister, while various proposals are supposed to be filed in WTO by December 2000 with some flexibility even up to March next, India along with other developing countries has already given a proposal on market access and the Indian proposals on domestic support, export subsidies and food security are likely to be finalised next month. On the Government's intention to liberalise the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, Mr Maran said: ''Now, FDI can enter in almost all the sectors except those in a small Negative List. What is more important is that we have made the process automatic in most sectors''. This means that FDI can come automatically and the investor is only required to give an intimation later to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about his activities. Mr Maran told the conference that during the first eight months of this year, India had an inflow of 3 billions US dollars and the Government hoped to get about 5 billion US dollars in this calender year. New Delhi's aim, however, is to have an annual FDI inflow of 10 billion US dollars. Mr Omar Abdullah, Minister of State for Commerce, who also attended the conference, let it be known that India's export performance picked up in 1999-2000. Exports during April-March (1999-2000 financial year) were estimated at 37537. 54 million US dollars, which was 11.58 per cent higher than the level of 33641. 46 million US dollars during the corresponding period in 1998-99. According to Mr Omar Abdullah, the performance exceeded the annual export target which was fixed for the year at 11.3 per cent. In rupee terms, the exports grew by 14.93 per cent during this period. India's exports constituted nearly 0.6 per cent of world exports in 1998. A comparison between shares of various broad commodity groups in India's export basket reveals that textiles improved its share from 21.8 per cent in 1990-91 to 24.6 per cent in 1999-2000 and chemicals and allied from 9.4 per cent to 14.21 per cent. Mr Omar Abdullah pointed out that another major manufacturing item, gems and jewellery, increased from 16 per cent in 1990-91 to 23 per cent in 1999-2000. Major export markets of India are USA, UK, Germany, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Japan. An analysis of the trends in the share of India's major export destinations during the 1990s reveals that India's exports to USA has been exhibiting a positive growth trend and its share has increased from 15 per cent in 1990-91 to 26.1 per cent in 1999-2000. However, it was officially admitted that the share of West Europe had declined from 32.6 per cent to 23 per cent, as the shares of two of India's major trading partners in this area had also declined. Thus, the share of Germany declined from 7.8 per cent to 4.8 per cent while that of UK declined from 6.5 per cent to 5.8 per cent. According to statistics available with Mr Omar Abdullah, Exports during April-August 2000 were valued at 17.45 billion US dollars as against 14.11 billion US dollars during the corresponding period of the previous year. In rupee terms, exports during April-August 2000 were Rs 77776. 99 crores, registering a growth of 27.89 per cent over the corresponding export figure in rupee terms during April-August 1999. Imports during April-August 2000 reached a figure of 21.74 billion US dollars registering a growth of 20.51 per cent over the imports of 18.04 billion US dollars during the corresponding period in 1999. In rupee terms, the imports were Rs 96811. 96 crores, which is 24.3 per cent higher than the value of imports during April-August 1999. Trade deficit in April-August 2000 was at 4.29 billion US dollars registering a growth of 9.2 per cent over the corresponding period in the previous year. |
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