Excelsior... Nation

Jyoti Basu

It is not my purpose to
satisfy Advani: Basu

CALCUTTA, Sept 18: West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu today said that he would reply tomorrow to .......more

Murli Manohar Joshi

India will become
permanent member
of SC: Joshi

MADURAI, Sept 18: Union Minister for Human Resource Development Murli Manohar Joshi has expressed .....more

Key negotiator
for NSCN released

NEW DELHI, Sept 18: A key negotiator for the NSCN, Th Muivah, who has been in jail since January 19 ....more

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

Shekhawat seeks resignation of Agri Minister

JAIPUR, Sept 18: Leader of opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, Bhairon Singh.........more

Bill Clinton & Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Clinton, Vajpayee stress new Indo-US relationship

WASHINGTON, Sept 18: US President Bill Clinton has said that India’s success is America’s success while Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee expressed happiness that the American leader has "rediscovered" India.......more

Court reserves order
on CBI’s plea in
urea scam case

NEW DELHI, Sept 18: A CBI designated court hearing the Rs 133 crore urea scam case today reserved its order on CBI’s plea seeking to club the trial of Brazilian businessman A E Pinto with the rest of the accused.....more

Health melas: New
tool to fight problems
in ‘Bimaru’ states

MATHURA, Sept 18: As part of its special drive to improve health facilities in India’s five ‘Bimaru’ states that are home to outbreaks of several epidemics, Government has initiated a novel strategy of organising ‘health melas’ to take medicare to doorsteps of the people........more

Living condition of tigers
in zoos distressing: SC

NEW DELHI, Sept 18: Keeping in mind the report of the expert committee probing the death of white tigers in the prestigious Nandankan Zoo in Orissa, the Supreme Court today termed the situation as "distressing"......more

It is not my purpose to satisfy Advani: Basu

CALCUTTA, Sept 18: West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu today said that he would reply tomorrow to Union Home Minister L K Advani’s letter accusing the State Government of failing to "satisfactorily deal" with the political violence, and asserted that it was not his purpose to satisfy Advani.

Basu, who had already written a letter to the Union Home Minister earlier, told reporters at the writer’s building "I have spoken the truth. One may or may not like it. It is not my purpose to satisfy Advani".

Asked if etter would be hard-hitting this time, the octogenerian Chief Minister said that he would send the letter tomorrow. "You will get a copy. You will find the difference," he said.

In his letter on Friday, Advani had asked the State Government to take firm steps to check violence and restore the people’s confidence in its effectiveness and neutrality.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister charged the BJP-led NDA Government of abetting the conspiracy of imposing president’s rule in the state. "The RSS-BJP raised the demand for the promulgation of Article 356 knowing that they cannot come to power through election," he said.

Stating that it was "totally impossible" to impose President’s rule in the state, Basu in an interview to a Malayalam TV channel which was carried by CPI-M mouthpiece `Ganashakti’ today, said that his party would counter if central rule was imposed. "We have taken all preparations for that." (PTI)

India will become permanent member of SC: Joshi

MADURAI, Sept 18: Union Minister for Human Resource Development Murli Manohar Joshi has expressed confidence that India would become a permanent member of the UN Security Council and also a world power under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Addressing a rally organised by the BJP’s Tiruchirappalli, Pudukottai and Sivaganga units at Karaikudi last night, he said the country’s image and prestige had already gone up and many leaders who had visited India after Vajpayee took over were supporting India’s initiative to become a permanent member of the Security Council.

The Minister said though India faced a tough competition due to globalisation and market economy, it would go ahead on its own to become a superpower and guide the world tomorrow.

India’s great history, culture and natural and human resources would help it find strategies that would assist the country safeguard its interests. International trade was not new to India as it had been the country’s tradition for the past 3000 years, he said.

Joshi said Indians were employed in almost all the countries, and 43 per cent of London’s trade was controlled by Indians. "With self-confidence we can take up the challenges very well," he said. (PTI)

Key negotiator for NSCN released

NEW DELHI, Sept 18: A key negotiator for the NSCN, Th Muivah, who has been in jail since January 19 in Bangkok for travelling on forged documents, has been released on bail.

Sources here today said Muivah was released on bail on Friday but exact details of the case were not known.

He is general secretary of the NSCN-IM which has reportedly threatened to dishonour the ceasefire agreement if the Centre does not include all Naga areas in the ceasefire. The Government, which has acknowledged getting a letter from NSCN chairman Isak Swu from Thailand, has said the matter will be looked into after the Prime Minister returns.

Muivah was arrested on January 19 in thailand for travelling on a Korean passport which had forged immigration stamps. He was subsequently granted bail but was arrested again for trying to leave the country from the Hat-Yai airport in Southern Thailand on January 31.

There are two cases pending against Muivah, jumping bail and forgery of documents. He was imprisoned for one year for jumping bail. The next hearing in the cases has been scheduled for September 22, the sources said. (UNI)

Shekhawat seeks resignation of Agri Minister

JAIPUR, Sept 18: Leader of opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, today demanded resignation of State Agriculture Minister Tayyab Hussain for his alleged "administrative negligence" which had led to largescale destruction of soyabean crop.

Crop worth Rs 300 crore, covering an area of about four lakh hectares, was infested in Kota, Bundi, Bayana, Jhalawar and Chittorgarh districts, Shekhawat said in a statement.

He accused the State Government of failure to take any remedial measures to save the crop despite repeated requests from farmers, the former Chief Minister said.

The Government neither provided insecticides to farmers nor ensured quality of pesticides available in the market resulting in huge monetary loss to soyabean growers, he said.

"The Agriculture Minister also failed to visit the affected areas and neglected his duties. He has no moral right to continue in office," he said.

Shekhawat also demanded action against erring officials and asked the Government to write off loans taken by the farmers for soyabean cultivation and compensate their losses.

Meanwhile, the State Government has sanctioned Rs 40 lakhs towards measures to save soyabean crop, an official release said. (PTI)

Clinton, Vajpayee stress new Indo-US relationship

At a farewell banquet hosted by Clinton at the end of Vajapyee’s four-day official visit last night, the two leaders stressed that the ties between their countries were based on common values and goals.

The banquet, one of the most lavish in recent times, was attended by 500 Indian and American guests including Information Technology entrepreneurs, doctors, actors and businessmen. A huge tent was erected for the function.

Clinton joked there were more than a million Indians in the US and said he thought more than half of them was in the tent and the other half was disappointed not to be in it.

Indian Americans, he noted, run more than 750 companies in Silicon valley.

Indian Americans can communicate on-line across the world in Telugu or Gujarati or Bengali. "Whether we are in California or Calcutta, we all want to be a crorepati" —India’s version of America’s `who wants to be a millionaire?’

The President said the best available facilities for maternal health and agriculture could be accessed by computer in a growing number of villages in India.

Clinton said India and the US were vulnerable to each other’s problems. They have to overcome some fears in both countries, sometimes for different historical reasons, he added.

Commending Vajpayee’s leadership in facing these problems, the US President said "we have built the strongest and most mature partnership India and America have ever known."

Speaking at the function, Vajpayee said "the light that radiates above our two nations is of our respective struggles for freedom, for liberty, for individual excellence and enterprise." This brings the two countries together as two great democracies, he added.

"We are greatly moved, Mr President, by your joining me in the dedication of the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi in Washington," the Prime Minister said.

"The people of India will always value this. This memorial in the heart of your capital is a profound symbol of the University of Values of our two societies.

"The century that we leave behind saw many ideas compete for the soul of this world but we can say today that it is the ideas of Gandhi and (former US President) Woodrow Wilson that will triumph. We know that America and India stand on the right side of history," Vajpayee said.

"It is a reflection of your statesmanship that you saw this simple truth. It is a testimony to your courage and leadership that you dared to cross the territory of doubts to reach out to the hearts of the Indian people, and it is a tribute to your efforts that the manner in which we approach each other is being fundamentally transformed," he said. Acknowledging the role people from India and the US have played in building a closer partnership between the two nations, Vajpayee said "I salute you, Congressmen and senators, diplomats and officials, scientists and entrepreneurs, thinkers and scholars, academics and artists and this league of Americans of Indian heritage for your goodwill and your efforts."

He stressed the "close and abiding friendship between the two peoples and the vision of this new relationship between India and the United States of America."

Vajpayee thanked US first Lady Hillary Clinton for taking time off her election campaign to host the banquet. He said he knew how difficult it was to do so, from his experience as a parliamentarian for 40 years.

Clinton referred to the problems faced by the two countries — the shock of economic turmoil, the plague of infectious diseases and deadly military technology.

The two countries have also all too painfully seen terrorists, drug traffickers and criminals taking advantage of the openness of their societies and borders, he said.

However, he said, a quite simple lesson of all this was that if India and America were together in the same boat, they would find a way to steer together.

Clinton said "we have very much more to learn from each other. In both our societies, you can find virtually every challenge humanity faces, and in both our societies you can find virtually every solution to those challenges."

Raising a toast to the "enduring partnership between our two great democracies," he said, they had confidence in democracy, tolerance for diversity and willingness to embrace economic and social change.

"So it is more than a slogan for us to say that your success will be our success, and that, together, India and America can change the world," he said. (PTI)

Court reserves order on CBI’s plea in urea scam case

After hearing arguments from the prosecution and defence counsel, Special Judge V B Gupta said he would pronounce his order on the CBI’s plea on September 30.

The court also said it would hear arguments on the plea of Karsan Executives Cihan Karani and Tunkey Alankus, two key accused in the case, seeking permission to negotiate with National Fertiliser Ltd (NFL) for an amicable settlement on September 22.

The CBI had alleged that Pinto and NFL Executive Director D S Kanwar had in July 1995 unauthorisedly signed a contract on behalf of NFL with with the Turkish firm Karsan for the supply of two lakh tonnes of urea.

This contract was, however, replaced by another contract in October that year envisaging total advance payment by NFL counter guaranteed by Llyods Insurance Policy covering risks of non-performance and non-delivery.

Even after the advance payment of total money amounting to Rs 133 crore, not even a single grain of urea was supplied by Karsan, the agency alleged.

CBI counsel B N Ojha said, clubbing the trial of Pinto, who was extradited from London last month, with the rest of the accused was required as "he is a party to same offence, same transaction and same criminal conspiracy". (PTI)

Health melas: New tool to fight problems
in ‘Bimaru’ states

Dotted with numerous stalls, the first such ‘mela’ organised at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday witnessed experts from Delhi’s leading hospitals rub shoulders with local municipal officials and doctors to offer cheap medicare for tuberculosis, malaria, ‘kala azar’ and polio. It was inaugurated by Health and Family Welfare Minister C P Thakur.

Thakur said that from Mathura, the ‘mela’ would move to Lucknow, Ghazipur, Patna, Guwahati, Bhopal, Jaipur and finally to Delhi as part of the efforts to reach out to the people, particularly at block and village level in the backward areas.

A special task force has also been constituted for the ‘Bimaru’ states - Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa - to go into their specific problems. These states not only account for 40 per cent of the country’s galloping population rate but also have poor health indices.

The new initiative is part of the Government’s effort to provide better health care to people as announced by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the Independence Day.

Numerous medical experts from reputed hospitals in Delhi like AIIMS, Safdarjung, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and others joined local doctors in the health mela to provide better health facilities to the visitors.

Thakur said efforts would be made to provide free medicines for malaria, TB and other diseases to help poor people in the ‘Bimaru’ states.

Such ‘melas’ invite participation from village panchayats, municipal corporations and other elected representatives as part of attempts to fight medical problems on war footing, he said.

Thakur stressed that frequent interactions between ministries of health, education and rural development are necessary in implementation of different social welfare and health schemes. "Health problems cannot be seen in isolation. Poor health is caused by prevalence of illiteracy and habitation problems. By combining the three together only we can achieve a better result," he added.

Explaining the reasons for starting the new health drive from uttar pradesh, Thakur said, "more than half of the country’s health problem rests in these `Bimaru’ states and among them, Uttar Pradesh has a dubious distinction of heading the table."

Health Secretary Javed Choudhary, Family Welfare Secretary A R Nanda, AIIMS Director P K Dave and a battery of medical experts attended the ‘mela’.

Thousands of people visited the ‘mela’. Seeing the popularity of it, Thakur extended the ‘mela’ by one day making it a four-day affair. (PTI)

Living condition of tigers in zoos distressing: SC

"The situation is distressing and the steps taken for the welfare of animals in the zoos are far from satisfactory," a bench comprising Chief Justice A S Anand, Justice Santosh Hegde and Justice K G Balakrishnan said.

These observations were made during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an animal activist, Navin M Raheja, bringing to the court’s notice the large-scale poaching in reserve forest depleting tiger population in wild.

The bench asked Solicitor General Harish Salve to consider the suggestions made by Raheja and submit to the court within two weeks details of steps to be taken by the Centre and State Governments for the protection of tigers in captivity as well as in reserve forests.

Salve drew the court’s attention to the report of the expert committee constituted to go into the deaths of white tigers in the Nandankanan zoo and pointed out the "shocking" way in which the sick tigers were handled by the zoo authorities.

The bench said "a cursory look of the report shows that much needs to be done for the welfare of the tigers in captivity (zoos) and reserve forests" and directed listing of the case after two weeks.

When Raheja pointed out the faults in the enforcement of wildlife protection act resulting in loss of at least one tiger per day in the wild, Justice Anand asked the Solicitor General "is the Centre powerless to implement its own act."

Salve said any step taken by Centre with regard to project tiger reserve forests was seen by State Governments as an encroachment in their territory and added that the issue needed careful handling.

He suggested creation of a nodal agency which could inspect zoos and project tiger sanctuaries and suggest steps needed to be taken.

Referring to the report on Nandankanan zoo, Salve said after a few of the tigers were detected to have ‘sleeping sickness’, the zoo authorities in a panic reaction herded the afflicted tigers into one enclosure.

"This knee-jerk reaction of herding the tigers resulted in more deaths as post-mortem reports showed that many tigers had enlarged heart indicating they died of shock," he said.

Referring to various lapses pointed out by the expert committee while going through the management of one of the "finest zoos in the country", the Solicitor General said though the Centre has formulated a model guideline for management of zoos, nobody seems to be following it.

The bench said to prevent recurrence of such tragic incidents, "the Centre as well as the State Governments need to have inclination and determination to do something but ironically both these qualities seem lacking." (PTI)