Excelsior... Nation

Mr Jaswant Singh

SPOTLIGHT
Jaswant’s visit to Myanmar
Will the North-East’s
economic growth
receive a fillip?

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The Minister for External Affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh, has, without any fanfare, forwarded a detailed.......more

Centenary celebrations on Feb 22
Doon Club is 100 years old

DEHRA DUN, Feb 20: Memories of old times will be revived by a gala concert titled "old is gold" to mark .......more

J&K Govt’s plan to
rehabilitate migrants
not conducive

DHARAMSALA, Feb 20: The All India Hindu Mahasabha, Himachal Pradesh unit has said that the Rs ....more

Former CBI Director Joginder Singh

Submariner turns author
to bring out crime thriller

NEW DELHI, Feb 20: A submariner, who draws inspiration from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has become......more

P V Narasimha Rao

Rao backtracks on promise to rebuild Babri mosque

NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao today backtracked from the commitment he had made about reconstructing the Babri mosque on the same site by stating that he had just said that the demolished structure would be built but had not referred to the disputed site......more

Migratory birds keep
off Keoladeo Park
due to drought

BHARATPUR, (RAJASTHAN), Feb 20: The Keoladeo National Park here, a favourite wintering ground for .....more

NHRC notice to Delhi
Govt on custodial death

NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the Delhi ......more

Sonia Gandhi

Sonia assails NDA Govt’s
handling of Kashmir affairs

NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today assailed NDA Government’s...more

SPOTLIGHT
Jaswant’s visit to Myanmar
Will the North-East’s economic growth receive a fillip?

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The Minister for External Affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh, has, without any fanfare, forwarded a detailed note to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, evaluating his visit to Myanmar.

That Mr Jaswant Singh knows it well that his Prime Minister is already overburdened and, as such, has not sufficient time to go through lengthy reports was borne out by the quick presentation of his views on the Myanmar ‘mission’ during his meeting with Mr Vajpayee.

What transpired between the two was not divulged. Mr Jaswant Singh visited Myanmar at a time when much had been said and perhaps much more written in different parts of the world on the Yangon regime, which is run by a military junta. And the military junta has had no qualms in trampling upon the democratic aspirations of the people manifested in nationwide elections, the abiding symbol of which is the continuing house arrest of the popular pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

It has been reported that the specific point of interest of Mr Jaswant Singh’s visit was the opening of the 160-km Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo road, linking Moreh in Manipur to central Myanmar. The road is to be extended to Mandalay, the second biggest town in Myanmar.

The project, named the India-Myanmar Friendship Road, built by the Border Roads Organisation and financed by the Ministry of External Affairs up to Rs 90 crores, is expected to enable people to travel around freely and reduce the time taken to traverse the distance covered in a matter of hours from the ‘days’.

The news road is expected to facilitate the exchange leading to an increase in the volume and value of trade. A contributory factor to this could well be the agreement on the opening of three new trade points on the border and the possibility of setting up an Indian consulate in Mandalay.

However, according to watchers of Myanmar-China phenomenon, there is no certainty that the construction of the road itself will lead to such an increase, specifically of Indian exports, because the Myanmar market has already become the focus of export activity of China and the South-East Asian economies. But if the project is implemented in the way envisaged, Mr Jaswant Singh could well turn out to be right in his expectation that the North-East’s economic growth would receive a consequent fillip.

Reported Indian plans include the building of hydro-electric projects in Myanmarese areas contiguous to the Indian border, the hope being that as much as 75 per cent of the power generated from such projects could be used in India’s North-Eastern region. Both Mr Jaswant Singh and his Prime Minister cannot deny the fact that what is of much more importance is to check border smuggling and insurgency, both of which have reached serious proportions in recent years.

India’s Petroleum Ministry has already been informed that there is a good potential for the supply of natural gas to India from Myanmar. Unocal Corporation and its partners have already discovered two potentially significant gas-bearing sand structures adjacent to the famous Yadana field.

New Delhi is not against the idea of integrating Myanmar in a regional framework of which India is a part. It remains to be seen to what extent strengthening bilateral economic relations will contribute to the larger regional framework-such as the ‘Bay of Bengal’ group comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

According to one school of thought, if actual progress in the regional sphere is any indication, it would be far more productive for New Delhi to pursue its own bilateral line even if this means putting projects such as the trans-Asian railway and highway schemes on the backburner. There is no denying that actual progress in the regional sphere has been nothing more than tardy since 1997 when the idea of this particular group was first mooted.

The two-way trade in 1993-94 was just 143 million dollars with Indian exports accounting for just 21 million dollars. Hence, given the limited potential of the trade exchange between the two countries, the current trade base of India-Myanmar relations is simply too small to justify any major initiative to improve ties between the two countries, especially if such an initiative is interpreted as the extension of political support to the ruling junta in Yangon.

Centenary celebrations on Feb 22
Doon Club is 100 years old

DEHRA DUN, Feb 20: Memories of old times will be revived by a gala concert titled "old is gold" to mark the beginning of three-day centenary celebrations of the Dehra Dun Club Ltd., popularly known as ‘The Doon Club".

The concert, conceived and organised by Doon’s famous theatre personality Avi Nanda, will feature old Hindi film numbers of Noorjehan, Geeta Dutt, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi by local artistes.

Addressing mediapersons at the Club late last evening, Club president Krishan Kumar said the Club would honour senior members on the occasion of the centenary celebrations beginning on February 22.

As this exclusive institution gears up for its centenary celebrations, scores of its members spread all over the country feel a sense of pride to be associated with the club founded on February 22, 1901.

Located in the heart of the Doon Valley on a sprawling estate of 24,000 square metres, the Doon Club initially functioned in the spacious bungalow of the Col. F Young in which St. Joseph’s Academy has been housed since 1934.

According to Mr Raj Kanwar, who was president of the Club in 1991-92 and has been its member since 1980, the Club today has 1600 members of which 150 are from the armed forces and 150 are from outside Dehradun. The Club is not only one of the oldest in India but also enjoys reciprocal arrangements with over 79 equally reputed Clubs spread over 49 cities in the country.

The Doon Club, with a distinct colonial flavour, evokes memories of times when the British lived in the valley and started the Club. Only a few Indians were then members of the Club. Among these were the then ruler of Tehri Garhwal, Raja Birendra Singh, Col. Kunwar Shamsher Bahadur Singh and his son Kunwar Chandra Bahadur Singh.

Today, the Club regularly holds events like flower shows, Teej celebrations, fashion shows and concerts lending an elitist touch to the valley. (UNI)

J&K Govt’s plan to rehabilitate migrants not conducive

DHARAMSALA, Feb 20: The All India Hindu Mahasabha, Himachal Pradesh unit has said that the Rs 2589 crore plan prepared by the Jammu and Kashmir Government to facilitate the return of the migrants from Kashmir Valley was not feasible as the situation there was far from conducive for their return.

Mr Gautam, the state president of the Sabha criticised the Centre for having failed to solve the Kashmir issue. "The Union Government’s unilateral ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir had failed as both the militants and Pakistan had not responded positively to it. Rather, it has given an opportunity to the Pak-sponsored militants to intensify their attacks on the Indian security forces and killings of innocent people have increased. Under these circumstances, the plan to rehabilitate migrants was unfortunate."

He said that the plan besides being "financially unviable" was not practical for the migrants’ return.

"The action plan initially proposed for the return of 2212 families to the Valley, involving Rs 43.94 crore expenditure, that had been submitted to the Union Government. The plan for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits and other migrants, it seems has been made without taking the ground realities into account," he said.

He added that the Sikh community, which had decided to stay back in the Valley even when the Pandits opted for a mass exodus over a decade back, too had not been spared by the militants. (UNI)

Submariner turns author to bring out crime thriller

NEW DELHI, Feb 20: A submariner, who draws inspiration from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has become the first serving naval officer to publish a work of fiction.

"Eyewitness," a collection of seven crime stories, written by Lieutenant Commander Satyabrata Dam was launched by former CBI Director Joginder Singh here over the weekend.

Coming from a family of writers, Cdr. Dam said he started writing at the age of 15. An ardent fan of Conan Doyle, he plans to write 49 stories. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had written 56 stories, I cannot go past my idol," he said.

His areas of interest like astronomy, esoteric science, quantum cosmology and alternative medicine helped him in writing the stories. He has also delved deep into criminology and medical jurisprudence as a hobby.

The main characters in the book — Rajat Bajpai and his assistant Ajit — bear close resemblence to him. Cdr. Dam investigated his first case at the age of 20 sucessfully.

Recalling the case with nostalgia and pride, he said there had been a death in the neighbourhood and he got the opportunity to investigate it.

After two weeks of probe, "I declared that it was a case of murder. The police declared that it was suicide but the pathologist also agreed with my version of the story."

Mr Joginder Singh commended the efforts of Cdr. Dam but lamented that investigation methods were still "very crude" in the country. Shortcuts were taken during the probes and the police were not conditioned to perform investigations of a specialised nature. "It is high time we decentralised the process of investigation in the country," he added. (UNI)

Rao backtracks on promise to rebuild Babri mosque

Deposing before the Liberhans Commission of inquiry probing the demolition of Babri Mosque on December six, 1992, Mr Rao said "there was no question of building anything on the site of the disputed structure. By definition it is disputed and seeking to do anything on that will be violative of the constitution and the Supreme Court direction. What I said on August 15, 1993 from the ramparts of the Red Fort that "Jahan Widwans Hua Hai Wahan Nirman Ho Sakta Hai (where there was demolition, construction could be done)."

Mr Rao also admitted that he had not allowed Mr Arjun Singh to go to Ayodhya on December 4, 1992 for peace demonstration there and said "I was told that the atmosphere in Ayodhya was tense and it was not proper for a central minister to go and get involved in the situation there. So I had advised Mr Singh not to go there."

Mr Rao initially said the Home Ministry and the Ayodhya cell in the Prime Minister’s Office were only asked to form the white paper. But when confronted with Mr Arjun’s statement that a committee headed by him was initially appointed to prepare the white paper which was later abandoned due to differences between the members, the former premier quipped, "If the records reveal that such a committee existed then I stand corrected but the bulk of the work was done by the Ayodhya cell and the home ministry. I have been reminded."

The former Premier claimed that the Central Government had taken all the steps required to be taken for the safety of the disputed structure and looked for scapegoats like then Home Minister S B Chavan, head of Ayodhya cell in the PMO Naresh Chandra and most of all the then Uttar Pradesh Government headed by Kalyan Singh in defence of the charges that he abdicated the responsibilty entrusted by the National Integration Council for the safety of the structure.

Mr Rao said that he was in constant touch with the Home Secretary who was informing him about the minute to minute developments in Ayodhya on the fateful day who was taking all the necessary steps.

When confronted with the facts stated in the white paper that he was informed about the 150 Kar Sevaks entering the disputed structure at 1200 hrs itself and asked whether the fact in the white paper or his yesterday’s statement about receiving infomation at about 1500hrs 1600hrs on that day was true, Mr Rao said both the statements were correct. The first refers to the fact that he was constantly receiving reports from the Home Secretary while the yesterday’s statement was regarding him receiving the final report about the demolition.

The former Premier said the Home Secretary informed him that the they had called forces from Faizabad after the demolition had started but added that forces were not allowed to go near the disputed structure. "First there was no magistrate and when magistrate came by the written order of the authorities, they asked the forces to go back to the barracks."

Regarding what the Central Government was doing during this time, he said the Home Secretary was doing whatever he could do on phone. After 1600hrs when the final report of the demolition came, a cabinet meeting was held and the President’s rule was imposed in Uttar Pradesh.

About when did the security forces ultimately reached the Ramjanam Bhumi-Babri Masjid complex, Mr Rao said that only after the imposition of President’s rule but hesitated in giving the date as December 7, 1992 by saying it is all there in the white paper.

Regarding the negotiations between two communities on the Ayodhya dispute in July 1992, he said it was conducted by the Ayodhya cell in the PMO which was headed by Mr Naresh Chandra. About his personal involvement in the issue as the cell was in PMO, he said "PMO looks after all the ministry." (UNI)

Migratory birds keep off Keoladeo Park due to drought

BHARATPUR, (RAJASTHAN), Feb 20: The Keoladeo National Park here, a favourite wintering ground for migratory birds, looks deserted these days, with not a rosy pelican in sight.

After scanning the entire park, only a pair of Siberian cranes could be detected near a dried up pond.

The sanctury has fallen under the current spell of drought that grips 31 of the total 32 districts in Rajasthan for the third consecutive year. With the bird arrivals showing no signs of picking up, tourists too have begun forsaking the place.

Sources said there is very little surface water left for the birds and the ground water reserves were also drying up. Ironically, the park is facing this sorry predicament in its centenary year.

The park is spread over 29 square km, including a lake of eleven sq km. adjacent to the lake, is the famous Azan Dam, constructed by a king of Bharatpur, which supplies water to the park.

However, this year, raising of the sluice gates of the dam has served no purpose for there is very little water left in the lake.

Alarmed at the plight of the birds, the Government recently installed five submersible diesel pumpsets. However, heavy withdrawal of ground water was dangerous as the water level has gone down much below the normal level.

The sources said more than 350 species of birds flock to keoladeo every year. The total number usually reach thousands, but this year only 50 per cent have come.

Initially, quite a few rosy pelicans had visited the park this year, but quickly flew away to the cool comforts of Dholpur which is the only district in the state unaffected by the current drought, they said.

The pair of Siberian cranes found roaming in the park used to come with their offspring for last two years. This year they were alone, the sources added.

Local people said the birds flock here because the water is saline. Once the plants and shrubs absorbed the water, it became a much sought after food tasty for the migratory birds who are mostly vegetarian unlike their native counterparts.

The Indian birds, faced with the drying up of the water tanks which meant there was no fish to prey upon, had flown away in search of salubrious conditions elsewhere.

The park authorities were trying to tide over the crisis by installing pumpsets, but a permanent solution to the water crisis remain elusive.

In fact, a recent study says the waters of three rivers Gambhir, Banganga and Ruparail have also receded causing problems for both the flora and the fauna.

The magnitude of the problem was bound to compound if there was no rainfall within the next couple of months, for then only the vast reservoirs would be replenished.

If no rainfall occurs, then perhaps in another one year keoladeo would cease to be a tourist hotspot and would gradually fade away from public memory, and those few hundred people who eke out a livelihood through tourism would be left with no jobs. (UNI)