Excelsior... Nation

TC calls 12-hour
Bengal bandh today

KOLKATA, Jan 4: Trinamool Congress today called for a 12-hour statewide bandh in West Bengal tomorrow to protest the alleged attack on party chief ....more

HC allows impleadment
of Airbus India chief
in Rs 2,400 cr deal

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: The mid-1980 contract of 31 Airbus-320 planes worth Rs 2,400 crore for Indian Airlines echoed with allegations of kickbacks at the ....more

Oxford dictionary
on its first-ever revision

HYDERABAD, Jan 4: The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is being comprehensively revised for the first time by a 120-strong team of scholars, ...more

‘Paying guest
accommodation’
launched

HYDERABAD, Jan 4: A new concept called ‘paying guest accommodation’, has been launched here to enable tourists.....more

Industry tycoon sworn
in as Sheriff of Mumbai

MUMBAI, Jan 4: Industry tycoon and Chairman and Managing Director of Bell Burner Components Pvt Ltd Ashok Mehta.....more

Pramod Mahajan

Mahajan opposes
move to merge 3 ministries

INDORE, Jan 4: Union Information Technology (IT) Minister Pramod Mahajan today said he is not in favour of merging....more

Nitish Kumar

Nitish’s resignation should not be accepted: Jaitly

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly today said that Nitish Kumar’s.....more

Leftists all set to counter Badal’s mass contact prog

CHANDIGARH, Jan 4: The Left Parties have initiated mass awareness campaign....more

TC calls 12-hour Bengal bandh today

KOLKATA, Jan 4: Trinamool Congress today called for a 12-hour statewide bandh in West Bengal tomorrow to protest the alleged attack on party chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee by the CPI-M activists in Keshpur.

Trinamool Congress policy-making body Chairman Pankaj Banerjee told PTI here that although his party was against any bandh, it was compelled to give the call after yesterday’s incident in Keshpur where over 1000 TC workers were injured.

"CPI-M workers unleashed terror and violence and even TC chairperson and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee was not spared", he said.

The TC policy-making body Chairman alleged that when his party supporters were returning from Keshpur after the rally which was addressed by Mamata Banerjee, they were attacked by the "CPI-M cadres without any provocation".

Over 60 Trinamool supporters, he claimed, were admitted to hospital with injuries.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Transport Sushanta Ghose refuted the allegation that the Trinamool chief was injured yesterday.

Talking to newsmen at the State Secretariat, Ghose who hailed from Garbeta near Keshpur, said that if Banerjee was really injured, she should procure a certificate from a Government hospital.

Lauding the role of the police, he said that the police had shown enough restraint despite many provocation by the TC supporters. The Trinamool activists tried to provoke police to open fire, he alleged.

The CPI-M leader also alleged that it was a "pre-planned move" by the Trinamool Congress to foment trouble in Keshpur. (PTI)

HC allows impleadment of Airbus India
chief in Rs 2,400 cr deal

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: The mid-1980 contract of 31 Airbus-320 planes worth Rs 2,400 crore for Indian Airlines echoed with allegations of kickbacks at the Delhi High Court today with the Chief Justice allowing impleadment of Airbus Industrie’s India representative.

A division bench of Chief Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice D K Jain also castigated the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a tardy probe into the controversial deal and asked its director to file an affidavit sequencing the events.

The judges said the CBI has been placing stale reports repeatedly before the court rather than coming up with fresh matter to unravel the controversy. CBI counsel A K Dutt presented a letter from French authorities in a sealed cover but the judges said the Airbus Industrie officials had merely stated a non-cooperative approach.

The case will now come up for hearing on February 5.

According to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate B L Wadehra, the Airbus 320 deal is one of the five great scandals of the Rajiv Gandhi era. Nothing concrete has so far emerged from the CBI investigation which began on March 23, 1990.

Among those named in the FIR are former Civil Aviation Secretary S S Sidhu, former Indian Airlines Managing Director K Chadha, former Planning Director and Economic Adviser to Indian Airlines Managing Director R Prasad and Deputy Managing Director B K Bhasin.

CBI counsel A K Dutt had earlier informed the court that French authorities were requested to investigate the matter there but they were not cooperating.

The PIL alleged that the decision for buying 31 A-320 Airbuses in 1985 was taken by the then Government at last moment even when it had already advanced 900 mn dollars to USA’s boeing company for purchase of 12 aircraft.

The court wanted the CBI to investigate what had prompted the Airbus Industrie to make the offer.

Meanwhile, pursuant to the direction by the court, the Civil Aviation Ministry has filed an affidavit stating therein that the writ petition was devoid of any merit and should be dismissed.

The affidavit said that the acquisition of Airbus 320 instead of Boeing 757 as recommended by the expert committee of Indian Airlines was part of fleet development plan.

It said following a suo motu offer from Airbus Industrie, the Directors of the Indian Airlines considered it keeping in view financial benefits, technical and operational aspects and compared its efficiency with that of Boeing 757.

It said as compared to Boeing 757, for which money was already advanced, A-320 was "considered a latest state-of-the-art technology" it would remain operative beyond 2000. (PTI)

Oxford dictionary on its first-ever revision

HYDERABAD, Jan 4: The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is being comprehensively revised for the first time by a 120-strong team of scholars, editors, research assistants and others to take into account the latest changes in the English language and scholarship.

Address a press conference here yesterday, OED chief editor John Simpson said the massive exercise which began in 1993 keeping in view the continuous evolution of the language was expected to be completed by 2010.

As many as 300 specialist consultants and readers were assisting in the revision, which would cost 55 million US dollars. The OED’s first edition was launched in 1928, he added.

Mr Simpson said the unique aspect of the OED was that it traces the origin and usage of words from a wide range of international English language sources.

He cited the example of ‘skyscraper’, and said the word was first used in 1794 as a nautical term to describe a triangular skysail of a ship. Later, in 1826, a high-standing horse was called a skyscraper. The present meaning of a tall building was first recorded in 1880.

Mr Simpson said the OED traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations and covers words from across the English-speaking world, from North America to India, and from Australia to the Caribbean. It also offers an in-depth etymological analysis, a listing of variant spellings and indicates the pronunciation by using the international phonetic alphabet.

He said the OED was launched as an on-line subscription service in March last and was being offered at special discounted rates for institutions classified as "developing economies" by the World Bank. Describing it as a "moving document", he said the biggest advantage of the on-line edition was that it could be constantly updated.

Ms Susanna Lob, marketing manager OED on-line, said that a two-month free trial and a 75 per cent discount was being offered to institutions in India. In addition to offering unparalleled access to the wealth of material contained in the 20-volume second edition and the three-volume additions service, it also enables the "treasure-house" of the English language to move with the times as never before. (UNI)

‘Paying guest accommodation’ launched

HYDERABAD, Jan 4: A new concept called ‘paying guest accommodation’, has been launched here to enable tourists flocking to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad to get to know more about the culture and heritage of Andhra Pradesh.

The concept, launched by the State Tourism Department yesterday, is expected to benefit both the local people as well as the tourists. Apart from giving an opportunity to the locals to earn extra income, it would also enable them to know more about the culture and tastes of their guests.

The concept, which is likely to be experimented for two years initially, is part of the intensive efforts being made by the state tourism department to promote Andhra Pradesh as a ‘tourist-friendly state’, with all the necessary infrastructure in place. The tariff for the paying guest accommodation, including food, would be decided mutually by the Department of Tourism and the host.

"This concept provides us an opportunity to showcase to the international community the warmth of the Indian people in general and the Andhraites in particular, that will help in promoting ap as the most sought after tourist destination in South India," State Tourism Secretary Chandana Khan, said in a statement. (UNI)

Mahajan opposes move to merge 3 ministries

INDORE, Jan 4: Union Information Technology (IT) Minister Pramod Mahajan today said he is not in favour of merging the ministries of IT, telecom and information and broadcasting to form one compact ministry as each is important in its own way. However, he added that it is his personal view and he is against any such proposal.

Mahajan who is also the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government would also introduce a bill for fixing the term of the Lok Sabha for five years and expressed confidence that the NDA Government will remain in power for the full five year term.

‘Elections cannot be held again and again for raising the number of seats being won by various parties’, he said.

On the issue of BJP’s strategy for the forthcoming assembly polls, Mahajan said the party’s national executive meeting today will discuss the issue.

About Mumbai film industry, he said ‘bollywood must adopt transparent methods for making films, especially the finance part, and it should work like hollywood film industry’.

‘Transparent accounting is must and films should also be insured for their success and failure’, the minister said adding it is a big industry and can earn foreign exchange for the country. (PTI)

Nitish’s resignation should not be accepted: Jaitly

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly today said that Nitish Kumar’s resignation from the Union Cabinet should not be accepted by the Prime Minister as he had done a good job as Agriculture Minister.

"We feel that his resignation letter should not be accepted by Prime Minister as Kumar has done a good job as a minister. As far as the party is concerned, we would not like his resignation to be accepted," she told reporters here.

Asked to explain why Kumar, a senior Samata Party leader, had resigned, Jaitly said, "Nitish did so because he thought it would help in finding an amicable solution to the party’s problems in Bihar."

"Nitish might have felt that being a minister at the Centre his position could have caused interference in the Samata Party’s elections tomorrow," she said.

Asked whether his resignation letter had been forwarded by Defence Minister George Fernandes to the Prime Minister, Jailty said that she was not aware of it.

Kumar had sent his resignation letter to Fernandes who is currently in Bangalore. (PTI)

Leftists all set to counter Badal’s mass contact prog

CHANDIGARH, Jan 4: The Left Parties have initiated mass awareness campaign against the ruling Akali-BJP coalition in Punjab with issue of corruption, price hike, unemployment and criminalisation of politics as placards to counter Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s ‘Sangat Darshan’ programme in the backdrop of next Assembly elections due in February 2002.

Punjab CPM secretary Balwant Singh told reporters at a press conference here today that his party had decided to launch a statewide agitation against the economic policies of both Union and State Governments, the alleged involvement of Akali Dal leaders in criminal cases and police repression in the state.

He said his party would counter Mr Badal’s claim on development in the state by revealing truths to the people like price hike of essential and agro-based commodities, rise in unemployment, closure of more than five thousand industrial units, custodial deaths and the criminalistaion of politics in the state.

The CPM would contact the CPI for joint agitations and public meetings for exposing the ruling parties in the state , Mr Balwant Singh said.

The CPI has also decided to launch a statewide agitation against the Akali-BJP ruling alliance.

Meanwhile, the CPI has termed Mr Badal’s declaration of 2001 as the year of development as a political stunt.

In 2001, the Leftists will continue their struggle to expose the anti-people policies of the Badal Government, Punjab CPI secretary Dr Joginder Dayal told UNI here.

Both the leftist leaders of their respective parties said the ruling Akali Dal of Mr Badal had not opposed even a single step taken by the Union Government whether it was price hike of fertilisers or lifting of import duty on several essential and agro-based commodities.

If Mr Badal is genuinely opposing the WTO agreement and loves his farming community of the state, he should make a strong hue and cry against the lifting of import duty on 257 agro-based commodities, Dr Dayal said.

The three-day nationwide protest in the form of Kheti Bachao, Desh Bachao Andolan would make its heavy impact in Punjab as well when the deeds of the Badal Government would be exposed in public meetings, he said.

He said the present glut of potatoes and kinnows in Punjab was not a good sign for the diversification in agriculture sector. This (the glut of cash crops) shows the irresponsibility and the failure of the state government in taking steps for the diversification, he added. (UNI)