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TMC
cannot expel CHENNAI, Mar 21: Almost going on the offensive, Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) dissident leader P Chidambaram today said TMC would not be able.....more Import
of agri products down From B L Kak SPECIAL
REPORT From B L Kak
Dikshit stable, not NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, hospitalised here last evening with.....more |
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Tehelka tapes ‘heresay NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Former Law Minister and eminent criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani today termed the Tehelka expose tapes as "genuine" but allegations in them as "heresay evidence" and accused the Government of following double standards on the issue of resignations.......more Tehelka tapes send NEW DELHI, Mar 21: The Tehelka tapes has surprised the defence establishment and sent ripples in the minds of senior officers but overall it will not affect the performance of the armed forces, chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sushil Kumar said today......more PM parries questions on NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today parried questions on whether his Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra should step down in the wake of the Tehelka expose on corruption in defence deals.......more Booming guns prevent NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Booming guns are preventing music and other fine arts from blossoming in the Kashmir Valley leaving the artistes thirsty for applause from their own people. The violence unleashed by the militants found poetic expression in the folk music recital by noted Kashmiri folk artiste Gul Akhtar here recently........more |
TMC cannot expel his supporters, says Chidambaram CHENNAI, Mar 21: Almost going on the offensive, Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) dissident leader P Chidambaram today said TMC would not be able to expel his supporters for opposing the party’s the decision to align with AIADMK in the coming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls. "We are also the TMC. It belongs to us also. No one can remove us from TMC", he said while addressing his supporters after opening an office for the TMC democratic forum which he floated last week opposing TMC’s alliance with the AIADMK. Chidambaram’s response comes in the wake of today’s TMC general council meeting, already in progress, which is likely to discuss the issue of opposition from some partymen against TMC-AIADMK alliance. He said it would be difficult for the party to expel those partymen who had expressed their solidarity with him in his endeavour to achieve the objective of ‘self-respect, identity and good governance’. "Can they expel those who sent letters of support from various parts of the state opposing the alliance? can they expel those who telephone me expressing solidarity", he asked. He ridiculed Congress for vesting in all powers to decide about the party’s alliance on TMC president Moopanar, whom the same party had expelled in 1996. He also reminded that the Congress had in the past expelled several party leaders like Pranab Mukherjee, Priyaranjan Das Munshi and S M Krishna, who were now back in the party and in its affairs. (PTI) |
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Import of agri products
down From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Mar 21: The Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr Omar Abdullah, has made it abundantly clear that while the imports are being closely monitored, the Government will take "all appropriate steps", including increase in customs duty, within the bound rates, whenever the situation demanded. Mr Omar Abdullah has made it public that the Government, simultaneously with the phased removal of import restrictions, has been implementing a "conscious policy of adjustments" in customs duties to provide necessary protection to the domestic producers in the country. Towards that end, customs duty on almost all the items on which Quantitative Restrictions (QRs) were to be removed was raised to the peak rate of 35 per cent in the budget for the year 2000-2001. Subsequent to the budget, Mr Omar Abdullah said, import duty on skimmed milk powder was raised from 0 per cent to 60 per cent, on chicken legs from 35 per cent to 100 per cent, on rice from 0 per cent to 70 per cent, on arcanut from 35 per cent to 100 per cent and on apple from 35 per cent to 50 per cent. According to official statistics made available by Mr Abdullah, import duty on edible oil was raised twice, in June and again in November last year. In the budget for the year 2001-2002, the custom duty on coconut, copra, tea and coffee has been raised from 35 per cent to 70 per cent. The import duty on various refined edible oils excepting soyabean oil has been raised to 85 per cent. Similarly, the import duty on various crude edible oils excepting soyabean oil has been raised to 75 per cent, with a concession of 20 per cent on the imports of crude palm oil made by sick vanaspati units. Emphasizing that all imported goods have to comply with all domestic laws, rules, orders, regulations, technical specifications and environmental safety norms as applicable to domestically produced goods, Mr Omar Abdullah has said that in order to prevent import of substandard quality goods into India, import of 131 products has been made subject to compliance of the mandatory Indian quality standards as applicable to domestic goods. Reiterating that the Government is determined to ensure through appropriate use of tariff and other measures that imports do no cause any serious injury to domestic producers, Mr Omar Abdullah has stated that the list of 131 products includes various food preservatives and additives, milk powder, infant milk food, certain kinds of cement, household and similar electrical appliances, gas cylinders and multi-purpose dry batteries. Disclosing that counter vailing duty equivalent to the States excise duty is proposed to be imposed on import of alcoholic beverages, Mr Abdullah has let it be known that customs duties on a number of agricultural and other products has been increased. This apart, preliminary anti-dumping duties have been imposed on import of battery cells and sports shoes from China and import of consumer goods has also been made subject to mandatory labelling requirements. Mr Omar Abdullah admitted that some States had expressed certain reservations vis-à-vis removal of QRs on 714 items which may affect the economy of these States. He identified the States as Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, karnataka, Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan. Explaining that import restrictions had been removed in line with the economic liberalisation policy being followed since 1991 and also in accordance with the country’s commitment to the multilateral trading regime, Mr Abdullah said that the requests of the various State Governments regarding re-imposition of QRs could not be considered. However, in order to provide protection to the domestic producers, the Government, he has assured, can, if the situation so warrants, utilise the mechanism of raising the applied tariffs with the bound rates. According to the Minister, Quantitative Restrictions (QRs) on 714 items were removed on March 31, 2000 and import restrictions on the balance 715 items are to be removed by March 31 this year. Mr Omar Abdullah has reckoned the ‘fact’ that the actual import of agricultural products, as per provisional import data available with the Government, has come down during 1999-2000 as compared to 1998-99. According to him, the share of agricultural products in the total imports of the country has also come down from 7.06 per cent to 5.63 per cent during the same period. Mr Abdullah has stated that there is no overall threat to the domestic farmers from imports. He reiterated that the Government will ensure that imports do not cause any serious detriment to the domestic farmers. |
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From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Mar 21: A sensational move has been mooted by ‘Mujahideen Jammu and Kashmir’, a militant outfit based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), in support of major attacks by militants and other subversives on Indian security personnel and their camps and installations in J&K in the coming days. Ignoring the reported directive from the authorities in PoK to close down its offices, the ‘Mujahideen Jammu and Kashmir’ has, according to classified intelligence inputs, joined hands with the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Muhammad, in an apparent bid to keep its cadres intact and to remain committed to its plan of providing moral and material support to anti-India ultras in Jammu and Kashmir. The ‘Mujahideen Jammu and Kashmir’ as well as three other little-known Kashmiri militant groups in PoK, namely, Karwan-e-Khalid, Zarb-e-Momin and Zarb-e-Islami were recently directed by the authorities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir to close their offices. Significantly, all the four groups have ignored the directive from the PoK authorities and, specifically, chosen to be alive and kicking against "Indian raj" in Kashmir. Doubts, if any in this regard, have been set at rest by the principal salesman of the ‘Mujahideen Jammu and Kashmir’, Zahoor Ahmed Butt. His message: "No one can stop us from waging a jihad against usurpers in the occupied Valley of Kashmir". If the intelligence inputs are to be believed, the Government in Muzaffarab, capital of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, was forced by Islamabad to direct four little-known Kashmiri militant outfits to close their offices. After leaders of these outfits strongly expressed themselves against the official directive, and after the major jihadi organisations in PoK and Pakistan publicly issued ultimatums and threats against any curbs on them, the Interior Minister, Lt. Gen. (retd) Moinuddin Haider, asked the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) to compile data on all organisations involved in raising funds for jihad and what their precise source of funds are. Lt. Gen. Haider’s announcement, in this regard, came at a time when a study, conducted in Pakistan itself, had revealed that around 15,000 religious schools were graduating nearly 40,000 students every year. And if the study were any guide, the total budget of these institutions was to the tune of Rs 1.5 billion, more than the combined expenditure of all Pakistan’s universities. A Pakistani commentator has informed EXCELSIOR that the study has identified Saudi Arabia and Iran as "principal donors" among a clutch of other Muslim countries. According to the study, as Iran and Saudi Arabia endorse "a more obscurantist version of Islam", massive foreign funds have given fillip to sectarianism. At a time when the military ruler, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, has been reported to have directed Government officials to change Pakistan’s image from that of a fundamentalist country to a moderate Muslim State, the jihadis have started portraying the military regime’s proposed measures against them as anti-Islamic. If Gen. Musharraf has been reported to have conveyed to Washington that his Government has started evolving a strategy to deal with the jihadi outfits, the Government of India, which is faced with the worst kind of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for more than a decade now, has no comprehensive anti-terrorist law. Woes against the absence of a comprehensive anti-terrorist legislation have, significantly, found a forceful expression from Mr Prakash Singh, a former Director-General of the Border Security Force. Mr Prakash Singh has, in a write-up circulated on Wednesday, lamented: Nearly 50,000 people have been killed in J&K, Punjab and the North-East. Yet our legislators have not found it necessary to equip law-enforcement agencies with relevant laws". Seemingly dissatisfied with the perception of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) vis-à-vis the need for a comprehensive anti-terrorist legislation, Mr Prakash Singh has criticised the NHRC for being opposed to passing the Prevention of Terrorism Act. And Mr Prakash Singh’s sarcastic comment: "Legislators playing politics can be understood but the NHRC playing to the gallery is most unfortunate. No one in his senses would question the validity of human rights. But human rights cannot cut into a nation’s right to exist as such". Referring to the Government’s talk of "zero tolerance" of terrorism, Mr Prakash Singh has said that the general perception is that the Government is giving all the latitude to militants. "How else does one explain the recurring attacks on Army and paramilitary camps", he asks. |
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PM parries questions on Mishra’s resignation NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today parried questions on whether his Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra should step down in the wake of the Tehelka expose on corruption in defence deals. On the opposition demand for Mishra’s resignation, Vajpayee said "he (Mishra) does not hold public office." To another query if Mishra should not quit, he said "Maine Aisa Nahin Kaha (I did not say so)." He was talking to reporters after a civil investiture ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. About reports whether Shiv Sena had demanded the resignation of Mishra and N K Singh, OSD in Prime Minister’s Office, Vajpayee said "they (Shiv Sena) did not tell us this. It is only in the media." Asked whether Government was planning to initiate talks with the opposition to break the deadlock in Parliament over the corruption expose, he told the reporter "we will consider your suggestion." Blaming the opposition for "creating a crisis", he said Government was prepared for a discussion in Parliament on the corruption issue. In an apparent reference to the resignations of George Fernandes and Bangaru Laxman, he said even though those named in the expose have resigned "no guilt has been proved." To a question on the proposed NDA rally in the capital on March 25 to counter the opposition tirade, he said "if they (opposition) do not allow us to talk inside Parliament then it will have to be outside." (PTI) |
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Booming guns prevent music
blossoming NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Booming guns are preventing music and other fine arts from blossoming in the Kashmir Valley leaving the artistes thirsty for applause from their own people. The violence unleashed by the militants found poetic expression in the folk music recital by noted Kashmiri folk artiste Gul Akhtar here recently. O Land of blue mountains, verdant valleys and murmuring streams whose envy has eaten into your beauty? hamlets on fire, wailing women and children , booming guns, who has poisoned the fragrant air, who are those ravaging the valley of flowers, and beguiling the innocent people of Kashmir ? These lines introduced the programme Ek Shaam Wadi-e-Gul Ke Naam (an evening dedicated to the valley of flowers) organised by the external service division of the All India Radio Urdu service here. It was an effort to bring the lilting melodies from Kashmir to the people of the national capital here who have now become more familiar with the sounds of gunfire from that state, and thus to highlight the need to restore peace in the strife-torn land, as the organisers of the programme put it. Gul Akhtar after regaling the audience with her ‘Chakri’ and ‘Ruff’, the typical and popular forms of Kashmiri music rendered mostly with action, said she felt thrilled and fulfilled but wished the venue could have been her native land where the guns have now silenced it all. It is now over ten years since circumstances arising out of militancy almost put an end to public performance and left the artistes thirsty for the applause of the people of their own land, she told UNI after the performance. Gul, who is in her early 40s and had started performing at the age of 14 with the full encouragement of her artiste father, said that now artistes like her earned their livelihood by performing for the radio and TV or at stage in other states. In the days of peace, the main source of income of the folk artistes was their rendering of compositions of Sufi poets for the ‘Pirs’(spiritual gurs) of persons organising the programme or their performance at the weddings. But now in the disturbed conditions prevailing in the valley, very few venture to organise such programmes, says noted santoor player and a scholar of Kashmiri music Harbhajan Sopri who was among the audience at the programme. Sopri said the Kashmiris were music loving people. Deeply influenced by Afghan melodies, it has drawn its literary content heavily from the rich sufi poetry with its message of love and compassion and communal harmony. He expressed the hope that conditions would improve so that the commonman could peacefully enjoy and benefit from its elevating influence. Abdul Ghani, the Sarangi player in Gul Akhtar’s party, who hails from Charar Sharif, said all the music that is in nature in this paradise on earth has been transfused into the very soul of Kashmiri people, but the gun culture has suppressed the finer elements in them. Even among the folk artistes, many have taken to guns , mainly in vengeance for the loss of their dear ones in the militant violence, he claimed. Kashmir is also very rich in folk theatre. Earlier, there used to be several small music parties in every village but the set up has been destroyed , he said. In our beautiful land where once notes from a Rabab, Sarangi or Tumbaknari filled the air, the guns boom now, said Bashir Ahmad, another instrumentalist who also performed at the programme. These artistes are finding it very difficult to make both ends meet in the disturbed conditions. Even when they are invited to perform outside the state, they get only paltry amounts as renumeration, they said. (UNI) |
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