Excelsior... Nation

AIIMS all set to be
hub for telemedicine

NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) should transform itself into a hub of telemedicine, a technology that can...more

Suspension issue:
House adjourns till
Nov 11, MLAs end fast

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct 31: The Kerala Assembly was today adjourned till November 11, with the Marxist-led opposition continuing its....more

Govt awaits report on
entry of non-news journals

NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Government is toying with the idea of allowing non-news foreign journals into the country but still may not not take the....more

Policy makers in Kerala
to continue to receive
guidance from AICC

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct 31: Planners and policy makers in Kerala will continue to receive guidance from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to improve the state’s investment climate and hasten development. ..more

NEWS ANALYSIS
Threat from POTO to journalists, too

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI: Freedom of press is guaranteed under the Constitution of India. But certain provisions in the recently-promulgated Prevention Of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) have an alarming....more

Iconoclasts will be defeated yet again, says PM

SOMNATH (PRABHAS PATAN), GUJARAT, Oct 31: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today declared that iconoclasts .....more

Logic of potential misuse
cannot be applied against
POTO: Shourie

NEW DELHI, Oct 31:If the logic of potential misuse is applied against the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance .....more

‘India with US campaign only till it is against terrorism’

NEW DELHI, Oct 31: India is with the US in its campaign in Afghanistan only till it is against terrorism and not .....more

AIIMS all set to be hub for telemedicine

NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) should transform itself into a hub of telemedicine, a technology that can serve as an important vehicle in providing health care to the remote areas of the country, an expert has said.

"Telemedicine or simply telephone medicine is the transmission of medical data through the internet utilising the existing telephone lines," Head, Department of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics at AIIMS, Narinder Mehra said at a symposium on "terrestrial applications of space and aviation medicine" here.

AIIMS which has superspeciality access and specialised expertise can serve as a "hub" to "spokes" (local hospitals) which have limited availability of such facilities by providing them consultation, medical education and research and medical management through this concept, Mehra said.

He said a telemedicine centre at Kohima was on the anvil which would link the state capital to AIIMS thereby doing away with the need for patients to come all the way to the capital just to get medical advice.

Once implemented, it could also provide expert medical advice to inmates of Tihar jail without their leaving the premises, he said.

The Institute had already started certain telemedicine services such as teleradiology and telepathology on an experimental basis with its regional centre at Ballabhgarh, he said adding AIIMS was contemplating setting up of a separate cell comprising two or three experts to read images received.

Besides AIIMS, other centres of excellence like CMC, Vellore, and PGI, Chandigarh, also had the potential to become such hubs, Mehra said.

Mehra said national telemedicine network would eventually lead to establishment of an international network by linkages with foreign hospitals and institutions, in the years to come, thereby making India a centre of expert advice in the south East Asian region.

He said telemedicine would go a long way in globalisation of medicine, standardisation of clinical practice, stabilising costs and enhancing medical training.

"Besides, the images do not degrade during transmission over long distances and the diagnosis takes just a few minutes," he said.

However, issues of confidentiality and ethics would need to be addressed, Mehra said adding another drawback of telemedicine was the undermining of patient-physician relationship. (AGENCIES)

Suspension issue: House adjourns till Nov 11, MLAs end fast

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct 31: The Kerala Assembly was today adjourned till November 11, with the Marxist-led opposition continuing its agitation within the house for the eighth consecutive day today over the issue of suspension of three MLAs on October 18 for manhandling Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar.

The opposition members shouted slogans and staged a dharna in the well of the house demanding revocation of suspension as soon as the house began the day’s business, forcing the Speaker Vakkom Purushothaman to announce the adjournment of the house amid the din.

However, before announcing the adjournment, the Speaker suspended the question and zero hours and rushed through the financial business slated for the day. He said it had become extremely difficult to carry on the business of the house due to the continued disruption of the proceedings by the opposition during the sittings since October 18. However, he had the constitutional responsibility to get the Government’s financial business completed to avoid an administrative breakdown.

He also took up the financial businesses scheduled for the sittings up to November 11 and announced their passage. In the process, the house guillotined a few budgetary demands for grants which were to have been considered and passed during the sittings of November one-11.

After he completed the business, the House passed a motion, moved by Finance Minister K Sankaranarayanan in the absence of Chief Minister A K Antony, adjourning the house till November 11.

Meanwhile, the suspended members M V Jayarajan, Mr Raju Abraham (CPI-M) and Mr P S Supal (CPI), who began an indefinite fast in the foyer of the house yesterday demanding revocation of the suspension, ended their agitation half an hour after the house was adjourned today.

The opposition members, who were squatting on the floor of the well, later trooped out of the house and staged a dharna in the foyer expressing solidarity with their three fasting colleagues.

Earlier, the speaker had a dig at the suspended members for commencing the fast in the foyer of the house and said their action was "illegal." the suspended members were not entitled to even enter the legislature premises. This being so, they had not only entered the premises but also started an indefinite fast in the foyer of the house.

Their agitation, he said, was in effect directed against the house as a whole as it was the house which had decided to suspend them for their actions of indiscipline on October 18.

Talking to newsmen, Deputy leader of the CPI (M) legislature party Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the agitation would be intensified if the Government did not take the initiative to resolve the impasse during the recess period. He announced the calling off of the fast in view of the long recess.

He alleged that the house was adjourned for a long period in order to prolong the suspension of the three members.

Mr Balakrishnan claimed that the Government was not ready for a compromise as the Chief Minister was afraid of the opposition levelling allegations of corruption against him in the matter of selection of the pacific international consultants as the consultancy for the Rs 1,800 crore Japan-aided Kerala water supply scheme.

"Mr Antony is a leader who does not like any personal criticism against him. Whenever he is personally attacked, he grows intolerant. This is what we are seeing in the MLAs’ suspension issue, " he alleged.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M M Hassan said the house had to be adjourned for 11 days in the light of the opposition having transformed the Assembly into a forum for agitation’’.

He said there was no change in the Government’s stand that it would be able to consider reducing the suspension period of the three MLAs only if the opposition cooperated with the business of the house. "If they cooperate after the recess, the Government has no problem in considering the demand for slashing the suspension period."

At the same time, the opposition need not think that they could bring the Government to its knees through agitations and threats. "We are ready for a compromise. The doors are open."

The three MLAs were suspended on october 18 for allegedly assaulting Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar during zero hour the same day. The suspension throughout the session till December seven was also for their going on a rampage in the house, misbehaving with women staff and disobeying the speaker’s ruling in the wake of the chair refusing to permit the leader of the opposition to register his protest over the denial of permission to an opposition member to seek leave to move an adjournment motion.

When the house meets on November 12 after the recess, it would take up the finance bill for consideration. (UNI)

Govt awaits report on entry of non-news journals

NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Government is toying with the idea of allowing non-news foreign journals into the country but still may not not take the plunge before a report is given by a parliamentary committee which is examining the issue of foreign equity in print media and other matters.

Being a "sensitive" issue, the general view at the cabinet meeting when the proposal on allowing technical and medical foreign journals came up recently was that the standing committee’s report should be awaited before taking further steps, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj told PTI in an interview.

"Knowledge-based technical and medical journals should not be too expensive and if printed in India they will be much cheaper," Swaraj said.

She said the argument against FDI in news and current affairs that it would "build opinion" did not hold good for non-news journals which would make knowledge about researches abroad accessible even to the poor students.

"We want political and industry consensus on this. Since the standing committee represents all parties, political consensus will come from there," she said.

Besides the entire issue of foreign equity in print media, a proposal to allow Foreign Institutional Investor (FII), Overseas Corporate Bodies (OCB) and NRI investment in the sector is also pending with the standing committee to which it was referred by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

Though Swaraj had thrown the issue to FDI in news and current affairs open for debate soon after taking over as I and B Minister last year, within days she ruled it out saying there was no consensus on it and that it could "influence" minds. The chapter was closed with Government reiterating that it would stick to the 1955 cabinet resolution against it.

On the long-awaited Direct-to-Home (DTH) broadcasting services, to which Government gave its nod a year ago, the minister said business proposals worth Rs 1000-1200 crore do take time to materialise.

She ruled out reconsidering any of the DTH guidelines, several of which have been criticised by broadcasters who feel that these make the DTH business in the country unviable.

Under the terms and conditions for grant of license for dth service, there is a 49 per cent cap on total foreign investment of which the share of FDI should not exceed more than 20 per cent.

However, Swaraj said that with removal of the ban on KU-band to make way for DTH services, information technology and telecom sectors have seen a quantum jump.

Extended C-band is presently being used by INSAT series of satellites only and there is no no fall back arrangement in case of a failure of INSAT satellites.

On the other hand, KU-band is being used extensively worldwide and many international satellites operating on this band are having their beams over the Indian sub-continent. (PTI)

Policy makers in Kerala to continue to receive guidance from AICC

Former Union Finance Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh who visited kerala a couple of weeks ago, on a request from Chief Minister A K Antony, have in their recommendations to hasten the state’s development, stressed the need to evolve an ‘investment-friendly’ work culture.

Sources in the State Planning Board said the experts from AICC would visit the state once again in the near future for follow-up discussions. The Kerala Chief Minister had suggested a continuous dialogue between the AICC experts and the planners and policy makers in the state.

The State Government and the State Planning Board would always be receptive to any suggestion from any quarter which would help improve the state’s investment climate and hasten development, the sources in the board added.

The visit by Mr Manmohan Singh and Mr Jairam Ramesh was the first in a series of dialogues being proposed with experts in various fields. The experts from AICC had held detailed discussions with the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues, senior bureaucrats and Planning Board members during their recent visit to the state.

The AICC team was of the view that private investment had to be promoted for the state’s development in almost all sectors. This is especially in view of the changing economic scenario and the state’s fiscal constraints. The state accounted for a major chunk of the NRIs, particularly in US, Canada and the Gulf countries and hence the scope for flow of foreign capital is bright. But the state has an image problem which has to be corrected.

The first step in this regard to evolve an investment-friendly work culture which would send the right signals to entrepreneurs abroad, the team suggested in their report. Other states in the country are already ahead of Kerala. The state has to survive in a highly competitive situation at the national as well as international level.

Fresh attempts should also be made to tap funds from central agencies like NABARD, NCDC, NDDB, HUDCO and international agencies like World Bank and Asian Development Bank. This calls for fresh initiatives. Kerala could take a cue from other Congress-ruled states which have already been tapping such development funds quite effectively.

The report pointed out that there were several other channels by which the state could get central investment which had to be effectively pursued. Karnataka, for instance, has obtained around Rs 300 crore under the intensive energy development programme. Central investment in Kerala, has been on the decline, over the years. Also the credit-deposit ratio of public sector banks has been low. The banks have to be persuaded to invest in the state by mooting viable projects.

The experts recommended that Kochi and Kozhikode be developed as growth centres of technology, on the lines of Bangalore and Hyderabad. The thrust by the State Government on information technology and tourism are steps in the right direction. Agriculture and higher education should also be given equal thrust to ensure speedy economic growth.

The decision to have more professional colleges is viewed as a welcome step. But the need to modify curriculam has been stressed.

They shared the State Government’s view that central policies had played havoc on Kerala’s farm sector. But there is need for diversification in agriculture, it was pointed out. (UNI)

NEWS ANALYSIS
Threat from POTO to journalists, too

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI: Freedom of press is guaranteed under the Constitution of India. But certain provisions in the recently-promulgated Prevention Of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) have an alarming message for journalists across the country. They may end up in jail from a period from one to ten years, if they meet somebody belonging to terrorist group or groups and decline to reveal their sources.

Another dangerous dimension of the proposed law: Imprisonment for failure to disclose information to the police on one’s own. Why were these provisions included in the ordinance even after the Home Minister, Mr LK Advani’s assurance to a delegation of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) that no such draconian curbs were contemplated?

Journalists do not fall in the category of ‘holy cows’. But they need not act, every time, in accordance with the wishes and whims of the powers-that-be. Taking the situation as it is, the Opposition is quite unlikely to oblige the Vajpayee Government. In fact, indications are by no means uncertain that the Opposition will raise a hue and cry when the Bill, replacing the ordinance, is brought in the coming winter session of Parliament in the present form.

Quite clearly, the new anti-terrorism legislation promulgated by the Vajpayee Government needs some serious consideration, discussion, and perhaps even review and revision before it is brought into force. The experience of TADA should be reason enough for the authorities to ensure that the new law seeking to replace it does not meet the same fate.

And the first step in that direction lies in ensuring that it meets the standards of fairness and also meets the tests laid down by human rights organisations in the country as well as international watchdogs dealing in the subject. The Prevention Of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) has provoked strong protests and condemnation, even before being put before Parliament, from the main Opposition party, the Congress, as well as the media. And on the face of it, their apprehensions seem not without reason.

Opposing the ordinance, which it termed as "more draconian" than the lapsed TADA, the Congress said that it would fight the law in Parliament. The party has accused the BJP-led coalition of bringing out the ordinance to "cater to its own constituency". The verdict from the Congress: What is needed is not the strong law but "strong governance".

The issue that the Government will find difficult to live down is the fact that it did not bother to take the Opposition into confidence on a matter that is so sensitive and is bound to generate a lot of debate and that is too far-reaching in its impact to be hurriedly passed through, as has been done. The criticism amid which the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) was allowed to lapse is still fresh in the minds of the most people.

And those still languishing in jails or facing trial oin cases under TADA miss no opportunity to complain of the harassment and victimisation meted out to them under that law. While the new law does contain provisions to keep police officials in check, providing for jail terms and damages if found guilty of harassment of innocent people, there are still several loopholes that need to be plugged. And problems that need to be addressed if the Government is to ensure the smooth passage of the legislation when it is placed before Parliament.

True, India needs a strong legislation to tackle the growing menace of terrorism. But before the Government goes ahead with such a move, it does need to ensure some kind of consensus on the issue, and adequate safeguards within the legislation to protect the interests of the innocent-be it people at large, the journalistic community or even the police and other security forces dealing with terrorism.

There is no denying that the implementation of the POTO provisions will be resisted by some sections of the population. Reason: Past experience has shown that such provisions have been used by the ruling parties against their political foes. Critics of the POTO have alleged that the anti-terrorism measure might be selectively used by the BJP against its adversaries.

These critics, while making a pointed reference to the troubles confronting the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, are assailed by the fear that the State’s leadership will not hesitate to misuse POTO in a last ditch attempt to retain its Government.

The Union Government’s move culminating in the ban on terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed and 23 other organisations in Jammu and Kashmir and north-eastern region has been endorsed by the people and politicians. But the pertinent question, which has triggered animated discussions, is: Will banning militant outfits in J&K serve any purpose?

Iconoclasts will be defeated yet again, says PM

SOMNATH (PRABHAS PATAN), GUJARAT, Oct 31: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today declared that iconoclasts would be defeated the way they were routed in the past, as in the case of Somnath.

Addressing a public meeting here, the Prime Minister said Somnath had always been a symbol of India’s eternal religion, culture and history. Marauders, time and again, had desecrated and demolished it, but, like a phoenix, it rose again and again.

The tendency of iconoclasm was raising its head once again but it will be frustrated, he said, apparently referring to the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan by the Taliban early this year.

Referring to the Kashmir issue, he reiterated that the merger of the State with India was final. It is an inseparable part of India, and the decision is unchangeable, he asserted.

The Prime Minister said India had suffered partition once which cannot be repeated again. Nobody should remain in any doubt, although some are still harbouring illusions. We, our armed forces and our scientists are confident and ready to meet any situation. Mr Vajpayee, referring to Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf’s recent observation that the Pakistanis were not cowards and did not wear bangles, said the general should also remember that while Indian women did wear bangles, the Punjabis also wore steel bangles (Kada). We don’t stoop to using such language. It is not a sign of manliness (Mardangi).

Paying glowing tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 126th birth anniversary today, Mr Vajpayee said the present shape of India was due to its iron man who unified it after making possible the merger of more than 530 princely states and frustrated the British designs aimed at dismemberment of the country.

Referring to the reconstruction of the Somnath temple after independence and the Sardar’s pioneering contribution to it, the Prime Minister said the shrine had always been a symbol of India’s eternal religion, culture and history.

Mr Vajpayee said the reconstructed Somnath temple now stood at the same place where India’s pride had been humiliated.

Regarding expansion of infrastructure facilities, he said the present metre gauge railway would be converted into broadgauge to allow easy access to pilgrims from across the country.

In a lighter vein, he said Mr L K Advani had to undertake a Rathyatra from Somnath to Ayodhya because of the lack of broad gauge railway line.

Applauding Gujarat’s resilience in meeting natural calamities in the past five years, including this year’s devastating earthquake, Mr Vajpayee said the Centre would extend all help in this regard. Speaking on the occasion, Union Home Minister L K Advani, who is also a member of the Somnath Trust, said the completion of the golden jubilee celebrations of the consecration and reinstallation of the ‘Jyotirlinga’ on May 11 this year was deferred in the aftermath of the January 26 earthquake.

Earlier, the Prime Minister also inaugurated the Triveni Ghat at the confluence of three rivers (Saraswati, Hiranya and Kapila) in memory of the late Morarji Desai who was the Trust’s chairman for more than 25 years till his death.

Mr Vajpayee launched a drinking water supply scheme in the temple town, developed with the assistance of the Gujarat Government.

The temple, originally built during the Vallabhi rule in the fifth century AD, was demolished by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, now in Afghanistan, and again in 1297 by Altaf Khan of the Khilji Sultanate. . On November 13, 1947, Sardar Patel, who was the then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, took a vow to reconstruct the temple and restore it to its original glory.

The work was completed in 1951 but the Sardar had passed away in December 1950. The then President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, presided over the Pran Pratishtha (consecration and reinstallation) of the Jyotirlinga on May 11, 1951.

It was to commemorate the golden jubilee of this event that the Somnath Trust started a year-long celebration last year. Speaking on the occasion, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said eminent litterateur and educationist K M Munshi had visted the site in 1922 and presented the case for reconstruction of the Somnath temple to Sardar Patel.

Despite opposition from certain quarters of the Nehru Government, the Sardar and Munshi went ahead with the project.

Mr Modi announced that a Sanskrit University will be set up at Somnath, meeting a long-pending demand.

Referring to the release of 196 fishermen by Pakistan, he said they will be reaching Gujarat tomorrow. However, 30 more had been abducted by the neighbouring country yesterday, he alleged. (UNI)

Logic of potential misuse cannot be applied against POTO: Shourie

NEW DELHI, Oct 31:If the logic of potential misuse is applied against the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) then India would have to do away with even the IPC and the criminal procedure code, says eminent journalist and Union Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie.

"An illusion was created earlier that the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act was being misused and we have to beware of groups that will use instruments of democracy to destroy democracy itself," the minister told a distinguished international gathering here this evening at a seminar on ‘The global threat of terror: ideological, political and material linkages’.

"Today we see states trying to further goals by abetting extremists in other States," Mr Shourie said and went on to provide the grim statistics that 53,000 people had been killed due to militancy in India since the early eighties.

"There is an intellectual slavishness of the literate classes in Indian society and the state is weak and flabby. Eight years have passed and we are yet to convict the accused in the Bombay serial blasts case. This is an opportunity for terrorist groups," the minister said in his valedictory address.

Mr Shourie regretted that it had become almost a fashion to decry actions by security personnel and added that it was "a crying shame that prosecution was allowed against policemen in Punjab after they risked their lives to quell militancy."

Regarding the US-led campaign against Afghanistan, the scholar said, "there is no humane way to conduct a war. No conflict has been won by minimum force. Wars are won by overwhelming force. America is now recognising how much of the Pakistani state apparatus has been Talibanised.

"Publicity is the oxygen a terrorist lives on and many groups propelled by terrorist technology and terrorist outlook are linked with each other. The Inter-Services Intelligence would be trying to bring those groups together, for instance the Naxals with the ULFA."

"Links may be established through a common supplier of weapons. Technology of violence is easier and less costly now, there are more bangs per buck. Riots in India now employ sophisticated weapons," Mr Shourie added.

Each state would have to solve its own problem and sharing intelligence information was vital.

The minister said that in quelling extremism one must look at the religious text that influences the militant, look at the text as a whole, and understand the plain meaning of the text not the contrived interpretation and hear what authorities on the text have to say. (UNI)