Excelsior... Nation

Punjab BJP favours
truce between
Badal, Tohra

CHANDIGARH, Nov 12: The BJP has called for a truce between Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal and his betenoire and former SGPC chief ....more

George Fernandes
rules out military
tie-up with US

PATNA, Nov 12: Defence Minister George Fernandes today ruled out any possibility of a long term military tie-up with America but said some US....more

Higher education quality
drive still to pick up

KOZHIKODE, Nov 12: The much-desired drive to infuse quality and put the higher education sector of the country on par ....more

SC: HCs not to appreciate evidence like trial court

NEW DELHI, Nov 12: The Supreme Court has ruled that the High Courts, while exercising revisional powers in .....more

Lashkar militants will
continue jihad: Hafiz

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, Nov 12: Prof. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), has warned that mujahideen will not care for ......more

India possesses nukes
for deployment: Kalam

NEW DELHI, Nov 12: Declaring that India possessed both "fusion and fission" nuclear bombs, renowned scientist A P J Abdul Kalam today said these weapons were "for deployment......more

Presidents gives
assent to Indian
Stamp Bill

NEW DELHI, Nov 12: President K R Narayanan today gave his assent to the Indian Stamp ( UP second amendment) Bill seeking to prevent evasion of stamp duty. With a view to prevent evasion of stamp duty and ensuring realisation thereof, the State Government amended the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, in its application to UP.......more

Punjab BJP favours truce between Badal, Tohra

CHANDIGARH, Nov 12: The BJP has called for a truce between Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal and his betenoire and former SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra before the Assembly election in the state to "strengthen the ruling combines winning prospects at the hustings".

"The BJP wants that both Badal and his old time associate Tohra bury the differences and reunite in the interest of the party," Punjab BJP chief Brij Lal Rinwa told reporters here last night.

On being asked whether the BJP will initiate a dialogue between the two leaders, Rinwa said it was a issue within the Akali Dal which should be resolved by themselves.

He, however, said that the BJP was ready for all sort of help for the unity if the party was invited to do so. While Badal had welcomed the Tohra group into the Akali Dal unconditionally, the former SGPC chief said that unity was possible only if the Akali Dal chief tenders an apology before the Akal Takhat for allegedly denigrating the top temporal seat of Sikhs.

Rinwa said BJP has broaden it’s base in the border state and seiterated his demand for more seats. "We have accepted to contest the next poll under the leadership of Badal, but our party will ask for more seats".

He said both the BJP and the Akali Dal will come out with separate election party manifesto.

To a question, he said that he was not in favour of contesting the coming polls adding however, that if the party high command desired he would contest the polls. (PTI)

George Fernandes rules out military tie-up with US

PATNA, Nov 12: Defence Minister George Fernandes today ruled out any possibility of a long term military tie-up with America but said some US proposals were under consideration in view of the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

Mr Fernandes told newsmen here that America had sent some proposals to India for cooperation in view of the military logistics in Afghanistan war and these were under consideration.

He said Afghanistan issue was different from the long -term military tie-up between India and US and the country was cooperating with Washington on the issue of terrorism.

Regarding Afghanistan politics, he said that India was in favour of a broad-based Government with the participation of all groups there. The Northern Alliance is on the path to success in the war but any forecast about Afghanistan is an uphill task, he remarked.

Mr Fernandes said those who were talking about human rights violations in Afghanistan were surprisingly silent over the killings of thousands of innocent people in Kashmir and even at Muzaffarpur in Bihar. He said kashmir was a bilateral issue and India will not tolerate any third party intervention.

The Defence Minister said terrorists cannot be linked with any religion as they have no religion except to disturb a nation.

Mr Fernandes visited Danapur cantonment and addressed troops at Bihar Regimental Centre Training area. He said the Centre had chalked out a proposal for disaster management in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa and appealed to the respective State Governments to cooperate as their support was essential to tackle natural disasters.

Mr Fernandes said more bridges should be constructed over the Ganga for smooth movement of the troops during calamities. The two existing bridges on the river were insufficient to connect North and South Bihar, he said.

Addressing the troops he said indiscipline among the youth of the country can be eradicated by imparting them military training for a brief period of two months.

"The announcement of CBI probe into the murder of Samata Party worker from Bhabhua indicates that the Bihar Government has no faith in its own police machinery," he said. (UNI)

Higher education quality drive still to pick up

KOZHIKODE, Nov 12: The much-desired drive to infuse quality and put the higher education sector of the country on par with the international stardards is yet to pick up the expected momentum, if the given trend is an indication.

Of the more than 10,000-odd institutions and over 250 universities, just 200 have been accredited in the past two years of the drive, launched by the Government after realising the plight of higher education.

Though the University Grants Commission (UGC) has put a deadline as December 2003 to get the rating from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) mandatory for future aids, things are still moving slow.

Given the present pace, it won’t happen by then and the deadline is likely to be extended, feels NAAC Director Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai.

And resultantly, the mushrooming centres of higher education by cobbling up bare-minimum facilities to get recognition in the beginning will remain crippled for long without adequate infrastructure, quality and standards by churning out "handicapped degree-holders."

Despite the fact that the accredited institutions had been benefitted with an increase of 50 to 500 per cent in their external funding and the students had a better horizontal mobility to migrate to foreign countries in the era of globalisations, the idea was yet to catch up widely among the institutions.

On the part of the Government, the Union Human Resources Development Ministry has declared 2002 as the year of quality in higher education and the NAAC has drawn a national action plan in this regard.

Nine states had already implemented the action plans and the one for Kerala was released here recently aiming at comprehensive quality enhancement, Mr Rajasekharan said.

In the drive, West Bengal leads the way by getting all the universities in the state accredited and the Government has decided to allot funds based on the ratings by the NAAC. However, Tamil Nadu list with highest number of institutions (56) and Kerala has 43 by the first week of this month.

The drive was launched after realising the real plight of higher education in comparison to the international standards. "This was meant also to institutionalise accountability and out of the concern for quality," Mr Pillai, former Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, said.

The NAAC was formed in 1994 and the assessment meant performance evaluation of an institution/its units through a process of self-study by the institution and peer review by a selected expert panel. Finally, the NAAC gives the accreditation with a rating upto five stars for a period of five years, in accordance with the international practice.

The NAAC, a member of International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE), sends report to all its 120 members across the globe and makes it public document to denote the status of that institution.

All the institutions of higher education, except engineering colleges come under the purview of the NAAC.

Besides implementation of quality sustenance activities, the NAAC would also give remedial measures in the case of weak and less privileged institutions. State-level co-ordination committees were being set up to monitor the process.

NAAC, in collaboration with Higher Education Departments and universities, is in the process of preparing action plans for each state besides conducting awareness programmes.

"Despite our best efforts to convince the institutions, the initiative should come from each individual institution in the form of a self-study. That is proving the main stumbling bloc, especially with the Government institutions", Mr Pillai says.

However, once the process is over, it would present a cross-section of the quality of higher education in the country and many of the institutions would fail to get the status. This would also immensely help the parents and students in selecting their centres of studies, it is hoped.

"As a mirror to look at ourselves, the accreditation process helps us to assess our quality and facilities and improve upon the same. Besides the ratings tells about our status out," says Dr Mubarak Pasha, Principal of Farook College in the City, which was accorded five star status recently. (UNI)

SC: HCs not to appreciate evidence like trial court

NEW DELHI, Nov 12: The Supreme Court has ruled that the High Courts, while exercising revisional powers in criminal cases, have no authority to appreciate evidence like that of a trial court or the appellate courts.

"The revisional power under the criminal procedure code cannot be exercised in a routine and casual manner. While exercising such powers the High Court has no authority to appreciate the evidence in the manner as the trial and appellate courts are required to do," the apex court said.

This ruling was given by a bench comprising Justice M B Shah and Justice R P Sethi while setting aside a Rajasthan High Court order quashing the trial court order framing charges against an accused in a rape case.

Justice Sethi, writing the judgement for the bench, said revisional powers could be exercised by a High Court only when it was shown that there was a legal bar against the continuance of the criminal proceedings or the framing of charges.

The same powers could also be exercised by the High Courts when the facts as stated in the FIR even if taken at the face value and accepted in their entirety do not constitute the offence for which the accused has been charged, Justice Sethi said.

This order was passed by the Apex Court after the victim in the rape case filed an appeal against the High Court order. (PTI)

Lashkar militants will continue jihad: Hafiz

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, Nov 12: Prof. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), has warned that mujahideen will not care for any US embargo. The LeT, he has stressed, will continue its jihad against un-Islamic Governments.

"Who the hell is the US to declare Lashkar a terrorist organisation", Prof. Saeed asked when, in the course of his interview with a Pakistani journalist, his attention was invited to the recommendation of the US Justice Department for a ban on the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Prof. Saeed also posed: "Has US President got a licence to do so?". And Prof. Saeed’s verdict: "I hereby brand the US as a terrorist state and President Bush terrorist number one of the world".

Asked if the ban can affect the morale of Lashkar militants, Prof. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed pronounced: "No, it would only create a new spirit and enthusiasm among them. Mujahideen do not care for any US embargo. Let the US ban us or brand us, we are least bothered".

Responding to the general feeling that a ban could create problems for the LeT to operate from Pakistan, the Lashkar chief let it be known: "Our elders sacrificed their lives for the creation of Pakistan and no one has any right to impose restrictions on us in our homeland. God has ordained every Muslim to fight until His rule is established. We have no option but to follows God’s order".

Asked to spell out his line of action in the event of Gen. Parvez Musharraf deciding to toe the American line and ban the LeT, Prof. Saeed warned that if the Musharraf regime decided to be nasty with the LeT, it will face a strong reaction. "We will definitely confront the Government if it wants to be confronted by those who are carrying the flag of Islam", he asserted.

What does the LeT chief actually want to do from the platform of his organisation, Markaz Dawa-ul-Irshad? His reply: "My organisation’s main interest in Pakistan is to pick people and train them to wage jihad in countries where un-Islamic Governments are in power".

Answering another question, the LeT chief said: "We are all out for a jihad to turn Pakistan into a pure Islamic state. But I have no immediate designs in Pakistan. In fact, there is no Islamic Government in the world, not even in Saudi Arabia". Why is the US so much concerned about the LeT? His reply: "The US wants to oblige India. The Americans actually want to gain the Indian market. Besides, China is also a source of headache for the Americans. Therefore, it is hell-bent upon heaping favours on India".

On terrorism charges against the LeT, Prof. Saeed was quoted as asserting: "We have challenged the US authorities time and again to prove terrorism charges against the Lashkar in any international forum. We repeat this challenge. Our activists in Kashmir are waging jihad against ‘uninformed infidels’ only and they never kill civilians".

When asked if he agreed with those who allege that the US has a hidden agenda behind its attacks against Afghanistan, the LeT supremo placed himself on record by saying: "America wants to occupy Pakistan using the cover of its operation against Osama bin Laden. The Hindu-Zionist lobby has convinced America that if it fails to check nuclear Pakistan, it would soon be leading the entire Muslim world".

India possesses nukes for deployment: Kalam

NEW DELHI, Nov 12: Declaring that India possessed both "fusion and fission" nuclear bombs, renowned scientist A P J Abdul Kalam today said these weapons were "for deployment.

"Every weapon is made, you know it is not for storing but for deployment," Kalam said during an hour-long interaction with media and defence research community when asked whether the country had command and control system in place for nuclear weapons.

Saying that the command and control of country’s nuclear arsenal was for authorities, Kalam, who voluntarily demits the office of Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government, said as far as safety aspects of these weapons were concerned these were "well positioned and well placed."

Asked to elaborate on claims that India had hydrogen bomb, Kalam, called father of Indian missile programme, merely recalled Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement that the country had both fusion and fission bombs.

Major powers like United States or Russia would dispute India’s claim to possessions of hydrogen bomb technology, he said, adding it was clear that the country had carried out the required tests at Pokharan and "we are satisfied with that."

Asserting that his still unfulfilled dream was to see the country become "self-reliant in critical technology," Kalam, who will be succeeded by R Chidambaram, former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), said the country’s prestigious armament programmes like development of short and long range missile system as well as development of a lightcombat aircraft were on course.

Dr Kalam said he had worked 20 years on space research and another 20 years on defence research. Right from the failure, and subsequent success, of the launch of the satellite launch vehicle to the design and development of a number of missiles including Prithvi and Agni, he had learnt that project management could be done with nobility.

He said he was fortunate that he had been involved in active defence programmes—electronic warfare, tanks and missiles—from 1992 to 2001, especially the Prithvi and Agni projects which are now in the production stage.

Dr Kalam said he was now leaving the Government as needed a change and a new challenge. "If I am with young people, I can participate in their imagination. I can put their minds to the mission India has to develop by 2020.

He said this was the second mission that the country was faced with after the first one freedom which took 90 years to achieve.

"If you dont have a mission, society dies. Once you have a vision, the quality of leadership improves", he said.

He said his theatre of action was the sea and the desert. The sea because all rockets were launched from there and the desert where trials were held including Pokhran II. (UNI)