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Pak to obtain arms
from America From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Sept 30: As a new chapter of Pakistan-United States relations has opened following Islamabad’s assurance of full cooperation with Washington against global terrorism, the US is reported to have asked ....more British intelligence NEW DELHI, Sept 30: Even nine months after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s ‘death’ in an air crash...more 60 yrs after he joined NEW DELHI, Sept 30: Fighting the British as a member of the Indian National Army (INA) raised by ....more US targets Taliban as WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: While anti-war protesters chanted for peace, members of....more |
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SPECIAL REPORT From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Sept 30: The Government of India has categorically ruled out the possibility of imposing .....more Advanced cancer research HYDERABAD, Sept 30: The setting up of a state-of-the-art ‘proteomics centre’ at the city-based. ....more Hqs of unified Congress NEW DELHI, Sept 30: The historic number seven Jantar Mantar road, headquarters of the unified.....more Ordinance for easier NEW DELHI, Sept 30: The Union Government will soon.....more |
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Pak
to obtain arms from America
From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Sept 30: As a new chapter of Pakistan-United States relations has opened following Islamabad’s assurance of full cooperation with Washington against global terrorism, the US is reported to have asked New Delhi not to raise "at this stage in discussions" the issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Washington’s message to New Delhi in this regard has been reported at a time when the Government of India expected the US Administration to initiate action on the evidence vis-à-vis Pakistan’s continuing support to the cross-border terrorism and anti-India subversives in Jammu and Kashmir. The Government of India has, on more than one occasion in recent days, apprised the US Administration of the "proof" of the nexus developed by some terrorist organisations in Kashmir with Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda outfit, according to a senior Ministerial source. The Ministerial source told EXCELSIOR that New Delhi possessed ‘extensive documents’ to prove that organisations involved in creating terror in Jammu and Kashmir are part of Laden’s terrorist group (Al Qaeda). The source wondered as to why Washington was unwilling to treat these organisations, including the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Toiba, at par with the Harkat-ul-Ansar (now known as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen), included by the US on its terrorist organisations’ list. New Delhi, the Ministerial source argued, had strong reasons as it commissioned the National Security Advisor, Mr Brajesh Mishra, and the Minister for External Affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh, to rush to Washington one after the other. Main purpose of the exercise was to make the Bush Administration take due note of India’s concerns. India has yet to achieve success in focusing Washington’s attention to the direct involvement of Pakistan in sponsoring terrorism through its close links with the Taliban and the terrorist groups that are running training camps along the Pak-Afghanistan border. The Government of India has informed Washington that the Al Rashid Trust, which is on the list of terrorist groups released by the Bush Administration, has close links with the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Toiba. And even as the US Government has already admitted that these two organisations are active in Jammu and Kashmir, Washington has shown little interest in India’s intelligence information on the extensive network of terrorist outfits. Instead of encouraging the Government of India to raise J&K terror issue in discussions, American Government has coopted Pakistan as a frontline territory in its campaign against terrorism. And in spite of New Delhi’s repeated claim that Pakistan continued to be an "integral part" of the terrorism it has been sponsoring and could not be looked upon as a responsible nation suddenly, Washington chose to be somewhat indifferent towards India’s charge-sheet against Pakistan. Happily for Pakistan, the US President, Mr George W Bush, has sought a broader authority from Congress to waive existing restrictions on US military assistance and weapons exports to countries. Mr Bush’s move, once approved, will open the floodgates for the sale of arms to nations like Pakistan. Reports from Washington say that the proposed waiver will cover those countries currently ineligible for US military aid because of their sponsorship of terrorism, or because of their nuclear and offensive weapons programmes or lack of commitment to democracy. The latter groups, these reports said, would include Pakistan and China. Washington’s calculated piece of diplomacy has not gone down well with some members of US Congress. Congressman, Mr Frank Pallone, was quoted as saying that he was concerned that by lifting economic and military sanctions on Pakistan as well, Mr George W Bush was ignoring that country’s history of refusing to delink itself from international terrorist groups. Mr Pallone said that he feared that by lifting military sanctions in the context of the Pressler Amendment, Pakistan would be allowed to openly buy weapons, planes and any military artillery. And a report available with the India’s Foreign Office quoted Mr Pallone as saying: "I am afraid Pakistan would use these tools against India in a future conflict in Kashmir". |
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| British intelligence kept tabs on Netaji
long after his ‘death’ NEW DELHI, Sept 30: Even nine months after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s ‘death’ in an air crash off formosa, British intelligence continued to receive reports of his activities. Two death reports were procured by the British. Though both carry the same date — August 18, 1945 — when the alleged death took place, the time of death varies. Also, the supervising physicians are different. The urgency with which the British wanted to convince themselves and the rest of the world about Netaji’s death is, to say the least, intriguing. These revelations were made by Mr Pradip Bose and Ms Purbi Roy —both of who have been researching extensively on the disappearance of one of Bengal’s bravest sons. They were part of a gathering of Netaji’s relatives and Indian national Army veterans who gathered last evening in the capital to remember the phenomenon that was Subhas Chandra Bose. Mr Roy’s research had taken him to England’s India office library and he spoke of the hurdles posed by an unwilling British Government. He spoke about a letter he wrote to British Premier Tony Blair for declassifying these documents but his request was turned down. The reasons cited included ‘relations with foreign countries, public grief and national security’, he added. Nostalgia for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was felt deeply at the gathering of people who have waited long and continue to wait for definite proof — right from the moment his death was reported —but these passing moments have transformed into 56 years. Today, all they hope for is to learn the truth regarding his disappearance. "Netaji is perhaps dead and most of us now believe so, but some persist with their faith in him being alive. I feel that Netaji is dead," Mr Subroto Bose, Member of Parliament from West Bengal, said. Mr Bose is Netaji’s nephew and a member of the Forward Bloc. On being asked about the significance of ascertaining the cause and circumstances of Subhas Bose’s death after all these years, he said, "the issue is of historical significance both for the nation and its people." The gathering stressed the need for the Justice M K Mukherjee Commission to come to a speedy conclusion in it’s inquiry into the causes of the patriot’s death. The Commission was constituted by the Government through a notification dated May 14, 1999. Indicating the specific purpose of the meeting in highlighting pending issues, Ms Chittra Gosh — Netaji’s neice — said that the first public sitting of the Commission would take place at the capital’s Vigyan Bhawan from October 15 to 17. The participants concurred on their doubts over the ‘plane crash theory’. (UNI) |
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60 yrs after he joined INA, SC
directs NEW DELHI, Sept 30: Fighting the British as a member of the Indian National Army (INA) raised by Subhash Chandra Bose was not as difficult as securing pension from the Central Government. But Gurdial Singh fought on for 28 years and got his pension thanks to the Supreme Court almost 60 years after he had joined INA in Bangkok. Rejecting all technical objections raised by the Home Ministry to doubt his claim, the Supreme Court came to his rescue by granting him pension from 1996 at the rate of Rs 3000 per month and gave a dressing down to the authorities for taking a technical approach to harass a freedom fighter. In 1973, Singh applied for pension under freedom fighters pension scheme giving copy of his driving licence, detention camps in Bangkok and Singapore where he was kept as a prisoner of war for more than six months. Apart from affidavits of two co-prisoners, Singh also sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs a certificate issued by Captain Bishan Singh Sanghai of INA regarding his training in weapon in 4th company of the INA. Despite all this, the Director, Ministry of Home Affairs rejected his case in 1995. Singh appealed against the order in the High Court and got a verdict in his favour. He was granted pension by the Centre from April 1998 at a rate of Rs 3000 per month. However, the joy was shortlived. When he sought the pension from 1973 when he had applied for it, the Government cancelled the pension altogether. The INA driver then approached the Supreme Court. Justifying their action, the Central Government placed before the apex court several trivial discrepancies in the claims of the INA driver. Brushing aside these, a bench comprising Justice M B Shah and Justice R P Sethi said it should not be forgotten that the persons intended to be covered by the scheme had suffered for the country about half-a-century back and had not expected to be rewarded for the imprisonment suffered by them. "Once the country has decided to honour such freedom fighters, the bureaucrats entrusted with the job of examining the cases of such freedom fighters are expected to keep in mind the purpose and object of the scheme," justice Sethi, writing the judgement for the bench, said. The case of the claimants under this scheme was required to be determined on the basis of the probabilities and not on the touch-stone of the test of ‘beyond reasonable doubts’ adopted in criminal trials, he said. Referring to the case of Singh, the bench said "we have noticed with disgust that the Home Ministry authorities have adopted a hyper-technical approach while dealing with the case of a freedom fighter and ignored the basic principle and objectives of the scheme intended to give the benefit to the sufferers in the freedom movement." He said "the contradictions and discrepancies pointed out by the authorities in Singh’s claim cannot be held to be material which could be made a basis of depriving the appellant of his right to get the pension." (PTI) |
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Hqs of unified Congress now up for grabs by Union Govt NEW DELHI, Sept 30: The historic number seven Jantar Mantar road, headquarters of the unified Congress, the ownership of which had remained a bone of contention for the past five decades is now up for grabs by the Union Government as none of the parties have completed the formalities of ownership. As Congress and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Smarak Trust are battling it out for the ownership of the prime property in the heart of the capital, the Home Ministry has issued a public notice recently announcing its intention to take over the property worth a few hundred crore rupees. The notice said because of non finalisation of terms of lease deed and there being dispute with regard to successor in interest of the then AICC, neither the lease deed could be executed nor possession of the said property could be handed over. The Union Government, technically the owner of the property has decided to rescind its earlier decision to sell the land to AICC and refund the amount to the successors of AICC. The 21 day notice period given by the home ministry ends on October 7 after which action will be taken. The Home Ministry notice also points out that after the split in the All India Congress Comittee in 1969, different factions have been requesting the Government of India for transferring the property in their favour with out producing sufficient record to prove as to who is the successor in interest of the AICC. A Home Ministry official told UNI that the decision to rescind the purported sale of the land to aicc was taken by the Home Minister and the public notice to this effect was vetted by the Law Ministry. The move to take over the controversial building was initiated during the parliamentary inter session period to avoid pressures from contending parties the official said. The property belongs to the Government since no conveyance deed has been given to any one of the contending parties. We will wait for the statutory 21 day notice period to end on October 7 before initiating the statutory proceedings he said. Mr Oscar Fernandes senior Congress leader handling the case said his party has paid the money (about Rs 6 lakh)to purchase the property way back in 1959 and that it was the duty of the Government to register the property in favour of the Congress. He is sending the party’s rejoinder to the public notice in a day or two. In case the ministry declines to accept their case, the party will move the court of law he said. The unified Congress purchased the sprawling bungalow way back in 1959 when late Indira Gandhi was the party president. The party paid a sum of about Rs seven lakh towards its cost but could not complete the procedures and secure the conveyance deed for nearly ten years. Since the split in 1969, the ownership of the property has remained a bone of contention. The Congress (O) managed to retain the building after the split. The congress led by Indira Gandhi occupied the building briefly in 1973 before the court evicted them on grounds of trespass. The Congress (O) handed over the building to the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Smarak Trust for managing the property. The trust also failed to complete the formalities of ownership though the then Morarji Desai Government had given the nod to transfer the ownership to the trust. Neither the Congress nor the third front parties evinced interest in securing the ownership of the building for the next twenty years the Janata Dal (U)is now a tenant of the buidling paying a rent of Rs 2200 per month to the patel trust. (UNI) |
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Ordinance for easier buy back norms NEW DELHI, Sept 30: The Union Government will soon promulgate an ordinance to further amend the Companies Act 1956 with a view to easing buy back norms for the corporate sector. Under the existing scheme, the time limit for buy back of shares is 24 months which is being reduced to six months for up to ten per cent total shares of a company. The present norms were incorporated in the companies act 1999 effected by an ordinance and later by a parliamentary enactment. Official sources claim the move will help to stabilise the capital market which in recent times has experienced high volatility and almost a downturn since the presentation of the union budget on February 28. It is also expected that the sentiment in the stock markets will get a boost. The move is likely to reduce the uncertainty and panic triggered by the purchase of shares by outsiders. The step has been taken at the instance of the Ministry of Finance (MoF). Accordingly the ordinance has been drafted by the ministry of law and Department of Company Affairs (DCA) and forwarded to the Cabinet Secretariat. The sources said the new buy back norms will be a priority item on the agenda of the cabinet meeting either on October one or three. The proposal is likely to be cleared by the cabinet by October three as Law Minister Arun Jaitley is proceeding that evening to New Zealand to represent India in the Law Asia Conference. The ordinance is expected to be promulgated anytime after that, possibly October four itself. There has been mounting pressure from industrial houses and apex chambers of commerce to ease the norms to enable a more orderly functioning of the bourses. The move has been agreed upon even while the Joint Parliamentary Committee is investigating the stock scam and is to suggest measures to improve the functioning of the stock exchanges. Following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11 the capital markets globally have taken a beating. The Asian tigers are again feeling the heat and the fears of the earlier meltdown still haunt them. International uncertainities are seriously impinging on these markets. Before the panic buttons could be triggered, business leaders swung into action and asked the Government to hasten the move to ease the buy back norms. There have been reports that the DCA had expressed reservations on the move to introduce easier share buy back norms. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha had, however, downplayed this. I think there is a degree of misunderstanding as far as the so-called differences between the Ministry of Finance and DCA are concerned. I had discussed this with the Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs Arun Jaitley, and we both agreed that this matter needed to be studied further. The examination has been jointly carried forwarded and I have reason to believe that between the MoF and DCA we have reached an understanding and we are acting further. Discussions are not symptomatic of differences. There were issues which needed to be discussed and we have arrived at a consensus, Mr Sinha had told reporters earlier this week. The Government has stated that it plans to take steps to bolster the economy and stock markets, including introduction of individual stock options. The recent introduction of margin trading to infuse liquidity into the bourses is being regarded as a non-starter. (UNI) |
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