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Don’t
air grievances NEW DELHI, Oct 21: In significant statements ahead of the coming elections in Uttar Pradesh, Union Home ...more Bush
urges Vajpayee From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Oct 21: The US President, Mr George W Bush, has begun building pressure on the Prime Minister,..more Terrorists
may strike on From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Oct 21: With a little over three months left for India’s Republic Day celebrations, security agencies.....more ‘Never dismiss your dreams,’ Amitabh tells ‘Doscos’ DEHRA DUN, Oct 21: Superstar Amitabh Bachchan exhorted young students of the Doon School here to realise the value of dreaming and......more |
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Jehad and Jerusalem through Gandhian eyes VARANASI, Oct 21: In the last few months of his life, Mahatma Gandhi had to deal with a "Jehad in Kashmir" and ......more
Indian has a contemporary message: Sunny Deol NEW DELHI, Oct 21: His resounding voice and his biceps have earned him the sobriquet of an ‘action hero’ over the ....more Brick
manufacturers NEW DELHI, Oct 21: Brick manufacturers in the city have pleaded to the Delhi......more Diya
Mirza: a symbol of NEW DELHI, Oct 21: She is just 19 but has a calm assurance of a 30-year-old. ......more |
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Don’t air grievances in public, HM tells partymen NEW DELHI, Oct 21: In significant statements ahead of the coming elections in Uttar Pradesh, Union Home Minister L K Advani today asked partymen not to air their grievances in public even as he and other senior BJP leaders eulogised the role of Ram Janambhoomi movement in shaping the party’s ideology and destiny. "Each one of us should take care not to make mistakes, not to call up friendly journalists and air our grievances such as not getting a ticket or a post. It does not behove us. It will only expose our weakness," Advani said addressing the party’s golden jubilee national council meeting here. "Only then, we would be able to do justice to our mission of taking the country from `Swaraj’ (freedom) to `Suraaj’ (good governance) and making the 21st century India’s century," he said . The Home Minister said even opposition parties had great expectations from BJP and every effort should be made to live upto that. "They want a real BJP with originalism," he said reminding the audience that prior to independence, even its arch rival Congress "was an ideal party with many qualities." In a veiled caution to those in the Government, he said, "politics itself is slippery, being in the Government is far more slippery. One has to tread the path carefully." BJP, he said, would not have attained its present stature "if we had not taken part in the Ram Janambhoomi movement, though some people tried to distort the whole issue." Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, party president Jana Krishnamurthy, senior party leaders and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states were present. BJP’s growth, Advani said, was "systematic and in a planned way." Describing the five-year period of 1996-2001 in the party’s history as the "phase of governance", he said after growing ideologically in a planned manner, the party realised that it was crucial to associate itself with regional aspirations and join hands with parties other than the congress, the communists and Muslim League to provide an alternative to the people. In a resolution unanimously adopted on the occasion, the party justified its participation in the Ayodhya movement and eulogised its role in shaping the party’s future saying "it became reflective of India’s cultural personality." "It convinced people of certain and sharp distinction between positive secularism and pseudo-secularism. Symbols of India’s cultural personality are not inconsistent with secularism. The movement created a massive national impact and changed the mindset of millions of Indians," it said. "Our acceptability grew. We spread into those areas of the country where we earlier had little presence. We found legislative representatives in almost every major state," the resolution said. On the completion of 50 years of its political journey, the party rededicated itself to building "a strong India, a prosperous India, an India that banishes poverty, an India that eliminates social tensions, the India of our dreams." In his address, former party president Kushabhau Thakre said the Ram Janambhoomi movement exposed pseudo-secularism and projected the party’s ideology of ‘cultural nationalism’ "in a language and terminology the people understood." The movement to build the Ram Temple at Ayodhya has helped in giving new definitions and changing concepts that have emerged over the last 150 years, Thakre said. In an apparent reference to the incorporation of the word ‘secular’ in the constitution by the Indira Gandhi regime, Thakre said the Congress party was swept away by western thought process in the post-Gandhi era and included words in the statute which were not part of the original. "The Ram Janambhoomi movement exposed to the people the true nature of this western thought," he said. Stating that Congress declined due to the conduct of its leaders, Thakre cautioned partymen that "leadership, conduct and the means adopted are equally important. "Happiness of the people and not power should be our ultimate aim," he said. Senior party leader Jagdish Prasad Mathur asserted that though the Jansangh began as the poiltical arm of the RSS, at present it was independent of it. He, however, said though it seemed that the party has drastically changed, "Hindutva and cultural nationalism remains the cornerstone of our policy. "The illegal child of RSS, as described by Pandit Nehru, the Jansangh in its new avatar of BJP, has today become the dominant child of the country," Mathur said. The party, he said, has changed its earlier penchant for ‘Akhand Bharat’ (undivided India), uprooting Urdu and imposing Hindi. Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said the party today represented the poor, the farmers and the villagers. (PTI) |
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Bush urges Vajpayee to talk to Musharraf From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Oct 21: The US President, Mr George W Bush, has begun building pressure on the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in support of a one-to-one meeting between the latter and Pakistan President and military ruler, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, in New York next month. Mr Bush, according to reports received by India’s Foreign Office from Washington, favours Mr Vajpayee’s meeting with Gen. Musharraf on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session. Even as Mr Vajpayee is unhappy over Pakistan’s continuing support to the cross-border terrorism and anti-India propaganda, he may eventually agree to hold a meeting with Gen. Musharraf in New York. Significantly, Pakistan’s Foreign Office has hinted strongly about such a meeting. The US President, who has expressed his deep concern over the mounting tensions between India and Pakistan and has, in fact, urged the two countries to "stand down" following the recent incidents of firing across the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, wants the two most important constitutional personalities-Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Gen. Parvez Musharraf-to meet in order to bring down the rising temperatures in the region. Mr Bush, who has invited Mr Vajpayee to Washington for a working visit, has through his Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, let it be known that Kashmir is a top priority for the US Administration. Earlier, US Deputy Secretary of State, Mr Richard Armitage, went to the extent of describing Kashmir as "the most dangerous place in the world". The US Administration, this time, has given very little room to New Delhi and Islamabad on the question of resuming the stalled dialogue. Diplomatic sources say that the US Administration, which is presently involved in far more tricky manoeuvres in Afghanistan, does not want another front to be opened over Kashmir in the region. Hence, Washington’s message to the Indian and Pakistani Governments that there is no room for continuing firing across the LoC by their respective troops, that India must not make matters more difficult for Pakistan at this juncture, and that Gen. Musharraf must rein in the jihadis and prevent incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. The UN General Assembly will meet from November 10 to November 16. Mr Vajpayee is expected to be in the US on November 9, while Gen. Musharraf will travel to New York on November 10 to take part in the UN General Assembly session. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Mr Abdus Sattar, who is also expected to accompany his military ruler, has conveyed to New Delhi that Islamabad desired a continuation of the dialogue process with India and looked forward to an opportunity for a meeting between Gen. Musharraf and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee in New York. At the same time reports from Islamabad indicate that Gen. Musharraf is under pressure to harp on Kashmir during his visit to the United States. Competent political analysts point out that Gen. Musharraf cannot expect his proposed dialogue with Mr Vajpayee to succeed, if one were to take into account New Delhi’s expression of dissatisfaction at Pakistan President’s obsession with Kashmir. Gen. Musharraf has reiterated that Kashmir is the "biggest hurdle" in normalisation of India-Pakistan relations. At a time when Pakistan’s military ruler has himself fashioned the propaganda drive in support of his move seeking another round of confabulation with the Indian Prime Minister at New York, he has coined a new terms vis-à-vis Kashmir. Now, he has termed Kashmir as "priority number one". India’s prompt reaction: "We reject the centrality of Kashmir in the dialogue process with Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir is one of the issues we are keen on resolving. India has never said that it does not want to discuss this issue". |
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Terrorists may
strike on Republic Day From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Oct 21: With a little over three months left for India’s Republic Day celebrations, security agencies have started formulating plans to prevent terrorists from carrying out deadly attacks in strategic areas, particularly Jammu and Kashmir and Union capital. This follows the ominous signals emanating from radio intercepts in recent days in Jammu and Kashmir. Interception of messages, meant for three terrorist outfits, was reported at a time when the country’s two premier intelligence organisations, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), had, in their respective assessment notes, discussed the "growing possibility" of terrorist strikes on the eve of, and during, Republic Day celebrations. After the three terrorist outfits were identified as the Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, the authorities in Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir were put on the alert. After the terrorist attacks in America on September 11, it was generally felt that if such serious security lapses can take place in the United States, they can happen anywhere. The horror picture that security agencies have in mind is a World Trade Centre (WTC) like hit on New Delhi’s Rajpath on January 26. However, there is no proposal to cancel the entire function. All that is being discussed, at present, is whether it is possible to make the arrival of VVIPs scattered to ensure that at one given point of time there is no big crowd of protected persons at the same place. Both the RAW and the IB have pointed out that the threat has enhanced following India’s open opposition to terrorism, which could provoke militant groups to carry out a US-like operation. A senior Government source told EXCELSIOR that a set of available intelligence inputs revealed that Pakistan-based Tabligh-e-Jamaat and Maulana Sami-ul-Haq’s Jamait Ulema-e-Islami had joined hands with the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in their anti-India campaign in Jammu and Kashmir. Former Director-General of the ISI, Lt. Gen. Javed Nasir, has formed the Tabligh-e-Jamaat after his unceremonious removal from the ISI in 1994. The source also revealed that if these intelligence inputs were any guide, the cadres of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed would, in the coming days, unleash terror in parts of India. The source said that much significance required to be attached to the tie-up between the Jaish-e-Mohammed headed by Masood Azhar and the ultra-right Sipah-e-Sahiban Pakistan. Sipah-e-Sahiban chief, Azam Tariq, has announced that he would place 100,000 cadre at the disposal of Masood Azhar for a jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. The Jaish-e-Mohammed has decided to continue anti-India offensive in J&K. The Government of India has admitted that on an average one suicide attacks has taken place every month after the Jaish introduced the fidayeen culture in J&K. According to the statistics available with the Union Home Ministry, terrorist groups in Jammu and Kashmir have, following the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, reactivated their networks. There is no denying that the situation in J&K has, in recent weeks, become alarming. There were as many as 496 terrorist attacks in September this year, up from 281 during the same period last year. |
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Brick manufacturers keen to use flyash for making bricks NEW DELHI, Oct 21: Brick manufacturers in the city have pleaded to the Delhi High Court to issue a direction to various Government agencies to take steps to use the highly pollutant flyash for manufacturing of bricks to protect the environment and solve the problem of its disposal. The Delhi Brick Kiln Owners Association (DBKOA), in a report submitted before the court, said brick manufacturers were more than keen to use the flyash for making bricks if the Government agencies pave the way for the same. The report prepared by DBKOA after a meeting with high officials headed by Chief Secretary, Delhi Government, said if 1.5 million tonnes of flyash generated by the three thermal plants in the capital was made available to the brick kiln owners, it would help in producing about 750 million bricks every year. Stating that the flyash bricks were proving to be more viable, DBKOA Secretary Anil Arora said in the report "if the Government agencies initiate action in this direction, the huge quantity of flyash going waste and causing pollution can be converted into a national asset." The Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB), by using about 20,000 tonnes of flyash at Rajghat Plant for manufacturing of the bricks, was not only helping in controlling pollution but was saving itself about Rs 12 lakh spent on disposal of the ash every year. The report was filed by the association in response to a set of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) highlighting the deadly effect of flyash on environment. (PTI) |
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Diya Mirza: a symbol of poise and self assurance NEW DELHI, Oct 21: She is just 19 but has a calm assurance of a 30-year-old. As she gets ready to face her first test at the turnstiles with ‘Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (RHTDM), her maiden bollywood venture, former Miss Asia Pacific seems an epitome of poise and self-assurance. Entering into an arena where many a beauty queen before her, including Anu Aggarwal and Sushmita Sen, have failed, Diya is determined to succeed where her predecessors did’nt. Born of a Bengali mother and a German father, Diya had never thought about a career in films despite her interest in seeing films. "For me modelling and films happened just by chance. In fact during my school days I was a tomboy, doing things and indulging in activities that usually boys indulge in," she told UNI. "But then modelling happened, and I suddenly found myself wearing the Miss Asia Pacific Crown." As soon as Diya won the Ms Asia-Pacific title, like her predecessor Zeenat Aman, Diya entered the film arena. In fact, three years ago, even before she became Miss Asia-Pacific, Anupam Kher had predicted that she would go places. "When he eventually started making the film "Om Jai Jagdism" (that was after I became Miss Asia Pacific), he remembered me and insisted to the director that he wanted me for the film," she says with a feeling of pride. The first in her family to take to a film career, Diya seems to have taken to bollywood like a fish to water. "It’s an interesting new world. I’m working with intelligent people. I’m working with directors who I can relate with." "Besides doing ‘Om Jai Jagdish’ with Anupam Kher, a very good actor and an equally good human being, there’s Salman Khan’s home production ‘Tumko Na Bhoola Payenge’. There are many offers. But, I’m just taking my time." Producer Vashu Bhagnani was so impressed by her performance in Om Jai Jagdish, that when Kareena walked out of his film "Dee Wanapan" he was too pleased to replace her with Diya. Recalling her times in school, Diya says,"when I was in school, I wanted to be a child psychologist." Asked as to what led her to accept the offer from Anupam uncle (as she likes to address Anupam Kher), Diya says, "I took up movies because I have always loved acting. At the same time I thought to myself that if I say ‘no’ now, and regret it five years down the line, this break will never come back to me. Today Diya Mirza is a known personality. But five years hence, she might not be. So, make hay while the sun shines. I’d rather do a film now and maybe think it wasn’t the right thing to do five years hence when I look back, than say ‘if only’." But wasn’t the going tough for her in bollywood considering that she is an extremely sensitive person, affected by what is happening around her. "I treat my role in every film as a job that has to be professionally done. So I go to the shoots, and simply do the job required of me," she says. According to Diya, her experience in the film industry had been enjoyable so far in that she was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with actors like Abhishek Bachchan and R Madhavan and directors like Anupam Kher, Gautam Menon who share her passion for work. In this context, she is specially full of praise for Abhishek Bachchan, her co-star in ‘Om Jai Jagdeesh’. "Working with Abhishek was a fabulous experience. In fact he has none of the starry tantrums that come from belonging to a family of legendary stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan." In fact, over the years there has been a perceptible change in the attitude of those in the industry. More and more actors as well as directors are realising the value of professionalism, Diya says. When asked as to why chose as her debut film a multistarrer like ‘Om Jai Jagdish’ (which she signed before RHTDM), with Anupam Kher, Diya says "I am not here to play any numbers game. Rather I’d like to go for roles that excite me. For me all that matters is to be true to myself and the work I am doing." Amazing confidence for one who has just entered the bollywood arena. According to Diya, the confidence, that fetched her the Miss Asia Pacific Crown and now has already got her noticed in bollywood is largely an offshoot of the teaching her parents gave to her. "It’s basically an offshoot from the kind of education I’ve had, the stability. I went to a very different school Vidya Aranya in Hyderabad, which followed the philosophy of U G Krishnamurthy. We had no uniform, no examinations till class eight yet we learnt so much. People forget what they learnt in school. I still remember a lots," she said. "It completely widens your horizons and you learn so much about life. It’s not textbook education." In fact, like most working girls today, diya is a very sensible young lady who values education a lot. "I think education is very important and one should not deprive oneself of it." "However, as long as I am in the film line I would like to concentrate solely on my work - doing the roles assigned to me to the best of my ability. In fact I believe that one should do one’s job with full professionalism. So, if one’s shoot requires one to turn up at seven in the morning one must do it." Asked as to how long she planned to wait before settling down, she says, "as of now I am too involved in my films to think of marriage. However, I do plan to settle down early." So what kind of a life partner was she looking for? "My prospective life partner would be one to whom I can look up to for inspiration and counsel. He could be either one whom I fall in love with or whom I meet though an arranged-cum-love marriage," she adds. (UNI) |
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