Excelsior... Nation

Counting begins
today in UP

LUCKNOW, Feb 23: Counting of votes polled in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, considered ......more

Shahi Imam’s plea to
expedite court verdict
on Ayodhya dispute

NEW DELHI, Feb 23: Making an impassioned plea to expedite court decision on the Ayodhya. ...more

Jamir announces repeal of
arrest warrants against
NSCN members

KOHIMA, Feb 23: In a major boost to the Naga peace process, Nagaland Chief Minister S C Jamir ...more

Govt committed to social
security for workers: PM

NEW DELHI, Feb 23: A day after the Centre cleared plans for providing for easier closure and lay-off...more

116 observers for as many
counting centres in Punjab

CHANDIGARH, Feb 23: The Election Commission (EC) has appointed an observer each for the 116.....more

National fisheries policy
on anvil: Ajit Singh

NEW DELHI, Feb 23: Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh has said his ministry is formulating a ....more

Uttaranchal gears up for
counting of votes of first
Assembly polls

DEHRA DUN, Feb 23: Ten days after polling in the first Assembly elections in the state, Uttaranchal ....more

Expert for strengthening
Chilla-Motichur corridor

DEHRA DUN, Feb 23: Wildlife expert A J T Johnsingh has underlined the urgent need to strengthen.....more

Counting begins today in UP

LUCKNOW, Feb 23: Counting of votes polled in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, considered crucial for the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government, begins at 0800 hrs tomorrow, amid tight security.

Counting will also be taken up for the Mirzapur Lok Sabha bypoll caused by the death of Bandit Queen-turned politican Phoolan Devi in a shoot-out in New Delhi last year.

For the first time, elections in the entire state were conducted through the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) — 127,393 in all.

In 33 of the 403 constituencies, two EVMs were used because of more than 16 candidates in the fray for each seat.

Counting will be taken up at 70 district headquarters in the state. All lines have been sealed and results are expected by that evening.

As many as 25 companies of paramilitary forces will man the counting centres where evms have been kept, sealed in strong rooms.

Among the prominent candidates whose political fate would be decided tomorrow are Chief Minister Rajnath Singh (Haidergarh), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) vice-president Mayawati (Jahangirganj and Harora), former Chief Minister and Rashtriya Kranti Party (RKP) chief Kalyan Singh (Atrauli and Dibai), speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi (Allahabad south), Urban Development Minister Lalji Tandon (Lucknow West), Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari (Rampur Khas) who is seeking election for the record eighth time, former Chief Minister and Congress candidate Ramnaresh Yadav (Phoolpur), Kisan Mazdoor Bahujan Party (KMBP) president Chowdhry Narendra Singh (Rajpur) and BJP nominee Amita Modi (Amethi).

Others include Samajwadi Party (SP) nominee and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother Shivpal Yadav (jaswant Nagar), BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya (Dalmau), former state Congress president Salman Khursheed’s wife Louis Fernandes (Kayamganj), Woman Welfare Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Prabha Dwivedi (Farrukhabad), State Sports and Youth Welfare Minister and history-sheeter Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya (Kunda), Handloom Minister Harishankar Tiwari (Chillupar), another independent against whom several criminal cases are pending, SP candidate and former minister Reoti Raman Singh (Karchana), former minister Naresh Agarwal (Hardoi) Diwakar Vikram Singh (Khesraha) and Mr Harishchandra Srivastava (Varanasi Cantt).

The fate of late Congress leader Kamlapati Tripati’s grandson Rajesh Prajapati Tripati and Phoolan Devi’s sister and RKP nominee Munni Devi in Mirzapur parliamentary constituency will also be decided tomorrow.

According to election office sources here, counting might be delayed in Kunda following an inquiry ordered into complaint of "silent rigging" in the constituency.

The elections were held in three phases on February 14, 18, 21 in 117,179 booths spread across the western, central and eastern regions of the Hindi heartland.

An estimated 55 per cent of the total 99.7 million voters exercised their franchise in a by-and-large peaceful polling.

A total of 5,533 candidates, including 965 with criminal records, participated in the elections.

While the ruling BJP contested 319 seats, the main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) put up candidates in 390 constituencies. The Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested 402 seats each. Though exit polls conducted by various agencies have predicted a hung Assembly, they differ in their assessment of the political mosaic that will emerge.

The CMS-Zee survey and the Doordarshan exit poll showed the SP emerging as the single largest party followed by the BJP and its allies. The Aaj tax poll put the BJP front ahead with the SP a close second.

According to CMS-Zee, the SP is expected to get 145 seats, the BJP 131, the BSP 84, the Congress 24 and others 19.

The Doordarshan poll predicted 156 seats for the SP, 118 for the BJP front, 80 for the BSP, 36 for the Congress and 13 for others.

The Aaj Tak survey gave 142 seats to the BJP, 136 to the SP, 83 to the BSP, 22 to the Congress and 20 to others. (UNI)

Shahi Imam’s plea to expedite court verdict
on Ayodhya dispute

NEW DELHI, Feb 23: Making an impassioned plea to expedite court decision on the Ayodhya dispute, Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri Masjid Mufti Mohammad Mukarram Ahmed today reiterated his demand for the reconstruction of Babri Masjid at its original site at Ayodhya.

Addressing a massive Id-ul-Zuha congregation with a sprinkling of foreign diplomats, the Shahi Imam flayed the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for its decision to construct a Ram Temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya from March 15, saying it would further aggravate communal feelings between the two communities.

The reports that the VHP was going ahead with the making of stone slabs for the temple were extremely disturbing, he said and appealed to the centre to put a clamp on it.

Launching a strong diatribe against terrorism, the cleric said India and Pakistan should initiate a dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue. "Both India and Pakistan should have sympathy for the people of Kashmir," he added.

All religions in India, he said, were equally respected and this healthy fact would "never allow the communal forces to succeed in their ugly designs and motivations to rupture the secular fabric of the country".

In his prayer address, the cleric said the Muslim community should emulate the teachings and ideals of the holy prophet who sacrificed his son Hazrat Ismail for the love of Allah.

"Islam has flourished because of its principles of equilibrium, social justice, mutual respect and peaceful co-existence, and a true devout should not hesitate to sacrifice his life for upholding these lofty ideals," the Shai Imam told the "Namazis".

Concluding his speech with a prayer for global peace, he said the recent air strikes on Iraq by the US and Britain were orchestrated to display the "imperialist clout" of these powers. He also demanded withdrawal of economic and other sanctions against Iraq and acceleration of the political process for a lasting and durable peace in West Asia. (UNI)

Govt committed to social security for workers: PM

NEW DELHI, Feb 23: A day after the Centre cleared plans for providing for easier closure and lay-off of workers, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today asserted the Government was committed to ensuring social security for workers and said a national policy in this regard was needed badly.

"The industrial scene has changed dramatically .... However, what has remained unchanged is the Government’s commitment to ensure social security for workers .... I must emphasise that this commitment has continued even after the country adopted economic reforms. This commitment will continue in the future too," Vajpayee said.

He was inaugurating a seminar on ‘evolving a national policy on social security’ here on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the ESI scheme.

Stating that social security could not mean exclusively state-funded and state-administered security schemes, the Prime Minister said "we should strengthen and activate all the non-state providers of social security. They can become an excellent interface between the vast unorganised sector on the one hand, and the state and other organised providers of social security on the other".

He said the state could play the role of a regulator and facilitator. "For the poorest of the poor, the state can also contribute partly to various social security schemes,which may be run by Government companies, private companies and social organisations.

He also said the country "directly needs" a national policy on social security.

Asserting that labour welfare was not some necessary burden that the economy had to carry, Vajpayee said economic activity could have no meaning if it did not guarantee labour welfare and welfare of the society at large.

"A worker is not a mere appendage to the vast machinery of production. He is indeed the creator of that machinery. He runs it with the power of his body and mind," he said.

The Prime Minister’s remarks comes a day after the Union Cabinet approved amendments to the industrial disputes act to allow companies employing upto 1,000 persons, as against the existing limit of 100, to retrench workers in economically unviable units without getting the Government’s permission.

Noting that the social security schemes only cover the organised sector, Vajpayee said they did not cover the much bigger unorganised sector, "which has poorer workers whose need for social security is greater".

"Our agricultural workers, construction workers, rickshaw pullers, porters, hawkers, workers in restaurants and shops, and such other businesses in the informal economy are today deprived of even a minimal social security support," he said.

Vajpayee said lack of a reliable social security system for them is not only their loss, it is also the loss of their employers and the nation, because their sickness and absenteeism has a direct effect on their productivity and hence on the financial bottomlines of their employers.

He said the seminar should focus on ways to improve the efficiency and output of the large but under-utilised and in some places mis-utilised infrastructure that ESIC has created in the past five decades. (PTI)

116 observers for as many counting centres in Punjab

CHANDIGARH, Feb 23: The Election Commission (EC) has appointed an observer each for the 116 counting centres in Punjab as compared to just 39 during the 1997 assembly polls as the contest for power is keen this time.

While the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) combine maintained that it would retain power after the results are out tomorrow afternoon, its principal rival, the Congress, has already planned celebrations expecting a win.

The State Election Office (SEC) has completed arrangements at all the 116 counting centres located in 68 cities and towns of Punjab.

Punjab Additional Chief Electoral Officer Usha Sharma said sealed Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) would be examined and opened at 0800 hrs tomorrow by returning officers in the presence of authorised representatives of 917 candidates who contested for 116 seats in the 117-member Vidhan Sabha.

Election to Malout (reserve) constituency was adjourned due to death of SAD candidate, Sujan Singh, on January 25.

The SAD-BJP together are contesting 114 seats and have left two for breakaway group of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Bahujan Samaj Morcha (BSM).

The Congress-CPI alliance has put up candidates on all 116 seats. Congress is contesting 106 seats, including Rajasansi, where it is supporting an independent, while CPI had ten candidates in the fray. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal (Lambi), Assembly Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal (Kartarpur-reserve) and former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur (Bholath) are among the sad candidates whose fate would be decided tomorrow.

Also locked in EVMs is the fate of state Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh (Patiala), two former Chief Ministers from Congress, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Lehragaga) and Mr Harcharan Singh Brar (Mukatsar) and CLP leader Jagjit Singh (Kartarpur).

Mr Balramji Das Tandon (Rajpura), Mr M M Mittal (Nangal) and Mr Manoranjan Kalia (Jalandhar-Central) are among the BJP’s nine ministers who are in the fray.

All except three of the total 32 sad ministers contested the poll as party candidates, while Mr Gobind Singh Kanjhla (Sherpur-R), Mr Ranjit Singh Ballian (Sangrur) and Ms Mahinder Kaur Josh (Sham Chaurasi-R) entered the fray as independents after denial of SAD tickets.

Former Akali Ministers Manjit Singh Calcutta (Amritsar-South), Mahesh Inder Singh Garewal (Qila Raipur) and Harmel Singh Tohra (Dakala) are among the 84 candidates of Panthic Morcha who contested the elections on the symbol of Akali Dal (Amritsar).

The BSP state president, Mohan Singh Phallianwala, party’s lone MLA in the present Assembly Shingara Ram Sahungra and Mr Avtar Singh Karimpuri are notable among the party’s 99 candidates.

Both CPI MLAs - Hardev Arshi (Budladha) and Ajaib Singh Raunta (Nihal Singhwala) - are among the ten candidates put up by the party.

The lone SAD (Amritsar) MLA, Ajit Singh Moffar, tried his luck as Congress candidate from Sardulgarh this time against sad general secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Rajya Sabha MP, whom he had defeated in the 1997 poll.

Meanwhile, Ms Usha Sharma said about 12,000 security personnel, including 1500 from paramilitary forces, would be on duty at the counting centres tomorrow. She said while para-military forces would man the inner security cordon, Punjab Police would take care of the outer security cordon.

The Additional Chief Electoral Officer said since it was all EVM-poll in Punjab the EC has put restrictions on giving out counting trends. Ms Sharma hoped the election result would be out by early afternoon. (UNI)

National fisheries policy on anvil: Ajit Singh

NEW DELHI, Feb 23: Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh has said his ministry is formulating a national fisheries policy to tap the potential of the country’s exclusive economic zone.

With the rescinding of the marine policy in 1996, a vacuum was created that triggered off several repercussions besides not being able to fully tap the potential, Ajit Singh said adding that his ministry was trying to address the issue by bringing out a marine fishing policy.

Addressing the meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee attached with his ministry here yesterday Mr Singh said that the aquaculture authority bill, currently before Parliament, when passed, will ensure sustainable development of coastal aquaculture.

He informed the members that several reforms has proposed during the tenth plan to boost the sector. They include micro-management approach in case of centrally sponsored schemes, direct funding to state implementing agencies, involvement of financial institutions for providing schematic lending for bankable projects, change in the approved pattern of assistance to State Governments in the centrally sponsored schemes and strengthening of monitoring mechanism.

For increasing fish production,the minister said, the focus had to be shifted to aquaculture and the development of reservoir fisheries.

"Mariculture is expected to be another major activity in the years to come. The breeding and culture of fresh water ornamental fishes would generate great employment opportunities and develop into a local trade. In keeping with the national agriculture policy, which aims to attain a growth rate of four per cent per annum in the agriculture sector, a growth rate of minimum four per cent is to be targeted for the fisheries sector. It is necessary to earmark separate funds for activities relating to management of fisheries dealing with multiple user groups," the minister said.

In addition to enhanced public investment, private sector investment has to be encouraged particularly in the deep-sea sector, fish seed and feed production, besides fish processing and marketing.

During discussions it was revealed that the central and centrally sponsored schemes are also being refined to meet the contemporary needs of the sector during the tenth plan. In order to augment the fish production and promote aquaculture, four new pilot schemes: development of fisheries and aquaculture in hill region integrated development of inland capture fisheries resources development of waterlogged areas into aquaculture estates and utilisation of inland saline soil for aquaculture have been implemented in the states of Jammu Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttranchal, Sikkim, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana with 100 per cent central assistance during 2001-02.

The meeting was also informed that as a sequel to the zero based budgeting exercise for convergence/merging/macro management and in the light of the recommendations of the Planning Commission and the working group report, the Government proposes to combine schemes in the fisheries sector under five categories. An outlay of Rs 1535 crores has been proposed for the tenth plan.

During the discussion, members expressed concern that of the original budget allocation of Rs.800 crore, only Rs 418 crore have been spent till the end of January 2002. The Minister of State for Agriculture, Shri Hukum Deo Narayan Yadav told the members that the State Government were the main partners in the implementing the centrally-sponsored schemes, and quite often the funds could not be fully utilised due to financial crises, natural calamities, and altered priorities in the states.

Some members raised the issue of reducing the interest rates of NABARD loans to farmers. Shri Yadav told them that the ministry would issue necessary instructions to nabard. Other issues which were raised during the discussion included excess production of food grains and their storage problem and pollution of rivers by industrial effluents. Members suggested that provision of infrastructure like cold chains for perishable fish products and implementation of special programmes for fishermen in the north-east. Members suggested that there should be real focus on marine fisheries because of its export potential and value addition should be carried out in the country rather than the outside.

Members also demanded that the assistance to the scheme of inland fish marketing should continue during the tenth plan. Some members suggested for a proper marketing agency to protect the interest of small fishermen and suggested that small and medium irrigation projects should be exploited for fisheries purposes.

Members who attended the meeting are Mr Bhartruhari Mahtab, Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, Mr Uttamrao Dhikale, Mr K P Singh Deo, Mr N Janaradhana Reddy and Mr K A Sangtam from Lok Sabha and Mr Ramendra Kumar Yada ‘Ravi , Mr M J Varkey Mattathil, Mr Vikram Verma, Mrs Jamna Devi Barupal, Mr V V Raghavan and Mr Indramoni Bora from Rajya Sabha. (UNI)

Uttaranchal gears up for counting of votes
of first Assembly polls

DEHRA DUN, Feb 23: Ten days after polling in the first Assembly elections in the state, Uttaranchal is all set to conduct counting of votes in 70 Assembly constituencies tomorrow.

After a lull in activity in the capital since February 15, the mood has changed to one of excitement and expectation as the first results are being awaited eagerly by political parties, candidates and their supporters.

According to Uttaranchal’s Chief Election Officer N Ravishankar, the first results may start arriving a little after 1000 hrs tomorrow after counting begins at 0800 hrs.

The entire process would take about four to five hours, he said.

Of the nine Vidhan Sabha seats of Dehra Dun district, counting for Mussoorie, Chakrata, Vikas Nagar and Sahaspur seats would be done at the Sanatan Dharam Inter College (Bannu) in Race Course in Doon while counting for the Dehra Khas, Laxman Chowk, Doiwala, Rishikesh and Rajpur seats would be conducted at the women’s polytechnic at Suddhowala in the Doon Valley, he said.

Strict security is being maintained at both these counting centres in the capital. Mobile phones and smoking inside the centres has been banned.

District Magistrate Om Prakash, SP (City) G S Martoliya and other officials reviewed the arrangements at both the counting centres in Doon last evening.

A ban has also been imposed on victory processions in the state for tomorrow keeping in view the need to maintain law and order, Mr Om Prakash said.

There are a total of 16 counting centres all over the state for the 70 Assembly constituencies of Uttaranachal.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Crime), Uttaranchal Anil K Raturi, told UNI here that though the paramilitary forces deployed during the polling had been called back by the centre, 14 companies of the PAC, 4000 homeguards of Uttaranchal and the district police force would "more than suffice" for maintianing security during the counting in the state.

"We foresee no problems as the process is not long drawn out and cumbersome any longer, with the EVMs, it should be over by 1300 hrs," he said.

Key constituencies of the state are Kapkot (Bageshwar) from where Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari is contesting, Laxman Chowk (Dehra Dun) from where former Chief Minister Nityanand Swami was in the fray, Doiwala from where Samajwadi Party’s state president Vinod Barthwal fought, Thalisain (Pauri) from where State Finance Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank" was in the fray and Bironkhal (Pauri) from where Amrita Rawat, wife of Satpal Maharaj, contested.

The fate of 927 candidates will be decided in tomorrow’s counting in the state. Of them, 345 are independents, 69 are from the BJP, 70 from the Congress, 68 from the BSP, 16 from the CPI, 11 from the CPI(M), 25 from the NCP, 63 from the Samajwadi Party and 260 from registered but unrecognised parties.

There was 54.1 per cent polling in the entire state in its first Assembly elections. The total number of voters in the state are 52,53,433 out of which 11,595 are service voters.

After the last Assembly elections in Uttaranchal region (then a part of Uttar Pradesh) 17 of the 22 seats were with the BJP, 2 were with the SP, one with the BSP, one with the Congress and one was unattached. After delimitation was done for the first Assembly elections in the state, the Assembly seats increased to 70. (UNI)