Jaguar crash an
accident: Fernandes

PATNA, Nov 6: Terming the Jaguar crash at Ambala as an ‘accident’ Defence Minister George Fernandes today said that he had called a .......more

R K Narayan or
R J Narayan?

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: R K Narayan, one of India’s most famous writers, launched his literary career with a printer’s devil in his own name......more

Another SGPC member
of SAD revolts
against Badal

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6: In yet another setback to the Shiromani Akali Dal -Badal (SAD), Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhik Committee.....more

Jaguar crash
Body of boy
recovered, toll 5

AMBALA, Nov 7: The body of a seven year old boy has been recovered from the debris of two houses which were .....more

CVC to focus on
transparency, improvement to reduce corruption

CHENNAI, Nov 6: Bringing in transparency and improvements in the system are high on the agenda of the Central ........more

Astrosat to give
researchers an edge

MUMBAI, Nov 6: Astrosat — the astronomical research satellite to be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will add punch to the research activities in the......more

Turkish accused in
Rs 133 cr urea scam
seek bail from SC

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: After spending more than five years in prison, the two Turkish accused in the Rs 133 crore urea ......more

Nagappa’s family
calls on Jaya

CHENNAI, Nov 6: Parimala Nagappa, wife of former Karnataka Hinister H Nagappa held captive by forest brigand...more

Lack of cohesion led to crisis: Kalraj ....

NDMC to focus more on social welfare prog....

Samata questions "procedure, speed" of disinvestment....

Jaguar crash an accident: Fernandes

PATNA, Nov 6: Terming the Jaguar crash at Ambala as an ‘accident’ Defence Minister George Fernandes today said that he had called a high-level meeting of the Indian Air Force in New Delhi on November 8 to review why such mishaps were taking place.

"It was an accident," was his cryptic reply to reporters who approached him at Jayprakash Narayan international airport here for his comments on the aircraft crash yesterday which claimed six lives in Ambala cantonment area.

He ruled out the shifting of existing airbases close to residential areas in view of the successive mishaps involving fighter planes, saying "an accident can happen anywhere."

He, however, said a court of inquiry had already been ordered into the crash and "let us wait for its findings."

A meeting of Indian Air Force chief, pilots and engineers has also been called to review the repeated occurence of such mishaps. "We will also go into the maintenance aspect of the fighter planes ... Jaguar is the safest plane in Indian Air Force," he said.

On the reported move of the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed Government in Jammu and Kashmir to review application of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and release some political prisoners, Fernandes said "now the elections are over ... Let an elected Government take decision ... We will not interfere in it."

The Centre was only concerned about free and fair elections in the State, he said.

To another question, Fernandes said effective steps have already been taken for checking infiltration of ISI agents to India. (PTI)

R K Narayan or R J Narayan?

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: R K Narayan, one of India’s most famous writers, launched his literary career with a printer’s devil in his own name.

The cover of his first book "Swami and Friends"(1935) bore the name "R J Narayan". The mistake, which was fortunately not repeated, is today part of the lore of Indian literature.

Though it is not known if a copy of the book with the mistaken cover is available in India, people can now see a photograph of the cover, which is kept in the India office library in London.

The photograph now appears in a new book "An illustrated history of Indian literature", published by permanent black. Among the other photographs are the Macaulay English minute introducing English education in India and Macaulay’s picture.

The book is a 200-year journey which begins from the time Indian first started writing in English to the present day, a period which its publisher Rukun Advani describes as "from Raja Rammohun Roy to Arundhati Roy".

Appearing with Rudyard Kipling, Nobel prize winners Rabindranath Tagore and V S Naipaul and Nirad C Chaudhuri, Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth are Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

"Though the purpose of the writings of Gandhi and Nehru was not literary, they became classics because of their political contents," says Advani.

Edited by Allahabad University English teacher Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, the book contains 24 articles on different topics by such contributors as Amit Chaudhury who writes on Tagore and Pankaj Mishra whose article is on R K Narayan. The book shows the current success of Indian writing in English while suggesting that its has a long history, says Advani. "Indians have been writing in English for a long time."

The book focuses on the history of Indian writing in English and shows there were people in India who were also writing on other subjects such as nature and anthropology, says Mehrotra. Therefore, another article covers the works of India’s famous orinthologist Salim Ali. Ramachandra Guha writes on anthropologist Verrier Elwin.

Advani says he was struck by the idea for the book when he was working in the Oxford University press nine years ago. They asked A K Ramanujam, Mukul Keshavan and Even Amitav Ghosh to become its editors, but they turned down the offer. Mehrotra, who had published an anthology of modern Indian poets, too was diffident initially, but later agreed to edit the book because of the large scope of Indian prose history the work offered.

"This book is undoubtedly the first illustrated history of Indian literature," says Advani.

The section on Naipaul is written by former Khalsa College teacher Sudhir Kaul, who now teaches in Pennsylvania University and that on Rushdie by former Indraprastha College teacher Aradhana Dingwaney.

The readers, however, will have to wait for a section on pulp fiction and Shobha De in the next edition as a planned chapter on the topic did not arrive on time.

The book wil be launched at the British Council tomorrow evening. (UNI)

Another SGPC member of SAD revolts against Badal

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6: In yet another setback to the Shiromani Akali Dal -Badal (SAD), Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhik Committee (SGPC) member Tarlochan Singh Dupalpur of SAD today extended his support to the seven-member committee, formed by another party rebel Mal Singh Ghuman, for the cause of a consensus candidate in the SGPC presidential polls on November 12.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Dupalpur even said that he had been held as captive, along with several other SGPC members, by SAD president Parkash Singh Badal at a farm house of Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala.

"I was forced not to move out of the farm house which was guarded by the Haryana Police cops," he said, adding that the farm house was in Haryana.

Siginificantly, SAD president Parkash Singh Badal has been maintaining that the SGPC members had come to him for shelter on their own due to the harassment they faced by the Congress Government in Punjab, which had been supporting the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) of Gurcharan Singh Tohra.

Extending his support to the Ghuman-led seven-member committee, Mr Ghuman, the SGPC member from Nawanshahar, said that he had full faith in that committee which was constituted for a consensus candidate for the SGPC presidential election.

The SAD has labelled the formation of this committee as a conspiracy of the Tohra group and the ruling Congress. Mr Dupalpur stated that he, along with some other SGPC members, had initially been called at Gurdwara Nadha Sahib, near Chandigarh, and they were later escorted to Gurdwara Balasar by some men of SGPC member Bibi Jagir Kaur.

"We were told that we are beign taken to safe places in interest of the party (SAD) in view of the SGPC presidential polls," he told reporters.

He stated that some of them were later shifted to Mr Chautala’s farm house in Haryana from where he had escaped alone.

"I was stopped by a cop but I managed to escape and walked about 12 km to reach Dabwali," he said.

The SGPC member from Nawanshahar said the Punjab Police had asked him for security to which he refused a few days back, before he had been taken away by his own party leaders.

"I never felt any threat but it was unfortunate that the party (SAD) members were forcefully kept guarded by our own leaders," he said in reponse to a question.

Besides Mr Ghuman and Mr Dupalpur, other SAD members in the SGPC general house who have raised the banner of revolt against Mr Badal included Partap Sinhgh, Sadhu Singh Ragi and Dhian Singh Charmari.

The SGPC general house has presently 176 members in the erstwhile 185-member House. Nine have passed away after the last SGPC presidential polls. (UNI)

Jaguar crash
Body of boy recovered, toll 5

AMBALA, Nov 7: The body of a seven year old boy has been recovered from the debris of two houses which were flattened by an Indian Air Force (IAF) Jaguar that crashed in a residential area of Ambala cantonment yesterday taking the toll to five, official sources said here today.

The body of Parveen Kumar was found in a mutilated condition during the operation being carried out to clear the debris of two flattened houses, the sources said adding that laborers had been directed to clear the debris with care lest any other body may be buried. Four persons-Lajo and her daughter Aarti, Nirmala and a 12-year old boy Bharat were killed yesterday.

Four of the five, who were rushed to the PGI in Chandigarh have been shifted to the general surgery ward following stabilization while the fifth was admitted in the emergency. Two others were undergoing treatment in Government Medical College Hospital in Chandigarh.

Of the seven admitted in military hospital here one was discharged, hospital sources said today. Three out of six are serious, the sources added.

Meanwhile the IAF authorities have recovered the black box of the Jaguar fighter aircraft, which crashed in a residential area on outskirts of Ambala cantonment yesterday killing four persons and injuring 16 others, an official spokesman said here today.

The black box was recovered from the near the debris of the two houses which were flattened following the crash. Senior IAF officials were supervising the operation to collect the wreckage of the aircraft strewn in an area of 100 yards while civil authorities were getting the area cleared of the debris.

Pilot of the Jagur Flt Lt Rehani was reportedly under treatment in the military hospital. IAF authorities have declined to provide any inforamtion saying it could be had from their headquarter in Delhi.

The remaining two were discharged from the general hospital here last night after medical aid. (PTI)

CVC to focus on transparency, improvement to reduce corruption

CHENNAI, Nov 6: Bringing in transparency and improvements in the system are high on the agenda of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to reduce instances of corruption, CVC Commissioner P Shankar said today.

The former Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, who is here in connection with the "Vigilance Awareness Week" organised by the Southern Railways, told newspersons that the instances of corruption could be brought down by bringing in changes in the system.

Citing the introduction of computerised reservation system in railways which, according to him, had effectively curbed corruption, he said "we are planning to do it in purchase procedures like putting the tender forms on the net to reduce corruption."

Stating that the CVC could do a lot to ensure transparency, Mr Shankar stressed that the right to information act should be implemented in the spirit with which it was brought.

Interface with the public had to be improved, he noted, adding that the CVC, with the help of all departments, would publish a booklet, which would also be distributed through net, to create an awareness among the people. Besides, the cvc would come out with display boards on do’s and don’ts in all departments to reduce corruption.

The name of the corrupt people would be displayed on the net only after he/she was punished by a court, he added. Mr Shankar, who took over as CVC Commissioner two months ago, said that his role was confined only to the Centre and the departments and PSUs coming under the purview of the Central Government. "I have no jurisdiction over the States. My role is limited to some extent."

However, he said the CVC had received about 17,000 complaints last year and about 10 to 15 e-mails per day, several thousands of which did not come under his jurisdiction. If anything serious was found in the complaint it would be referred to the Chief Secretary of the respective State for action, he added.

Maintaining that the CVC would not entertain anonymous or pseudo-anonymous complaints, Mr Shankar said the identity of the complainant would however be protected if he or she feared any retributive action.

No time frame could be fixed to clean up the country from corruption, he said and added that it was a continuous process.

Mr Shankar said that during vigilance awareness week that began on October 31 employees of various departments took a pledge to render their work with honesty and integrity. (UNI)

Astrosat to give researchers an edge

MUMBAI, Nov 6: Astrosat — the astronomical research satellite to be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will add punch to the research activities in the country, leading astronomers and researchers feel.

The satellite will provide data for astronomical studies and the other payload including an all sky X-ray monitors and an ultra violet/optical telescope system, according to ISRO sources.

Besides the ISRO, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Indian Institute of Astrophysics and Raman Research Institute are involved in developing the satellite which will be launched in the next few years.

The launch will be yet another milestone in the astronomical research in the country.

The announcement of the launch of ‘Astrosat’ was made some time back by ISRO Chairman Dr K Kasturirangan and the process of developing this indigenous satellite is currently underway in Indian space research labs.

Astronomy is the oldest scientific discipline humankind has known and it has, alongwith astrophysics, come a long way since independence and the proposed launch of Astrosat is seen as yet another step towards the quality research in India. Prof Rajesh Kochhar, director of New Delhi-based National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies, welcomed the ISRO step and said that such an exclusive satellite for astronomical research will boost research activities in the country.

City-based astronomer Dr Bharat Adur of the Nehru Planetarium here, also said that such a satellite will be a major advantage for astronomers and astrophysicists of the country.

Researchers said that with the launch of this advanced satellite, astronomical research institutions can now look beyond advanced telescopes for their finds.

Prof Kochhar, who has authored several books on astronomy including ‘Astronomy in India: a perspective’ along with Dr Jayant Narlikar, said "modern astronomy which came to India in tow with Europeans, will go beyond the age of telescopic astronomy and will be yet another major breakthrough in modern astronomy."

Some institutes of optical astronomy in India have carved a niche in the arena and these include Vainu Bappu observatory, Kavalur of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Nisamiah and Japal-Rangapur observatories and department of astronomy of Hyderabad-based Osmania University, Uttar Pradesh State Observatory, Naini Tal, Gurushikar Infra-red Observatory, Mt Abu, Kodaikanal Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and Udaipur Solar Observatory.

Radio astronomy has also developed in India at a similar pace. The institutes include the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics of the TIFR at Pune, the Raman Research Institute at Bangalore and the Physical Research Lab at Ahmedabad.

The history of space astronomy in India is also five decade old, but the Astrosat will herald a new era of research. Gamma-ray astronomy in India has also advanced considerably. The nuclear and high-altitude research laboratories of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Gulmarg has come a long way since the sixties, he added. (UNI)

Turkish accused in Rs 133 cr urea scam seek bail from SC

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: After spending more than five years in prison, the two Turkish accused in the Rs 133 crore urea import scam have approached the Supreme Court alleging that they have been discriminated by denial of bail which was granted to all Indian accused.

Tuncay Alankus and Cihan Karanci, the two executives of Karsan, which had entered into an agreement with National Fertiliser Litmited (NFL) to supply two lakh metric tonnes of urea but could not supply any even after receiving the payment in advance, have been in jail since their extradition to India from Switzerland on October 3, 1997.

They have appealed against the May 2002 order of the Delhi High Court dismissing their bail petition but directing that they would be released on bail if trial of the case was not concluded six months from the date of first recording of evidence provided they furnished a bank guarantee of 38 million dollars.

The petition came up for hearing before a bench comprising Justice S N Variava and Justice K G Balakrishnan last week and the hearing was adjourned as the petitioners sought time to file additional documents in the matter.

Both the petitioners raised a question of law - "whether the foreigner can be discriminated under article 14 of the Constitution of India in respect of grant of bail specially when he is similarly situated with the other persons who are Indian citizens."

They also raised the quesners referred to the insurance cover to the deal and said the fraud was perpetrateetention of the petitioners is not violative of article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India and also when the Union Government has given the undertaking that the petitioners will not be discriminated when they are extradited to India.

In this case, the accused NFL officials C K Ramakrishna and D S Kanwar and other accused M Sambasiva Rao, Sanjeeva Rao, former Fertiliser Minister’s son Prakash Chand Yadav and Malleshan Goud have been granted bail.

The petitioners referred to the insurance cover to the entire deal and said the fraud was perpetrated by the officials of the Mediterranean’s Insurance Ltd (MIL) - A Papaghikas, Neil Stevens and Loyd’s to avoid the policy and payment to them.

They accused NFL and CBI of being part of the conspiracy by alleging that while NFL did not lodge a insurance claim the investigating agency did not include the insurance firm as accused in the FIR.

"There was a conspiracy to avoid payment of claim by the insurance company in connivance with the officials of NFL and CBI at the behest of people in power," the two Turkish accused said in their peitition.

"A false case was made in India on political grounds against the plaintiffs and the said case is still at a preliminary stage even though they have been in illegal confinement at Tihar jail for more than five years," they said. (PTI)

Nagappa’s family calls on Jaya

CHENNAI, Nov 6: Parimala Nagappa, wife of former Karnataka Hinister H Nagappa held captive by forest brigand Veerappan, today called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and sought her Government’s cooperation in securing the release of her husband.

With the contentious Cauvery issue meandering to taking the back seat, Mrs Nagappa, accompanied by her son Dr Preetham, daughter Parwan and son-in-law Dr Kiran, was closeted with Ms Jayalalithaa for about 20 minutes at the State Secretariat.

The Nagappas meeting with Ms Jayalalithaa assumes significance in the backdrop of Karnataka rejecting Veerappan’s demand to send its minister Raju Gowda as an Emissary in place of Kolathur Mani.

Emerging after the meeting, Dr Preetham said the visit was mainly to seek the cooperation of the Tamil Nadu Government in securing the release of his father. "We have not come out with any proposal. We came to seek the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s help and Madam has assured us of all help."

He replied in the negative when asked whether they have asked the Chief Minister to stop the Special Task Force (STF) operations.

Ms Parwan said just like the two State Governments began the joint STF operations to nab the elusive brigand, both the Governments should work together and take up the job of securing the release of her father, being held captive since August 25.

She said Veerappan’s demand for sending jailed Tamil nationalist leader Kolathur Mani to negotiate the release also figured in the meeting and Ms Jayalalithaa assured to get back to them after consulting legal and other experts. A grief-stricken Mrs Nagappa kept quiet as her son, daughter and son-in-law handled the media.

Soon after the kidnap episode in August, Mrs Nagappa expressed her desire to meet Ms Jayalalithaa but the meeting did not take place as the cauvery issue was centre-stage at the time. Moreover, Ms Jayalalithaa had ruled out sending any emissary and withdrawal of STF operations.

Meanwhile, a top Government official said that Mrs Nagappa and others did not come out with any specific agenda. The Tamil Nadu Government had nothing to do with Kolathur Mani as he was detained in Karnataka. Of the three cases filed against him, Mani had obtained bail in one and it was up to Karnataka to decide, he said.

If any specific request came from Karnataka pertaining to Mr Nagappa, the Government would consult experts and decide, he added. (UNI)

Lack of cohesion led to crisis: Kalraj

LUCKNOW, Nov 6: Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra today admitted that "lack of cohesion" among the top brass in the Uttar Pradesh unit had led to the current stand off with the dissidents and the party could no longer claim it was a party with a difference.

"The whole incident has proved that there is need to increase confidence and cohesion among senior leaders of the state and for this the national leaders will have to make efforts once again", he told PTI.

Had there been good communication among senior leaders of the party then this crisis could have been averted, Mishra, who quit as BJP state unit chief about six months back for lack of cohesion among top leaders, said.

"After I resigned as state president, the national leadership made attempts to bridge the gap and there was success initially. But before that effort could bear fruits in real term this crisis plagued the party", Mishra said.

It is almost three weeks the state unit is in turmoil after Chief Minister Mayawati expanded her ministry on October 11. The legislators who were denied ministerial berths have formed a save BJP committee to put pressure on the leadership, he said.

Mishra said "it is unfortunate that some senior leaders of the party who had won Assembly elections many a times behaved in such a manner. Their conduct has brought a bad name to the party and now we have lost the face to say that BJP is a party with difference".

Mishra said to avert "crisis of credibility" the need of the hour was to intensify interaction of party workers with senior leaders.

He said there are reports that the national leaders know the reasons for the volatile situation and for this very reason former national president Kushabhau Thakre was sent as a trouble shooter.

Though Thakre has refused to comment on the issue saying he has sent his report to the high command, party sources say he has asked all the four senior leaders of the party - Kalraj Mishra, Rajnath Singh, Lalji Tandon and Om Prakash Singh - to tame their respective groups.

The state BJP chief Vinay Katiyar is hopeful that the crisis would end soon as all are eager to resolve the crisis at the earliest. (PTI)

NDMC to focus more on social welfare prog

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: The first woman chairperson of the New Delhi Municipal Council P M Singh today said changing the priorities of the council from cultural events to social welfare programmes, would be on the top of her agenda.

"We will continue the cultural programmes like morning raga only if we get sponsors for them as the NDMC will not spend its money on it. Instead, it will focus on neat and clean environment, and social welfare schemes for the people," Ms Singh said here at her first press conference after taking over charge.

Empathising with the insecurity of working women living in the city, she said that though the were 2-3 working women hostels the NDMC would construct more such hostels in the near future. A proposal for establishing night shelters for homeless women and children was also on the anvil where NGOs would provide counselling to women and children and also help in their placement and rehabilitation.

As women’s health was most neglected, the NDMC would hold regular health camps in various localities of the capital. Three camps would be held on a fixed date in each locality so that people could come up for regular or follow up check-up and treatment of minor ailments and if have major health problem they would be referred to hospitals in the area.

She would also strive for reviving self-help groups with the help of NGOs for economic empowerment and welfare of women. The NGOs helping in this regard would get welfare grants from the government. She said new courses like computers, candle making, house keeping, cooking and home management would be introduced for women to meet the needs of the time for their self reliance.

"Instead of chasing off destitute women and children from the NDMC area, we will work to rehabilitate them. In this, help from NGOs will also be taken," she said.

Streamlining of parking lots, decongestion of market places, collection of outstanding dues, educating children about civic sense, redressal of public grievances, to ensure uninterrupted electricity and water supply, making citizens more responsible towards their city and over all improvement in civic services were the other priorities of the new NDMC chairperson.

"Maintaining cleanliness in will be my top priority. Citizens will be make aware of their responsiblity and litter buggers will be penalised as per provisions of the NDMC Act," she said and added that help of school children and volunteers would be solicted in this regard. Taking a very strict view of the tax evaders, Ms Singh said that strict action would be taken against anybody indulging in it, including the lawmakers. She said that during changeover, clearance from Directorate of Estates would require mandatory clearance from NDMC about power and water bills of the concerned MPs.

"We will give them sufficient time, but recovery of dues was necessary for development as any organisation can work and flourish only when it is financially sound," she said and informed that rationalisation of property taxes would be done soon. The NDMC, which meets 56 per cent of its budget from taxes, has collected Rs 83 crore as tax this year as compared to last year’s Rs 51 crore.

Monitoring would be done about unauthorised construction in various embassies and diplomatic enclaves and their list would be sent to the External Affairs Ministry for further action, she clarified. She said that peoples grievances would be attended to on a priority basis and transparency would be brought in NDMC through its interactive website.

As cleanliness was affected by congestion, encroachments, pasting of posters haphazardly on walls, due attention would be paid to streamlining the parking in markets which otherwise was disturbed by commuters taking their vehicles upto the shops. The parking problems faced by the people would be solved especially in the connaught place area where two-wheelers would not be allowed from January 1 this year, instead people would have to use battery operated buses. Efforts for removal of encroachment would also be made.

About the monkey menace in the capital, she said that NDMC’s record in this regard was very impressive as it has caught more than 200 monkeys this year by taking help from professional monkey catchers from Madhya Pradesh.

However, all the projects initiated by her predecessors would be continued, she clarified and said that this included construction of more toilets for women, modern rest rooms on bot basis and garbage collection centres. (UNI)

Samata questions "procedure, speed" of disinvestment

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Samata Party, an important constituent of the ruling NDA coalition, today attacked the Government on the "procedure and speed" of disinvestment, particularly in the sale of Mumbai-based Centaur Hotel and IPCL, and demanded a mid-term evaluation of its economic policies.

Releasing the resolutions passed at the party’s national executive in Rajkot, party spokesman Shambu Shrivastava said the process of disinvestment has raised doubts in the minds of the public.

"Our party has no difference on the policy of disinvestment or privatisation. But the procedure and speed has created misgivings and apprehensions among the people, which need to be cleared," he told reporters here.

Citing the case of Mumbai-based Centaur Hotel sale, he said it was sold in February this year for Rs 83 crore to Batra Hospitality which resold it within six months to Sahara Group for Rs 115 crore, earning a profit of Rs 32 crore at a "time of market recession".

"This is bound to raise suspicions," he said.

Shrivastava also cited the ‘strategic sale’ of IPCL to Reliance India Ltd and alleged that the Government’s "own guideline was not adhered to by allowing the company to bid for IPCL since top officials of RIL have been charged with violation of Official Secrets Act (OSA)."

"The sale has raised important questions as it has national security implications since some cabinet documents were recovered from the reliance industries office," he said. Shrivastava said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should convene a meeting of senior ministers to discuss the disinvestment issue and re-evaluate the procedure on the basis of arguments forwarded by various quarters.

Asked whether his party was demanding any action against those responsible for sale of Centaur Hotel, he said "if the wrong has been done, nothing can be done legally."

He warned the Government against allowing replacement of public sector monopoly by private sector monopoly and demanded that any information on evaluation, bidders, reason for evaluation of a property and share-holders agreement be made public much before a deal is struck unlike the present practice wherein details are revealed after an agreement.

Shrivastava also asked the Government to spend the money generated from disinvestment on social sector and not for covering fiscal deficit caused due to "vulgar" spending.

"Till now the Government has not given any information on how much money it has got from disinvestment and how much has been spent on social sector," he said.

On the issue of employment generation, the Samata Party spokesman said although the infrastructure development projects and ambitious plan for building houses for soldiers would create jobs "it is not enough".

He underlined the need for providing jobs to the estimated 15 crore unemployed youth, saying it was essential for "strengthening national security as unemployed youth become recruits for terrorism, insurgency, communal violence and all other social ills." (PTI)

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