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India plans to sell sophisticated armaments

NEW DELHI, Oct 27: India has dispensed with the archaic policy of blacklisting some nations for defence exports, Defence Minister George Fernandes said, announcing plans to sell sophisticated armaments like warships, helicopters, aircraft, small arms and specialised ammunition.

Setting a target of Rs 1000 crore for export of armaments this year, fernandes said "we have started a drive to find export markets to achieve economies of scale for our indigenous armament industry".

Maintaining that the defence industry till now had been mainly catering to domestic needs, Fernandes said in a wide-ranging interview that exports which are worth less than Rs 100 crore will now be raised ten fold.

Under the old policy, countries like South Africa, Israel and some other nations were debarred for arms sales and strangely the two nations are currently New Delhi’s major joint venture partners even in strategic armaments.

Israel, after Russia, has become the biggest arms supplier to India as the two countries are on the threshold of entering into a strategic partnership for the development of airborne Early Warning and Control Systems (AWACS).

In the co-production of the awacs, in which Israeli advanced surveillance radars would be mounted on an IL-76 transport Aircraft, russia would be third partner.

"Several countries have evinced interest in Indian made electronic warfare systems, new range of 5.56 mm small arms, special ammunition, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), aircraft and warships", he said.

India would also soon be manufacturing the light combat helicopter variant of the ALH, the Defence Minister said.

The Israeli armament giant Soltham and South Africa’s Denel are also bidding for India’s lucrative contract to build 155 mm mounted artillery guns for the Indian Army.

Defence Ministry sources said the two companies along with Swedish Weapon Systems (SWS), the new owner of A B Bofors, were being shortlisted for the Indian Army contract.

Denel is also the strategic partner in India’s most advanced ordnance factory coming at Rajgir in Bihar’s Nalanda district.

Fernandes said the plant on completion would manufacture ten per cent of the country’s propellant needs especially for 155 mm ammunition.

The Defence Minister also saw a major market for India’s just inducted ALH, which is now operational with the three services and the coast guard.

"The ALH has caught the eye of many countries and we are now looking forward to its expanded serial production," he said.

The Minister has called upon the private sector to invest in proposed expansion of assembly lines at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited at Bangalore.

Outlining the weapons acquisition plans, the Defence Minister said India has started getting delivery of the lethal Russian-made Smerch multi-rocket system whose absence was badly felt during the 1999 Kargil conflict.

With a range of 60 kms, the weapon system is very effective in mountainous terrain.

Fernandes said the first of the American ‘Antpq-37’ weapon locating radars would be delivered soon from the inventory of the US Army.

On T-90s tanks, Fernandes said, the induction of tanks was ahead of schedule with the army having already received the bulk of the contracted 210 of them and that the country was about to open production lines in heavy vehicles factory at Avadi near Chennai for their indigenous production.

He said the army would decide on the number of tanks to be produced indigenously. Simultaneously the country would manufacture 124 of indigenously-designed ‘Arjun’ main battle tank, he added.

Fernandes said India has deployed both shorter and medium-range surface-to-surface ‘Agni’ missiles and has made operational 250-km range ‘Prithvi-II’ and ship-to-shore ‘Dhanush’ missiles.

Prithvi-II, which is the Air Force version of surface-to-surface Prithvi series of missiles, has been inducted as also 2000 km ‘Agni-II’ and its shorter variant with 700 km range, Fernandes said. Dhanush is the Naval version of Prithvi and has a range of over 250 kms.

On the announcement of major changes in weapon acquisition policy, he said "the procurement process has been simplified and this will come into effect in a few weeks".

He said the simplification was aimed at cutting down red tape on purchase of equipment and to enable users to go in for bargain. (PTI)

SC upholds constitutional validity of Teachers Act

NEW DELHI, Oct 27: The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of a provision of National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) act barring employment of a person in Central or State Government owned or funded universities, colleges and schools if he had obtained a B.Ed. Degree from an institution derecognised by NCTE or its regional branches.

A bench comprising Justice G B Pattanaik and Justice Ruma Pal gave this ruling setting aside a Rajasthan High Court judgement which had declared section 17(4) of NCTE Act, 1993 as unconstitutional and ultra-vires of the constitution.

The High Court had held that when NCTE could not force a state or state-funded institution to employ only teachers having a particular qualification, then it could not have power under any law to de-recognise any such degree for the purpose of employment.

Allowing the appeal of the Union Government against the High Court order, the bench said "on examining the statute as a whole and on scrutiny of the object and scope of the statute, we have no manner of doubt that even section 17(4) is very much a law dealing with the coordination and determination of standards of institutions for higher education."

"This came within entry 66 of the list III of the seventh schedule and, thus, the union legislature did have the competence for enacting the said provision, Justice Pattanaik said while writing the judgement for the bench.

Referring to the duty cast on NCTE, Justice Pattanaik said this expert body was created under the provision of ncte act and Parliament has imposed upon such expert body the duty to maintain the standards of education, particularly, in relation to the teachers education.

"Education is the backbone of every democracy and any deterioration in the standards of teaching in the B.Ed course would ultimately produce sub-standard prospective teachers who would be teaching in schools and colleges throughout the country and on whose efficiency the future of the country depends," he said.

"In as much as the teacher himself has received a sub-standard education it is difficult to expect from him a higher standard of teaching to the students of the schools or other institutions," he observed.

It was from this perspective, the conclusion of an expert body should not be lightly tinkered with by court of law without giving due weightage to the conclusion arrived at by such expert body, the bench said referring to the NCTE’s decision to de-recognise the B.Ed degree offered by Shah Goverdhan Lal Kabra Teachers College. (PTI)

Home Ministry nod delaying community radio permits

NEW DELHI, Oct 27: A proposal for granting community radio licences to universities and other educational institutions has been delayed as the Home Ministry has still to give its clearance.

The project report in this connection is at an advanced stage and the matter will go before the Union Cabinet as soon as the clearance is received from the Home Ministry. The inter-ministerial discussions with other ministries is already over.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj told UNI in an interview that All Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, and residential schools apart from universities would be able to beam programmes which will have a reach within the campus.

The radius of the FM transmitters will be five to ten kilometres, confined to the campus and having a power of only 50 watts or less. It is learnt that when the project is cleared, licence will be granted in the shared frequency band from 87.5 to 100 mhz, or 104 to 108 mhz in case frequency is not available. This is because the 100 to 104 mhz has been reserved exclusively for All India Radio.

I and B Ministry sources said concerns of misuse if such radios are permitted had proved to be baseless when the experience of other countries was seen, and it was felt that the project had several advantages for the local populations. The licence will be given initially for a period of ten years, and a spectrum usage fee as determined by the Wireless Planning Coordination Cell (WPC) of the Telecom Ministry.

According to present estimates by the Broadcast Engineering Consultants Limited, an expenditure of approximately Rs ten lakh will be required for one such community radio station, of which studio component will cost Rs four lakh. All India Radio has projected an estimated cost of Rs 11 lakh for implementing the scheme, and it will charge a consultancy fee of Rs four lakh for the project.

The project has its genesis in one proposal received from Deccan Development Society of Hyderabad for starting FM channels. Earlier on the recommendations of the Human Resource Development Ministry, UNESCO had in 1996 started a project called ‘learning without frontiers’ and even set up an fm channel in its "women speak to women" programmes, and the Deccan Development Society wanted permission to operate this station. Another proposal was received from the G B Pant Agricultural University in Uttaranchal.

At present, only the Indira Gandhi National Open University has an agreement with the I and B Ministry for setting up educational broadcast units in forty centres. Six radio stations have been commissioned at Allahabad, Bangalore, Vishakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Lucknow and Mumbai and doing test transmissions, while the seventh at Bhopal is likely to be commissioned shortly. Twenty three other stations including those at Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai would be commissioned during the current financial year. (UNI)

Cong demands CBI probe into Dalits lynching

ROHTAK, Oct 27: The Congress today reiterated its demands for an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the Dulina incident in which five dalits allegedly engaged in animal skin trade were killed by a mob on October 15 last.

Addressing a rally here, All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary Hanumant Rao alleged that the police killed the innocent Dalits holding valid licence for animal skin trade and then projected the incident as lynching by a mob to escape the blame for the killings.

While Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited the victims families in Badshahpur within a few days of the incident and gave Rs one lakh each to the affected families, Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala took 10 days before visiting the victims families and announcing the relief, Rao said.

Claiming that the party and its leader Sonia Gandhi were the true well-wishers of the people, he criticised Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders for using unparliamentary language against Sonia Gandhi.

He alleged that Chautala and his sons had been extorting money from businessmen and industrialists, forcing them to migrate to other states.

Addressing the rally, State Congress president Bhajan Lal accused Chautala of defending the police who, he alleged, killed the innocent Dalits at Dulina and portraged it as a lynching incident.

Only a CBI prove into the incident could unravel the truth, Bhajan Lal said.

Reiterating his demand for a prompt CBI inquiry into the case and stern punishment for the guilty, he said the CBI inquiry was necessary as the Chautala Government would not take any action against the guilty in the absence of an inquiry by the cbi.

Neither Congress general secretary and incharge of party affairs in Haryana Mohsina Kidwai not the State Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda attended the rally.

While Hooda loyalists kept away from the rally only five of the 20 Congress MLA’s were present. (PTI)

Tourism decline continues, Govt claims
post-Sept 11 recovery

NEW DELHI, Oct 27: There was a decline of 15.5 per cent in overall tourist traffic in the first eight months of this year as compared to the same period last year, when there had been an increase of 5.8 per cent over the year 2000.

According to official figures, an estimated 1,460,662 tourists came into India between January and August this year as compared to 1,729,122 in 2001 and 1,634,787 in y2k. Though more than 1,61,477 tourists arrived in the country in August, the decline showed a steep shortfall of 17.8 per cent as compared to the same month last year which had seen the arrival of 1,96,517 visitors.

Even the foreign exchange earning from tourism fell by 16.3 per cent as compared to 2001 when it had gone up by 0.7 per cent over the foreign exchange earned in 2000. The earnings of the first eight months amounted to a provisional 1762.46 million dollars (Rs 8489.22 crore) in comparison to 2105.31 million dollars (Rs 9862.12 crore) in 2001 and 2091.08 million dollars (Rs 9244.16 crore) in the year 2000.

However, Tourism Minister Jagmohan claimed here earlier this week that the country was beginning to recover from the aftermath of the September 11 and December 13 incidents and the India-Pakistan tension, and arrival of foreign tourists in India had showed an increase of 17.5 per cent during the current month as compared to last year. He also said domestic tourism rose by 30 per cent in the first seven months of this year.

However, the Government has for the first time realised the potential of tourism as a major engine of economic growth, poverty alleviation and employment generation and attempted to give some importance to this sector. The allocation for the sector in the 10th plan has been increased five fold from Rs. 595 crore to Rs. 2,900 crore. Annual allocation for 2002-03 has also been enhanced from Rs. 150 crore to Rs. 225 crore. Ministry sources told uni that the new tourism policy has a clear thrust towards the domestic tourist and the sector had been declared a priority area in view of its economic potential, accordingly significant increase in financial allocations, new infrastructure projects at micro level, new integrated tourism circuits, cultural hubs in each state and other initiatives have been taken. The aim was to ensure that the tourist to India feels physically invigorated, mentally rejuvenated, culturally enriched, spiritually elevated and feel India from within.

The policy creates and develops integrated tourism circuits based on India’s unique civilization, heritage, and culture in partnership with states, private sector and other agencies. To show the synthesis of tourism, culture and clean civic governance, at least one hub is to be set up in each state which will work as a centre to project art and cultural heritage of India. Of the 35 hubs identified so far, the first has already been set up at the site of the famous Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra.

There is a clear look East policy in the Ministry, targeting the Chinese and other South Asian countries, and Mr Jagmohan is visiting Japan in this connection soon. China has agreed to consider giving an approved destination status to India. A tourism office may be opened in Beijing soon.

Indian missions overseas have also been asked to take up promotional work to help boost tourism, and make up for the closure of some tourist offices overseas. However, ministry sources said offices had been closed only in those countries which were not yielding good marketing for tourism.

In order to encourage private sector participation in the preservation, restoration and upgradation of infrastructure of the historical monuments, a new scheme has been initiated which enables institutions and the public at large to contribute for culture related activities. Work at Humayun’s tomb, Jantar Mantar, Qutub Minar, Taj Mahal, Khajuraho, Konark and Hampi have already initiated under the scheme.

Programmes combining tourism and culture had been launched to mark the 2600 Janma Kalyanam celebrations of Thirthankar Mahavira, Buddhist art and culture, the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations, and birth centenary celebrations of Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan. (UNI)

Families of Dalits killed in Haryana embrace Buddhism

GURGAON, HARYANA, Oct 27: Families of five Dalits, killed on October 15 in Dulina village of Jhajjar district, today embraced Buddhism as a mark of protest against Hinduism at a rally organised by the All India Confederation of SC/ST organisations here.

Addressing the rally, Udit Raj, Chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations said the families of the five victims decided to convert into Buddhism to renounce the system and its cruel heirarchy. He said the hardline stance of VHP vice president Acharya Giriraj Kishore and his statements were forcing Dalits to renounce Hinduism.

"The VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS and their so-called leaders are forcing the Dalits across the country to convert into different religions," Mr Udit Raj said. The guilty had not been brought to justice by the Government which showed that it was anti-Dalit, he charged. "It was only after our intervention that the State Government increased the compensation amount and announced a package of Rs 5,00,000 each to the families of those killed," he said. Dalits had been supressed by the upper caste Hindus since the vedic times and today they were left with no other option to abandon Hinduism in search of a dignified life, he alleged. Lambasting the critics of conversion, he said, "it is wrong to accuse the Muslims and the christians of conversion. The age-old traditions of Hinduism is forcing the downtrodden masses to renounce their religion." Terming conversion as a healthy process, Mr Udit Raj said, "converting from one’s existing religion to another leads to a chnage of thought."

Noted Bollywood film maker Mahesh Bhatt, who was present on the occasion, said conversion was a tool of protest and the Indian constitution allowed conversion. "The rally has provided me the platform to express my outrage against the inhuman incident in which five Dalits were lynched," he said, adding, "we have to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future."

Dalits and the vulnerable sections of the Indian society should enjoy similar rights as enjoyed by the elites, Mr Bhatt said.

"However, conversion alone would not put an end to the woes of the Dalits and we have to bring them into the mainstream," he noted.

On the occasion, Vir Shankarlal Khararia, a local resident along with 20 others converted to Islam and Chardrabhan Mehera and his family embraced christianity.

Among the other religious leaders who addressed the rally included Dr Joseph D’Souza president of the All India Christian Council and Dr Ezaz Ali of the All India Muslim Morcha.

The All India Christian Council also announced a grant of Rs 10,000 each to the families of the five dalits.

Five Dalits were lynched on october 15 by an irate mob in Jhajjar district who suspected they had killed a cow. (UNI)