Home   Contact Us                                                                             Dateline New Delhi, Tuesday, Dec 9, 2003

Archives

US negotiating for defence bases in Pak, India (Go To Top)

          London, Dec 9: Keen to relocate its troops closer to "trouble spots and areas of instability" in " significantly important" parts of the world, the Bush Administration has expressed a desire for setting up defence bases in Pakistan and India. (Contd)

CLP asks Sonia to name Delhi Chief Minister (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 9: The Congress legislature party on Tuesday authorised party president Sonia Gandhi to nominate its leader who will become the Chief Minister of Delhi. A resolution authorising Gandhi was passed at a meeting of newly- elected legislators, apparently after efforts to evolve a consensus failed. The delay in election of a leader was on account of reservations by Delhi state unit Congress chief Prem Singh and his supporters over re-electing incumbent Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

          Meanwhile, Dikshit thanked her party members for the support. "This is all because of your hard work and support and I thank you for that. This is a historic meeting of the Congress Legislative Party," said Dikshit. Congress party managed to retain only Delhi after last week's assembly polls held in four states. Bharatiya Janata Party's Uma Bharti and Vasundhara Raje, who led the party to big wins in elections held last week, were sworn in as first woman chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan on Monday. Both Bharti and Raje ousted Congress governments in both states. The BJP also wrested Chhattisgarh from the Congress.

Sonia Gandhi turns 57 (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 9: Activists of the Congress party on Tuesday thronged the residence of their leader Sonia Gandhi who turned 57. Party leaders also turned up to wish her at her residence where a huge crowd had gathered with flowers, bouquets, sweets and posters of Gandhi. If Gandhi favoured low-key celebrations after the sobering routs in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh last week, her party functionaries would have none of it.

          Sonia, widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was born in a middle class Turin business family in 1946. She met Rajiv Gandhi at England's Cambridge university. She married Rajiv in 1968 and acquired Indian citizenship in the early 1980s. Mother of a son and daughter, she speaks Hindi with an Italian accent. Initially, Sonia Gandhi stayed out of public life but the pressures of being a member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty pushed her into prominence after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991. Reluctant to enter politics, Sonia took charge of Congress party in 1998, raising the dejected party's hopes of a return to its past glory. The Congress ruled India for over 40 years since the country won independence from Britain in 1947.

Nation-wide strike by lawyers (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 9: Lawyers in India on Tuesday observed a nation-wide strike protesting against the Central Government's move to allow foreign lawyers into the country. The lawyers, who took out a protest march in New Delhi, alleged that the govenrment's policies were anti-litigant and anti-lawyer. The advocates of New Delhi's subordinate courts demanded that the government should implement the Malimath committee report as it is. A committee headed by former Judge, Justice Malimath, was been appointed by the government to give suggestions regarding criminal law reforms. The lawyers are also protesting against the powers vested in the High Court which allows it to bar a lawyer from appearing before a court. As India is a signaotry to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the government had moved proposals to open up service sectors. But the legal community say that the government has to consult them before entering into any such commitment that may affect the interest of the legal profession in the country.

Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Dev Anand (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 9: Bollywood evergreen hero Dev Anand has been selected for the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2002 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. The award which carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, a shawl and a swarna kamal was instituted in 1969 to commemorate the outstanding contribution of late Dadasaheb Phalke to Indian cinema, official sources said here on Tuesday. President APJ Abdul Kalam will give away the award at a ceremony scheduled to be held on December 29, they added.

BSNL cuts STD rates by 25 pc from Dec 15 (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 9: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Tuesday announced a 25 per cent cut in intra-circle STD calls - from Rs 2.40 per minute to Rs 1.80 per minute. The reduced rates will be effective from December 15, BSNL CMD Prithpal Singh told newsmen while announcing the financial results of the company for 2002-03. However, the present pulse rate of 30 seconds has been increased to 40 seconds for such STD calls. Broadly, each state is considered a telecom circle.

Shutdown in Bihar in protest against ouster of police chief (Go To Top)

         Patna, Dec 9: The Opposition party in Bihar called for a dawn-to-dusk closure on Tuesday to protest the removal of a top cop who criticised politicians. The state government last week removed director-general of police, DP Ojha, and replaced him with WH Khan. Ojha was to retire in two months and has since sought permission from the Central government for an early exit from service. Shops and major business establishments downed their shutters and traffic was thin on the roads. Schools have been closed. Security measures were tightened across the state.

         "In the district we have deployed police force at sensitive points. We maintain vigil at various train routes and bus stations," Deepak Kumar, the district magistrate of Patna, said. Essential services like medicine shops, hospitals, nursing homes, water and electricity supply have been exempted from the shutdown. Ojha has accused the state government of sacking him to protect a law-maker who has links with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

Vajpayee defers statement on Judeo (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 9: The Opposition on Tuesday raised a furore in the Lok Sabha after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee decided to defer until Wednesday his statement on the Judev videotape episode in the House. Agitated Opposition members accused the Prime Minister of "not taking the House seriously which amounted to violating the sanctity of the august institution of the country." Vajpayee was to make the statement in the Lok Sabha immediately after Question Hour. Taking strong exception to Vajpayee's absence, Congress chief whip Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said the Government seemed to be avoiding the Judeo episode. Many Opposition members were up on their feet, asking Speaker Manohar Joshi to call the Prime Minister for making a statement as earlier promised by the Government. CPI(M) leader Somnath Chatterjee and Mani Shanker Aiyer (Cong) said Vajpayee's absence was infringement of the Speaker's authority and norms of the House. But the Speaker clarified that the Prime Minister had sought a written permission for postponing his statement in the House to tomorrow which he granted. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said Vajpayee had to postpone his statement listed in the parliamentary proceedings following his unavoidable preoccupation.

BJP thrust on development as plank for national elections next year (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 9: Buoyed up with the victory in the recently-held Assembly elections, top BJP brass on Tuesday said development would be their main plank for the general elections due next year. BJP had swept the Congress from power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee presided over a meeting of the BJP law-makers here to firm up the party's strategies for the general elections. BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra told newsmen that the party would bring into focus its poll promises within the next 100 days. On the economic front, the BJP-led coalition is widely expected to hand down a populist pre-election budget in the new year.

Curfew relaxed in Hyderabad (Go To Top)

          Hyderabad, Dec 9: Curfew was relaxed in some areas of Hyderabad on Tuesday as tensions following communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims eased. Six people were killed and 24 injured recently, 12 of whom sustained bullet injuries as police opened fire to control rampaging mobs in areas where Muslims are in a majority. Muslims had announced they would observe December 6 as Black Day. Locals say the violence was not communal but politically motivated and were protesting against any early elections in the state. A local said: "Whatever violence happened it is politically motivated but this is a peaceful place and we have to live in peace. The government should now reschedule election dates and they should shift them to September." The Chief Minister had last month called upon the Governor to announce early election after a Naxalite bid on his life set a massive sympathy wave in his favour.

Tone down cease-fire rhetoric: Pak warns India (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, Dec 9: Pakistan's Foreign Office has warned India to tone down its cease-fire rhetoric and halt fencing along the Line of Control (LoC) immediately. Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan claimed that New Delhi's decision to continue with the fencing along its side of the LoC and the working boundary and its release of hawkish statements at frequent intervals were not helping the present environment.

           "Pakistan is abiding by its decisions, enabling an environment leading towards a meaningful dialogue. Since this is positive movement, it is advisable for the Indian leadership to lower its rhetoric. If the cease-fire has been helpful then there should also be a cease-fire in India's rhetoric," the News quoted Khan as saying. "We have had no response from New Delhi and this new fencing at the LoC and the working boundary is in violation of not only two UN Security Council agreements but also of the two bilateral agreements reached in 1949 and 1972." "The 1949 Karachi agreement has identified six actions which constitute a breach and new wiring and mining is one of them," Khan told reporters. "We can send a demarche. But, we hope India will not erect another separation wall besides the LoC."

Pak regrets India's role in its suspension from Commonwealth  (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, Dec 9: Squarely blaming India for insisting that it be kept out of the Commonwealth, Pakistan on Monday said that it would not go the Zimbabwe way, and would wait patiently for its re-admitttance into the regional grouping. Questioning the "democratic process" of the Commonwealth, Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said: "The criteria has been used discriminatingly and does not make sense." "The comments on the LFO are laughable. It is no secret that India has been blocking our entry. As for the comments of Indian External Minister Yashwant Sinha about Pakistan's legal system, he should look at the judiciary in Gujarat, which has not been up to the mark," the News quoted him as saying. The Commonwealth had opted for a minority decision to keep out Pakistan. He claimed majority of the members, including Great Britain and Australia, wanted to re-admit Pakistan. "We are not supplicants here. Unfortunately Pakistan's re-entry is being linked with Zimbabwe's return. We do not like this condescending behaviour. We have been lobbying," added the spokesman.

UK offers help to settle Kashmir dispute: MP (Go To Top)

           Karachi, Dec 9: Britain is ready to play a role to help both India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir dispute amicably, claimed British parliamentarian Ann Taylor. Talking to reporters in Mirpur, she emphasized the importance of holding tripartite talks, adding that Kashmiris were an important element to the resolution of the dispute. The Kashmir dispute was on the political agenda of the Labour party, the News quoted Taylor as saying as it was a high profile issue.

          Since the Kashmiris enjoyed the status of the basic party to this lingering global dispute, their participation in the process for resolution of this issue could not be brushed aside in anyway, the British MP said. "Since Pakistan, India and Kashmiri people are the parties to the Kashmir dispute, this issue could be resolved through the practical participation of all the three. Therefore, the participation of all the three parties shall have to be ensured for the early peaceful settlement of this issue," she said in response to a question.

JKLF march along LoC for independence (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, Dec 9: Demanding complete independence of Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) will hold a march from January 5 to February 11 from Bhimbar to Chakhoti, its chief Amanullah Khan said here Monday. The two towns are situated along the Line of Control (LoC). Khan said Kashmir needed to be an independent country having friendly relations with both Pakistan and India. The recent Pakistan and India plan would lead to the conversion of the cease-fire line into a permanent border, the Daily Times quoted Khan as saying while speaking to reporters here. On the occasion, he castigated both India and Pakistan for state of affairs in Kashmir.

          Pakistan's negative role and India's hypocritical stance was responsible for the current miserable crisis, he claimed. The JKLF chief said that the reunion of Kashmir was the best solution. He further said that after 15 years there needed to be a UN- supervised referendum in which Kashmiris would freely determine whether Kashmir should continue its independence or it should become either a part of Pakistan or India.

Angry Bangladeshis lynch 28 pirates (Go To Top)

          Dhaka, Dec 9: Angry Bangladeshis have killed 28 people suspected to be pirates preying on ships and villages near the country's main port, Chittagong, police said on Tuesday. The pirates were caught and lynched by agitated villagers on the Noakhali coast - 20 on Monday and eight on Sunday, a police official told a foreign news agency by telephone. He said that the villagers had joined police raids on suspected hideouts of the pirates and that they had been asked to hand over any suspects who were captured. But the villagers were so angry that they lynched 28 pirates and handed six to police, he said. Police said the pirates killed at least 20 villagers, looted property and raped dozens of local women in recent years, provoking the backlash.

India beat Singapore in Polo World Cup Zone 'D' match (Go To Top)

          Lahore, Dec 9: India beat Singapore by 13 to 5 1/2 in a Polo World Cup Zone 'D' playoff match on Tuesday at the Aibak Stadium here, Geo news channel reported. Earlier the tournament favourite Australia had defeated Iran by 19 to 3 1/2 goals. Australia is the hot favourite for qualifying from the Zone 'D' for the Polo World Cup finals, which will be played in France in 2004. India was beaten by Australia in its first match after a tough contest. India has to win a crucial match against Pakistan on December 14 to qualify for the finals.

US negotiating for defence bases in Pak, India (Go To Top)

          (Contd) Sources linked to the ongoing negotiations between Defence Ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) told the News that the Pentagon brass believes that new military bases are required at spots closer to the Middle East and South Asia to stall or ward off potential firefights. Apart from Pakistan and India, the other countries that are under consideration are Hungary, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, the defence source said. The Pentagon's relocation plan is guided by the U.S. military experts findings that "dangers associated with rogue nations, global terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction are less predictable and the situation warrants a substantial reshuffle of tens of thousands of American troops posted around the globe". Citing a US Department of Defence report, the source in Brussels has claimed that the U.S.Air Force feels that in the changing world security milieu, it will be in America's interest to establish air bases in Pakistan, India, some Central Asian states, and in Central and Eastern European countries. American generals want "access closer to areas of instability".

          According to the source, Pakistani and Indian leaders are likely to consider this proposal after detailed discussions with Pentagon officials. Linkage with Afghanistan and access to frequently travelled Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC) linking the Middle East and East Asia, makes Pakistan and India attractive for American generals preparing for the so-called "relocation plan", the report argues. But, according to the source, the Indian Government has expressed its trepidation for talks on such an issue even before Washington's plan to initiate structured dialogue was put to action. The Pakistani government, however, had developed a perception that presence of American forces on four bases of Pakistan until last year could not reduce security threat posed by India; hence any decision to cooperate with the U.S. would depend on the prevailing threat perception.

         A high-level U.S. team will visit Pakistan shortly to discuss the issue of military bases. Such delegations will also undertake visits to several other Asian and European capitals after President Bush is briefed on Rumsfeld's discussions on the matter with his NATO defencen counterparts and Secretary of State Colin Powell's consultations with NATO Foreign Ministers. Currently, the main U.S. military postings are in Germany, South Korea and Japan. The Pentagon has already sounded these three countries on the possibility of moving U.S. troops. "These troops will be transformed into highly-mobile forces before their repositioning around a larger number of new bases," the source said. The initiative to establish a network of military bases in Asian countries has been described by the U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as a "readjustment to fit the 21st century". Under this readjustment plan, the movement of around 100,000 U.S. troops in the western Pacific, South Korea and Japan is under active consideration.