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Centre concerned over Bengal law, order situation
-by Gautam Ghosh

          Kolkata, May 9: The Central intelligence has attributed the current spell of pre-panchayat election violence in Bengal to the ruling Marxists' reaction to loss of people's support at the grassroots level in view of the deteriorating living conditions in the rural areas during the past one decade. A report, sent by the intelligence bureau to the Union home ministry, has cited the results of the 1993 and 1998 panchayat polls to prove its point. (Contd)

Blast in Kabul near US mission during Armitage visit

          Kabul, May 9: A large explosion was heard in Kabul near the United States embassy while visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was inside, a foreign news agency reported on Friday. The blast shook houses in the Afghan capital's upmarket Wazir Akbar Khan district at 4:20 pm (1150 GMT). The cause of the blast was not immediately clear. US embassy spokesman Alberto Fernandes, who did not sound alarmed, said the blast would have no effect on Armitage's tight schedule. He had come to Kabul after talks in Islamabad.

          Armitage met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Defence Minister Mohamed Fahim. He also held a brief news conference in the shattered remains of Afghanistan's National Museum, and late on Friday reached New Delhi.

Advani reiterates Atal demand on cross-border terror (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 9: Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani on Friday reiterated New Delhi's demand that Pakistan should stop infiltration in Kashmir if the fresh peace initiatives were to succeed. Advani's comments came at a meeting of the BJP hours before US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was due in New Delhi on the final leg of a tour to encourage a thaw between India and Pakistan. "Whatever the Prime Minister has said in the context of Pakistan, out of that one thing is clear that the stand we had taken earlier remains that you have to stop cross border terrorism and if we lay emphasis on it to stop cross border terrorism then it does not mean that we cannot be friends," he said. New Delhi has always maintained that Islamabad must end cross- border terrorism in Kashmir for any affirmative dialogue to start.

Sars death toll in China goes up to 230 (Go To Top)

          Beijing, May 9: China on Friday reported six new Sars fatalities, raising its mainland death toll to 230. It also reported 118 new cases of infection. Two of the new deaths from the severe acute respiratory syndrome were in Beijing, raising the capital's toll to 114. Beijing accounted for 48 of the new cases. The total number of cases on the mainland rose to 4,805, the Health Ministry said. Two more people died of Sars in Hong Kong, while six new cases of the disease were recorded, a health official said.

Tehelka Commission orders forensic examination of videotapes (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 9: The Tehelka Commission, presently probing the tehelka expose, on Friday ordered forensic examination of the videotapes containing allegations of corruption in defence deals. As per the 31-page long order, the tapes are to be examined by "independent and impartial" experts. The Commission, which is headed by Justice SN Phukan, said it has "serious doubts" that the tapes "might be tampered with". Thus, the Commission reversed the earlier Venkataswami Commission rulings which had twice turned down pleas for such examination. Justice K Venkataswami had resigned last year thereby raising many an eyebrow. Accepting a plea by Samata party leader Jaya Jaitly and others, Justice Phukan, a former Supreme Court judge, said the Commission had prima facie serious doubts that the tapes might be tampered with. These doubts have to be removed and "the truth with regard to the videotapes has to be found," he reportedly said.

Supreme Court directs Bihar Govt to pay salary to PSU employees (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 9: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Bihar government to deposit Rs 50 crore before the Patna High Court for payment of salaries to employees of public sector undertakings (PSUs) and government corporations. The employees have not been paid salaries for a long time. The Apex Court gave two months time to the state government to deposit the amount.

          Hearing a petition by an employees' union in the state, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India VN Khare and Justice SB Sinha directed the Patna HC to dispose of all cases pertaining to liquidation of government companies and order sale and disposal of the property. The proceeds from sale of such properties would be utilised in settling the outstanding salary dues. The court also directed the HC to set up a three-member committee comprising retired and sitting judges to supervise and scrutinise the liability of the government companies. The said committee would submit a report to the HC in three months time, the Court order further said. The Court also directed the Bihar government to bear all expenses of the committee.

Taped conversation is evidence in POTA case: SC (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 9: Security forces, especially the police, received a shot in the arm on Friday when the Supreme Court held that any telephonic conversation taped during investigation of a crime under POTA could be used as admissible evidence. The apex court thereby set aside a Delhi High Court order in the Parliament attack case which had held that taped phone conversation could not be used for POTA charges. A bench comprising Justice SN Variava and Justice Brijesh Kumar held that the merit of the evidence, whether it can be used for POTA charges, would have to be argued during the hearing of the statutory appeal filed by the accused in the Delhi High Court.

Vajpayee bereaved (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 9: The sister of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here this morning after a long illness. She was suffering from cancer. Urmila, 72, is survived by three sons and two daughters. She was admitted to the ICU of the AIIMS Cancer Ward on April 28 when Vajpayee brought her from Gwalior for specialised treatment.

PM to visit Lucknow to boost party morale (Go To Top)

          Lucknow, May 9: Atal Bihari Vajpayee will pay a two-day visit to his Lok Sabha constituency from May 20, which will be his third to the UP capital after the formation of the BSP-BJP coalition government in the state on May 3 last year. This trip, feel BJP sources, is likely to boost the party's morale in UP since it is perceived that its popularity has taken a knock in the Mayawati-ruled coalition regime. During his stay there, Vajpayee would also lay the foundation stone and inaugurate development projects worth over Rs 1000 crore in the state capital. Besides, a direct flight of Air India from Lucknow to Saudi Arabia and a mega-railway project would also be launched.

Missile Astra test-fired (Go To Top)

          Balasore, May 9: Scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully test-fired the air-to-air missile Astra from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, 15 km from here, on Friday. A prototype of the sleek indigenously developed missile was test-launched from a ground-based fixed launcher with the help of a booster engine at about 12.15 a.m., say defence sources. Astra, considered a new system in India's guided missile development programme, has a striking range of 25 to 40 km.

UK 'Provincial Reconstruction Team' for Afghanistan (Go To Top)
-by Trevor Barnard

          London, May 9: Britain is to set up a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in northern Afghanistan as part of an international programme to help develop a stable and secure environment in the Afghan regions. Initially military-led, with a nucleus of about 50 troops, the unit will be based in Mazar-e-Sharif from July for up to two years. It will liaise with Afghan military forces in five provinces in the region to provide the team's support and protection, but its essential role will not be to provide security but to help reconstruction. Thus, personnel will include civilian staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Inrternational Development, the former to provide political advice and the latter to implement development schemes.

          There are already three American-led PRTs in place in Afghanistan and it is planned to extend the scheme to eight provincial cities, in support of the Afghan Transitional Authority (ATA), whose influence is still largely limited to Kabul and its environs. The PRTs are not part of the International Security Assistance Force, and it is stressed that their role is not to impose "peace" but to help the Afghan people themselves to create a safe and stable environment. A representative of the ATA has been invited to work with the Mazar-e-Sharif unit, which will employ some local staff and will seek to liaise with political groups and militias in the region. It is hoped that personnel from other members of the coalition will also be included, and that British personnel may be deployed with other PRTS in the country.

           The Mazar-e-Sharif operation is seen as part of Britain's commitment to Afghanistan's reconstruction - bearing out the words of Prime Minister Tony Blair more than a year ago: "We will not desert the Afghan people, we will stick with them until the job is done". The operation is estimated to cost five million pounds a year. Development programmes undertaken by DFID will be in addition to that.

Musharraf to visit US next month (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, May 9: President Pervez Musharraf will visit the United States next month, tentatively scheduled for June 16-18, a senior foreign ministry official said on Thursday. Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri is leaving for the US on Tuesday Musharraf's visit is taking place at a time when the dialogue process between Pakistan and India is likely to get under way.

Bonanza for music lovers: New radio stations for Delhi (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 9: Music lovers in the capital now have three more ways to keep themselves busy. Last few days witnessed the launch of three new private radio Frequency Modulation (FM) stations in the city which, till date, had only two stations of the state-run All India Radio (AIR) to satiate their appetite for music. The three private radio stations which began their broadcast on April 29 have been launched by top Indian media groups.

          While India Today Group's 'Red FM' was launched without much hype, Rupert Murdoch's Star Media Group's 'Radio City' launched itself into the city's airwaves in a more classic ceremony. But the station which stole the show was the Bennett Coleman promoted 'Radio Mirchi', which is already a hit in Mumbai. The hot FM station was launched by Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor who, dressed in flaming red, made her appearance seated in a brightly decorated cycle rickshaw.

          Interestingly, unlike AIR, the three 24-hour private FM stations have focussed on popular Hindi music and trying to reach out to the Hindi-speaking populace of the national capital and its adjoining areas. John N Catlett, Chief Executive Officer of Star Radio Division, said the three stations would win over the Indian audiences by serving the local listeners. "As a public and national radio system, All India Radio indeed has a different role to play than the private radio stations. But I think Radio City and the other private competitors will win over the Indian public listening to radio the way people listen to radio everywhere else in the world. Our secret is that Radio City will be aiming to serve just the local listeners in the immediate area of Delhi," he said during the launch of Star-backed Radio City.

          Though Hindi film music and entertainment information will be the prime content, the stations are also broadcasting programmes of local interest, including traffic updates, shopping deals, power updates and weekend getaway options to give the stations a local feel. Delhi crowd is swept away by the sudden windfall of long-delayed and some jinxed radio stations.

          "Now we have too many choices, we do not know which one to switch on," said Aradhana, a local resident, facing a problem of plenty. But one wonders if with such a wide range of musical options, sales of music cassettes and compact disks would be affected in any way. "I do not think so. Only certain portions will come down. But afterwards, people like their own music. They like to listen to their own music. They want to preserve their music. This can boost the music industry. People will listen to songs and then would like to take the music," said Mahesh Singh, regional officer of a local music store. These private radio stations have already been on air in Mumbai, Jaipur, Bangalore, and Lucknow and have also started broadcasting in Kolkata.

Centre concerned over Bengal law, order situation (Go To Top)

          (Contd) Union home minister and deputy Prime Minister LK Advani has already conveyed the Centre's concern over the law and order problems in the countryside to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, but is believed to be against the proposal of Central intervention.

          The intellegince report has also underscored the need for adequate administrative steps to maintain law and order on the poll day, May 11. The report on the pre-poll violence and terror refers to the outcome of successive panchayat elections indicating erosion in the percentage of votes polled by the Marxists. Figures show that votes polled by the CPI(M)-led Left Front partners came down from 77.79 in 1988 to 72.32 in 1993. The Left Front, as a whole, polled only 66.90 per cent votes in 1998. The percentage of votes received by the CPI(M) at the zilla parishad level also came down from 80.61 in 1993 to 78.23 in 1998.

          However, during the same period the number of zilla parishad seats won by the CPI went up from 6 to 17, by the RSP from 14 to 26 and by the Forward Bloc from 17 to 24. The mainline opposition parties like the Trinamul Congress, the Congress and the BJP had together captured over 40 per cent of the gram panchayat seats last time. The CPI(M) was naturally not happy at the Left Front partners' success and has not spared them this time from its political offensive aimed at expanding its hegemony at their cost. Therefore, the intelligence report explains, the incidence of pre-poll clashes between the CPI(M) on the one hand and the RSP and the Forward Bloc on the other has gone up.