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EC rejects plea to change poll date

          Mumbai: Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishna Murthy today rejected Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP combine's demand for changing the polling date for assembly elections in Maharashtra from October 13, considered inauspicious by Hindus. T S Krishna Murthy told newsmen here, "There were representations either to advance or postpone the polling dates. However, there was no unanimity among the political parties over it so they have decided to maintain October 13 as polling date." Earlier, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine in Maharashtra has asked the Election Commission to prepone the casting of votes of the state Assembly elections by a day. A high-level delegation of the Sena-BJP made the request to Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurthy during their meeting with him here. The delegation was led by former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi and comprised of BJP leaders Ram Naik and Vinod Tawade. "We have asked the Election Commission to bring forward the date of the Assembly elections from October 13 to October 12 as the present date falls on Sarvapitri Amavasya," said Joshi.

SC favours code on national flag (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Taking serious exception to a petition alleging "dishonour" of the national flag during Uma Bharti's 'Tiranga Yatra', the Supreme Court today asked why the petition was directed against one politician. Instead the apex court asked why the petition did not object to a model wearing it or cricket fans abusing it. The bench, headed by Justice N Santosh Hegde, directed amendment of the petition, saying the court was for a proper National Flag Code. All political parties should be made respondents in the petition, the bench observed.

Uma Bharti continues Tiranga Yatra in Maharashtra (Go To Top)

        Mumbai: BJP leader Uma Bharti will travel 1200 kilometres across Maharashtra over the next five days. Entering Maharashtra, Bharti launched a scathing attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday alleging that her arrest in Hubli, Bangalore, was a revenge taken by Gandhi. "I realised that I was arrested because I stopped Sonia from becoming Prime Minister. It is sad that our own people find a pride in praising a foreigner for her alleged sacrifice and demean their own daughter." "This was the mindset of some people in the country which is why outsiders like Mohammed Ghazni and East India Company could rule. There is need to change the mindset and we will convince them to do so", claimed the BJP leader. "We have a foreign government in our country. It is a result of this that inflation has risen, instability has grown. No one knows what is going to happen. That is why we should get rid of this foreign government," added Bharti. The fiery sanyasin is on a 3000-km Hubli-Jalianwala Baug Tiranga Yatra, in protest against her arrest in the decade old Hubli case.

LET tortures, kills family in Poonch village (Go To Top)

         Jammu: In a pre-dawn attack, Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militants today shot dead three members of a family in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Swooping down on the village of Kalmund-Bachana, the militants barged into the house of one Muzum Din around 1:30 a.m. today. The family was tortured and killed.The victims have been identified as Mohmmad Zaman and Abdul Gani sons of Muzum Din and Zaman's wife Bano. Security forces have reportedly launched a manhunt for the attackers.

Assam students warn ULFA to stop militancy (Go To Top)

          Guwahati: The Assamese are protesting against the banned outfit ULFA, which has claimed responsibility for the blast that took place on the Independence Day in Dhemaji. A total of 13 people, including 10, had lost their lives in the blast. The incident has also led to battle lines drawn between the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the militant group ULFA. The people at large are also critical about the violent means adopted by the militant organisation. Prof. Debbrath of the B. Barooha College in Guwahati said: "They are intentionally taking the violent means and that is the greatest defect I say. Through bad means you cannot attain good things. Through violence, you can't attain, even their aim was also Independence from the rest of India. That is a far fetched dream." Through meaningless killings and senseless violence, the ULFA has only been hurting the interests of the Assamese people. Apart from hurting the state's economy, the banned terrorist organisation has done greater harm to the psyche of the people who still live under the shadow of the gun. For years, the AASU has been accused of being soft on the ULFA. But one blast seems to have redrawn the battle lines. The ULFA has been exposed as a group of extortionists... Samujjal Bhattacharya, AASU Advisor, said: "According to us there is only one way. The way, the government, NDFA and ULFA, they must shun violence, firstly. Second, to create a congenial atmosphere for talks a violence free atmosphere is a must and for that government should declare a 100 hours unilateral ceasefire. And at the same time, the insurgent groups should also reciprocate positively." Prabin Boro, AASU president, said: "the illegal foreigners are still coming and they are our taking land and property. They are slowly entering politics also. They are in majority in around 40 of the total 126 constituencies. There is a crisis - political crisis and identity crisis in Assam."

Vulgarity rules the roost in Lahore theatres

         Lahore: Vulgar scripts and dances continue to dominate the Lahore theatrical scene, despite an official ban being announced by the provincial government of Punjab. Quoting a survey, The Nation revealed that vulgar and provocative dances by female artistes are being featured in theatrical performances despite vigilant monitoring. Citing instances, the paper referred to the Alfalah Theatre where Hina Shaheen and Deedar performed some obscene dances and indulged in some provocative gestures. Similarly, at the Mehfil Theatre, Ayesha Chaudhry performed highly provocative dances. It was further reported that Shahzadi, Amira Mumtaz and Nari performed dances at the Naz Theatre, while Musarrat Sheikh spoke in vulgar tones during a play.

Give Jammu, Ladakh to India, POK, northern areas to Pak: Wolpert (Go To Top)

         Washington: Well-known historian and author Stanley Wolpert has said India should acquire control of Jammu and Ladakh, while Pakistan should get its side of Kashmir and the Northern Areas to ensure a feasible resolution to the over five- decade-old Kashmir dispute. Reflecting on likely method to resolve the dispute, Wolpert told The News in an exclusive interview that the ultimate solution lay in allowing "Jammu and Ladakh to be integrated into India and leave Azad (PoK) Kashmir and the Northern Areas with Pakistan". Describing the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India as the "most residual problem" affecting bilateral ties, Wolpert said that there cannot be a lasting stability in the region until the dispute is resolved "peacefully and equitably as soon as possible". "It is the most pressing residual problem of the late 1940s. Until it is resolved there will continue to be either conflict or waste of resources on both sides," The News quoted Wolpert as saying at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

          "Unless the issues of such antiquity and such pain are resolved, it is difficult to overcome what is usually a barrier to the resolution of all problems namely the mistrust and fear that both sides have against each other," said the popular author several books and dozens of research papers on South Asia. He said that he could foresee prospects for either a plebiscite or some kind of vote in Srinagar valley more in keeping with the UNSC resolutions. Wolpert has written 17 books, most of them of South Asia. "Even if that is not possible and it may not be, I do think that both sides should be willing to guarantee the integrity and security of the entire region by a unified action having their joint defence committee." Wolpert said there has to be a total elimination of any violent terrorist activity that has to be monitored by both nations "in a totally fair way". "There should be a possible meeting not only of minds but also agreement on sharing of a variety of technological as well as intellectual and cultural events," he opined.

Indo Bangla water talks today  (Go To Top)
by Nazrul Islam

         Dhaka: Water experts from Bangladesh and India will meet here tomorrow (Tuesday) to work out an acceptable solution for the sharing of waters of the River Teesta. The secretary-level Joint Committee of Experts formed at the 32nd meeting of the Joint River Commission (JRC) in 1997 was also mandated to work out water-sharing formula for six other rivers flowing down the two countries-Manu, Mahuri, Khoai, Gorai, Dharla and Dudkumar. Indian Water Resources Secretary Vinod K Duggal will lead his country's 11-member delegation to the 7th meeting of the Joint Experts Group. Other members include MK Sharma, Member, Central Water Commission, M.L. Goyal, Member of JRC, and Mrs. Neelam Deo, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs. Bangladesh Water Resources Secretary Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq Khan will lead a 13-member home side at the two-day meet. The Bangladesh delegation includes Director General of Water Development Board Mokhlesuzzaman, Member, JRC, Tauhidul Anwar Khan, Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Hemayetuddin and Director General (South Asia) of the Foreign Ministry Fazlul Karim. However, officials here are not that optimistic about finding an acceptable formula of sharing the Teesta River at the Dhaka meeting. "Tomorrow's meeting is part of continuous consultations. We've difference of opinion on the sharing formula. Let's see what progress we can make," an official told reporters on Monday. In reply to a question, he said the Minister-level JRC has asked the Joint Committee of Experts to devise quickly a consensus formula on Teesta water sharing. But the JRC has not set any timeframe for getting it done.

7-8 pct growth rate difficult to achieve: Planning Commission (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, today said it would be difficult to attain an average growth rate of eight per cent in Tenth Plan (2002-2007 ) when only two years of the Plan period are left. However, he expressed the hope that 7-8 per cent growth mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the ruling UPA could be possible in the next plan period. "We have not come to any conclusion on ruling out an eight per cent growth during the Plan, but are looking at what are the prospects now. In the last two years, we have not had more than six per cent growth and it is difficult to reach an average of eight per cent when only two years are left. Looking ahead, the growth rate between 7-8 per cent, mentioned in the CMP, should be possible in the years ahead", said Montek Singh Ahluwalia during the round table press conference on Development of Telecommunication. He also said that a hike in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of banks by the Reserve Bank of India to curb liquidity is the right step to check inflation. "Inflation has always been a matter where the government is always concerned about. I am sure they are going to take whatever measures necessary to bring it down," added Ahluwalia.

Aussie Orange to shift its call centre operations to India (Go To Top)

          Sydney: Aussie telecom conglomerate Hutchison Telecommunications has reportedly taken a decision to shift its Orange network and call centre operations to India. According to a report in The Australian, the group's management has decided to do away with the 40 contract staff hired from outsourcing agent Hallis, and is conducting a two-month trial for automating Orange customer connections. "Orange is the last mobile company to do this. '3' did it late last year. But even with an automatic provisioning system there is still some need for human support," the report quoted Hutchison stakeholder relations chief Steve Wright as saying. In December, Hutchison's other Australian business, third- generation network '3', shifted the remainder of its call centre staff to Mumbai. "If we go ahead with the new system, their (Hallis staff) contracts won't be renewed," Wright added. Hutchison's Mumbai call centre is run by Hutchison Telecommunications Services, a subsidiary of Hutchison's Hong Kong parent, Hutchison Whampoa. Hutchison is also expected to launch a new call plan for its '3' service capped at 69 dollars in the ferociously competitive 10 billion dollar a year mobile market.