[Grapevine] For June 21, 1999

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The Mumbai Grapevine - Connecting Mumbaiyaas with Mumbai

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______Headlines_______
(Details below)


Your letters:
  Monsoon in Mumbai


News:
 Cong, BJP divided over G-8 vindicating India's stand
 Army closing in on LoC near Muskoh valley
 Blackout exercise in Kutch from tonight
 Thackeray compares Vajpayee with Churchill
 Four accomplices of suspected ISI agent arrested
 ISI conspiracy against key city figures to be probed
 BMC's demolition drive violates court ban: housing rights group
 Shetty gang member killed in encounter
 MTNL disconnects telephone lines of 86 defaulting former MPs
 Balaji temple at Nerul will be consecrated
 Pune and North Maharashtra varsities to be taken as one
 BMC criticised for not razing illegal portion of city hotel
 Sugar workers' wages

Markets:
 Equities rally sharply, sensex at 52-week high

Forex and Weather below




______Your letters_______

   Monsoon in Mumbai


     Come June and the monsoon has set in  Mumbai. we have 
     already started hearing of delays in Local trains, 
     flooding of the road in King Circle area and other 
     places. Now most of the Mumbai roads have been 
     concreted, but there are lot of patches of tar 
     everywhere. These portions of the roads have already 
     worn out in the first week of the rain creating  lot of 
     potholes. One does not understand why these patches are 
     left out. Further the curves are not properly formed 
     the edges are still made of tar. So we have a very 
     uneven road with lot of potholes concentrated on these 
     tar patches.
     
     When are we commuters in Mumbai going to get Pothole 
     free roads?


                                 murthy_vvs



______News_______
(From various agencies)

 Cong, BJP divided over G-8 vindicating India's stand
   New Delhi, Jun 21 (PTI) Congress and BJP were today sharply divided
   on whether the G-8 summit vindicated India's stand on the Kargil
   issue.

   While Congress said the eight industrialised nations communique
   issued in Colonge yesterday made no reference to Pakistan's supprort
   to intruders, BJP said G-8 supported India's stand by condemning
   violation of Line of Control and favouring restoration of status quo
   ante.

   Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi said Pakistan's demands figured in the
   G-8 communique which asked both sides to go in for resumption of
   dialogue and cessation of hostilities and questioned the government's
   claim of 'great diplomatic victory.'

   Expressing satisfaction over G-8 leaders condemnation of the
   violation LoC and favouring restoration of status quo ante, BJP
   general secretary K N Govindacharya said this supported India's stand
   on the issue.

   National Congress Party president Sharad Pawar welcomed the G-8
   statement and called for international pressure to prevent the
   country from widening the conflict.


 Army closing in on LoC near Muskoh valley
   Drass sub-sector (Kargil), Jun 21 (PTI) Buoyed by the capture of
   vital 'point 5140' height overlooking Srinagar-Leh highway, the army
   has launched a fresh offensive in the western region of Mushkoh
   valley driving off Pakistani intruders within two and half kilometers
   of the line of control.

   The troops, during the successful operation to recapture the 'point
   5140' at an approximate height of 16,000 feet, killed 13 intruders
   and Pakistani regulars, including Subedar Sayeed Mohammed of six
   northern light infantry, a batallion which is giving active logistic
   and ammunition support to the intruders, Col A S Chabiwal told
   visiting media persons today.

   He said the army seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition from
   the intruders after the troops reached the height and engaged them in
   fierce gun battles making them flee their bunkers.

   The defence spokesman said three troops laid down their lives in the
   gun battle that followed after they encircled the bunkers of the
   intruders at 'point 5140'.


 Blackout exercise in Kutch from tonight
   Ahmedabad, Jun 18 (PTI) The border district of Kutch in Gujarat would
   undergo a blackout exercise for half an hour from tonight as part of
   the security measures following the Kargil hostilities.

   All industrial units had been instructed accordingly and all vehicles
   on the roads would be stopped during the period and the head lights
   covered, the district magistrate Kamal Dayani said at a meeting.

   Steps were taken to maintain security at the Khandla port trust
   installations, Dayani said.

   The chemical units in the area have been asked to maintain strict
   vigil at their oil installations and plants, Dayani added.


 Thackeray compares Vajpayee with Churchill
   Mumbai, June 19 (PTI) Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today likened
   prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Britain's second world war
   time prime minister Winston Churchill and complimented him for
   resolutely responding to Pakistan's aggression in Kargil .

   Vajpayee has rallied the entire nation behind the armed forces
   fighting the infiltrators and he also took a bold step by personally
   visiting the battle front , Thackeray told PTI here.

   Thackeray said the government has taken several steps which have
   engendered an excellent atmoshpehere in the country. The whole
   country is united on the issue, he said.

   Churchill had united the Britain to fight Nazi aggression, Vajpayee
   has done just that, he said.

   Thackeray described as a major gain the support of U S and other
   countries on the issue which had in past tilted towards Pakistan.

   The Lahore bus diplomacy played a role in creating favourable
   international opinion, he said and hoped that Vajpayee's similar bus
   diplomacy with Bangladesh would be fruitful.


 Four accomplices of suspected ISI agent arrested
   Mumbai, Jun 21 (PTI) Police today claimed to have unearthed a major
   spy ring, with the arrest of four accomplices of a suspected agent of
   Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and seizure of
   classified defence documents from them.

   Joint commissioner of police D Sivanandhan in a statement here said
   four associates of the suspected ISI agent Sayyed Desai, who was
   arrested in pune on june 14, were nabbed in the metropolis between
   june 12 and 18.

   City crime branch on the basis of an information nabbed an STD booth
   owner and garmet exporter Abdul Samad (32) on june 12, Shivanandhan
   said.

   Samad, in league with Pakistan intelligence officials in Karachi, was
   obtaining documents relating to defence matters of India and sending
   them by fax and through hired passengers visiting Karachi, he said.

   Following Samad's interrogation, a hawker Mahmasd Shanawaz Faiyaz
   (31), and two exporters of gutkha to Karachi--Imtiyaz Razak Dalal
   (36) and Afzal Dawood Darvesh (33)-- were arrested, the joint
   commissioner said.

   Investigation also revealed that Samad, after receving instructions
   from Karachi-based contacts, used to send his associates to Pakistan
   with documents or other items under the pretext of sending garments,
   gutkha or on business visits.

   It was also disclosed that Samad was receiving important documents
   from Desai, while Shanawaz used to get documents from Desai at a
   hotel in central Mumbai, Shivanandhan said.



ISI conspiracy against key city figures to be probed
   Mumbai, Jun 20 (PTI) In the backdrop of heightened security all over
   the country to foil any nefarious designs of Pakistan's
   Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the city police have despatched a
   special team to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and Bhuj in Gujarat to
   investigate the various angles of the isi threat in the city.

   Dy Commissioner of Police (Detection), Sunil Paraskar today told PTI
   the city police would urge its counterpart in Lucknow to transfer the
   two suspected ISI agents, nabbed there on june 2, to Mumbai for
   further interrogation regarding a major conspiracy to eliminate
   several key figures in the city.

   One ISI agent was held in Pune on wednesday, while six Pakistani
   intruders were held in Kutch district of Gujarat on june 6 and four
   harcode militants, belonging to Babbar Khalsa group and trained by
   ISI were nabbed on june 12 in Baroda.

   We are seriously looking into the threat to key figures in the
   metropolis and will leave no stone unturned to ensure the safety of
   the citizens , he added.

   The police commissioner, R H Mendonca, had announced in january last
   at the annual police conference that its one point agenda was to
   flush out ISI infiltrators from the city.

   The problem assumed serious overtones with the sustained
   Pakistani-backed intrusion in Kargil and Drass sectors of Jammu and
   Kashmir last month.

   With the possibility of Pak-infiltrators attempting to sneak into
   Mumbai via Gujarat border, Mumbai police sounded a high alert in the
   sensitive areas of the city and stepped up security.



 BMC's demolition drive violates court ban: housing rights group
   The state government and the Brihanmumbai municipal corporation(BMC)
   has launched a demolition drive in recent days in violation of a
court
   ban on slum demolitions in monsoon, Nivara Hakk Suraksha Samiti
   (NHSS), a housing rights organisation, has alleged. Major demolitions
   were carried out at Ambedkar Nagar at Vakola bridge on Bandra-Kurla
   Road, Chikalwadi at Bainganwadi-Govandi and Rahul Nagar and new
Prabod
   Nagar at Sewree Cross Road.
  

 Shetty gang member killed in encounter
   After a brief lull in encounter killings, the Mumbai police shot dead
   yet another criminal in an encounter. The accused, Vijay Batla alias
   Vijay Kadam, was an alleged robber from the Santosh Shetty gang. The
   Shetty gang, comprising about 40 robbers, was known for committing
   daylight robberies in the western suburbs.
  

 MTNL disconnects telephone lines of 86 defaulting former MPs
   Mumbai, June 21 (PTI) Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) today
   informed the Mumbai high court that it has disconnected telephone
   lines of 86 members of the dissolved lok sabha who had defaulted 
   in paying outstanding bills.

   MTNL submitted a list of 86 defaulting former lok sabha MPs who
   include Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia, K Karunakaran, Subramaniyan Swamy,
   Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, A B A Ghanikhan Choudhary, K Vijaya Bhaskara
   Reddy, Ramvilas Paswan, Mukul Wasnik, Mohan Rawale, Vilas Muttewar,
   Dr Sanjay Singh, Digvijay Singh and Dr Y S Rajesekhar Reddy whose
   phones were disconnected on june 10.

   Hearing a public interest litigation, Chief Justice Y K Sabrahwal and
   Justice S H Kapadia directed MTNL and the union government to file
   separate affidavits within four weeks on what steps they had taken to
   recover telephone dues of former MPs of the 12th lok sabha.

   Opposing the petition, MTNL also submitted that as on june 11, it had
   recovered rs 2.39 crore out of the total outstanding amount of rs
   15.50 crore. Of this, rs 26.58 lakh and rs 43.54 lakh were recovered
   from former MPs and sitting MPs of rajya sabha respectively, while rs
   74.09 lakh and rs 95.36 lakh from former MPs and those of the
   dissolved lok sabha respectively.

   The petition, filed by city advocate M P Vashi, alleged
   discriminatory attitude towards politicians by not recovering from
   them arrears of telephone bills amounting to a whopping rs 15.50
   crore.


 Balaji temple at Nerul will be consecrated
   Situated atop a hill just 10 minutes' walking distance from Nerul
   station(West), a temple dedicated to Lord Balaji and Goddess
Padmavati
   will be inaugurated on Monday with a "Kumbha Adbhishekam". The temple
   is a replica of the famous shrine at Tirumala hills in Andhra
Pradesh.
   A three-day consecration ritual, preceding the final programme, began
   on Friday. The idol of Lord Balaji was brought here on May 15 and was
   taken in a ritual procession up the hill. Shankaracharya Jayendra
   Saraswati of Kancheepuram laid the foundation stone for the Rs
   6.5-crore complex on December 6, 1990. When fully completed, the
   complex will comprise five temples and a building for socio-cultural
   activities.
  

 Pune and North Maharashtra varsities to be taken as one
   Maharashtra governor P.C. Alexander issued an ordinance permitting
the
   North Maharashtra and Pune Universities to be considered one
   university area for a period of five years with regard to admissions
   to first year degree courses in engineering, technology and
   architecture. Through the ordinance, Mr Alexander has amended the
   Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994. The amended ordinance will be
   known as the Maharashtra Universities (Amendment) Ordinance 1999.
  

 BMC criticised for not razing illegal portion of city hotel
   The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) failure to demolish
the
   unauthorised portion of China Garden restaurant at Kemps Corner was
   criticised in civic circles on Friday. Municipal commissioner K.
   Nalinakshan informed newspersons on Wednesday that the BMC would give
   "reasonable time" to the owner of the bar and restaurant to have the
   illegal portions regularised by utilising heritage floor space index.
  

 Sugar workers' wages
   President of the Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar, will
   announce on Monday revised wages for sugar factory workers at a rally
   at Ajinkyatara co-operative factory in Satara district. Mr Pawar was
   recently appointed as arbitrator for the wage revision following the
   breakdown of talks between representatives of factories and workers
   over various issues including wage arrears and the state of the
   industry.
  


___________________________________________________________
               This is the Mumbai Grapevine 
___________________________________________________________


______Market_______

 To get today's complete NIFTY (the NSE index) listing send an e-mail to
                    get-nse@mumbai-central.com


 Equities rally sharply, sensex at 52-week high
   Mumbai, Jun 21 (PTI) Equities rallied sharply lifting the sensex by
   about 100 points or 2.44 per cent to its 52-week high on the opening
   day of the new account on the stock market today on good support from
   speculators and sustained purchases from foreign institutional
   investors (FIIs).

   Dealers attributed the sharp upsurge to the decision of G-8 leaders
   to condemn the breach of Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir and their
   call for an immediate end to fighting on the Indo-Pak border even as
   Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif warned India of more kar

   The BSE sensitive index opened firm at 4143.64 and gradually moved
   upwards to the day's high of 4214.85 before losing at thyearly high
   of 4210.36 as against last friday's close of 4109.89, netting a gain
   of 100.47 points. The bse-100 index also spurted by 45.79 points to
   1805.52 from previous close of 1759.73.

   FIIs were reportedly net buyers in cyclical stocks like Indian Rayon,
   Tisco, Reliance Ind and others, besides software shares. Indian
   financial institutions too picked up shares of low priced scrips.

   Dealers said operators were squaring up positions on the national
   stock exchange and making fresh purchases on the BSE in a bid to
   shift their positions.



___________________________________________________________
               This is the Mumbai Grapevine 
___________________________________________________________

______Forex_______
      
  1 DMark  = 22.86138    INR    
  1 FFranc  = 6.816602    INR    
  1 U.K. Pound  = 68.68914    INR    
  1 US $  = 43.16000    INR    
  1 Yen  = 0.353365    INR    
  1 Singapore $ = 25.25 INR
  1 UAE Dirham = 11.75 INR
  1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 11.51 INR

___________________________________________________________
               This is the Mumbai Grapevine 
___________________________________________________________


______Weather_______
(From the Weather Underground)
 
Temperature: 80 F / 27 C
HeatIndex: 86 F / 30 C
Humidity: 95%
Dewpoint: 79 F / 26 C
Wind
WSW  at 6 mph / 9.7 km/h
Pressure: 29.56 in / 1001 hPa
Conditions
Heavy Rain Showers
Visibility
 1 miles /  2 kilometers
  
Today: High: 82 F / 28 C Thunderstorm 
Tonight: Low: 75 F / 24 C Thunderstorm 
Tuesday: High: 82 F / 28 C Thunderstorm 
Tuesday Night: Low: 75 F / 24 C Thunderstorm 
Wednesday: High: 82 F / 28 C Thunderstorm 
Wednesday Night: Low: 73 F / 23 C Thunderstorm 
 

___________________________________________________________
               This is the Mumbai Grapevine 
___________________________________________________________


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