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Headlines
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News:
No talks with Pakistan: Fernandes
5 killed by security forces not terrorists
Court convicts 14 in Coomer Narain spy case
US says Pak must end terror, stop killing of innocents
Virgin Atlantic to stop flights to India from Aug
US looking for ways that Pak carries out its pledge: Boucher
UK Sikh fouls cricket loyalty test
Govt operationalises agri-zones for exports of Rs 4000 crore
Tax regime to be improved to boost savings:Jaswant
Doctor Saves Babies with Viagra Clone
Rupee rallies mildly against US dollar in early trade
Sensex dips by another 50 points on fresh sell-off
Schedule too tight : Dalmiya
Kaif, Zaheer take top batting and bowling honours
ICC refuses to reduce congestion
Cricket team Manager felicitated
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Sensex: 3229.18, -49.53
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No talks with Pakistan: Fernandes
New Delhi,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: Defence Minister George Fernandes today ruled out talks with Pakistan unless it stopped aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Intervening briefly in the discussion in Lok Sabha on the July 13 Jammu massacre, he said India has been raising the issue in international fora and asked "under what terms can we talk with Pakistan when it is providing support to terrorism in this country."
He said nobody would believe Pakistan's condemnation of acts of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
"If we are to believe what Pakistan says, then it will be difficult to resolve the problem for the reality is otherwise and we have to place this before the people."
The Defence Minister said army and security forces are being provided with most modern weapons to tackle the menace of terrorism.
Fernandes said the morale of the armed forces stationed along the border since December has been high and they are ready to face any challenge.
"I have been visiting the armed forces stationed in these areas frequently and their morale is high.
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5 killed by security forces not terrorists
Srinagar,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: Belying claims by security forces, forensic evidence has now established that the five persons killed by security forces two years back were innocent civilians and not terrorists even as Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today sought a CBI inquiry into the alleged fudging of their DNA samples by state government officials.
"It has been clearly established that the deceased were not foreign terrorists as claimed by the forces who led the operations but they were innocent civilians," Abdullah told the state assembly.
Abdullah's reference to the results of a fresh forensic probe was greeted by thumping of desks.
Contrary to the claims by security forces, the findings confirmed allegations by the relatives of the five that the men were local civilians and not linked to the massacre of 37 Sikhs in Chattisinghpura in March 2000 on the eve of the then U.S President Bill Clinton's visit to India.
The Chief Minister said he had recommended a CBI inquiry in view of the "gravity of the offence as well as the attempt made by certain officials to destroy the evidence and to ensure fair investigation".
Central Forensic Science Laboratory(CFSL) Kolkatta and the Centre for DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics in Hyderabad had carried out forensic investigations.
The agency would be requested to expedite the investigation to bring to book the accused, Abdullah said.
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Court convicts 14 in Coomer Narain spy case
New Delhi,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: Almost two decades after the sensational Coomer Narain Spy case was unearthed, a designated city court today convicted 14 people in the case for passing off military secrets to agents of other countries.
However, the main spy - Coomer Narain - escaped conviction as he died on March 20, 2000 while the trail was on.
Special Judge R K Gauba found the 14 guilty under Section 120B of Indian penal code and under various provisions of Official Secrets Act.
The Judge directed the police to take into custody all the convicts while fixing July 18 for pronouncement of sentence.
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US says Pak must end terror, stop killing of innocents
Washington,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: The United States has emphasised that Pakistan must end terrorism permanently, stop killing of innocents like the one in Jammu and dismantle terrorist training camps.
The heinous attacks like the one in Jammu make it much more difficult to resolve the situation between India and Pakistan through dialogue, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
"We have made quite clear that these kinds of attacks are heinous and they prove, really, that those who carry them out don't have the best intersts of the Kashmiri people at heart, because it makes it much more difficult to resolve this situation through dialogue. And we have made quite clear our condemnations of this sort of attack," he said.
The US has condemned those kilings over the weekend and "we have been very clear that the terrorism and killing of innocents needs to stop."
Boucher was replying to a correspondent who asked how concerned the US is about the escalating violence once again over the LoC and noted that India is now considering a response to the killing of 28 people in Jammu by terrorists.
It is the US view, he said, that the infiltrations across the LoC are down significantly, and "we are continuing to look for ways to continue the momentum so that Pakistanis carry out the pledge to make that permanent and to eliminate camps and things like that; and second of all, that we see continued steps on both sides to ease the tensions."
Secretary of State Colin Powell, said Boucher, will be taking that up when he goes ten days from now to the region. "And we continue to push in the meantime for further steps".
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Virgin Atlantic to stop flights to India from Aug
Britain's Virgin Atlantic Airways will stop flying to India from August and end its code-share arrangement with flag carrier Air-India, a spokeswoman for the Indian airline said on Tuesday.
Virgin Atlantic, which launched operations in India in July 2000, operates a twice-weekly service to London, using Air-India's unused flight entitlements on the India-UK route. Air-India uses only 11 of its 16 weekly entitlements on the sector.
"They (Virgin Atlantic) have served a termination notice that is effective August 12," the Air-India spokeswoman said on the phone from the airline's headquarters in Mumbai. Virgin Atlantic officials in New Delhi could not be reached for comment.
Virgin Atlantic had plans to launch a third New Delhi-London service for over a year, but has been unable to win Indian government's approval. The Indian government wants additional landing slots for Air-India at London's Heathrow airport in return, which it has been unable to obtain. Talks between the Indian and UK government over the issue last month ended without an agreement.
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US looking for ways that Pak carries out its pledge: Boucher
Washington,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: Condemning the recent terrorist strike in Jammu, US has emphasised that terrorism should end and said it is looking for ways to ensure that Pakistan carries out its pledge to stop infiltration and close terrorist training camps.
Condemning the killing of 28 people at Qasim Nagar near Jammu over the weekend, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher yesterday said US have been very clear that the terrorism and killing of innocents needs to stop.
Though US views that the infiltrations across the LoC are down significantly, "we are continuing to look for ways to continue the momentum so that the Pakistanis carry out the pledge to make that permanent and to eliminate camps and things like that," he said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, said Boucher, will be taking that up when he goes ten days from now to the region. "And we continue to push in the meantime for further steps."
Boucher, warned that the heinous attacks like the one near Jammu make it much more difficult to resolve the crisis.
"We have made quite clear that these kinds of attacks are heinous and they prove, really, that those who carry them out don't have the best interests of the Kashmiri people at heart, because it makes it much more difficult to resolve this situation through dialogue. And we have made quite clear our condemnation of this sort of attack".
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UK Sikh fouls cricket loyalty test
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2002 6:50:29 PM ]
LONDON: One billion ecstatic Indians at home may have cheered after the emphatic weekend win of Sourav Ganguly’s men against England at the Lord's. But there was one more unexpected devotee here, the Indian-born head of Britain’s main race relations body who has made headlines for celebrating in high style with a unique police encounter.
Gurbux Singh, a Sikh from Punjab, has lived in Britain for nearly 50 years, and now heads the country’s leading racism watchdog, the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), which routinely raps government ministers and the great and the good on behalf of Indians, Africans and all coloured people in general.
But his fanatical support for Team India may raise questions about his Britishness and the cricket loyalty test all over again.
Singh's faux pas is to fall foul of the immigrants' test that former British minister Norman Tebbit squarely set on the cricket field. It damned as traitors all immigrants who cheered for the other side and not England.
But Singh, a long-standing, self-professed India-supporter, ended the England-India match by getting into trouble with the police, being handcuffed and with question-marks over his suitability for a post often described as playing the role of an administrative, colour-blind, very British saint.
Singh, who was appointed to the high-profile job of CRE chairman two years ago, has previously said his keen love for the Indian cricket team does not make him less British.
"Let me describe my hyphenated identity as I live it daily," Singh said in a public speech in May, "Sometimes I’m Punjabi, sometimes Indian Sikh, other times I’m British, sometimes I’m all three".
"My passion for the Indian cricket team does not make me any less loyal to Britain", he was quoted to say.
Singh, whose job is meant to promote racial harmony in officially multi-cultural, multi-ethnic Britain, is married to a white woman and has three mixed-race children.
During the football World Cup just weeks ago, Singh had gone on record to say "all of us need to thoroughly support England", even as he endorsed flag-waving team support because there was "nothing wrong (with) the World Cup provoking national emotions".
The CRE says that Singh remains its chairman and no one has called for him to resign.
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Govt operationalises agri-zones for exports of Rs 4000 crore
New Delhi,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: India's agri-export zones project has been operationalised with many of the 28 zones cleared in the past one year beginning exports from this season itself.
"Not only have the zones been cleared, exports from some of them have begun from the current season. A web-based monitoring system has been evolved to vigorously pursue more than 120 activities in each such zone," APEDA Chairman Anil Swarup told PTI.
APEDA (Agricultrual and Processed Foods Products Export Development Authority) is the nodal agency for the project entailing an investment of Rs 781 crore for a projected export of Rs 3984 crore in five years from 28 zones.
He said Uttaranchal Lychee zone has hired a French consultant for the necessary guidance and will export this year itself on a trial basis.
Lucknow Mango Zone has already commenced exports and will sell around 300 tonnes this season primarily to west Asia. Uttar Pradesh government has come out with a transport subsidy scheme, a packhouse has been sanctioned and necessary funds released to the state Mandi Parishad. Research has been undertaken for pest risk analysis, he said.
Potato zone in Uttar Pradesh has also commenced exports of the table variety with the accrual benefit to the farmers who are at present getting Rs 3-4 per kg against less than a rupee a year earlier.
Swarup said Punjab Vegetable Zone has received orders for export 40 tonnes each of frozen okra and green cholia and 500 tonnes of fresh peas. Three units costing Rs 20 crore are being set up for processing vegetables.
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Tax regime to be improved to boost savings:Jaswant
New Delhi,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: Concerned over falling savings, Government today asserted it will reverse the trend by improving tax regime and economic climate for achieving 8 per cent growth in the 10th plan by boosting investment to targeted 32 per cent of GDP.
"The fall in savings rate, particularly, public savings is a matter of concern and government will come out with schemes for improving tax regime and economic climate," Finance Minister Jaswant Singh told Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour.
India, which is the largest importer of gold, has continued with its large unproductive investments in the yellow metal, he said adding this needed to be changed without which the savings rate cannot be improved.
"Unless we are able to move away from unproductive savings in gold and structure the tax regime, we cannot achieve 32 per cent of GDP investment for realising targeted 8 per cent growth in tenth plan," he said.
The savings rate has slipped from 26 per cent of GDP to 22 per cent, he said adding it is a slippage principally because private savings had stagnated and public savings had not gone up.
"Public savings rate can go up if public sector undertakings are inspired by greater efficiency and autonomy," he said, adding states too would have to undertake fiscal consolidation.
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Doctor Saves Babies with Viagra Clone
BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - A doctor in southern India saved three sick newborn babies using a cloned version of the anti-impotence drug Viagra but now faces ethical questions for publicizing the treatment.
Dr. P.V. Rajiv treated three "blue babies," suffering a lung problem that starves them of oxygen, with an Indian-made copy of the drug, said A.P.S. Krishnan, vice-president at the Amrita Institute of Medical Science and Research Center in the port city of Cochin in Kerala state.
"We saved the babies by giving sildenafil citrate, also called Viagra," he said. "They have gone home. They are doing well...Their parents are happy."
However medical colleagues from a non-governmental organization, Health Action by People, said Rajiv should have consulted an ethics committee before going public in the case.
"I don't doubt his intentions. But when you have an idea it is your duty to bring it before an ethical committee," said NGO spokesman Doctor Raman Kutty, based in Trivandrum, the Kerala state capital.
Viagra is made by U.S. firm Pfizer Corp. Indian firms have been at the forefront of making copycat pills.
Krishnan said Dr. P.V. Rajiv first gave the drug orally to a baby suffering pulmonary hypertension, after consulting international journals which reported its use to treat adults in a similar condition. Blue babies have a condition that contracts vessels carrying oxygen-rich blood to the lungs.
Two more babies were then treated in a similar way, using a combination of the drug with nitric oxide, a traditional medicine which is expensive and involves using a ventilator.
"To our knowledge, nobody in the country has used this method (to treat children)," he said.
Krishnan said the government's drugs regulatory body had so far raised no objection to using the drug on children and its use by Rajiv was warranted in the life-threatening situations.
"Obviously, he will use all available knowledge. It is an approved drug. If it is a dying child, why not use it?"
Krishnan said nitric oxide treatment costs 360 rupees ($7.40) an hour. Two days' treatment could have run up a bill of 10,000 rupees in one of the world's poorest countries.
Rajiv used Androz, a Viagra clone made by India's Torrent Pharma Ltd, he said.
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Rupee rallies mildly against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: The rupee rallied mildly against the US currency early today on light exporters dollar sales and unwinding of long dollar positions by banks in generally quiet and range-bound trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market.
Opening on a positive note at Rs 48.83/84 per dollar, the rupee edged up further to Rs 48.8250/8350 in late morning deals, higher from Monday's finish of Rs 48.8350/8450.
Healthy dollar supplies from exporters induced banks to unwind long dollar positions and allow the rupee to partially bounce back from sharp overnight losses, as the outlook for the currency remains positive.
A distinctly weak dollar against major currencies in overseas trade was also benefitting the rupee, dealers said.
In overseas trade, the dollar slumped to 2-1/2 year lows against the Euro and touched over 10-month lows vis-a-vis Japanese Yen.
The rupee declined by seven paise yesterday, pulled down by heavy all round dollar demand following renewed Indo-Pak border tensions over the recent massacre in Jammu.
In cross currency trades, the Euro was quoted at Rs 49.25/27, Pound Sterling at Rs 76.87/89 and Japanese Yen (100) at Rs 42.03/05.
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Sensex dips by another 50 points on fresh sell-off
Mumbai,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: Reeling under heavy selling pressure from investors, stocks dropped sharply pushing the sensex down by about 50 points at close on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today.
Reacting to a series of negative developments, stock brokers said speculators and public investors resorted to heavy unloading in key stocks due largely to a consistent slide in share prices as well as increased tension between Indian and Pakistan after the terrorist strike killing 28 persons in Jammu last Saturday.
The sentiment was also affected by reports of erratic rainfall causing concern about farm output.
A steep fall in heavyweights like RIL, HLL, Infosys Tech, Grasim, HPCL and SBI mainly weighed on the sensex.
The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened fractionally up at 3279.50 but later reacted negatively and gradually moved downwards falling to the intra-day low at 3224.35 before ending at 3229.18 as against yesterday's close of 3278.71, a net loss of 49.53 points or 1.51 per cent.
The broad-based BSE-100 Index dropped further by 23.68 points to 1625.29 from previous close of 1648.97.
Shaken by the negative developments, investors quickly reacted after the midsession on the falling trend in global markets. London stocks tumbled after opening firm this afternoon and South East Asian markets dipped further in line with a weak Wall Street.
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Schedule too tight : Dalmiya
Kolkata,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: A day after International Cricket Council rejected the call of test captains to reduce the number of tests and one dayers, Indian Cricket Board President Jagmohan Dalmiya today said the schedule was too tight and ICC's 10-year programme was making the situation difficult.
"I know the international schedule is too tight. Even the captains have voiced it during their interaction with ICC yesterday," Dalmiya said at a press conference here. ICC yesterday turned down the appeal by test captains on cutting down the number of international fixtures during the next five years. Dalmiya said the Indian Board was aware of the problem faced by the players in this regard, but had no option other than going by the ICC schedule. "Whatever it is, you have to fulfil commitments," he said. The Indian team has a gruelling schedule in the run up to the World Cup in South Africa in February-March next year. Only two days after playing the fourth and final test of the ongoing English tour on Septemeber 9, the Indians would leave for Sri Lanka for the ICC champions trophy. Soon after, the West Indies are sheduled to tour India from October 1 to November 24 before the Indians embark on a 44-day trip to New Zealand from December 3. The team leaves Indian shores on January 31 to play the World Cup. "Definitely this schedule is no schedule. They (Indians) are not even getting 24 hours rest. They are just touching the country after a foreign assignment before again setting out on another overseas trip," he said.
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Kaif, Zaheer take top batting and bowling honours
London,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: Reflecting the excellent show of the Indian young brigade in the NatWest tri-nation one-day series, Mohammad Kaif and Zaheer Khan took the top honours in the individual batting and bowling performances respectively.
Kaif, who masterminded one of the greatest run-chases ever as India defeated England in the final at Lord's on Saturday, had the highest batting average of 87, while Zaheer Khan was the top wicket-taker with 14 scalps.
Kaif, who played five innings and remained unbeaten thrice, scored 174 runs with a strike rate of 93.54. Yuvraj Singh, another Indian hero of the series, had an aggregate of 254 runs from seven innings with an average of 50.80. He also took five wickets while conceding 106 runs which gave him an average of 21.20.
The senior and more established stars did not fare badly either. Sachin Tendulkar, who hit two centuries in the series, finished with an aggregate of 337 runs - next only to Marcus Trescothick's 362 - at an average of 56.16 while Rahul Dravid scored 245 runs at an average of 49.00.
Among the bowlers, Zaheer Khan who returned an average of 23.57, was much ahead of the rest of the pack. Ajit Agarkar claimed six wickets at 27 runs apiece while Ashish Nehra and Anil Kumble took five wickets each at an average of 43.60 and 40.00 respectively.
For England, Alec Stewart and Marcus Trescothick were the top batsmen while Andrew Flintoff and Ronnie Irani produced the best bowling performances.
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ICC refuses to reduce congestion
London,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: The International Cricket Council has rejected calls by Test captains to reduce the number of Tests and one-day international matches in the next five years.
ICC's Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said no changes would be made to the cricket calendar till 2007 despite Test captains warning of player burn-outs due to the increasing volume of cricket. Eight of the ten Test captains, who attended the annual ICC meeting at the Lord's Monday voiced concern over cramped fixtures which was leading to increasing injuries and threatening careers of leading cricketers. The ICC officials presented a paper about the Tests and one-day internationals at the meeting and said they did not anticipate cuts to the programme. Fears over player burn-out was the main agenda as the Test captains sat down for their annual meeting with senior administrators of the game's apex body as more players quit one version of the game to prolong their careers. England's middle order batsman Graham Thorpe was the latest player to scale down his commitments by announcing his retirement from the shorter version of the game on Sunday. The hectic cricket calendar had forced several other top players like South Africa's Allan Donald, Daryll Cullinan and Jonty Rhodes and New Zealand's Adam Parore to quit one form of the game in a bid to prolong their careers. Test captains had been calling for a reduction in cricket matches for quite some time now but ICC could do little since it had approved the cricket calendar well in advance.
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Cricket team Manager felicitated
New Delhi,Tuesday, July 16, 2002: Members in the Upper House Monday congratulated Indian Cricket team Manager and Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Shukla for India's great victory over England in the final of the Natwest trophy.
"Congratulations to Shukla," was their refrain when Shukla rose to ask a supplementary during the Question Hour.
Stating India won an international cricket tournament after several years, Suresh Pachauri (Congress) said the House should adopt a congratulatory resolution.
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Sensex: 3229.18, -49.53
The sensex closed at 3229.18, down 49.53
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Forex
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1 U.S. $ = 48.79 INR
1 Japanese Yen = 0.42 INR
1 British Pound = 76.74 INR
1 Canadian $ = 31.72 INR
1 Singapore $ = 28.13 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 13.28 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 13.01 INR
1 Euro = 49.41 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 13.39 INR
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Weather
| Temperature : 84 F / 29 C
HeatIndex : 94 F / 34 C
Humidity : 79%
Dew Point : 77 F / 25 C
Wind : WNW at 12 mph / 19.3 km/h
Wind Gust -
Pressure : 29.71 in / 1006 hPa (Steady)
Conditions : Haze
Visibility -
Clouds : Scattered Clouds(SCT): 2000 ft / 611 m
Scattered Clouds(SCT): 2500 ft / 764 m
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NetGeek posts a very informative write-up on the controversy surrounding Vande Mataram
'Make Peace, not War' - a seminar organised by Pakistan India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy on Saturday June 8, 2002 at Press Club, at 3.00 pm opposite BMC Head quarters, VT, Mumbai 400 001. (via nukkad)
Atul Dwivedi posts a terrifying picture of the consequences of a nuclear war on the subcontinent.
V.K.Venugopal, an ex-bureaucrat, suggests a few electoral reforms (on nukkad)
Arya tries to reconcile his many roles: so many of me? (via nukkad)
2002 SSC results to be declared on June 10. We will post more details as they are available. (Thanks to Mr. Ramesh Kapadia for the information)
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Mumbai Us Zamaney Ka
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