Sonia asks Maharashtra CM to step down
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh to step down.
Deshmukh met Sonia at her 10 Janpath residence on Monday evening and rushed back to Mumbai without talking to reporters. Sources, however, indicated the Congress president had asked Deshmukh to submit his resignation.
While several names, including that of Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Shivraj Patil, have being doing the rounds to replace Deshmukh, the frontrunner seems to be veteran leader Sushil Kumar Shinde, who is expected to meet Sonia later on Monday evening. Shinde was in the news last year as the joint Opposition candidate for Vice-President.
Detractors accuse Deshmukh of failing to stall the party's falling prospects in the state. Dissidence has been growing for over a year now and Deshmukh had looked shaky for months with the demand for his removal getting louder.
Several state party leaders, including Pradesh Congress Committee chief Govindrao Adik, have met Sonia and General Secretary in Charge of Maharashtra Vyalar Ravi in the last few days and complained against Deshmukh.
The statement of coalition partner and Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar that the Democratic Front government needs a change of face bolstered that demand. There has been a perceptible thaw in relations with Pawar and Deshmukh's removal would be another step in strengthening ties that have so far been uneasy.
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Threat to internal security "extremely grave": Advani
On Board Special Aircraft,Monday, January 13, 2003: Describing the prevailing threat to internal security as "extremely grave and war like", Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today said democratic nations may be humane but need not be soft states in order to deal with rising incidents of terrorism and insurgency.
"It is democracy which makes us talk to NSCN (I-M) and Bodo but there is an urgency to dispel the image of soft state.... by refusing passports to elements who keep on running down the country, even abroad, day in and day out," he told reporters on board a special aircraft.
"It is democracy that makes us revise the decision like in the case of Iftihkar Geelani. But there is a need to convey to elements like Veerappan that the Centre has asked both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka government to take effective measures to nab him dead or alive," he said.
Advani also stressed that action needed to be taken against Pakistanis overstaying in India and the illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
Advani said in past few months certain countries have started cooperating to some extent with India on the extradition of absconding terrorists. In this context, he referred to the cases of Aftab Ansari and Imran who were deported from Dubai.
Ansari was the main accused in the shootout at the American Center at Kolkata whereas Imran was involved in the Ghatkopar bomb blast.
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India not to review no first use of Nuclear weapons policy
New Delhi,Monday, January 13, 2003: India will not review its "no first use" policy regarding nuclear weapons since it has an adequate strike back capability in place in the event of a nuclear attack, Defence Minister George Fernandes said today.
"We have a Nuclear doctrine. A Nuclear and Strategic Force command chain in position. So we stand by the no-first use policy" Fernandes told newsmen when asked to comment on calls to keep use of Nukes option as a first strike by India.
On his Russian visit starting Tuesday, the Defence Minister, while ruling out signing of any major armament acquisition deal, said officials from the two sides would aim to work to sort out loopholes in the servicing of equipment and supply of weapons spares.
Talking to newsmen on the sidelines of a NCC rally, Fernandes said India had agreed in principle on the acquisition of the Russian Kiev class carrier Admiral Gorshkov. While technical details had been completed, the two sides were still engaged in price negotiations, he said. The Minister said at the Inter-Ministerial Military Commission meeting, New Delhi would press for working out a more sure footed and assured system of supply of spares, ammunition for Russian equipment in use with Indian armed forces as well their prompt servicing. "We have been facing some problems in supply of spares and services and want to iron out these on a long-term basis", he said.
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Supreme Court grants bails to Tehelka scribe in poaching case
New Delhi,Monday, January 13, 2003: After remaining in jail for six months, for allegedly filming poaching in reserved forests in Uttar Pradesh for a sting operation, Tehelka reporter Kumar Badal was today granted bail by the Supreme Court.
He was directed by the Court to furnish a bail bond of Rs 50,000 and two surities of the like amount in the trial court. Rejecting CBI's contention against granting bail to Badal, a Bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice B P Singh took a serious view of the delay in investigating the matter and observed if the CBI wanted to finish the probe "it can do it within 24 hours. Otherwise it may go on for 24 years." The Court also imposed the conditions on Badal that he would not enter Saharanpur district except on the trial dates, remain in Delhi and appear before CBI's investigating officer M C Sahani on first Monday of every month.
CBI counsel had opposed grant of bail to him till the investigation in the case is completed in next two months.
Badal was charged under Wildlife Protection Act and Arms Act for allegedly filming poaching in Mohand forest range of Shajhanpur in UP last year.
Allahabad High Court had rejected bail application on October 22 against which he filed an appeal in the apex court.
Nobel laureate V S Naipual and his wife Nadira Naipaul were also present in the Court during the hearing of his bail plea
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India not a soft State: Yashwant Sinha
London,Monday, January 13, 2003: Asserting that India was not a "soft State", External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha has dismissed suggestions that it was under US pressure to resume talks with Pakistan.
"We are under pressure from none. I do not accept this talk of soft state. Was it a sign of soft state that we deployed our army on the border and achieved what we wanted," he said while participating in BBC World Service Hindi weekly special phone-in programme last night.
He said "India is under no pressure from America to talk to Pakistan. There is no policy which is being made under pressure from the US, whether it is strategic, foreign or economic."
The minister, who responded to a spate of questions on India's relations with Pakistan, the US and other issues relating to foreign policy, said "We have sent a clear message seriously to Pakistan and the international community that Pakistan cannot capture Jammu and Kashmir by cross-border terrorism".
Asked from a BBC listener in Sydney on why India was adopting a harsh policy towards Pakistan, he said "nothing can be achieved by talks in present circumstances. If there is a gun pointed at your temple and you are asked to talk, would you be in a position to talk?"
He said "first of all, Pakistan would have to stop cross-border terrorism to build an atmosphere conducive to talks, only then can the talks be fruitful".
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India detects Pakistan border tunnel
Security forces in Punjab have found a tunnel under the border between India and Pakistan, in the south-western border district of Ferozepur.
Officials say the twenty-metre-long tunnel - the fifth of its kind to be found in six years in border areas - was built to smuggle men and weapons into India.
Addressing a news conference, the Border Security Force's' commander, S N Jain, said intelligence work led to discovery of the tunnel, which he said extended from the Pakistan side of the electrified security fence into India.
Delhi says the border will be fitted with special equipment to monitor similar tunnel-building activity.
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Journalist Iftikar Gilani discharged, likely to be released this evening
New Delhi,Monday, January 13, 2003: Journalist Iftikar Gilani, who was languishing in jail for over seven months, was today set free by a Delhi court following the Government's decision to withdraw the case against him.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Sangita Dhingra Sehgal allowed the Government's plea for the withdrawal of the case under the Official Secrets Act in "public interest" and discharged the Kashmir Times Journalist "without going into the factual details".
Following the court order Gilani is likely to be released from Tihar Jail by this evening.
However, he will not get back his computer, floppies and disks seized by the authorities during a raid at his residence here in June last as the court has ordered confiscation of the case property.
Gilani's counsel V K Ohri said he might file a suit for compensation. He also demanded repeal of Official Secrets Act terming it "archaic and obselete".
Reacting to the court order, Gilani said "nothing can compensate the individual freedom," and thanked all those who stood by him during the ordeal.
According to Ohri, Public Prosecutor Rakesh Mohan, who had moved an application for withdrawal of the case on Friday last, told the CMM that the Centre has already consented to the NCT government's decision in this regard.
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Foreign tourists arrivals rise by 16 per cent in last quarter
New Delhi,Monday, January 13, 2003: Despite security threats in the wake of terrorist strikes, foreign tourists arrivals to India rose by about 16 percent during the last quarter in 2002 as compared to the corresponding period the previous year, Tourism Minister Jagmohan said today.
Also the foreign exchange earning through tourism increased by about 20 per cent during the period, he told reporters here. As many as 7,36,859 tourists came to India between October-December 2002 compared to 6,45,834 during the corresponding period in 2001, he said. The total foreign exchange earning between January and November 2002 was 2811.11 U S million dollars (Rs 136.4381 billion) against 3042 million dollars (Rs 143.44 billion) for the same period in 2001, he said. In a bid to attract more foreigners to travel to India, Government is giving a facelift to its tourism offices abroad to project the country's image as a safe and secure destination, Jagmohan said. Elaborating on the Government's proposal for revamping Indian tourist offices abroad, he said the staff would be augmented and more funds would be made available to them to increase awareness among the foreigners on Indian monuments and other little known safe and exotic destinations.
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GM-corn soya controversy disrupts US food aid programme
New Delhi,Monday, January 13, 2003: The multi-million dollar US food-aid under PL-480 programme to India may be severely disrupted if approval is not given to corn-soya blends (CSB) by authorities here, a US embassy official warned here.
"India disallowing corn-soya from the US for aid purpose opens up larger questions, the PL-480 programme under which America is giving food aid will be adversely affected", the official told PTI adding since July 2002 no CSB is coming into India and state goverments have to pitch in to meet the gap.
The PL-480 is a 100 million dollar annual programme serving seven million poor mothers and children through schemes like Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
In absence of fortified nutritious food like the CSB, state governments were forced to step in to take interim measures and meet the short-term feeding gaps, he said.
He said starlink corn which has never been cleared for human consumption in the US is not the contentious issue here.
Indian authorities have asked that the aid consignments be certified as non-GM, but "we are confident, in light of scientific evidence of CSB being a safe food, the pending appeal will be favourably considered", he added.
Nevertheless Indian government officials feel it is a contentious issue as the US will never certify the CSB as non-GM food since the country co-mingles all foods irrespective of their genetic characterstics, once they have been certified fit for human consumption, he added.
The stand-off also brings to the fore the crucial issue of Indian policy on GM foods in future and whether the country favourably looks at this food technology, they said. The country is not against GM-foods per se but at the same time bio-safety concerns cannot be ignored.
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Case to quit as Chairman of AOL Time Warner
New York,Monday, January 13, 2003: Faced with anger from shareholders, board members and executives over disappointing results, AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case has announced that he would give up his post in May, saying it is "in the best interest of the company."
However Case, former chief executive of America Online who engineered now troubled merger with Time Warner, would remain director of the firm and co-chair of the strategy committee.
Announcing that he is stepping down from the top job, Case noted on Sunday night that some shareholders continue to focus on their disappointment with the company's post merger performance personally on him.
He said the decision was very difficult for him. "As an architect of merger, I have felt it was important that I stay to the course as chairman and help get things on track. However, I believe stepping down is in the best interest of the company," Case said in a statement.
He said he had concluded steps should be taken to avoid shareholder criticism of him from "hindering our ability to pull together as a team and focus fully on our businesses."
His decision to step down at the firm's annual meeting in May where shareholders elect new directors came as a surprise even to some of close associates and analysts say possibility of speculations prior to meeting might have played a role in his decision.
The shares of the company, which once traded at 56 dollars just after the merger, had closed at 14.88 dollars on Friday.
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India, New Zealand try to keep themselves motivated
Hamilton,Monday, January 13, 2003: As India's month-long tour of New Zealand draws to a close, captains of both the sides were trying to keep their teams motivated for the seventh and final one-day international here Tuesday.
While home captain Stephen Fleming admitted that his players, especially bowlers, had dropped gears after taking a winning 4-0 lead in the one-day series, Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said his team was looking forward to the much-needed two-week break from international cricket ahead of the next month's World Cup.
Ganguly said it was important for his team to record its third successive victory tomorrow to be in a better frame of mind for the World Cup.
"We need to win this game. It is important," Ganguly said. "It would be good to have three wins in a row to wind up the tour.
"We need to get back to good habits. We did well under pressure in the last two games. It is time to get back to winning ways," he said.
India lost both the Tests and the first four one-dayers on this troubled tour before registering their first victory in the fifth one-day international at Wellington last week.
"It has not been a good tour for us but it happens when you play day in and day out," Ganguly said.
"We would have two weeks off before heading for South Africa and it would be useful. We have been on the road for 10 months and we need to spend some time with our families".
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Ratra or Dahiya would have been a better choice: Madan Lal
New Delhi,Monday, January 13, 2003: Expressing his disapproval at the selection of young Parthiv Patel as the specialist wicket-keeper in the Indian World Cup squad, former national selector Madan Lal today said Vijay Dahiya or Ajay Ratra would have been a "better choice".
"The selectors were left with no choice. Deep Dasgupta was the only other wicket-keeper picked in the probables, and everyone knew that he wouldn't get through. But Dahiya would have been a better choice for the one-day style of keeping," he said at a book release function here.
Former India stumper Syed Kirmani also agreed with Madan Lal, saying, "no matter how great a cricketer one might be, you need to be a wicket-keeper to understand the finer points of wicket-keeping," in an apparent allusion to Rahul Dravid keeping wickets in the World Cup.
"Dravid is a class batsman and is one of the keys to India's prospects, so we shouldn't take any chances with him. I would not like to be too critical at this juncture, since the team has already been chosen. Parthiv is a young talent, and he should be given the right exposure," he said.
Kirmani said the debacle in New Zealand should act as a motivational factor for the Indian team and would exhort them to put in their best for the World Cup.
"I have no favourites, this is cricket and anything can happen," Kirmani said when asked who he favoured to lift the trophy.
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Mankad through, Kannan ousted at ITF Futures
New Delhi,Monday, January 13, 2003: Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad moved to the second round while Vijay Kannan was made to bite the dust on a day when top seed Elgin Mikael once again suffered the humiliation of first-round exit in the $10,000 ITF Futures men's tennis tournament at the DLTA Courts here today.
The ever consistent Mankad defeated Russian Sergei Pozdnev 7-5 6-2 in an hour and five minutes while Kannan went down to Satoshi Iwabuchi of Japan 6-2 6-2.
Mikael was handed a straight-set 6-3 6-4 thrashing at the hands of Croatian Tomislav Peric. The Russian had lost in the first round also in the first leg at Lucknow last week.
Ashutosh Singh, who made it to the main draw through the qualifying rounds, went down to second seed Dmitri Vlaslov of Russia 6-2 6-2.
With the only seeded Indian Rohan Bopanna resting after arriving late last night from Johrat, Assam, where he was representing his employers in a domestic tournament (he had skipped the first leg), the day had little to cheer for the Indians. And the chilly weather made it worse for both the players and sparse spectators.
But that did not stop Mankad from going about his business. He looked tired and said he was yet to recover from a tough draw at Lucknow where his semifinal match lasted about three hours.
Today, however, he was helped much by an erratic display by Pozdnev. After dropping serve in the sixth game of the first set, the Russian fought back breaking Mankad in ninth.
There were some sizzling passing shots from Pozdnev that left the Indian dumbstruck, and this was the phase when the visitor played his best tennis.
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India win U-19 hockey title
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 12. — India blanked hosts Malaysia 3-0 to win the four-nation invitational hockey tournament here today. India scored the goals through Tushar Khandekar (12th), skipper Prabodh Tirkey (33rd) and Vinay (57th).
India juniors have been in superb form in the tournament having defeated arch-rivals Pakistan and South Korea in earlier matches. Pakistan took third place, thrashing South Korea 7-0 in the play-off match today. Malaysia picked the Fair Play award. Probodh Tirkey was named player of the tournament, while Pakistan’s Yasir Islam won the most promising player award. India asserted their strength from the outset, and were rewarded in the 12th minute when Tushar Khandekar slotted home a ball played into the crowded penalty area from open play. Malaysia, who drew with India in the opening round of the tournament, tried to come back in to the match, particularly after Vivek Gupta was yellow-carded, but the home side failed to penetrate the Indian defence.
India nearly gained a lead when Hari Prasad rounded the goalkeeper after being released on the left and with a defender on the goal line still to beat, he hit the side netting. The let-off for Malaysia was short-lived and in the 33rd minute a well worked penalty corner was fed through to captain Prabodh Tirkey, who drove the ball sweet and hard into the bottom left corner.
India gave the Malaysian goalkeeper plenty of work in the closing minutes with Man-of-the-Match Gurcharan Singh prominent in the attack.
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